Jesse Rosten is a filmmaker and photographer based out of Northern California. He is a fan of creativity in all its forms.

Cart – The Film from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Plywood People-Russell Shaw:  What prompted your interests and involvement in filmmaking?

Jesse Rosten: In high school I discovered my dad’s video camera. You know the one, the shoulder supported VHS camcorder from Sears. It wasn’t long before I noticed that certain camera angles, cuts, and cues could create specific emotions. It was like discovering a new language. I loved it.  At heart, I am an explorer. I’m always curious to know what’s around the bend, what new and remarkable things I can discover. Filmmaking is a way I can document, explore and share the stories I find interesting. This world is a pretty interesting place after all.

Plywood People:  Who or what, are your biggest inspirations in what you do?

Jesse: I’m inspired by simple things, little moments that go unnoticed. Tiny triumphs or tragedies that, at first, might seem insignificant, but given the right perspective can become hugely dramatic. If it isn’t obvious from my film Cart, I have a thing for anthropomorphism. That’s probably one reason I love Pixar so much (the other being that they’re expert storytellers). Music is another great source of inspiration for me. Sometimes I feel like a piece of music is so expressive that it practically writes its own story. In fact, the main theme in Cart (composed by my friend Peter Lance) existed before I’d written the film. That piece of music ended up driving the emotional tone of the whole film.

Plywood People: Where did you get the idea for your short film, “Cart”?

Jesse: Simply put, from seeing a lonely, disheveled shopping cart in a parking lot. The idea to create a back story for a shopping cart was instantaneous. The hard part was actually coming up with a cohesive story. We shot the film with no budget over a few weeks. The first question I usually get is, “how did you get the cart to move?” We used string. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. This was my first short film, and I’m looking forward to creating more. Practice makes perfect!

Plywood People:  One of Plywood’s interests right now is trying to better understand how people move from ideation to execution of a project. What do you do to motivate yourself to carry out your film ideas? In film, there must be a lot of steps between concept and finished project. How do you insure that you see something through to the end?

Jesse: I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. I think it always comes down to one thing: hard work. The things worth doing in life are always hard, otherwise they wouldn’t be worth doing! Like any creative endeavor, making a film is really, really hard. The process is full of uncertainty, doubt, and lots of manual and mental labor. There are many steps along the way and many opportunities to just throw in the towel because the process is too uncomfortable. You’ve got to ask yourself, “Am I willing to work harder than the next person?” If you’re willing to work hard, to put hours and hours into a project, to stick with your craft even if you know it’s going to take years to become any good, then you’ve got a good chance of getting stuff done. I struggle with this all the time. Right now, I’ve got a drawer full of ideas that I’ve yet to create. I’m easily distracted. Even now as I write out the answers to these questions, I’m distracting myself with Twitter (@jesserosten, by the way).

Plywood People:  Do you have any upcoming short film projects  that you’d like to share with us about?

Jesse:  I’ve been doing a lot more work with magazine publications lately. With the release of the iPad there’s a new opportunity for traditional print publications to create and distribute video content. There’s a lot of creative potential when merging still and moving pictures. I’m excited to see where I can take it, and excited to discover what’s around the bend.