Phase II: Chi-City
CHICAGO, DECEMBER 28th, 2017
CHICAGO, DECEMBER 28th, 2017
By Conor Hare
There was a breath of fresh air that morning as I took in the 32 degree weather outside of O’ Hare Airport. I had left behind an entirely different life in Southern California to start a new chapter, a new experience, and at the time, an unknowingly new career that was ahead of me.
I struggled for the first month or so seeking out my next career move while second guessing to hang up my past career as a Hospitality Director. It wasn’t until I decided to take a long weekend home to my roots in Philadelphia that the germ of the Chicago office idea started to develop. I would frequent JTWO when I came back to Philadelphia for years as Travis and Justin have been long time friends and I always made sure to come antagonize the office with each visit. This time around, I was dreading my second hotel move in Chicago and was just about at wits end to cut the cord.
LISC Chicago - "Hoops In The Hood"
Client: LISC Chicago
We teamed up with LISC Chicago and State Farm to write and produce the Hoops in the Hood brand video for their 13th Annual City Wide Tournament in Downtown Chicago.
Travis, Justin and I stepped out for lunch one afternoon and they were asking me about the move and the new gig out in Chicago. I had to be honest and tell them it wasn’t what I had expected and I wanted out. Suddenly one of us jokingly said, “well let’s just open a Chicago office.” At that moment, on the corner of Chestnut and 4th, we all stopped in our tracks and looked at each other with wide eyes and large smiles.
As the Chicago office began to develop over the first couple months and we started to stomp our footprint in the Windy City, I met a very animated man by the name of LaVonte Stewart. He told me about his non-profit organization Lost Boyz Inc and how the Southside is misunderstood. During this encounter I could see that he was very invested in the kids that resided on the Southside of Chicago as he was once one of them. This began my interest in spreading the word of our Projects That Matter Initiative to help tell the story of the Southside Community.
THE LOST BOYZ OF CHICAGO
From the award-winning team that brought you For Aaron: The Documentary comes the inspiring true story of The Lost Boyz of Chicago – a youth baseball league playing to reclaim their community from gang violence within one of the of the most violent neighborhoods in America.
Over the past year and a half in Chicago, we have made a point to work hand in hand with many non-profit organizations who tend to kids who are growing up on the Southside.
Since opening our office in 2018, we have done multiple projects that ultimately help bring awareness and support to over 20 communities in the South of Chicago. We have partnered with Laureus Sport for Good, State Farm, Local Initiative Support Corporation and We Raise Foundation to assist the kids residing in these communities with their voice that needs to be heard on a larger stage so the rest of the world can hear first hand from them and not just from the National News stations.
Chopping It Up: An Editor's Take
BY IAN SCHOBEL
In this lovely era of overt personality commodification in both mainstream and subversive cultural circles, we’ve insisted on merging the artist and their art, demanding voyeuristic insight into their lives. So, where does the editor fall in this landscape? The one who is often considered best when their presence is unnoticed, disconnected from your viewing experience, an afterthought that returns in the credits. When you finish watching your program and you’re simmering in the aftermath of a truly powerful experience we often take for granted or which gets muddled in the thousand other hours of on demand entertainment, that stupor is the result of one or many people watching this footage for weeks, even months. Yes, I am a thick cog in the machine. A puppeteer of nuance. I contort our productions to make you feel how I choose. They call me a lot of things, most of which I disagree with. They also call me editor.
I was born in the 90s. Aspiring editors born prior know that there was an implicit understanding you submit to when deciding upon this profession: tucked in a damp, dark corner, light will not reach your place of work; you must become familiar with darkness and isolation, your screen’s synthetic light the only illuminator. Your place on the totem is integral, but not meant for glory. “We’ll fix it in post,” they say. Perhaps a bowl of food will be intermittently lowered to your desk via rope. This is mostly false in my experience. The head honchos at JTWO are the collaborative sort and pretty good at treating their employees like humans with rights, not a perverse assembly line– there’s a wall of windows, running water, unlimited bathroom breaks, a fridge, coffee and dogs that sometimes let you smush their fluffy heads.
