Ian Schobel: What Do You Care About?
What Do You Care About?
Ian Schobel
Today, February 12th, marks the beginning of my fourth week at JTwo.
For every intern, week one is “bootcamp,” a multi-step guide designed to familiarize the interns with JTwo’s gear and organizational practices. After a week of tinkering and troubleshooting, I proved I’m not an irresponsible dunce, and was given the go-ahead to start my intern project.
A good brainstorming spot is really all I need to get some ideas flowing. Call me a grandpa, but I prefer pen and paper in these early stages. I’ll write write write write write– let a thought run uninhibited till it runs out of breathing room. It’s easy to get discouraged when bursts of inspiration fail to strike. Eventually, through sheer number of words, something resembling a story will coalesce. Two hours later, I had a pretty good idea and three storyboard pages in hand. I sat down with Justin and pitched it.
I returned to Edit 9 desk with various holes poked through my concept; in short, it lacked an ending, and I was thinking too ambitiously given the logistics: two weeks to write, cast, direct, shoot, and edit. So I scaled back, developed a completely different idea which was almost fully fleshed out. Mid-pitch, it hit me– this was going to be a shit ton of work. When I finished, Justin gave me a kind of half-smile, half-smirk. He asked me, “what do you care about?” I chewed on that as I walked up the spiral staircase, and checked my phone: almost 5 pm, so I packed my things and headed for the The El. Rarely have I used the first idea as the basis for a final product, but I was frustrated the day hadn’t gone as planned. I hopped on at 2nd street station. Getting out of the office, the feeling the tracks jut against the train, it gave me room to look at my project from a distance, and I decided I’d been approaching this the wrong way, focusing on the concept itself; instead, I should assemble the resources I’d have access to (mainly the actors and the setting) and build the idea from those pieces.
When I write short stories, I tend to gravitate towards realism. So why not work with what I know, and draw from experience in this case, too? First: the talent. Of course, it had to be AK and Liam, two of my closest friends. They’ve been best friends since high school, and and they’re goofballs of the highest magnitude. I was pretty confident that if I experimented with a particular hypothetical scenario involving the two of them, they’d be down to play the roles, they’d respect me as director, and since their characters were largely based on their true selves/relationship, only minor character adjustments were required to fit them to my narrative. Next, the set: two years ago, when we were still in the dorms, AK and Liam roomed with a kid named Nick. We’ve all remained friends, and he now lives with two other guys in this kick-ass apartment (with adjustable mood lighting). The pieces now in place, I set to work on the script and shot list. We shot both scenes in one day, morning first, then night scene later. In the story, the scenes are reversed. AK and Liam took it in stride, though, delivered a great performance and overall, I’m extremely pleased with the final cut of my first piece of fiction filmmaking (s/o to Alex for the super helpful C100 walkthrough).
It felt really good to sink my teeth full force into a project like that. But remember, as an intern, the intern project is not your only responsibility. The intern project is just a job with a two-week deadline. Your daily contribution to JTwo’s workflow is first priority. You have to multitask, wear all the hats, be ready to drop what you’re doing to help where needed. Working on a number of sets these past weeks, it’s humbling to see that no one here is above any one task; as a smaller production company, everyone fills in the gaps as they arise, and there’s a significant amount of overlap across positions.
I try not to get ahead of myself, but thus far, my time at JTwo has completely exceeded every one of my expectations. Who knew I’d be spraying then talent with sweat on most sets I’ve worked on? And this is just the beginning. Who knows where my spray bottle will take me next.
JTWO Works With Visit Philadelphia
Visit Philly is known for their tireless efforts to display both hidden and not so hidden gems around the City of Philadelphia. In an effort to showcase the city’s food & family atmosphere, we worked closely with Visit Philly to bring the City of Brotherly Love & City of Foodie Love video series to life. Scenes in the videos were captured during two days of filming at several well known Philadelphia locations such as the Rocky Statue, Elfreth’s Alley, Tredici & Capogiro among others. Watch both projects below.
JTWO Welcome Intern Ian Schobel
Perspectives
Ian Schobel
We’re pretty similar, you and I. We’re just people.
Confined to deteriorating bodies, we each put our pants on in the morning and walk the Earth searching for affirmation that we matter, striving for happiness or success, maybe something in between, in whatever form that may be.
Where we differ is in our perspectives.
