IN THE SPACE WITH… JOBE WOLF

It is at the core of Old Diorama’s charitable purpose to provide space and opportunities for local and creative communities, and in doing so, we are fortunate to meet fascinating people doing inspiring things. This is the first in a series of interviews with some of the creative people we support here at ODAC, an opportunity to find out more about what they do in our spaces and their plans for the future.

Jobe Wolf is a producer and the managing director of his company, Focus Frame Productions whose main ambition as a company is to work on narrative long form projects, and produce films that make a difference. Old Diorama have been supporting Jobe and Focus Frame Productions by providing space for him to create and collaborate in over the last 12 months.

Would you tell us a bit about where you come from?

I was born and bred in London, and I have Jamaican heritage on my mum’s side. I feel like I was quite privileged growing up, even though my parents were divorced, because I grew up in both NW1 which is Camden, and South East London. Growing up on both sides of the river gave me a very different perspective compared to some people. 

What do Focus Frame Productions do for your community?

We create and fund projects ourselves from money made by servicing commercial clients. Each year, we give a portion of our revenue to develop a couple of projects from talent on a grassroots level. Scripts written by people who don’t necessarily come from a film-making background and come from either an ethnically diverse background or a low income household, are submitted to us, and we go through a process to decide which we will fund.

We are giving the young people a platform to show their talents, but the process of creating the product can be quite challenging as the film-makers build their confidence and learn their craft. 

What projects do you have coming up? Do you have anything you want to share?

Yes I do! So at the moment we are in the development stage with a lot of projects because COVID caused significant delays over the last two years and has slowed things down.

One project we are developing at the moment is a film about disability. We are trying to get 15 global majority  and disabled actors from all walks of life to perform scenes for a project that’s titled ‘15 Actors Scene’. We’re hoping to push that out for Disability Day this year (December 3rd 2022).

We’re also working on developing a feature film.It’s from the perspective of someone who has been through sexual abuse. This individual works with a lot of charities and has their own podcast and we were brought on their team to commission a development feature film which depicts their story. It’s the first time that I’ve done a project where I’m dramatising someone’s life, so that is quite different and challenging, particularly when the subject matter is so sensitive. 

Outside what you’re working on, what are your artistic passions

Even though I have a hearing impairment, I really like to make music when I’m not working here and working on Focus Frame, but to be honest I am a bit of a one track horse. I just do something I love, so when I’m at home I’m really just doing this really! Writing is a big passion for me, I write screenplays and short stories and stuff and that’s something I want to invest more time in.

What do you like most about working at Old Diorama?

For me the best thing about working at Old Diorama is the space and the team. As a production company, there is so much you can do here: the casting studios allow us to test screen shots for feature films, do talent hunting, recruitment, meetings, and get content material for our website material - headshots etc. The spaces are transformative, and as a production company, there isn’t a better place for us to be.

Has working at ODAC made a difference to your work?

The allocation of space has allowed us to make significant improvements to both the commercial side and the creative community side which I wouldn’t have been able to make without having access to this space.

I sometimes find myself meeting someone here and I find out I have a connection with someone else. When I’m and about and I’m making connections, I can say I work from Old Diorama, and people have heard of it. It acts as a hub and that in itself opens doors - I’d say Old Diorama both opens doors and bridges gaps between people.

What would you like to see happen at Old Diorama?

It was up to me… I would set up one or two rooms to have more media facilities. And that is it! Perhaps you could also have a room or two with a couple of hot desk computers and screens, like editing suites?

If you could collaborate creatively with anyone in the world, who would it be?

That’s a really good question. Do they have to be alive?

No!

Oh maybe I’ll pick a dead person… but I might not get much out of them…. OK, to be honest, I would love to collaborate with Sir Steve McQueen, because he’s a film-maker that inspired me a lot.

When I was growing up, there weren’t many Black film-makers making things of a certain quality that appealed to what I’d call a mass audience - a white and Black audience. I remember going to see ‘Hunger’ in 2008 at the BFI film festival. I remember seeing the film and there was a massive round of applause. I remember seeing it was directed by Steve McQueen… I actually assumed it was made by the famous actor, but then I realised he was dead…! When I googled him, I saw this black guy on IMBD, and it was a predominantly white cast, and I just remember looking at him and thought ‘if he can do it, I can do it’. That was really big for me growing up. That was massive.

Thank you to Jobe for taking the time to speak to us - and best of luck with your upcoming projects!

If you’re local, and looking for space for your group, project or day-to-day work, please contact Creative Director Daniel Pitt on daniel@olddiorama.com.