One Screen, One Mission

The One Club’s Jonathan Jirjis shines a light on the One Screen Film Festival

The One Club for Creativity’s One Screen Festival is in full swing, with submissions coming in from across the globe and from some surprising corners of the creative industry. Spearheaded by Jonathan Jirjis, the One Club’s resident video director and producer, One Screen aims to celebrate the filmmakers and animators whose paths often intersect with the world of advertising.

We managed to pull Jonathan away from his editing station just long enough to discuss the festival.

One Screen is a passion project of yours. How did it come about?

One Screen is a film festival that merges the film and advertising world onto one screen. Working in a predominately advertising-centric organization, I felt that there was a need to include more filmmaking and storytelling to The One Club for Creativity’s overall mission. The One Club has always been very receptive to suggestions from its staff and members, and so I pitched the concept of One Screen at our annual staff retreat some time ago. As you can see, we got the green light to proceed, and I’m happy to say that this will be our sixth exciting year.

How has One Screen evolved over the years?

One Screen began as a film festival “for creatives, by creatives”, with no client approval limitations and total artistic freedom. Its core idea was simple, concise and full of potential. We now have some of the top filmmakers and advertisers involved in so many ways. From top Academy Award-winning artists to students alike, our community has grown to something really amazing, with new elements being added each year.

This time around, we are proud to include a partnership between One Screen and Free The Bid. Diversity and inclusion plays such an important role in bringing the best creative films out to the world, and Free The Bid’s efforts to promote, showcase and elevate women directors in advertising and film made our partnership a no-brainer.

One Screen exists at the crossroads of film and advertising, and is open to a wide variety of artists. In your experience, what’s the difference in mindset between, say, a great commercial director, a great film director, a great animator or great music video director?

The core of any great idea, no matter what type of filmmaker we are talking about, is what kind of human emotional response you get from it. So in that regard, the mindset of each of these types of creatives all stem from the same place — human emotion.

It’s about the narrative. You need a compelling story to act as a fundamental foundation for great film. The true amazing films that I’ve seen in recent years know this. Once your idea is in place and your idea draws down on telling a story that affects human emotion, you can touch the hearts and souls of just about anyone.

Looking back over the years, what have been some of your favorite winning entries?

A film that stood out for me from last year was our 2016 Best of Show winner “Rocket Wars" [see above]. For the first time ever, documentary was awarded Best of Show. The cinematography, editing style and story is really next level.

I’d also like to call attention to our brilliant 2013 Best of Show winner, entitled “Voice Over.” What’s interesting about this one is that the director met a producer at the One Screen after-party. Both were short filmmakers at the time, but this chance meeting turned into a fantastic professional relationship, and they are now making big budget features together.

What kind of advice would you like to give to someone who hasn’t entered One Screen before?

If you’re looking to enter One Screen and don’t know if you should… stop asking and just do. Half the battle in the pursuit of success is just doing it. Film festivals are one of the top ways that industry professionals get to see new work.

One Screen is currently accepting submissions for its 2017 season. Final submissions are due June 30. Please visit onescreen.org for more information.