Musically Sculpting Worlds and Honouring Ancestral Ghosts with Anthony Jamari Thomas

Brooklyn born and raised, Anthony Jamari Thomas - now a director at New York-based production company Scheme Engine - started out in the world of fashion, working for luxury brands like Gucci and Commes des Garcons and creating media for Who Decides War, Theophilio and Carter Young. 

Despite complaining occasionally at the time, Anthony now reflects and says his nearly 10 years working in retail brought him challenges and friendships that helped propel his learning and early filmmaking career. “It was like gym training for where I am now... I am very thankful to Mamdou and Minx, Carter Young, Barter and Lara Taubman for seeing something [in me] early on and having faith.”

Anthony’s work today is “a peculiar mix of hyper-realism, rhythm and satire”; inviting yet discomforting, self-described as in the vein of director and inspiration, Yorgos Lanthimos. Often using portraiture to expose the full dimensions and complexities within the simplicity of life, he explores how people co-exist - in the surreal and the mundane alike. “I guess that’s where God comes into my work, that spiritual sense you feel lives there.”

At Scheme Engine, he’s written, directed and shot stills for Air Jordan, collaborated with Spotify’s in-house creative team on three spots with Keke Palmer, Summer Walker, and Victoria Monet, and worked on the NFL’s ‘My Cause My Cleats’ campaign with 72andSunny.

Outside of commercial work, Anthony directed the short film ‘Hood Prophets’ in 2021, an intimate portrait of first generation West African creatives, their Islamic heritage and the Harlem community, and has had photography exhibited at Museo Del Barrio, the National Black Theatre and Dover Street Market Los Angeles. He has also released three publications: ‘LAMB’ (2018), ‘Fragmented Stream of Consciousness’ (2020) and ‘Life Before’ (2021), published by adidas Skateboarding. 

Anthony’s earliest creative memories come from his time as a member of the church choir, where his late aunt ensured he attended every rehearsal, recital and usher meeting. This was a stark contrast to the “controlled chaos” of his Jamaican-American home life, with Barry White playing, fish frying and “colourful language” racing through the phone lines. 

“My mother kept reggae playing in the house whenever she could. I think this was partly my [Jamaican] dad’s influence, but also my mother’s ability to dance. She can bust a crazy wind if you get her started!” He continues, “Growing up Jamaican in Brooklyn was fire because you hit all of the house parties and knew every single dance, while being with people who move, enjoy music and sharing space just as much as you do.”

It’s these years in New York, navigating his art and the industry that’s given him an unabashed courage in presenting his ideas, as well as an ability to always remember the tempo, and never lose the beat. 

[Above: Barriers - Trailer for 'I Thought About Giving You Some Game' (dir. Anthony Jamari Thomas)]

When it wasn’t reggae playing in the house, it was R&B - an influence that even took Anthony to the audition rooms of ‘America’s Got Talent’. Music now informs his creative process, which often starts with a project’s score. “Music lives as one of the active agents of sculpting the world in my work,” he says, laughing, “I often joke that maybe we should just drop the music and leave the visuals for later!”

He adds, “I’m obsessed with finding that moment when the music and the image interlock. It’s a beautiful thing and has given me so much courage in my editorial choices. The more I can experiment with sound - either with vocals or creating scores from unexpected elements - that’s where I am most at home. Partner this with bomb ass visuals, and we have a winning product.” 

One of these big winners - and a personal favourite for the director - is his recent campaign for Spotify’s RNB X playlist. His first time filming in LA, he quickly found his feet and created something he says is “a full expression” of his DNA. Additionally, he notes ‘OKOMFO’, a movement-focused editorial project, and ‘VIBE’, a music film for Paris-based artist LOFTBLUE, as other recent moments of pride.

[Above: Spotify - 'RNB X']

An element that has become more instrumental in his directing journey over time is grief, drawing especially from the losses his family suffered between 2018 and 2021. One of these people was his aunt, a significant supporter of his artistry who gave Anthony his first studio and helped foster his love for literature and more.

“These losses damaged me significantly but also provided something intangible and spiritual that I couldn’t really place my finger on until I started creating art. Before film, I was fixated on photography as the mode to immortalise my lost ones and eventually found film had the power to do the same. This blossomed into creating work that I saw as monuments, altars for those I lost and those who are still living.” 

He continues, “I feel like everything I do has the breath of grief inside of it. I grieve when I smile, I grieve when I invent, I grieve when I imagine. It’s a process that I’ve come to know well and use as a means of exploration for myself and, of course, my work. There are always little ancestral ghosts walking around my work. I see them - when I notice them, I nod, you know? [To] give the spirit some acknowledgement.” 

As well as his own predecessors, Anthony also takes inspiration from his creative forerunners, describing Yorgos Lanthimos and Ruben Ostlund as his “EU sensei duo”, and the works of Lars Von Trier and Spike Lee as having permanent real estate in his head. “As far as television,” he adds, “I am still in awe of the writing structure of ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’... So yeah, I’m studying, knee-deep here. In terms of commercial adverts, I’m really feeling Leigh Powis, Abdou Cissè, Valentin Petit (RIP) and City James. 

Looking toward the horizon as 2024 enters February, Anthony says he has a few upcoming projects that will give him goosebumps in due course, and a sensation of freedom that he’s eagerly anticipating.

One of these goals includes strategising towards another short film - already set on an idea that will honour his mother. “Additionally, [I’ll be] growing with Scheme Engine, making some genre-bending stuff from adverts to personal projects, and gaining more clarity on the business of the commercial world,” he says. 

“I’m still learning how to exist in this system as a newly established director but definitely want to keep hitting my reps and grow - hopefully 2024 lands us some opportunities to do so. Oh yeah,” he laughs, “and a car commercial!”