The Work That Made Me: Jackie Abraham

Jackie Abraham made his directorial debut in 2021 with a salty little one-act for Mike’s 'Hard Lemonade'. Hailed by critics as a “can’t miss” in the :15 second-spot genre, it was deemed “a fantastic contribution to the ether of alcoholic beverage marketing.” He was never a violent crimes investigator with the Baltimore Police Department.

LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…

Jackie> ‘Days Go By’ for Dirty Vegas, directed by the collective Blue Source, which was made up of Rob Leggatt and Leigh Marling (I had to IMDB that). I’ve always loved that music video. So simple. Emotive. It stuck with me for sure. Mel Culligan actually produced that video, which is crazy to think about because, you know, that’s my EP. 

Also, Michel Gondry for The Vines. I love it so much. Rock and roll. 

LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…

Jackie> I’ve never actually gotten up on a music video. Never got the right song for the go-ahead. But I do adore Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Karma Police’ for Radiohead. So simple, so beautiful. Perfect. That always made me want to try my hand at this thing we do. 

LBB> The creative work that I keep revisiting…

Jackie> Currently, my editor Cam Lasovich (Saints Editorial) and I are working on a series of :15 second bumpers for a fictitious album entitled Lady Tennessee. It’s for the artist Briston Maroney - a musician from Knoxville, TN. But for some reason, we just can’t seem to crack the cuts. Lotta revisions. Like, “God dammit,” you know? 

LBB> My first professional project…

Jackie> I honestly don’t remember. I think it was an ad for Persona Nutrition - pills, diet supplements, or something like that. Lived under the Nestle umbrella. 

LBB> The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…

Jackie> I don’t typically get angry over short-form content. A lot of presumably single guys with no culinary experience seem to be reviewing food items in their cars…but that’s more of a ‘why are we like this?’ type of vibe. No, I don’t think I’ve ever been angry. 

LBB> The piece of work that still makes me jealous…

Jackie> Nadia Lee Cohen recently dropped a campaign for Dsquared2 inspired by the on-set dynamic and aesthetic of 90s porn. It’s an excellent example of weaving together humour and beautiful visuals. Her composition, framing, style, and performance - all of it existing in one shot. Nadia forever.  

LBB> The creative project that changed my career…

Jackie> Hm. I’d say a Zoom Call with Mel Culligan. Don’t know if it qualifies as a creative project, but, “Hell yeah,” you know? 

But Jack, what’s the backstory? Liane Thomas, my EP at Skin & Bones Film (who I love dearly, even though she yells a lot, like way too much), convinced me to do an ad for Pur Gum. I made this ad. Liane and I yelled at each other the entire time, from start to finish. Mel Culligan saw the ad and called Liane to ask about Jackie Abraham (that’s me).

Then Liane called me and yelled at me some more. The ad for Pur Gum led me to Mel Culligan, who led me to Epoch, which changed my career. The chewy stuff, you know?

LBB> The work that I’m proudest of…

Jackie> CHOSEN - a character study on my dear friend, Matthew Eisen. We grew up together. It’s been 20+ years of friendship at this point. He works in construction and real estate development. This is a guy who has been up and about for five hours by the time I roll out of bed and have a coffee. He hates that.

He’s not the biggest ‘short film’ guy, so the fact that he let me film him for 10+ hours… I’m grateful to him. And I simply adore that work. It was just me and my pal, DP Shady Hanna. We almost quit after lunch. We’d eaten some really bad pizza - super doughy, not a great sauce - we lost the light, the clouds came in, and we were just spent.

At one point, we thought, ‘Ok, should we just call it?’ I’m glad we didn’t. We finished strong. And I had so much fun. We made something out of nothing. And by nothing, I mean my best friend - I love that one. 

You can watch the full film here. 

There’s also Pho Tien Thanh - this was my Vietnam. Literally. 

I used to live on top of a pho restaurant in downtown Toronto. And, at the height of the pandemic, one of the managers started to stay in the restaurant after hours, singing karaoke until the wee hours of the morning. Tuan and his wife started Pho Tien Thanh hoping for a better life, and it worked. They found it. They carved one out for themselves.

But Tam, Tuan’s brother-in-law, loved to sing. Son of a bitch. He kept me up night after night. And no matter how many times I went downstairs (February in Canada, mind you), he just never seemed to understand that I could not sleep if he was singing… 

Things turned violent one night, and Tam threatened my life. Pounding on my door at 4 AM: “Face me!” I decided to fight back the only way I knew how—a short film. I pitched Tuan a micro-doc on his restaurant to boost business amidst a volatile COVID economy, but really, the plan was to boost business and win over the hearts and minds of the family, turning them against Tam and, in effect, isolating him. Then, when the time was right, I’d strike and – you know what, here’s that film.

LBB> I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…

Jackie> Oh my god - we did a shoot once for this brand, basically an online platform whereby pregnant women and new moms can buy/sell/swap baby gear. I think the copywriter had brain diabetes or something like that. I believe she also might’ve harboured communist sympathies. Ties to the Kremlin, that type of thing.

I begged them not to shoot outside. I begged them to keep it simple. I begged them to keep the cast small and contained. They scripted out five moms pushing strollers, and we had no babies. They emailed me the night before the shoot to ask if I could “fake a baby.” I almost quit directing entirely. Also, it rained. 

LBB> The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…

Jackie> Probably a short called Chest Day, which I shot with my dear friend and longtime collaborator Stefan Delmedico. 

My first VFX job - it’s about a guy on a bench press whose chest opens up and reveals a tiny version of himself inside of his chest, painting a chest (oil on canvas). It’s my take on Steve Ayson - trying anyway.