Of course, it doesn’t take a career in production to appreciate an edit. The fourth wall can break any time, for anyone. In the case of the editor, though, after 10 hours cutting, slipping and trimming, they tend to encounter two paths: lose all joy in watching screens, and seek shelter from all types of pulsating electromagnetic waves, or become hungry for more– just a good piece of production, maybe an analytical experience, noticing the cuts, learning movements that shape motifs, ideas that will resurface when you return to your footage.
In commercial film production, the editor is adaptable, and hops from a quick and dirty chop job to a mini doc worthy of festival submission, sometimes in the same day. Editors must operate on instinct within constraints (usually client-defined). Sure, you place a clip next to a clip, next to a clip, and you are editor. But wait– did you check that your codecs and frame rates match your sequence settings? Are you exporting for broadcast? Or simply web? Beyond the creative aspects, the tiny technical details are easy to overlook, but supremely important.
"BEYOND THE CREATIVE ASPECTS, THE TINY TECHNICAL DETAILS ARE EASY TO OVERLOOK, BUT SUPREMELY IMPORTANT."
"BEYOND THE CREATIVE ASPECTS, THE TINY TECHNICAL DETAILS ARE EASY TO OVERLOOK, BUT SUPREMELY IMPORTANT."
I became an editor to learn while I create– about the stories I am entrusted with as much as individual craft. It is true that we do not see anything as it is except through the questions we put to it, and under the hood of a commercial film production machine, I don’t ask the same questions with each project. Before diving into the footage for a new spot, there’s a quiet moment where I recognize here is another opportunity to make something new, beautiful, or experimental, to break new personal groundal ground, to rip through the expectations of whoever will watch it. And I’ll let the art speak for itself.
NOTES FROM OUR FOUNDERS: Travis
THANK YOU
Travis Capacete, Principal Business Director
Like Justin, my teenage years consisted of making short videos with close friends. I remember only spending my money on cameras, computers, hard drives and software with one goal in mind – to be an editor. Ultimately, that goal came true when we started JTWO. However, my role has changed quite a bit since then.
The early days of JTWO consisted of waking up, grinding coffee beans, sitting down next to Justin and working on whatever the hell we sold that day/week/month. We would wear many hats back then. Justin on Camera, me on sound. Then we would come back home to our “studio” (aka our house) and we would dive into the edit. We went on for years like that and I loved every second of it.
However, we always wanted something bigger. We wanted to create a place/ environment in which everyone loves coming to work every single day, not just employees and clients but friends and family too. It’s been a challenge, but I believe we’ve accomplished this over the past ten years and I can’t thank everyone enough who’s been a part of helping to make that possible.
Up Next: Maria Cantu
You recently won a Best in Show ADDY Award for your work on your short film, Barre None, what did that mean to you?
I had never been more proud than when Barre None won this award. I was so happy to be able to bring home the gold to my team, who I was so grateful to for helping me make this as beautiful as it is. The entire process of creating this video is something that I’ll cherish forever.
How did you end up at JTWO?
I needed to do a fake internship application for an assignment at Temple, so I looked up “Philadelphia film companies” on Google. Thirteen companies into my search, I clicked on “JTWO Films.” After a minute on the website I was thinking how cool it would be to work with them, and once I saw the pictures of puppies, I was sold. So, I decided to actually send in my application. It was the first and only internship I ever applied for… I never left.
Barre None
Directed by Maria Cantu
The [INC]ubator Project
In her short documentary, Maria tells the captivating and beautiful story of a young ballerina who is able to push through the harsh realities and overbearing pressures of the dancing world with unconditional love for the art.
What’s it been like jumping into the JTWO family and learning how to work with the team so quickly?
I think it was the best way for me to learn was to just get right into it. At first I was definitely out of my comfort zone in terms of the work process and knowledge of the film industry (my training is in news production), but I felt completely at home when it came to the atmosphere and the people here, which gave me the confidence to be creative in new ways.
What types of projects are your favorite to work on? Or gives you the most fulfillment?
