Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorel Cortel.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
It feels unusual to share that my journey in film didn’t begin in a movie theater or on a studio tour at some theme park, but on the way home one night in my parents’ car. I was just eight years old when I first felt the power of Hans Zimmer’s score to The Lion King which I listened to endlessly in the backseat. Majestic, playful and at times tense, the score allowed my young imagination to fly even without seeing the film on screen! And for some reason, listening to his music helped me write more stories when I was a kid. Since then, I’ve been keeping an eye (and ear!) out for movies with music that could move me the way Hans Zimmer could.
Fast forward to high school, we had the chance to stage our own play at the auditorium. Each year I chose to be the music and sound director, and I would pull together all kinds of music from composers I admired. It was such a thrill to shape the play’s atmosphere and excitedly watch from the sound booth the audience reacting at the right moments.
Over the years, I eventually realized that I wanted to be in the driver’s seat of creative storytelling and direct my own films, which is why I decided to study communication arts at the university and nourish my passion for film. With these tools, I was finally able to write, direct, and edit my first short films with my friends. I was eager to borrow techniques from the directors that inspired me (Spielberg, Scorsese, Cuarón, del Toro, and Iñárritu to name a few!), to use music and sound to heighten the story, and to be pretentiously ambitious with our concepts… all without the fear of failing!
I knew it was what I wanted to continue doing, which was why I came here to take up more focused directing courses at UCLA. Two degrees, one virtual graduation, and one job later, I was excited to be filming again. And this time around, I had the chance to collaborate with people from all over the world. It was certainly daunting to remain truthful to the stories I want to tell in front of them, but that’s the fun part I guess!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It wasn’t just a bumpy road, it was a long maze where I didn’t know which way to turn next! I finished a double degree program at the university — one in the arts, and one in business — so I felt I was always navigating between two career paths.
During my final semester, when I was considering my next steps, the pandemic unfortunately shut down the entertainment industry. I decided to find work as a content strategist in marketing and pause filmmaking in the meantime. The job did help me stay creative though, experimenting with new campaign concepts that would reach different audiences.
When the timing felt right, I then decided to move here to take up film directing. But by picking up a different lifestyle and creating a new network, it was tough to start from square one. I was fresh from a 9-6 desk job and I lacked new material which I could use for my projects here. I was also now faced with the challenge of writing and directing for an international audience, and it took me a while to strike a balance between the filmmaking tools I learned back home with what everyone was practicing here in LA.
Despite all that, I never felt like I was alone, which was my biggest fear. I’m fortunate to have the most supportive family and friends who continue to look out for me, regardless of where I am in this maze!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a Filipino writer and director currently based in LA. Wherever I am, I try to view everyday life as my film school, discovering stories around the world that reflect real, tangible, and universal concerns. This practice sort of helps inform the projects I want to write and direct. Looking back at the work I’ve done since I started, I realized a common thread that ties them together would be that they are stories that challenge human connection, displacement, and movement. What I’d be proud of (if I can even fulfill it one day) is to tell those stories with precision, with a balance of character, moral dilemma, and spectacle. To achieve that would be the dream.
I’d say the work I’m most proud of is my thesis film, titled Ang Nawawalang Yugto (or The Missing Chapter in English), which screened at our university arts congress a few years ago. It’s a story about a young student who misplaces the only copy of his late father’s novel and finds it in unlikely hands in a hidden corner of the city. Surprisingly, my friends and I were able to defy everything people discouraged us from doing for a short film, including (but not limited to!) directing many kids, filming on a packed train, and filming on the bustling streets of Manila — all in a span of three days! And by working with some of the most talented peers and professionals I was fortunate to meet along the way, the end result felt like magic.
Last September, I finished another short film called We Only Have Tonight. It’s a supernatural drama where a grieving widow meets the ghost of her husband who appears to her when she lights the candle he left behind. It was a two-night shoot after months of pre-production, and I couldn’t have asked for a more collaborative team. They are some of the most creative, dedicated, and generous people I’ve worked with, and I learned so much from them. Now our project is in post production and I can’t wait to share it once it’s finished.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Right now, it’s learning how to live in the present.
When I came here, the highs were higher, and the lows were lower. And that also meant good things come and go much faster. I’m at the age where things happen too quickly and we look forward to the next big moment every day that I find myself missing what’s right in front of me. So I try to take in the time in small doses — without looking back, without expecting anything — before life passes by right under my nose.
Meanwhile, in terms of filmmaking and storytelling, being true to myself comes first, not trying to assume how others would do things. Of course it’s important to learn from them and understand what came before, but I believe I should constantly practice shaping my own worldview to cultivate a voice that makes my work feel grounded, genuine and human… before AI starts telling me how to do it!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/jorelcortel
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jorelcortel
- Other: vimeo.com/jorelcortel
Image Credit:
Roxane Dupont, Zenon Samuels
