In our continuing series of quizzing those who have won before, we catch up with Jonas Mayabb, winner YDA in 2007.
Currently I am signed with Workhorse (http://workhorsemediatv.com/home.html) here in Santa Monica, California and Sparks (http://sparksproductions.com/directors/jonas-mayabb/) in Canada where some of my new more creative work can be viewed.
What were the key moments from winning at the YDA to the present?
The journey of becoming a filmmaker/director has been one I have pursued since I was 10 years old. The road has been full of twists and turns but the journey has been nothing short of compulsive. I’m not going to speak in clever soliloquies and I don’t know how to answer questions about what got me to this point except to say that I love what I’m doing and will stop when the love is gone. Hope that never happens.
What is the most valuable advice you have been given about film making?
A while back, a producer friend of mine said to me just before a shoot, “Enjoy the day”. Good advice! and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since. Not all of my work after winning the YDA has been creative, but I enjoy it all as I make my living as a director. Not too many can say that.
Who are the most inspirational directors for you?
I have written a screenplay that is epic in scale and hope one day to see it on the big screen. Just another goal to keep me climbing. and my Blade Runner collection I have been adding to since I was 10 has grown into a mini museum. I saw the workprint of Blade Runner in Colorado 1982. That day was what defined the rest of the days to follow. I have watched it almost every day since it was released on VHS. Mostly it just plays in the background as I work on anything and everything.
Of course after what I’ve just said about Blade Runner, Ridley Scott should be top on my list as inspirations. There are not many directors, designers, composers, etc… with any taste, but Ridley Scott has it all when it comes to design.
Some say Ridley Scott is pure design and lacks some storytelling skills, but as far as I’m concerned he is the master of mood. I hate when people try to copy this guy, I hate when I try to copy him. I’m so curious to know what makes this guy tick. I met him while he was directing ‘Matchstick Men’ behind the Lantana building in Santa Monica and I was surprised to find out how close Ridley Scott is to Blade Runner. Anyway, this is where my passions and interests lie.
http://vimeo.com/9062878What are you watching, reading, listening to? Where do you see ads or branding most?
I don’t watch regular tv anymore. I stay away from Facebook, I may as well be a Twitter Quitter as I rarely post. I watch a little Vimeo, read my NPR and News apps constantly, watch Netflix on my Apple TV, mix music on my iPad, and constantly add to my ref photo collection (my favorite images on the net, books, and mags) which is nearing one million.
I really dislike 1min, 30sec, 15sec, ads on the internet. It’s interesting how absolutely annoying this is. We watch plenty of them on television and seem to embrace them but try and get through an ad on Youtube and it’s like that scene out of Scanners where that guys head explodes. It’s just plain torture! I don’t see tv commercials being phased out because of the internet anytime soon.
If anything, I see the popularity of tv commercials growing and becoming more clued in. The internet is unbound and should be protected as if it were an endangered species. If I like an ad I’ll find it and watch it, that’s the beauty of good advertising and the internet. The viral craze has made stars out of average joe’s. Amazing!
http://vimeo.com/9009153
