Meet Jacob Harding

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jacob Harding a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jacob, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
When I was twelve years old, I got an “iPod Touch 4th Gen” which was the first iPod with a camera. I made a very terrible Batman parody video with my childhood best friend called “Fatman”. That began a trend where every time I had friends over, we were making some sort of short sketch and then uploading them to YouTube.

After almost a year of doing that, I showed my mom our latest sketch which was probably terrible, but being the great mother she is she said, “Wow Jake! This is amazing! You know, you could do this for the rest of your life.” After she said that something just clicked in my brain, yeah I could do this for the rest of my life. I never looked back and pursed it over everything.

I don’t think it truly became my purpose until years later as I matured as a person and as an artist, but that was really the start of it. Having parents that pushed me and wanted me to chase my dreams helped me discover my purpose at a really young age.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a film writer/director, mostly working in the music video and narrative realms. It’s been my dream to be a filmmaker since I made my first YouTube sketch video at the age of twelve back in 2011, and I haven’t stopped running towards the goal.

Since moving to LA back in late 2020, I’ve been able to direct seven music videos and five short films, and have had four of my projects (“Withdrawal”, “Scene 25R”, “The Wailing Man”, and “CRY”) be shown in eighteen different film festivals.

Most of my projects have a particular focus on some sort of mental illness such as addiction, depression, self-harm, romantic trauma, and more. It’s extremely important to me to highlight these issues in a creative way that can deeply connect with people and help them feel less alone in their struggles. That goal has lead me into my next two projects: “Paralysis” and “It’s Okay, I Like Being Alone”.

“It’s Okay, I Like Being Alone” is a romantic drama feature I’ve been developing since I moved to LA and is focused on romantic trauma and the turmoil that can come with losing someone you expected to have for the rest of your life. Earlier this year my team and I ran a crowdfunding campaign through “Seed&Spark” to raise $18,000 for a concept short. Not only were we successful, but ended up raising $20,000 overall! That concept short will be going into production in early 2024.

“Paralysis” is a more recent development and is a psychological horror feature set in the late 1970’s with a focus on sleep paralysis, sleep walking, and nightmares. This project has been picking up quite a bit of steam and I’ve been meeting with multiple producers with the hope to go into production next year, so fingers crossed that will happen soon!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think the three most important qualities you should have are trust, dedication, and kindness. Really those are the three most important qualities for any position in film, but are extremely important for your career as a director.

Trust is important because if you don’t have that, your crew is going to collapse before you. You need to trust in the people you’re working with to do their jobs and that they are giving their all for the project, but it also goes the opposite way. You need to get your cast and crew to trust in you as the director, to believe in your vision, and to execute it properly. It’s for sure not an easy thing, but it’s going to make all the difference on set.

Without dedication, you’re not going to make it where you want. As much as we love this art form, it’s really easy to get beaten down by it. Especially right now with the strikes and all the changes in the industry, but if you truly love it and truly want to make some cool things within it then you need to stay dedicated. Take time to work on your art, even if it’s just a few days a month that’s more than a lot of people will ever do. Dedication at the end of the day is what will take you where you want to be.

Last but not least, kindness. It seems so small, but there’s plenty of people who fail in this area. Being kind to your cast, your crew, your peers, and most importantly yourself. It isn’t always easy, but it’s so important. I’ve seen how much of a difference it can make both in your art and how people perceive you.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Being overwhelmed as a filmmaker happens all the time, but as a director in particular it can be very bad. One bad moment from you can derail the rest of the day on set. What I often do is take a moment of alone time during the day or during the moment. Step aside and just really reflect on what’s going on. If you have more than a moment, listen to music that relaxes you. My go-to song is always “La Vie En Rose” by Louis Armstrong. If that still doesn’t work, talk with someone that you can be honest with. For me that’s usually my AD or my Producer. This goes back to what I said about trust. Having the right people around you to help you in those moments is so important. Never be afraid to talk with others about what you’re going through, they may just have the solution to the issue or may help you find it.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Joanna Adams (“Know Me”, “CRY”, “Second Choice”, and “image”) Kaity Allen (“The Wailing Man”)

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