Meet Jake. Owner and director of photography of One Spark Films. Self-confessed clean-freak. All around jock turned film connoisseur. Shared dreds with Jason Castro. Worked with Juno’s Jason Reitman. Patron of all things Austin. Watcher of Cartoons. Lover of Foo Fighters.

Sounds like someone you want to know. And he is.

We met at a coffee dive by the UT campus, a combo ethnic food restaurant and non-commercial coffee bar. He arrived on his bicycle, and I didn’t recognize him from his pictures because that day he had buzzed off all his hair. Despite his cyclist entrance, I would not have pegged him, from knowing his work, as the typical sports jock in high school; he told me in our interview that he was. But it was during a self-imposed break in his sports activities that Jake Hamilton discovered the world of filmmaking, and he never could have anticipated the path he would take to pursue this newly discovered passion.

Jake transitioned from football star to film buff when he, along with some friends, was “commissioned” to MC his high school’s talent show, and together they produced a spoof on how they were chosen as MCs for the show. He knew then that there was something special about filmmaking that drew him to it. “When we actually got to show the short at the talent show in front of hundreds of parents and students and see people laugh or sigh or whatever, it was moving to me. Then and there I knew there was something very attractive about film for me.”

At that point, however, Jake had chosen to attend Texas A&M, a school not particularly known for its arts endeavors. Jake admits that being an Industrial Engineering major made for “a long five years and it was difficult because I didn’t really care about what I was doing. I don’t regret it, but there was nothing there to just dive into to get film education. I really had to seek out ways to challenge myself and I ended up doing some projects on my own like sorority videos or high school highlight tapes.”

These individual projects affirmed Jake’s inclination to pursue film editing, and needless to say, it took a lot of initiative on his part to find opportunities to gain film experience while at A&M. Knowing that it would be a chance to pursue his passion, he approached the athletic department at A&M to help with their TV and commercial development. Jake says, “I did all those things just to continue to fuel that passion.”

Jake took all he could from his time spent in film production at A&M and then spent a few years travelling and working. He moved 12 times in the last two years! He worked as a tour guide in London and Paris, launched an office for a bike excursion company, and worked for the production company owned by Jason Reitman (director Juno) and Daniel Dubecki (producer Juno), as well as the production company owned by Sid Ganis, who is currently President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka “I’d like to thank the Academy”).

It was during his time in London that Jake started to question his job prospects upon returning to the states, and he says, “I really just started believing I’m ready to start pursuing film. I knew I was going to do it, but I didn’t know how I was going to make it work. And I still don’t know how I’m going to make it work, but it’s working and not by my own merit.”

So he landed right here in Austin, TX and began his production company, One Spark Films this fall.

Thus far the company has produced a music video, promos for Texas A&M and for a non-profit in Guatemala, a short film and a soon-to-be released documentary. All this work, including being the film editor, director of photography, and CEO of your own company requires a lot of discipline, but Jake doesn’t see it that way. He is so invested in his goal, that he had to make a pact with himself to leave his office at night so that his life will not solely be film editing.

At other times, Jake is happy not to pull himself away from his work since he is forced to watch films as part of his continuing education. “A lot of times people will call me and ask what are you doing? They will see that I’m just watching movies or video tutorials online, but I’m doing what I call ‘Discovery and Research,’ which is watching other people’s work. That’s studying for me. Watching movies, shorts and commercials and seeing how people do it behind the scenes, watching how they filmed this action sequence. To me that’s fascinating.”

Perhaps Jake’s biggest challenge lay in his vision for his new company. You see, One Spark is not just another film production company seeking to make a name for itself in the competitive world of filmmaking. Jake and his writer, director and all around partner in crime, Greg Kwedar, have structured One Spark so that they intentionally spend “a third of the time doing corporate stuff, a third doing short films and music videos, and the last third helping nonprofits because we want to help those in need and to make a difference in this world. Film is the way to reach our generation. It is the most connective media and so that’s where we both feel called to be.”

In other words, One Spark is a chance for Jake to invest in the world around him. “I don’t want to consume everything. It’s not there for me, I want to give back as much as I can, to get involved and help out the community, to give to the church, to this city and to the world. I hope that with film, I’m constantly serving; not only with the film, and whoever I’m filming for and what story I’m doing and what organization I’m working for, but also serving the people around me. It’s hard to do that and work, but there is no reason why it should be separate. Work and my beliefs should coexist. It takes a conscious effort to do that. Service is huge, huge.”

They certainly accomplished part of their vision with their most recently acclaimed short film “La Pluma,” shot in Guatemala while Jake and Greg went to the country to aid a non-profit there. Jake said, “They needed some media because like most non-profits they could use more help. So we went down and put together a short documentary and some promos for them.”

Jake and Greg blogged about their experiences in Guatemala while they were there and the non-profit saw record setting donations due to their efforts. Not only did they support and publicize a non-profit, but one short film that resulted from their trip has made it to the top ten of hundreds of submissions in an online film competition, scoring them $30,000 to produce a new film to submit for the final round of the competition.

So what does the future hold for our Jake Hamilton? Right now he is relishing his good fortune to be doing something he loves. Ten years from now Jake hopes, “I would have been to every continent and have worked on multiple projects working with nonprofits, doing short films, documentaries. I want to continue what I’m doing because it is purposeful. But I would like to be able to do some high-end commercials, to have a feature film that I’m developing or working on and everything I do I want it to serve others. So a feature length film from me is going to have a purpose.”

For now Jake is trying to develop his own style as a cinematographer/director of photography. “The most difficult thing is finding your own style in all of it. It’s easy to mimic people. But to have your own take on it, that’s a challenge. To create something that hasn’t been seen or done before. That’s a great challenge to create something different.”

It seems to me that Jake is as diverse as he hopes his company to be and that alone should make for a style all his own.

Check him out:

OneSparkfilms.com

His film “La Pluma” at thedoorpost.com

Feature photo courtesy of Daniel Davis.

Jake in Action

Jake@theinterview

Courtesy of Daniel Davis

www.danieldavisphoto.com