Today we're excited to be joined by Valentina Vee!

Valentina Vee is an LA-based director and cinematographer, originally from Kazakhstan. She started her career as an assistant director for movies like Eric England’s “Get the Girl” and has directed and shot a variety of film and video projects, including "Dracula's Ex-Girlfriend," a Nebula Original. She has also directed and shot two seasons of famed photographer Elia Locardi’s travel show “Moments in Time.” Her commercial clients include Google, Meta, Nike, Adobe, Sony Pictures, and Dell. Valentina likes to create content that raises awareness for causes, encourages positivity, and promotes diversity in front of (and behind) the camera. 

Valentina is also a big supporter of the Entertainment Community Fund, a non-profit that provides a vital safety net and resources for professionals in the performing arts and entertainment industry, including actors, dancers, musicians, and behind-the-scenes workers. It offers emergency financial aid, affordable housing, healthcare counseling, career development, and senior care, ensuring stability and supporting the cultural vibrancy of the U.S. by addressing the unique challenges faced by these creative professionals. It provides financial assistance, housing, and healthcare to more than 17,000 individuals each year.

You can learn more by going to entertainmentcommunity.org

A masterful storyteller, Henry Hobson is known for his epic narratives that challenge and engage the senses. From concept to edit, he creates richly cinematic story worlds that explore the depths of the human psyche using powerful character-driven performances.

His award-winning body of work includes spots and campaigns for Adidas, Apple, Audi, Gillette, Pepsi, PlayStation, Reebok, the Marines, Under Armour, Xbox, and others. He has earned awards ranging from Cannes Lions, D&AD Pencils, AICP awards, and One Show accolades to a Director of the Year nomination by Shots magazine. 

Henry’s feature directorial debut, Maggie co-starting Arnold Schwarzenegger and Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin, received praise at the Toronto, Tribeca, and Berlin Film Festivals. 

Henry is a big supporter of the non profit Women for Afghan Women. It’s a grassroots civil society organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of disenfranchised Afghan women. To learn more about ways to help, visit https://womenforafghanwomen.org.

Welcome back to The FilmUp Podcast - we are excited to kick off Season 6 with the talented Enora Hope. Enora is a 25-year-old French-American filmmaker, writer, and director. Self-taught, she began using digital platforms as her entry point into the film industry. Her short film The Last Wave, which explores domestic violence and the silence surrounding abusive relationships, received an award at the Nikon Film Festival. She also directed Kallisti, a near-future anthology short examining technology, control, and emotional dependency. Enora is currently developing her first international feature film and a television series, with work focused on social issues and the impact of technology on human relationships. With a combined following of over 2 million users.

Enora Hope is also a big supporter of the Malala Fund, a non-profit dedicated to championing every girl’s right to 12 years of education. By investing in civil society organisations who are challenging the systems, policies and practices that prevent girls from going to school in their communities, the Malala Fund complements their efforts by advocating to expand and protect girls’ right to secondary education and secure resources for education.

You can learn more by going to malala.org

Today we are thrilled to be joined by Azazel Jacobs!
Son of filmmaker/artist Ken and Flo Jacobs, Azazel was raised in New York City surrounded by important and innovative artists. He received his Bachelor’s and his Master’s from the American Film Institute. Notable credits include directing two episodes of the Facebook series Sorry For Your Loss starring Elizabeth Olsen, and three episodes of Amazon’s Golden Globe winning series Mozart in the Jungle, for which he was a consulting producer in its final season. He recently directed an episode of Amazon’s upcoming series “The Better Sister”, starring Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks.
He’s had multiple films premiere at sundance including Momma’s Man in 2008, Terri starring John C Reily in 2011. He has wrote and directed a film called The Lovers for A24 starring Debra Winger and Tracy Letts.
His film “French Exit” had it’s world premiere as the closing night film for the New York Film Festival and it’s international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Released domestically by Sony Pictures Classics in 2021, it earned a Golden Globe nomination for Michelle Pfeiffer’s lead performance, which Variety proclaimed is “the role which she will be remembered for
And his latest film, “His Three Daughters”, was released by Netflix in September of 2024 in select theaters before streaming globally. The film- which he wrote, directed, edited, and was a producer on- stars Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon in performances that have been widely hailed as amongst their best.
Our Guest today is a big supporter of Planned Parenthood., a non-profit that provides sexual health care in the United States and globally. You can learn more by going to https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

Nicholas Jacobson-Larson is a Los Angeles-based musician and screenwriter. He is is Michael Buble’s musical director, arranger and conductor. With Michael, he has collaborated with a diverse array of artists and producers including Paul McCartney, Jon Batiste, Jason Derulo, Willy Nelson, Hannah Waddingham, Jimmy Fallon, Leon Bridges, Greg Wells and Bob Rock.

As a film composer, he has written scores for the Oscar-winning QUEEN OF BASKETBALL, and dozens of other films directed by Ben Proudfoot for Breakwater Studios and the New York Times. He has also composed scores for Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, Annapurna Pictures, FX, Syfy, Now This, Funny or Die, Red Bull, Unity, Stept Studios, Microsoft, Oakley, The North Face, Columbia, Charles Schwab, and others.