Without hesitation, my favorite projects are the heartfelt stories with a positive message in the end. There’s so much work that goes into creating a video, so it always makes me feel good when I know my time is going to something that will put some love back into the world.
"...IT ALWAYS MAKES ME FEEL GOOD WHEN I KNOW MY TIME IS GOING TO SOMETHING THAT WILL PUT SOME LOVE BACK INTO THE WORLD."
You have to fly out to a remote country to do a project. Who’s your crew?
I’m taking the whole family. Everyone here is great at different things and all of our heads together would make a project the best it could be.
Thoughts on dogs?
Nose juice. Frito feet. Sandpaper paws. Droopy Jowls. Sploot. … Look it up.
How do you see yourself as a female director/editor in a male-dominated field?
Honestly, it’s not something I notice on a daily basis, but this is only my first year in the business. As I look toward achieving success in the industry, a male-dominated field doesn’t intimidate me in the slightest. My work speaks for itself. Also, the guys here have supported me, believed in me and empowered me from the very start, which has made me feel like I can do anything. Remember this ladies, “The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.” – My Big Fat Greek Wedding
You were born in the [INC]ubator Project and now spearhead entire projects. What do you make of your trajectory? And where do you go from here?
The only place to go is forward.
With Our Powers Combined: Justin + Travis The Interview
For our two co-founders, Justin Jarrett and Travis Capacete, it’s been one wild decade. From the “old days” of running around the country with a DSLR Camera and boom mic to setting up shop on the third floor of a crappy row home in North Philadelphia during the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression – one thing has always been true. These two knuckleheads are the closest thing to brothers as they come and they keep this place running day in and day out.
They are usually too busy to chat, so we forced them to sit down and rap about the early days of JTWO.
Justin
Do you remember the first time we met at PSU?
Travis
Yes, I don’t know if it actually counts as the first time we met but I remember you pitching your documentary on how the film program should be better. And you couldn’t have been more right so naturally that was the project I wanted to work on. We still passed even though all the professors canceled on us last minute.
Justin
What do you remember most about film school together?
Travis
I think it was the time that we had a plan in place that you were going to direct the senior film and tell what’s his name to fly a kite. The only problem was, you were supposed to keep your mouth shut until I got there and we know how that went down... Long story short, you became the "Producer" on the project then we ended up recutting the whole film ourselves. That might be the first ever “Producer’s cut” to go down in history.
Travis
When we were talking about naming JTWO that day in the hub or that other weird building that I don't remember the name of at PSU - When I said I was in for whatever you wanted to name the company, do you remember the name that I gave you as an example?
Justin
I’ll never forget. You wanted to name the company, “Two Black Ice” or something ridiculous like that. For some reason when you say it fast you thought it sounded like [two - black - guys]. You said, “so when people ask who made that film, people would respond – “two black guys”. That was the day I knew I would handle all of the creative decisions during our partnership.
Travis
When I told you that I was not going on the For Aaron trip, what was going through your head?
Justin
You were all but dead to me until I had questions about which hard drives I needed to purchase.
Justin
When we first started and I moved to Philly, the plan was that you would continue working for four months at your full-time job at Alkemy X to support us both while I worked on getting clients. You quit after two days and went full- time at JTWO. What the hell were you thinking?
Travis
My initial thought is, it was a severe case of FOMO. Then I think back and I remember that I had fully intended to stay for four months but there was an incident involving folding a coat and I knew we would make it work. If I quit, we had no other choice.
REMEMBER THE OG OFFICE?
Travis
Do you think we'll ever move from Strawberry Street?
Justin
God, I hope so. This alley is the absolute worst. However, I think we’ve done a great job of maximizing the limited space we have to work with for a city based studio. I’d jump off a bridge before moving to the suburbs though.
Justin: Do you think you intimidate the interns?
Justin: Do you think you intimidate the interns?
Travis: Not the good ones.
Travis
Do you think we'll ever open that bottle of wine?
Justin
The Justin Wine your Mom gifted me the year we started JTWO?
Travis
Yea.