Raised by an elementary school teacher and a writer, I was (and still am) a a kid of quiet confidence, intent on exploring my curiosities. I would read everything in sight, soaking up the words like they were life support. I doodled incessantly, on any surface, and writing became an alternative mode of thinking and comprehension, an outlet for the congealed build-up of information bouncing around my head. I wasn’t aware at the time, but I was heading towards a “creative” career. And, man, it’s incredibly validating to know the guys at JTwo recognize the potential I now see in myself.
I declared myself a Media Studies and Production (MSP) major during my sophomore year at Temple University because I saw, on a basic level, the power of media; how the daily onslaught of advertisements, television shows, books, movies and news articles we consume informs our world views. I wasn’t content in being a passive consumer; I wanted to contribute to the production of content, entertaining, informing, and learning in the process.
Within the MSP program, there are four “tracks:” emergent media, media analysis, media business and entrepreneurship, and media production. I chose the production track, but then faced another decision: audio or video. I tentatively decided on video, not wanting to box myself into anything. I needn’t have worried, though. It quickly became clear that sound and visuals exist in a complementary relationship, and I seized the opportunity to study both.
Quanto sei bella Roma
Quanto sei bella Roma a prima sera…
Ah, the memories… those sweet notes drifted through Rome, Italy, where I studied abroad for a semester in 2016. I threw myself into Italian and European culture, traveling as far East as Sofia, Bulgaria. But, as you can imagine, it wasn’t enough to just live my adventure, especially given the culture shock I was trying to manage. I needed a way to synthesize everything I was experiencing, so right off the bat, I starting filming my surroundings with my iPhone. By the end of the semester, I had enough footage to put together a 20 minute documentary, accompanied by narration recalling the tumultuous story of my semester abroad:
In this moment, the early afternoon of my first official day in the JTwo office, I see this 12-week internship pushing me even further than I’ve pushed myself, a catalyst in expanding my skills as a writer, an editor, and sound-designer. I intend to get my feet wet with every aspect of production, though, because they’re all pieces of the same puzzle. And who knows? Maybe my calling is elsewhere. The only thing I’m certain of is that I’m ready to get to work and give JTwo everything I’ve got.
Sweat-boy out.
JTWO's DLYGAF Project is Featured in Philly AD News
We are proud to announce that our DLYGAF project has been featured in Philly AD News. Read the entire write up below.
Shaq and JTWO want you to Drive Like You Give a F*#K!
“Philly based film production company, JTWO Films recently partnered with NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal and Responsibility.org to produce a national safe driving campaign reminding drivers to Drive Like You Give A F*#K!
The new campaign, JTWO’s tenth project with O’Neal, features a series of public service announcements and social media ads unlike anything you’ve ever scene before targeting young adults in an attempt to get them to think twice about driving impaired. Drive Like You Give A F*#K follows the story of the fictional Responsible Driving Enforcement Agency’s Chief O’Neil and Officer Vasquez as they review the case files of several impaired driving offenders. Each offender has their own backstory representing one of the four big “D’s” of Impaired Driving – Drunk, Drugged, Distracted and Drowsy – via the offender’s characterizations. A Drunk hard partying Sailor, a Drugged prescription pill popping Grandma, a Drowsy overworked Clown and an average looking Distracted John Smith all of which provide comedic relief throughout.
The spots Directed by JTWO’s Justin Jarrett and Produced by JTWO’s Travis Capacete and Jelani Thomas were produced completely in-house by JTWO from concept through post-production and filmed on their RED Weapon 8k Helium Cinema Camera over the course of several shoots in Philadelphia, Washington, DC and Atlanta.
JTWO has worked with several national non-profit organizations around the country via their Projects That Matter Initiative. The Initiative, which was launched seven years ago with the mission of providing creative content production services to Non-Profits at affordable costs has been incredibly successful with JTWO filming documentaries and brand films in Haiti, Kenya, India and seemingly every part of the U.S. They have worked with everyone from Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles, the YMCA, Walmart and The United Nations to local charitable organizations such as the Eagles Charitable Foundation, Bringing Hope Home and The Franklin Institute.”
Happy Holidays from JTWO
ONE INCREDIBLE YEAR
2017
It’s been one incredible year! From winning awards to launching national campaigns that actually make a difference to expanding our family and simply creating darn good work. As a young production company (7 years in the books but who’s counting?) we couldn’t have asked for a better year, but we understand that with each project and each new collaborator comes a new set of challenges. That’s why we believe that if we continue to dedicate ourselves to constantly improving and testing and failing and creating, but always remembering that at the end of the day the story comes first, our best work will always be ahead of us.
However, it’s because of our collaborators and partners that continue to trust us as the torch bearer of their stories that we are able to succeed year after year. That’s why, we simply wanted to say from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for continuing to believe in us.
