Q&A With Director Jared P. Scott of The Artificial Leaf
Director of the FOCUS FORWARD Jury Prize-winning short, The Artificial Leaf, filmmaker Jared P. Scott is a partner at PF Pictures. He produced and edited Split: A Deeper Divide—a non-partisan investigation of the US political divide. He is currently directing a film about 350.org's climate crusader Bill McKibben and co-directing & producing Requiem for the American Dream—a discussion with Noam Chomsky on inequality in America. He is also producing The Fight—a diagnosis of the dysfunction in American health care system. He directed and produced Nachos for Two on jam-band Umphreys McGee and numerous philanthropic mini-docs for NGOs and advocacy groups worldwide. Jared is a PROMAX award-nominated preditor with hundreds of on-air promos to his credit and produced segments for Planet Earth on BBCA.
A partner at PF Pictures, Kelly Nyks wrote, directed and produced Split: A Deeper Divide—which has been screened and broadcast on television in the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He is writing, directing and producing Requiem for the American Dream—on the financialization of America. Kelly is also writing, directing and producing The Fight. Kelly produced The Artificial Leaf, which will play at many Film Festivals worldwide this year.
Read our Q&A with director Jared P. Scott after the jump.
How did you first hear of Focus Forward?
Jared P. Scott: My producing partner, Kelly, and I had a film in Docs for Sale at IDFA in 2011 where we happened upon cinelan's Focus Forward cocktail hour and breakfast gathering the following day. At first, I think we only knew that cinelan was commissioning filmmakers to make shorts about world-changing innovations. The competition came to be understood later on down the line. We saw five films at Tribeca in 2012. The artfulness of "Heart Stop Beating" was the one that inspired me to endeavor to begin to strategize making a film for competition.
How did you decide on the subject of your film?
We were doing research for a film that covered some terrain in clean energy innovation and were turned on to the technologies championed by Sec. Chu & Dr. Arun Majumbar at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy (ARPA-e) innovation summit. There I learned about Dan Nocera's Personalized Energy philosophy and his Artificial Leaf—and the idea for a Focus Forward film was born.
Can you describe the process of making your film?
I reached out to Dan about participating in the film and thankfully he accepted. (Quick aside: he initially agreed to about an hour—we ended up interviewing, talking and shooting for about 5 hours). So, Kelly and I set out in August with an aggressive turnaround time for the initial deadline. Kelly and I self finance our films by way of making commercials. We were able to scrape together just enough money to cover basic costs for our DP (Rob Featherstone), sound recordist (NG Poholchuk), and Kelly and I to travel from NYC to Boston. We completely internalized post-production with our team at PF Pictures and our composer Malcolm Francis (Popular Beat Combo).
How did the 3-minute time limit affect your creative process?
We did our homework. We wrote out a 3-5 minute script of what we wanted Dan to say based on previous keynote presentations, interviews, and writings. We also knew we wanted to interview him for a longer form piece. We did both—by way of specific questions—simultaneously. By really distilling the essence of Dan's work and philosophies for the short film, it actually helped shape the longer form vision. The most exciting creative aspect of the time parameters was the opportunity to create a more orchestrated pas de deux with the images and music overtop of the story. It almost felt more like writing a concerto.
What was the process of the competition like for you?
I just like completing creative works—it is compulsive. I knew Kelly and I made a beautiful piece we were proud of—but I didn't think much past that. I tend to focus on the work in front of me, and move on pretty quickly to the next one—there is just so much to do. It wasn't until the moment of watching the film with a full house at Sundance did it really sink in that we were in 'competition.' My nerves rattled a bit then.
Can you describe your experience at Sundance and the award ceremony?
It was humbling to know that the esteemed jury championed our film. And to be screening with the company of great films and great filmmakers was an honor.
What has life been like since your win?
The Focus Forward program has been delightful—it turned out to be so much more than we ever would have expected. Life after the win is the same as life before the win—working hard. The prize money has been put right back into the machine of making stories about issues we care about - what better way to spend money than on things you truly believe in.