Justin
The wine we always said was our Mojo? The secret to our success.
Travis
Yea, that's the one.
Justin
I drank that five years ago. I didn't want to tell you. Kidding - we aren't cracking that bottle open until the day we retire.
Travis
What was the hardest thing that you've ever done in the past 10 years?
Justin
I think learning how to manage and navigate a team. When we first started it was just us and we wouldn't sleep for a week until a project was done. I had to learn that not everyone is like that and employees don't necessarily want to sleep at the office.
Justin
What was the best decision we've ever made as business partners?
Travis
Travis: Either making all of our decisions together even though it means arguing for hours sometimes or hiring Jelani Thomas. Early on he kept us in check and was much more than just a friend and an employee. There were so many times that we wanted to kill each other and I feel like he acted as our shrink when we needed it. That to me is priceless and one of the best decisions we ever made.
Justin
...and the worst?
Travis
It'd have to be either investing in that real estate fund and not realizing it was essentially the same thing as a pyramid scheme (some things are too good to be true) or not getting an agreement in writing before you traveled abroad for a project 5+ years ago. The way things are trending, I'm going to say it was the - not getting an agreement in writing before you left.
Travis
I know you've always wanted to work with Nike and Charity Water as clients, but clients aside - if you could do one project and budget/logistics wouldn't be an isssue, what would it be?
Justin
That's a tough one, but if I had to make a choice I would probably jump back into narrative filmmaking and do an indie film - but not some low budget Little Miss Sunshine - it would be Inception meets John Wick.
Travis
What was the scariest/most nervous moment for you in the past 10 years?
Justin
Honestly, I've never really been nervous or scared about Directing a project or anything like that. I think the most scared I've been was when we signed the lease for our first office. We could barely pay rent where we lived at the time, but we knew we needed an office if people were going to take us seriously. I think that's the moment it became real to me and I knew we were all in or it was going to end up in flames.
Justin
What's your favorite project we've ever worked on?
Travis
The Maury Show. Just kidding, technically all I did for that was get the contract signed. Define yourself was really exciting because it was something that I was extremely passionate about and it launched our company. I really loved the first Louix Open that we did. I had always wanted to do the open for an award show and working with all of the creatives all over the city isn't something you get to do every day.
Justin
You trust me an awful lot with our creative choices around here? Has there ever been a time you thought I was crazy or simply went too far?
Travis
I think you're crazy on just about every project for one reason or another, but that is what makes our products the best.
Justin
Justin: Our office dogs, Griffey and Nova, have won Employee of the Month, for a combined, 72 consecutive times. Do you think anyone will ever dethrone them?
Travis
As Vince McMahon would say, "no chance in hell."
Travis
Who do you think in our company is most likely to get a JTWO tattoo?
Justin
Wait, they didn't already get them? I thought it was in their contracts? But, gut reaction says Omar if we pay him enough money. Then again Conor does owe us a life debt.
Travis
What's on the docket for the next 10?
Justin
Honestly, I'd love to keep going in the direction we are headed. I have never loved our team more and creatively I think we are just beginning to tap into our potential. I love this family and I am excited to see what they can do when we push them to the limit.
Justin: What's been your proudest moment at JTWO?
Justin: What's been your proudest moment at JTWO?
Travis: Every day we keep our team employed is my proudest moment. The first Addy we ever won was pretty badass too.
Travis
Remember the random name that we put in the credits of our first documentary Failure by Design back in college?
Justin
"Kyle XY" - he had no belly button and for some reason we thought it was funny. I can honestly say now, we weren't
NOTES FROM OUR FOUNDERS: JUSTIN
ONE BIG KID
Justin Jarrett, Principal Director
My fondest memories of my childhood are making short videos with my two best friends, Aaron and Kylar. We would run around our neighborhood for hours planning, shooting, editing (I believe it was iMovie Version One back then) and making short films with my Dad’s video camera. We would spend weeks working on a project simply because we loved being creative. My days since then really haven’t changed all that much.
