Today we’d like to introduce you to Logan Jackson, an award-winning Filmmaker. His latest project entitled “Leonetty”, premiered at SXSW this year.
Hi Logan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Sure, my name is Logan Jackson, I was born and raised in New Orleans, LA, I am currently based in Los Angeles and I am a writer/director. I guess I got to where I am today due to my love of storytelling. That began early on for me. My mother is an avid reader, she loves books. As a kid, she would always take me to the library with her. I began looking at novels at an early age and started to fall in love with stories, specifically Ian Fleming novels; The James Bond series. She would let me check out a few books at a time, the excitement of discovering a new story was and still is an incredible feeling. So that infatuation with storytelling was planted at an early age for me.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
(chuckles) No, not at all smooth. The road of filmmaking is never smooth. It’s filled with imperfections and silver linings. There’s sacrifices that are made daily, it’s stressful every production, you constantly question your decisions going back and forth with yourself for months, possibly even years on a single idea. At times it’s haunting, knowing one film will never be perfected only abandoned. I’ve lost money on productions, I’ve lost friends due to isolation of the process, your social life takes a hit, you don’t see family as often as you would like. The process can be grueling and testing but we continue to climb those mountains out of sheer love of the craft.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
That with every great business lies a passion at its core. The unwavering passion that I have for filmmaking and just films in general is that thing that turns into business. I’m most proud of the stories I have been able to tell. The people who have made a real connection from viewing them, I’m proud of that inspiration. I am also proud of the friends and collaborators I have been blessed to work with. They’ve made my job very easy and fun and together we create business opportunities through that similar love of cinema. We hope that at the end of every credit roll the audience can leave feeling something that they will talk about on their ride home and hopefully it’ll be something that stays with them forever. Work that appreciates with time and value, that’s the business we’re in.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
You don’t think about the risk, you maybe consider them for a moment but the passion and drive quickly consumes those thoughts. We know if we focus too much on the potential risks then no film would ever get made. Filmmaking is all a risk. There is never any guarantee that you’ll make any money from something that you put out. Often you end up losing tons of money on a production. Poetry becomes the true currency, the relationships you form, the community you serve. Those are the values you dearly seek. The risk is potentially going broke before you find those things, but we do it anyway. I wouldn’t advise any sane person to do it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.filmlogan.com
- Instagram: @iamloganjackson
- Facebook: Facebook.com/iamloganjackson
- Twitter: @iloganjackson
