The Essential List: Jamie Webster
Jamie Webster makes no false claims about being a foodie - aside from his daily green juice every morning, for him food is more about sustenance and getting what he needs. What he is into though is clothes - once upon a time we spotted him in a 'Toronto's Best Dressed' article - and he is a solid list of go-to brands.
He's a co-founder of and director at Common Good, the Toronto-based directing collective that's capable of live action, design, animation and VFX across film, television, digital media and experiential.
We tapped Jamie up for his Essential List. He obliged and wrote it from an outside pool in LA. We are jealous.
And be sure to keep your eyes peeled for a series of personal snaps from Jamie throughout.
Lifestyle
o Place of birth: Toronto
o Hometown: Currently Toronto, but it’s been Berlin, New York and the Cayman Islands for a while
o Staycation: My parents’ cottage up north
o Vacation: Tokyo, then take a trip to an onsen outside Kyoto for some down time.
o Pet: Never have, never will. Not into animals
o Place of work: Right now it’s poolside at the Roosevelt Hotel in LA. Nice vibes.
o Place of workout: In the ring training Muay Thai
o Side project: I always have at least one happening at any given time. o Lately I’m just trying to do more creative work with my wonderful lady Berkeley Poole. We’ve done short films, branding projects, art installations, clothing collaborations and even a recent Cannabis campaign.
o Mode of transport: Bike in the summer, whip in the winter.
o Bonus Travel Essential: My Contax T2 camera
Culture
o Artist: Jordan Wolfson, Paul Pfieffer, Matthew Barney
o Musician: Lou Reed, Bowie, The Knife, Wu Tang
o Commercials / music video director: Spike Jonze, Jonathan Glazer, Chris Cunningham, Fleur & Manu, Gustav Johansson, Martin De Thurah
o Film director: Kubrick, P.T. Anderson, Harmony Korine, Gus Van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Jörgen Leth
o Photographer: Viviane Sassen, William Klein, Nan Goldin, Tyrone Lebon, Jurgen Teller
o Film: My Own Private Idaho, The Five Obstructions, Kids, Irreversible, The Master, Royal Tenenbaums, A Clockwork Orange, Streetwise
o Series: The Wire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Planet Earth when I want to chilllllll
o Commercial: Mr. W
o Music Video: Rabbit in Your Headlights - Unkle feat. Thom Yorke
o Video Game: Not a gamer so I guess it would be Super Mario 3 on the original NES
o Board Game: Monopoly
o Book: Beautiful Losers, The Rum Diary, The Yage Letters
o Graphic Novel: I love anime but somehow I’m not into graphic novels.
o Podcast: Philosophize This, Public Announcement, The Tim Ferris Show
o Newspaper (off or online): The New Yorker
o Magazine: 032C, Novembre, Fantastic Man
o Bonus Culture Essential: N10.AS Radio
Food and Drink
o Breakfast: Shot of ginger and a green smoothie every day.
o Restaurant: 416 Snack Bar in Toronto, Lucien in NYC, Musso & Frank in LA.
o Cheap bite: Chopped Cheese sandwich, pho.
o Working lunch: I often skip lunch or only eat two meals a day. I like good food but it’s more about sustenance for me.
o Favourite Dish: When I was a kid my birthday dinner every year was Veal Parmigana, Fettucini Alfredo and an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.
o Signature Dish: Kraft Dinner… oh and I make a good breakfast sandwich. I’m a horrible cook.
o Snack: Whatever has been left in the fridge for three weeks or more and has likely already expired.
o Guilty Pleasure: Salt & vinegar chips.
o Bar: Dog & Bear in Toronto.
o Booze: A nice peaty scotch or a glass of Barolo.
o Not Booze: I obsessively drink smoothies and juice.
Kit
o Phone: iPhone X
o Computer: Macbook Pro, although Apple is REAAALLLLYYYY dropping the ball with a lot of their products lately
o TV: Samsung QLED
o Headphones: Bose Bluetooth
o Camera: Contax T2, Contax G1
o Soundsystem: Klipsch speakers and sub
o Pen / pencil: I love mechanical pencils… too many to list
o Where you document an idea: On whatever is closest to me. I always carry around a Maison Margiela moleskine but usually my ideas just end up in notes on my phone.
o Casual Clothing: I’m just going to list my favourite brands. Craig Green, OAMC, Affix, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme Des Garcons, Raf Simons
o Footwear: Converse x Comme Des Garçons high tops, Raf Simons x Adidas Ozweegos, Asics x Kiko Kostadinov runners, Calvin Klein 205W39NYC western harness boot.
o Watch: Saving up for a Rolex Presidential
o App: Artemis Director’s Viewfinder
o Blog: http://toomanydesign.tumblr.com/
o Work program: Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, Cinema 4D, and I probably use the Text Edit program more than anything else.
o Digital work tool: Wacom Tablet
Morning grooming / makeup essential: Moisturise with Triumph & Disaster facial cream.
