We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason & Blue a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jason & Blue, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

For the past 7 years we’ve been working on a feature length documentary called Dawn Dusk. The film follows Chelli Look, an artist specializing in leather handbags, who experiences overwhelming grief after the murder of her sister by her brother-in-law. In the years that follow, Chelli’s journey towards healing forces her to rediscover who she is as an artist, leading to an unexpected revelation that takes her in a new direction.

When we started filming Dawn Dusk, we originally thought we were making a short “maker” documentary about Chelli’s work, the art of leather bag design, and creation. We’ll never forget that first coffee meeting with Chelli where we asked her how she got her start as a designer and she unexpectedly answered with the story of her sister’s murder and her journey to forgiveness. Though we didn’t have the words for it at the moment, we knew we had stumbled into a story that was much more special than a short piece for our portfolio. We patiently let the story unfold and we ended up with a 92 minute documentary.

It is hard to encapsulate how meaningful this film has been for us. The heart of the story is something we are especially passionate about. Dawn Dusk is a story of choosing forgiveness in an impossible situation, and the freedom that forgiveness brings.

The impact the film has had on our career and development of our artistic voices has also been incredibly rich. The chance to work on something so consistently without the expectation or deadlines from clients allowed us to experiment and grow in our storytelling. Now, we take so much of those learnings into our current projects.

You can see a trailer and learn more about Dawn Dusk at dawnduskfilm.com. We’ve recently partnered with Buffalo 8 for distribution who will be releasing the film sometime later this year. We have a Dawn Dusk newsletter also on the website which is the best way you can keep up to date with us.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We are Blue & Jason, a filmmaking duo. We work as a directing team for many projects but also have our own individual pursuits. We make our living directing commercials and advertisements for brands big and small. We’ve directed commercials for Walgreens, 7UP, Scotch-Brite, Meiomi Wine, Chipotle, Intelligentsia, LOEWE and more; our heart for human stories can really be seen in some of our non-profit work for orgs such as The Boys & Girls Clubs, GE Girls, Athletes Unlimited, and XQ.

We’re quite adaptable in how we work. Production companies often hire us to direct projects for agencies and clients they work with but we also have our own production entity and often take projects from early development all the way through post production and delivery.

As well as commercials, we also make films. Our feature doc, Dawn Dusk, is set to be released digitally on all platforms this year.

Another meaningful film we’ve directed is a short film called Otis’ Dream. It tells the true story of Otis Moss Sr. in 1946 as he walked 20 miles to 3 separate polling places in rural Georgia in an attempt to exercise his right to vote. Unfortunately, he was turned away at each polling place and was never able to cast his vote but his children went on to be highly involved in the civil rights movement. The film is narrated by three generations of Otis’ descendants and is designed to start conversations about voter suppression. It debuted during the months leading up to the 2020 election and was shared by Oprah as an official Super Soul Sunday short film. The film has inspired thousands of black families to discuss their own experiences with voting and inspired so many to exercise their right to vote in local and national elections.

Finally, we each have multiple feature film and television concepts we are developing as well and hope to make headway towards production in the coming year. Every project is different and we’re looking to grow our narrative filmmaking community and find the right partners for each respective script.

The story might be different from project to project but our heart for honoring the story remains consistent. We always aim to leave an impact on the hearts and minds of audiences. Filmmaking is an emotional and powerful experience. Translating what we see to the screen is always so lifegiving and we hope it’s lifegiving to those watching it.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Everyday people consume an enormous amount of art. Too often that art is consumed without thought, intention, or realization that it was meaningfully made. The way you intake art matters! First, it is good to remind yourself that a poem, painting, photograph, film, song, piece of furniture, or even an entire building was created or designed by a human, an artist.

An empathetic audience who is aware of the artist behind the work is bound to experience that art with more care. This care can manifest in many ways. Perhaps you go to the theatre to see a film rather than waiting for a digital release. Or you go to a local gallery to see a work rather than scrolling by a photo of it on social media. Ask yourself, what is the artist’s ideal way for me to experience their work? If I was sharing something I made, wouldn’t I want people to experience it well?

Art also has monetary value. It takes a lot of time, effort, and expertise to make something of quality. Pay for art! Buy paintings from your painter friend. Subscribe to your friend’s poetry Substack. Rent the movie, don’t pirate it. If you are a brand or business and you are commissioning an artist or designer to work, be generous. Remember that you are not just paying for the materials, you are paying for expertise, for years of dedication to learn a craft. You might pay a lot, but you’ll almost certainly get more than what you pay for.

As AI comes into prevalence, be careful with what you decide to replace. AI is trained on the collective expertise of humans. Use it wisely and hold people accountable for how they use it. Let AI work to improve your efficiency, let it automate your mundane tasks but don’t credit a computer with the work that makes us human.

Nearly everything you see and interact with is touched by an artist. The logo on your pretzel bag, the layout of your company stationary, the shape of your coffee cup; all thought up in someone’s mind first. Remember this and lead with empathy and intention as you engage with the world.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

We are artists, more specifically film directors. We did not set out to start a small business but soon realized that we were inherently a small business as a pair of freelancers. Eventually, we decided to expand beyond directing-for-hire into the world of producing. This shift was originally designed to simply make way for us to create the projects that we wanted to create, and we found that producing them ourselves was the simplest way for us to get where we wanted to go as an artist. What we didn’t realize would happen as we became producing directors is the impact it would have on our crew, clients and collaborators. As producing directors, we get to hire good people for projects and pay them well. We can choose to work on projects with a meaningful impact on communities who need it. Networking is no longer just about who can hire us, but also about who we can hire for a project.

Our feature doc, Dawn Dusk, has been an incredibly rewarding story to tell as artists and filmmakers. Over the course of the 7 years it took to make the film we got to be a therapeutic witness to Chelli as she processed through grief, healing, and artistic discovery. We were able to capture meaningful moments and stories from artists and heroes working in social justice and put them to screen. During the film’s festival run we have been approached by so many people telling us how personally meaningful the film was to them. We’ve heard so many positive responses from viewers who are going through their own healing and forgiveness journeys, and the film has even caused some to have revelations about the domestic safety of themselves or loved ones.

This duality of creating a platform that allows us to direct and create while also impacting communities is a gift.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jasonandblue.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/jasonandblue
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonandblue

Image Credits

Grainy photo of Jason & Blue with a camera – Bolora Munkhbold
Remaining photos by Jason & Blue