Summer = Rooftops. Ah, youth… Directed and composited by Justin Barber, cinematography by Mike Gioulakis, set construction by Cherie Saulter and plate photography by Ryland Jones.

The California Cowboys put Schutt’s sports armor to the test in South LA. Directed, shot and chopped by Ryan Simon.

A series of short portraits featuring subjects discussing their line of work and the tools they can’t live without. Across a wide cross-section of skill-sets and vocations, these vignettes are unified by the theme of tools (read: products) as connectors between users and tasks by presenting narratives that speak to how these tools make users feel rather than simply how they function.

Click on the thumbnails below to view.

Directed by Michael Jacobs and Ryan Simon, with Red One cinematography by Mike Gioulakis.

		Camille Pradel Helicopter Pilot				Darren Foster Photojournalist
		Christian Toxboe Gelato Chef				Florence Hartigan Musician
		Matt Woods Lawyer				Karo Berberyan HVAC Technician

Just outside of Gustine, CA sits a quaint wooden stadium where a centuries old tradition is preserved under moon and buzzing lights. Truck drivers, dairy men and vegetable farmers by day, the Grabbers spend their able-bodied nights carrying on the rituals of their homeland by wrestling bulls with nothing more than their hearts and bare hands.

For this 30-second spec, director Michael Jacobs uses a documentary aesthetic to transpose an audacious lifestyle into a concise piece of content. A combination of Red One and Canon 5D Mark II cinematography by James Laxton and Mike Gioulakis.

A short narrative about an interracial couple exploring their relationship, Tall Enough was commissioned for “Bflix“, a series of short films by five up-and-coming filmmakers as part of Bloomingdale’s’ Fall 2009 promotional campaign. Shot over the course of a single day in New York City, the film integrates Barry’s filmmaking voice with the Bloomingdales brand to promote a young, modern take on a time-tested entity.

Written and directed by Barry Jenkins.

An installation for Kimpton’s latest boutique renovation, The Muse Hotel New York, Muse melds the geography of the city with the theme of the hotel’s title, a haven where the frenzied pace of New York living gives way to a serene, ethereal experience.

Cinematographer James Laxton worked alongside producers Justin Barber and Michael Jacobs to capture days worth of time-lapse exteriors with a Canon 30D at locations all across New York City…in the dead of winter. Later, the “muse” foreground subjects were flown to San Francisco and photographed with a RED camera in a green-screen environment at 96 frames per second. A bit of fancy compositing, rigorous color-timing and terabytes upon terabytes of data later, the muses and their environs were conformed as one. Plasma displays custom built for The Muse rotate the imagery throughout the day, offering guests a unique visual note anytime they traverse the hotel lobby.

Despite the project’s steep technical threshold, the Muse pieces remain elegant and simple in embodying the hotel’s mission as stated in the Kimpton prospectus:

“Imagine an urban oasis—a New York City hotel just steps from the city’s renowned theater district. Inspired by its vibrant Manhattan setting and boutique hotel hospitality, The Muse Hotel, a Kimpton Hotel, offers comfort with creativity, service with style and function with form.”

We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.

In this spec for San Francisco outfit Four Barrel Coffee, a quarter-hour ritual is condensed into thirty seconds of action…with a formal assist by the inimitable soul crooner Sam Cooke. Taking Cooke’s rare b-side 8 Bars of Soul as a cue, the spot expresses the joy of a detailed process in the barest of movements.

Directed by Barry Jenkins with cinematography by James Laxton.

Barry Jenkins’s award-winning feature film debut was acquired for distribution and released in theaters by IFC Films. The film garnered three Spirit Award Nominations (including a cinematography nod for James Laxton alongside Gus Van Sant’s MILK and Darren Aranofsky’s THE WRESTLER), a Gotham Award nomination as well as awards from the San Francisco International, Sarasota and Woodstock Film Festivals. The picture also earned Barry a slot amongst Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 Faces of Independent Film” before embarking on an international festival tour highlighted by screenings at the Vienna, BFI Times London and Toronto International Film Festivals. After spotlighting the film as a critic’s pick upon it’s January release, A.O. Scott of the NY Times hailed the film one of the best releases of 2009 in his year-end review.

“A comical and complex example of the conflict of religious devotion” Boston Globe

“Illustrates how smoothly delusions of show business grandeur can dovetail with religious zealotry” New York Times

Michael Jacobs’ debut feature documentary chronicles the making of a doomed Christian sci-fi movie. This excruciatingly funny doc took awards at a number of film festivals including SXSW, Silverdocs, DocFest, and was featured as part of the New Directors/New Films series at Lincoln Center and MoMA. The film was released theatrically by IndiePix and broadcast by Sundance Channel.

A contemporary look at Venice’s Carnival through characters that exude its diversity. The film explores Carnival on a philosophical, mythological and emotional level in an attempt to find its true meaning for each individual. The project was fimed over the course of 12 days on location in Venice, Italy. Ryan Simon was tapped to write, co-direct and produce Filmmaster’s first foray into documentary features.