Meet producer extraordinaire Jason Orr, founder of the FunkJazz Kafé Arts & Music Festival, and producer writer and director of the award-winning film, FunkJazz Kafé: Diary of a Decade. Find out what he has in store with his current film that he’s been touring around the country and his other upcoming film projects.
Take us back to the moment when you first believed that you had what it takes to be a successful director.
Just from producing FunkJazz Kafé Arts & Music Festival, I knew I could tell the story that’s in our documentary film, FunkJazz Kafé: Diary of a Decade (The Story of a Movement) better than anyone else. I’m the only one that would know all the unique story angles that made this true story possible. The film is narrated by Chuck D (Public Enemy), with appearances by Janelle Monae, Dr. Cornel West, Dick Gregory, Jill Scott, CeeLo Green, Erykah Badu, Roy Ayers, Jamie Foxx, George Clinton, Public Enemy, Andre 3000, Bilal, Organized Noize, Doug E. Fresh, Joi, Meshell NdegeOcello, OutKast, Dionne Farris, Van Hunt, Speech and more. Of course, when you enlist the characters and individuals who were witnesses to the subject matter and changes firsthand, you can get an honest “inside perspective” of the greater relevance of social history to our broader story of music and its impact on people and their communities. I was also getting good practice as a director with the short film music videos I did with Meshell NdegeOcello, Van Hunt, Dionne Farris, Wes Felton and Soul Of Earth. Looking forward to seeing my entire body of work as a director in the future!
Absolutely. You get more calls for more interesting projects that you would not be considering yourself unless someone offers it to you. When your buzzing in the right circles you can definitely attract more projects to not only direct but sometimes contribute as a writer or even get on board as a producer to assist the project further along.
Politics aside, let’s focus on the art. What inspires you as an artist?
How do you know when you’ve come across source material that has the potential to be special?
What activities do you like to do when you need to completely disconnect from the work?
Good, compelling stories representing the past and the future.
The next screening for FunkJazz Kafé: Diary of a Decade (The Story of a Movement) is in Atlanta on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at The Plaza Theater.
A music film event celebrating Black History Month.
LIMITED SEATING. Get Tickets Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/funkjazz-kafe-diary-of-a-decade-exclusive-atlanta-movie-screening-tickets-31486650419
Web page and tickets here: https://bit.ly/2jjfDAl
More About The Film: https://funkjazzkafe.com/diary-of-a-decade-movie