I am still astonished every single day I walk through the door at JTWO, that I get to do this for a living. The past ten years have been a roller coaster, but I wouldn’t change a single thing. I am exactly where I am supposed to be – I was built for this.
Without the trust from our clients, the support from my friends and the love from my family and crews none of this would have been possible. I’ll never be able to thank all of you enough for believing not only in our work but in us. We are one decade deep and we are just getting started.
Employee 001: Mika's Story
BY MIKA MALONEY
I was already a few years into my new career focused on philanthropy for families in a cancer experience when I met the principal players forming JTWO. Divine discontent had given me courage to launch off the path of the typical “dot orgs” to join with some friends who also wanted to make life easier for these families. We were fairly new at our endeavor but we knew we had to do the work to create our brand and to be able to communicate our unique offerings in a contemporary way.
So it was really fun to meet Justin Jarrett, coming in hot out of college with a dream to build out a non-profit component to his business and his passion of making films for what he called Projects That Matter. Video and branded web content were becoming must-haves in the non- profit arsenal. I liked his ideas and I loved his passion.
“I’ll always be the biggest cheerleader for JTWO. It’s in my blood and if you’re in the crew–you’re family.”
“I’ll always be the biggest cheerleader for JTWO. It’s in my blood and if you’re in the crew–you’re family.”
For a couple of years it was easy for me to decide on projects worth the expertise that JTWO brought to the table. I immediately recognized Travis Capacete’s talent for editing, creativity and sales as well. Between the two partners, I felt safe and excited to hand over the creative reins for the branding I needed- and it continued successfully, even when I changed companies to further my own development. Referring to the guys and their team to others in the industry was not only done with confidence but it became one of my favorite things to talk about!
In 2012, I recognized that I had probably one summer left to stop everything and just be a mom to my daughter graduating college.
So I did a free fall, knowing that when my daughter left our nest, I’d just KNOW what to do next.
And I did know. The day Justin and Travis came out to meet me for coffee was the beginning of a beautiful co-working relationship, working together to develop more Projects That Matter. They’d have the exact type of projects they wanted and I was able to continue to serve the community. It was all heart.
This relationship continued until my newborn twin grandsons entered the world. It took no courage at all to jump to the side of my work to spend my time taking care of them while my daughter and her husband work full time.
What’s funny is that, a year later, JTWO is still never far from my mind. Their work and impact on the world is just that great. I went from being such a rookie in every single technical aspect of the JTWO business to eventually understanding and admiring what a huge multi-layered pool of talent is required to create brands, decode emotions and develop tools that boil down to one golden nugget: the story. And the end product? It’s magic. It moves mountains and slays dragons. I’ll always be the biggest cheerleader for JTWO. It’s in my blood and if you’re in the crew–you’re family.
PS – I still don’t do call times before 9 AM and if there’s not a Marriott, I’m likely not going on the trip….
JTWO and Fred's Footsteps Tell Inspiring Story of Jaelyn Brown
PROJECT DETAILS
Our team was absolutely thrilled to work with Fred’s Footsteps again to tell the story of Jaelyn Brown. We travelled to Sicklerville, NJ to sit down with Jaelyn and her family. After finding out that she had liver cancer and needed a double amputation of her legs, Jaelyn needed all the help she could get. After her mother left work to care for her, Fred’s Footsteps helped the family financially while Jaelyn fought hard to recover. Directed by Maria Cantu, this video is one of many stories we’ve been able to share with Fred’s Footsteps. We are humbled and honored to be able to tell the story of Jaelyn Brown with the world.
"MEET THE BROWN FAMILY"
Client: Fred's Footsteps
Watch the incredible story of Jaelyn’s Journey.
BEHIND THE SCENES
JTWO Bids Farewell to Intern Chloe Butler
When I started my internship here at JTwo Films I was so nervous and I didn’t really believe in my own abilities as a filmmaker. I had never even felt comfortable calling myself a filmmaker until I started at JTwo. Even after studying film in college in Ireland and doing a semester at Drexel I wasn’t fully convinced that I was cut out to work in the industry. I had never actually filmed any projects on my own outside of college settings and I was worried that I had relied too much on friends who I had worked with and never fully gave myself enough credit. After my interview with Conor and Ian I can’t lie and say I wasn’t worried that JTwo’s intern program would show me I was pursuing the wrong career.
