Directing with Feeling: How Jeff Bednarz Became a Filmmaking Pirate

There’s always been an undercurrent of adventure to Jeff Bednarz’s filmmaking. The first time he picked up a camera - his friend’s Super 8 - he was running through a field near his home in Illinois, piecing together an ambitious music video to accompany Rush’s sci-fi prog-rock epic 2112. 

Today, the director has worked as far from home as it’s possible to get - from Haiti to Seoul - but that wide-eyed spirit of adventure remains just the same as ever. In his own words, he’s a filmmaking pirate - and his career follows one swashbuckling story after another. 

“Growing up in Illinois, music videos were an early inspiration”, recalls Jeff. “But I wasn’t thinking about film school at that time. It was a dream that didn’t quite feel accessible”. 

After graduating from college, however, Jeff became set on making film work as a career. And, following plenty of hard work and one lucky break, he got his first taste of life behind the lens. “To this day, I just love being on a film set”, he tells LBB. “It’s a team endeavour at its core - everyone from the director to PAs to key grips needs to be engaged and pulling in the same direction. I love that about film - my son is named after John London, one of the best key grips there ever was in LA”. 

It doesn’t take much time speaking with Jeff to figure out that this is a filmmaker who feels his craft on a deep level. And perhaps that’s why so much of his work feels real and authentic. From his award-winning documentary work to branded content for The Salvation Army, Yeti, Ram, Garmin and more, Jeff is a director whose work can’t be faked or imitated. 

The Real Deal 

When it comes to his advertising work, Jeff has a knack for placing products in their natural environment whilst maintaining a cinematic quality in the visuals. It’s a neat trick - you’re at once contextualising a brand in a way that makes it feel relevant to real life, whilst simultaneously elevating the visuals for a sense of elegance and aspiration and getting the best possible performances out of the acting talent in front of him. It adds up to work which blends storytelling with branding and, as the director acknowledges, it doesn’t come around by accident. 

“Authenticity is one of the most important things I’m looking for in commercial work, because modern audiences have an incredibly sensitive radar for knowing when something is fake, staged, or somehow cheated”, he explains. “So it’s critical for me in telling a story - even when that story might be about a product - that you don’t lose something by failing to be honest and true to whatever it is that you’re doing”. 

In an era of content over-saturation, a commitment to what’s real feels refreshing. That approach gives Jeff a unique perspective on technology in filmmaking, at a time when AI and virtual production appear to be changing the industry on a macro level. 

“I’m old enough to remember an animatronic Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, and you could somehow get a sense of disappointment in his eyes when he looked at Luke - it gives me goosebumps to think about now! But that’s a different planet to the kind of technology we’re able to play with now”, he says. “Yet at the same time, the fundamental objective of what we’re trying to do with this technology hasn’t really changed so much. We want truth, and we want great storytelling. If AI puts us into some kind of creative rut, that won’t be the technology’s fault - it will be ours”. 

When LBB asks Jeff whether access to technology like AI might have changed the way he got into the industry, his response is poignant. “If I had AI and a smartphone camera when I was running around Illinois as a kid, I don’t think I’d have been doing much differently”, he says. “I’d still have been trying to tell stories and make films the best way I could”. 

The Story Comes First

As far as a commitment to storytelling is concerned, Jeff has certainly walked the walk throughout his career. One such example, ‘Take Me To The Water: The Story of Pin Point’ is a short documentary film shining a light on a part of America which, at the time of its telling, wasn’t even recorded on a map. It’s that same sense of adventure that has always compelled Jeff to pick up a camera and ask questions - a spirit which has led to his own most enduring filmmaking memories.

Alongside that, his work for The Salvation Army is short, short, and uplifting - imbued with that same feeling of truth and reality that he’s held to throughout his career. 

“I remember getting a call asking me if I’d be interested in travelling to Haiti for another piece with The Salvation Army”, he recalls. “They told me beforehand that I won’t have seen anything like this before. I figured, well, I’ve been around the world and I’ve seen a lot - I’m sure it’s nothing that would completely blow me away… but oh, how wrong I was”. 

As Jeff recounts it, that trip to Haiti has left an indelible mark on him as a director and a person. “It changed me - it changed my perspective on life”, he says. “Seeing people in that environment was transformative, how they lived and the fundamental human kindness that flowed through the harshest of circumstances. It made me take my job very seriously, trying to communicate that - I wanted to transport people there. I wanted to make a film so real and tangible you could almost smell it!”

Again, those recurring themes of truth, authenticity, and adventure are never far from Jeff’s mind. His films feel real because he is a director who feels. Reflecting on his ability to tell unique stories such as in Pin Point and Haiti, LBB asks whether he feels he could weave an interesting story from the average Joe walking across the street. “Oh, absolutely I could”, he says. “Everyone has their story to tell - the emotions and the decisions that took them to where they are. It’s up to your vision and quality as a storyteller to grip people but, yes, I absolutely believe that every person on this Earth has a story worth telling”. 

That fundamental love of people extends to the film sets that Jeff is part of. “One of the things I’ve loved most about being in this business has been the opportunity to work with so many amazing people”, he reflects. “From creatives, actors to crew and everyone in between, there’s been too many amazing folks to mention who have brought their best to every project. That’s what makes what we do special”. 

For Jeff, it’s important to use every opportunity to take stock and appreciate the opportunities he’s had, whilst still keeping the next project in mind. Because, like any decent pirate, he’s still fixated on the horizon.