George Jaques’ Promising Advertising Debut
A trio of old timers, chatting about the fourth in their group over a few pints. The pub is mostly quiet, and the white-grey light of the late afternoon comes through the window. A few jokes are exchanged – “That stingy ol’ fella?!,” exclaims one of them after coming to find out that the fourth man in their friend group has donated to charity Concern. One joke after another, the trio laughs through their emotions, as the audience comes to find out this is their own, special way of bidding their late friend goodbye.
This was the endearing, dialogue-led performance that led me to want to speak to its director, George Jaques – an actor turned director and rapidly rising in the UK’s production scene, by all the evidence provided of his raw, emotional work.
George himself sees his path into the industry an unconventional one. “I was 16, and sadly my friend overdosed which really shook us all up,” he shares. “I didn’t know how to feel. I think we were all confused. When you’re at that age, you feel indestructible, so this was just not right.”
The emotion from what had happened eventually came out in the form of a play. George had never written before, but in that moment it came as a form of therapy. “I could just write everything I felt as this pubescent, weird, confused, sad teenager.”
Before he knew it, he had a script ready, and as it often does, it took one faithful school teacher to believe in your ambition.
“He introduced me to his friend, who was a script editor. I met him and he read my play. He asked if I was 'writing it to be good, or for my friends'. I said, 'To be good'. So he told me to 'Rewrite the whole fucking thing!'."
So naturally, George did, and that was the beginning of, well… everything. George created ‘Dilate’ which ended up being the first play that launched him into a career he never knew he wanted.
“I found a group of young actors all from different backgrounds, who wanted to be in the play. I started my production company, Athenaeum Productions. I put the play on in an abandoned railway arch in London Bridge, and it was fully sold out. I think back to this now and I see how brave and bold it was, but I just didn’t know that it wasn’t the usual way back then. I was 16 and just wanted to tell stories.”
Later, Sky ended up sponsoring George’s second theatre show and he had his writing staged at The National Theatre, all before finishing school.
Telling stories, though, comes in many different shapes, so George soon found himself drawn to acting too. And with some luck, plus the hard work and talent, he got to work with an incredible array of actors and directors, learning from them along the way by “quietly observing.”
He tells me about watching Jude Law and Samantha Morton work, remaining “utterly kind,” no matter the circumstances. These learnings are something George carries todayas a director.
“To be a director is a huge responsibility. I want to be kind to everyone on set and build genuine connections with my cast and crew. And of course, understanding performance and emotion in front of the camera allows you to translate them behind it.”
The lessons gained from his acting career led to George abiding by a specific process when directing. He tells me he knows how to speak “the actor language.” But also, takes his time to ask how they like to receive notes. “We have a shorthand by the time we’re on set, because I do so much character work with them prior to shooting. There’s a mutual trust and we have a lot of fun,” he says.
“I work with actors who live their work and that’s all it is for us. It’s about taking the work seriously, but not ourselves. That’s how you get the magic.”
All this magic is easily observed in George’s debut feature film, ‘Black Dog’ – another project that changed a lot for the young director.
“I wrote ‘Black Dog’ with Jamie Flatters from ‘Avatar 2’ when we were 18 and feeling young in a very adult industry,” George says. He directed and produced the film when he was 22, which later premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and was nominated for The Sutherland Award (Best Debut Director). Now, it’s on Amazon Prime and Apple+.
But, the process of making ‘Black Dog’ “nearly broke” George. “We made it for such a small amount of money,” he explains. “Feature films are so tough.”
‘Black Dog’ is 96 minutes long and George quickly calculates that this could be anything from 192 to 48 full ads, but it was still shot on “a fraction of the budget” one would get for a single commercial.
Filming itself felt like a coming of age experience, especially since it spanned George’s last teen years and went into his early twenties. It was tough, but it also got him through some of his own tough times.
“You know, it’s quite cathartic to look back at the person and creative I was then,” he tells me. “And see myself now. I get emotional, because there’s so much of me in there and I’ve learned so much since finishing it. I am beyond proud of it and the incredible team I had on it.”
A common denominator in George’s work is emotional integrity. The stories he yearns to tell are just close enough to touch, and the characters feel as if they’re old friends – the screen between you and them nearly disappears. Evident from his last project for Concern, which was also his first venture into the commercial world, George wants to tell stories that make people “laugh and cry.”
He says: “I don’t mind the genre. But finding heart in the story is so important. That’s why when I spoke to agency Don’t Panic I instantly knew ‘Stingy Ol’ Fella’ was the perfect launch for my career in commercials.”
But what makes a film strong enough emotionally to be able to truly make you laugh, and cry? According to George, it’s everything – from the way the camera moves, to the edit, to the sound. He says that for him, the key is empowering his crew to have and use all the tools they need to fulfil their process.
In Concern’s case, when George was awarded the job a brilliant script was already in place, but he knew he could wring a lot of emotion out of it.
“I sat with the team at Don’t Panic and we evolved it together,” he says. “It was so fun. In the end we had this script we all knew worked, which sounds obvious, but isn’t always the case. I then knew it was an actor’s piece.”
Casting was crucial for the project, so George knew there was no space for mistakes – especially in a story told in one scene, through a short dialogue at the pub. It had to be genuine while heartfelt, emotional but not cheesy.
When George finally settled on all three, he worked with them to “dream up the characters’ full lives,” equipped with backstories and personality traits. This was of course fed to the costume designers and wider teams. “This is what makes these characters feel like real people. Like three old friends.” In the end, the length of the project didn’t matter – all that mattered was that George had three believable characters that could carry the message of the story.
And while he sounds confident in his process now, George admits at the start he was terrified – “I had never done it before!”
“Advertising is so fundamentally different from long-form because of the relationship with the brand and agency. You don’t have these important players influencing the direction of the project in film,” George reflects. “Initially, I had to adapt to the process, but I was lucky to be surrounded by so many fantastic people.
“My Stink team held my hand, which was amazing. Special mention must go to fellow Stink director and friend, Tom Green, who I could call through the process. I think it’s healthy to admit when you don’t know something and ask for help. Shout out to my producer Maya Bury and EP Blake Powell too!”
Things have certainly been gaining speed t for George Jaques.. And as someone who wrote their breakthrough project at 16, at 24 he seems be unstoppable. While still on a high from his first commercial gig, George shares that he’s feeling clueless as to what’s coming next. But it’s certain to be exciting.
“I want to stay with performance-led campaigns,” he says. “And keep making work that people can connect to, and make it with great people. So, agencies – hit me up, I’m fun and I make a good cup of tea!”