My time at JTwo gave me so much more confidence in my abilities and taught me what it’s like to be part of a production company. In my first blog post I said that I would cringe away from the question of what area of the industry I was most interested in and at the end of my time at JTwo I am more confident in my approach to that question. After getting the chance to make my own [Inc]ubator Project I was able to try out so many different roles (as I took on most of them myself for my project) I figured out that there are so many different areas that I really enjoyed but it became more and more apparent to me that I want to pursue editing.
I can’t express how grateful I am to all the guys at JTwo (and Nova and Griffy of course) for giving me this opportunity to learn so much and grow as a filmmaker. I will never forget my experience as a JTwo intern and I’m so thankful to have gotten to meet so many amazingly talented people.
Slán agus beannacht ☘️
This project was created as part of the JTWO [INC]ubator Project. A semester long internship program built from the ground up to give young filmmakers, content creators, and all around hungry for a challenge individuals a place to stretch their creative minds while preparing them for the road ahead.
JTWO Bids Farewell to Intern Megan Swick
In the whirlwind of this past week, I’ve had my fair share of goodbyes. With the pandemic on the rise, I’ve bid farewell to some of my closest friends as they moved back home, states away. I’ve said goodbye to my professors and professional mentors on campus since we shifted to online learning. I hugged my roommates goodbye before they left me in an almost-empty house for the next few weeks. I’ve even kissed my final college experiences goodbye; even my graduation ceremony is still up in the air. But perhaps the hardest, and saddest goodbye will be to this internship, and all the amazing people (and pets) I’ve met here.
JTWO in three months has taught me more than I learned in three years of college. If you let it, this internship will grab a hold of your creative mind and steer you in the right direction to your career path. Being a part of each production process here allows you to familiarize yourself with what you love, or might hate, about everything production. Through my incubator project, days in the office, and assistance on shoots, I’ve been able to understand what I can add to the production process. My advice for whoevers in my position next is to soak it all up. Say yes to tasks you’re unfamiliar with, say yes to 12 hour shoot days, and say yes to projects that are outside your realm of experience. If there’s one place to learn from your mistakes, it is surrounded by the experienced professionals at JTWO. As someone who left for a shoot with everything except the battery to power the camera, I know they might not let you live it down, but they’ll be happy you learned and ready to support you on your next film endeavor.
Yes the experience was one of a lifetime for a college production student, but besides access to professional opportunities, JTWO showed me a fun and open workplace. I showed up in business casual work pants the first day, and I can tell you now I am typing this in jeans and a tee shirt. The weekly meetings and discussions of our weekend or relevant news allowed me to feel at home in the office. I know I am an intern, but I was treated as a coworker, and I have found that to be a rare circumstance in my experience. I also want to shout out JTWO as the sole reason I tried my first Popeye’s meal (sponsored content). I’ll carry the memory of the three piece dark with me forever. It will be hard to settle for an office culture any less than the best after my time here.
Finally some things I learned. As someone who aims to be a producer, I picked up some hard skills here like making call sheets, week-long shoot itineraries, and arguing with all walks of customer service associates on the phone. But the most important thing I learned here was my own capabilities. JTWO saw the potential in me before I did, and I couldn’t believe when they would allow me, a little intern, to play a role in their important projects. The more I worked with everyone here, the more I saw what I could do. This is a place that absolutely fosters growth, and on my way out I am applying to jobs I would have never thought I was qualified for before working here. As this is my last day physically in office, I’d like to extend a “see ya later” to everyone here. I’ll still be lurking around in Philly, so you can’t get rid of me that easily. See ya later JTWO!
This project was created as part of the JTWO [INC]ubator Project. A semester long internship program built from the ground up to give young filmmakers, content creators, and all around hungry for a challenge individuals a place to stretch their creative minds while preparing them for the road ahead.