Jessica Cameron was born and raised in Owen Sound, Ontario in Canada and moved to Toronto to study fashion at Ryerson University. After finishing her degree she moved to Ohio to work as a fashion designer and in her spare time she decided to try an acting class. The acting bug bit, and Jessica decided to make acting her full time career.
In the last few years she has been cast in more then 50 projects including music videos, TV shows and feature films. In 2010 she won an industry award for being a Rising Movie Star.
We had a chance to catch up with Jessica during this years SXSW festival while promoting her upcoming film Truth or Dare to talk about the role of storage in the independent film circuit and its role in the creative process.
SeagateCreative: How does storage play a role in the indie film festival circuit? How has it changed over the past couple of years.
Jessica Cameron: Technology has changed so much over the past few years making it easier then ever to make a film, and also to screen them. Most film festivals now have access to the technology to broadcast straight from a portable drive, which enables the filmmakers to screen the highest resolution possible.
It also eliminates a lot of potential errors, I cannot tell you how often I have seen Blu-rays or DVD’s damaged at a film festival and unable to play. It’s heart breaking when it happens since often the film makers have promoted their films over the weeks and sometimes months beforehand only to be unable to screen their film due to disk error. Having a pocket drive eliminates the risk of error and is priceless.
SeagateCreative: Which piece of gear is your favorite for sparking creativity and why?
Jessica Cameron: I love playing around with cameras. Each one has its own strength and weaknesses, so it s important that the operator and the director understand both the limitations and the benefits. I used to love the art of still photography and that has progressed into a love of all cameras. The ability to capture a moment for a lifetime is wonderful.
SeagateCreative: How has that changed over the years, as technology has become more advanced?
Jessica Cameron: The biggest change over the years as of late for me is the price. It has never been cheaper or easier to get equipment for me (or anyone else) to make a movie. The more advanced technology becomes the more accessible it is to the masses, which I think is a good thing since there are so many stories that the studios are not telling.
SeagateCreative: How do you decide if an idea’s worth pursuing?
Jessica Cameron: Honestly, I just go with my gut. I am a film fan first, so chances are if I want to see it then I know I can pitch it to others. I think its important that the filmmaker love the film, since you will have to be engulfed by it for the next two years often from pre-production-to-distribution; sometimes a lot longer.
SeagateCreative: How important is portability in the film world, when it comes to gear?
Jessica Cameron: Portability is crucial especially to the independent filmmaker. Often I have many different hands working on my film, and working on an independent film means I don’t have studio budgets to spend getting post done all at one place, so I often have to piece it out depending on my contacts, their availability, work schedules and rates. I have to be able to pick my film up and take it to get worked on quickly and easily at a moments notice.
SeagateCreative: Walk us through the creative process on set?
Jessica Cameron: I am a huge fan of utilizing pre-production to it’s full advantage. This gives you time on set to be creative on top of getting the shots that you previously decided and what’s needed to make your film.
SeagateCreative: Are there rules while on the set? Anything forbidden?
Jessica Cameron: The most important rule on my set is simply to let everyone do the job that they are hired for. Too often while on set people confuse their jobs and this leads to conflict and disagreements.
On my set if you are an actor, you just have to worry about acting, make up will take care of their job, the DP (Director of Photography) will do theirs, and so forth. Telling someone else how to do his or her job is a BIG no no. It’s just not tolerated and I don’t find it professional. Other then that I try to remind everyone to just have fun, after all we are living the life that many consider a dream, so have fun with it!
Learn more about the film Truth or Dare at it’s official site or on.
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