As a conductor, Nicholas has led recording sessions for LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND (Netflix), AMERICAN CRIME STORY (FX), THE HATE U GIVE (Twentieth Century Fox), and many other film and television projects, as well as live concerts

As a screenwriter With his writing partner Dalton Leeb, Nicholas wrote the screenplays for ENDURANCE (Netflix), HOT WHEELS (Warner Bros), THE FALL (Amblin), and THE FISHERWOMAN (Stampede) directed by Brian Kirk and starring Emma Thompson, Judy Greer and Marc Mancheca. THE FISHERWOMAN is currently in production for a 2025 release.

The duo also wrote the 2017 Blacklist script, STRONGMAN, and have multiple other film and television projects in development.

Nick is also a big supporter of the LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT EDUCATION FOUNDATION specifically the arts and music education, a non-profit that is committed to equitable arts access. Supporting the expansion of music and arts programs changes students' lives.

You can learn more by going to https://lausdedfoundation.org/

Today we are thrilled to be joined by Michael J Ferns!

Michael J Ferns has been obsessively making films since he was just 12 years old… with a “Best Director” Scottish BAFTA already under his belt by the age of 16. Starting out in TV entertainment and drama, (with two further BAFTA nominations) He has a natural ability to tell performance-led stories that has translated into his commercial work, having directed global campaigns for some of the world's biggest brands (Dove, Wren, Domino's, Budweiser, LinkedIn, Johnny Walker to name just a few). Blending cinematic photography with dynamic camera movements, he’s quickly becoming a very sought after name in the world of commercials in both the UK and beyond. He also has a feature film in development with some exciting people attached.

Michael is also a big supporter of the The Weekend Club a non profit which organizes community and connection events for refugees and asylum seekers in his home city of Glasgow Scotland

American internet celebrity, filmmaker, VFX artist, podcaster, and competitive gamer, Freddie Wong!

He is an award-winning film and television director with over a decade of experience behind the camera, specializing in action, comedy, and the occasional horse. He is best known for creating the viral, three-season cult classic Video Game High School, as well as the Hulu productions Dimension 404 and the incredible sRocketJump: The Show. Most recently, his feature film We’re All Gonna Die premiered at SXSW in 2024. Additionally, he can be heard on the popular tabletop RPG podcast Dungeons & Daddies.

Freddie is a big supporter of - NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. You can learn more by going to https://www.nami.org/

Are you a fan of Mr. Beast or his latest show on Amazon, Beast Games? Well then you are going to love our next guest! Please welcome Jason Elliott to The FilmUp Podcast.

With 21 years of industry experience, he started from the ground up as a cable wrangler and worked his way through nearly every aspect of video production. His expertise spans live events, ENG, multicam, sports, commercial, food, short and long-form narratives, reality, and IRL content.

In late 2021, he joined MrBeast when the channel had 65 million subscribers. At the time, there was no formal camera team—only freelancers. He became the head of Camera for MrBeast’s main YouTube Channel where built and led the team, introducing new techniques and technology that helped shape its evolution. By the time of his departure, the channel had grown to 353 million subscribers.

His latest accomplishment was serving as the Series DoP for Beast Games which is the largest competition show ever created. He worked to redefine competition TV, blending genres and crafting something entirely new.

Jason is a big supporter of - Sharing Excess a non-profit that is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that uses surplus food to address food insecurity. You can learn more by going to: https://www.sharingexcess.com/

Arielle Zakowski is a film editor whose most recent movie, Sean Wang’s DÌDI (弟弟), won the Audience Award at its Sundance Film Festival premiere and was released theatrically to much critical acclaim. Arielle’s previous film, Sony Pictures’ screen-life thriller MISSING, was a massive creative editorial undertaking that earned nearly $50 million at the box office. Arielle also has extensive experience in documentary editing - she cut Dan Chen’s Emmy-nominated feature doc ACCEPTED, as well as David Gelb’s WOLFGANG for Disney - both of which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. She has also edited episodes of the Netflix shows CHEF’S TABLE, MAKING A MURDERER, and TRIAL BY MEDIA. Arielle has spent over a decade in the commercial/music video world where she was named a Rising Star in the industry by Shots Creative. Her short form work has been recognized by the Cannes Lions, the Emmys, and film festivals around the world.

Arielle is also a big supporter of the Our Big Kitchen LA which makes and distributes meals to the food insecure around Los Angeles.

You can learn more by going to https://woodstocksanctuary.org/

Jordan Brady has directed four feature films, (“Dill Scallion”, “Waking Up In Reno”) three full-length documentaries (“I Am Comic” trilogy), one Netflix comedy special (Maria Bamford) and 1300 commercials.

A stand-up comedian in a prior life, he’s credited with originating the now-ubiquitous phrase “Bow Chicka Bow Wow” in the 80’s. In the 90’s, he hosted game shows on MTV, NBC and Comedy Central. His short return to stand-up was in 2016 to perform in Afghanistan for our U.S. troops while filming ""I Am Battle Comic."" Brady donated 100% of the profits from the film to veterans and military families.

He’s the founder of both True Gent & Commercial Directing Film School and hosts the filmmaking podcast "Respect The Process."

Jordan is also a big supporter of the Team Rubicon - a non-profit that is an all veteran/all volunteer disaster response team.

You can learn more by going to https://teamrubiconusa.org/