Private Project

Offstage

A theatre actor struggles with life between gigs.

  • Jacob French
    Director
  • Jacob French
    Writer
  • Jacob French
    Producer
  • Jacob French
    Key Cast
    "The Actor"
  • Jayla Alston
    Key Cast
    "The Interviewer"
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Experimental, Independent
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 46 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 5, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Rochester Institute of Technology School of Film and Animation
Director Biography - Jacob French

Jacob French (he/him) is a 20 year old filmmaker, actor, and singer. He is currently pursuing a BFA in Film Production at the Rochester Institute of Technology School of Film and Animation.
His films have been nationally recognized, most notably in the Time Square AMC Theaters as part of the All-American High School Film Festival in 2021. French has garnered accolades for his writing, directing, and acting in both film and theatre. He has worked as a freelance filmmaker for various clients, as well as in the Rochester local professional theatre scene as an actor and stage manager.
Jacob grew up just outside of Rochester NY and has had a love of storytelling since he was very young. His love for storytelling led him to start making films in 1st grade and he hasn’t stopped since. In that time he has made over 300 films.

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Director Statement

Offstage somewhat ironically began as an attempt to recreate the experience of being onstage. As a musical theatre actor myself, I was fascinated by the in-the-moment, fleeting nature of live performance. There is this energy shared both onstage and with the audience that makes every performance exhilarating and different from the last. This concept can very much still be seen in the film through the scene onstage where I tried to convey the rush that I experience while onstage.
Eventually my focus pivoted a bit as I myself was not actively in a show. I started to notice just how draining being offstage was and wanted to try and depict that feeling as well. There are two segments of the film that seek to accomplish this. One depicts the life of the actor offstage through long, static takes. These emphasize the loneliness, emptiness, boredom, depression, and fear that come with not being artistically fulfilled. Lastly, the interview portion of the film utilizes vague language to convey the ways in which non-artists fail to comprehend why artists put themselves through this struggle.
The goal with this film was to craft something incredibly personal to my experience as a theatre actor, but hopefully also something that all artistic people could see themselves in. Even if it’s in a way that can’t fully be put into words, the feeling of being seen is something we all crave in life, and my hope is to provide that for others.