Film Courage: How many film submissions did you watch total from your running NFFTY [National Film Festival for Talented Youth]?
Jesse Harris, Filmmaker: I probably watched nearly 10,000 films. We were getting thousands of submissions. In the first few years I was watching every single one of them. Eventually we got more people involved to do pre-screening and start, I don’t want to say eliminating but limiting films,, but we were always very fair. We had multiple people watch every film so it wasn’t just one person deciding on it. But yeah, I watched a ton of films while doing the festival. I think it definitely had an impact on me because for one I saw a lot of really bad films of course and so I saw what not to do and how to learn from that. Then every once in a while I saw some incredible movies that were just Mind blown! I was like How did someone my age make this? It was probably again this amazing almost film school…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
Jesse Harris started his filmmaking career early, writing and directing his first feature when he was 17. He opted against college and used the money to fund his feature that he wrote and directed, which was eventually picked up for US theatrical distribution and by HBO Europe. In 2007, to support other young filmmakers, Jesse founded NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth), which has grown into the largest and most prestigious youth film festival in the world. Jesse put his filmmaking career on hold for several years to support other young directors and build a premier showcase for aspiring directors. Variety named Jesse one of 25 talents who transformed youth entertainment and was named one of City Arts Magazine’s Top 50 Culture Makers. His feature was shortlisted for the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards ‘Someone to Watch’ Award and was one of 20 features invited to the 2004 IFP New York Film Market. Jesse’s recently been named a Global Shaper, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, built around young entrepreneurs and do-gooders. Jesse returned to filmmaking in the commercial world, now bringing years of experience crafting beautiful stories for brands. His commercial work has been seen on TV around the world, working with clients such as Volvo, Microsoft, Disney and more. His 2018 short film, Wind in the Night was one of seven films selected for the 2019 Prix SNCF du Polar in France and picked up for distribution in France, Asia, UK and USA. The film was a proof of concept for his next feature, Borrego (available January 14, 2022).
CONNECT WITH JESSE HARRIS
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