In the past year alone, we have produced national commercials, short documentaries, brand films and directed projects with NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles and worked with clients such as Bacardi, ESPN, Comcast, NFL Films, Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Men’s Health, IBX, Walmart and more. We launched The JTWO [Inc]ubator Project, one of the premiere Internship Programs in the city of Philadelphia as well as expanded our Projects That Matter Initiative that works directly with both national and international non-profit organizations such as the United Nations, Responsibility.org and the YMCA to bring their stories to life. We have also partnered with The Art Directors Club of Philadelphia as their media partner to continue to expand our creative reach. To us, this is just the beginning.
THANK YOU
TO ALL OF OUR COLLABORATORS THIS YEAR
JTWO's Drive Like You Give a #&%! Project is Featured on CNN.COM
December 5, 2017 – CNN is featuring a behind the scenes look at our DLYGAF shoot with Shaquille O’Neal. The video displays several clips from the DLYGAF spots as well as a short interview with Shaq where he discusses his excitement on being a part of the project. Click the button below to check out the entire video.
JTwo Films at C.F. Martin Guitar with Boston University
Through a partnership with Boston University, our team recently had opportunity to film at the historic Martin Guitar museum in Nazareth PA. In the interview, C.F. Martin. & Co. CEO Chris Martin discussed the benefits of the Outward Bound program for team building and leadership development. Mr. Martin, a Boston University graduate shared his thoughts on the importance of the program along with his intent of a continued commitment to the program.
C.F. Martin & Co. has been creating the finest instruments in the world for over 180 years. It continues to innovate, introducing techniques and features that have become industry standards.
JTWO Welcomes Intern Gabriella Megni
Gabriella Megni
Attitude
Whenever I tell someone I’m a filmmaker, I’m always asked these questions: “So, what do you want to do with your major?” “What’s your favorite movie?” “What made you want to do filmmaking?” With each question, I have one answer: “I don’t know.”
It’s not that I don’t know, it’s that I don’t know exactly what I want. There are so many options, opportunities, and experiences that I can’t close myself off from. It took me a while to grasp this idea that filmmaking can bring so many opportunities. I had tunnel vision.
After winning my first award in high school, the trophy started to get to my head. I was young, and winning an award for something I created was a big deal for me. I didn’t create much my senior year of high school, the year after I won my award. I had no goals or motives to create, and instead I worked hard at other things in my life. I was still going to college for filmmaking, but I didn’t think I needed to work on anything or improve myself. I was already going down the path I wanted as a filmmaker. This was my first mistake going into college.
Sitting in my bedroom after my first semester of college, I started to feel down about not feeling motivated or creative. I wasn’t getting anywhere in college; my professors weren’t teaching me thing things I wanted to know, and I barely had a presentable portfolio. I would go to class right to my room, then my room to the classroom. I looked around me at my classmates and saw that they were doing the same thing. There was talent, but no ambition.
I had an itch to do something, but I wasn’t sure what it was I wanted to do. All I knew is that I did not want to be someone who let opportunities pass me by because I wasn’t working hard enough.
This is when my mind started to open to new prospects. I pushed myself more in filmmaking and photography than ever before. I offered my services to hundreds of people, worked outside of class, and learned more in the past few months than I ever have before. Changing my attitude about how to pursue my career made me realize that working hard will get me the results that I want, instead of sitting around and waiting for the right opportunity.
I know this is not a mind blowing concept to most people, but for someone who was given opportunities when asked, and didn’t need to work hard at most things in my life, it opened my eyes to the way I see my future. Now, I am not only a student filmmaker, but I am a hardworking creative stepping into a world of more possibilities.
JTwo named one of Top Video Production Companies in Philadelphia by Up City
JTwo.tv has been selected for inclusion in Up City’s marketplace of Top Video Production Companies in Philadelphia!
“Our team assessed agencies across the country, and we’ve determined JTwo.tv to be one of the most reputable, and commendable partners providing digital marketing services for small and medium sized business. Congratulations!” – Up City Team
View our profile here: http://upcity.com/local-market
JTWO Wants you to Drive Like You Give a #&%!
Drive Like You Give a #&%! is a cross-platform campaign two years in the making! Our team partnered with Responsibility.org and Shaquille O’Neal to create a series of videos to encourage you to Drive Like You Give a #&%! and think about those you share the road with every time you get behind the wheel.
We produced four main spots each ranging from 2:00 – 3:00 and over 30 spots for social media. Still photography was also captured throughout for campaign usage on everything from social media, websites, billboards and car wraps.
Check out the entire campaign below.