Jackson Tisi: A Few Of My Favourite Things

With a background in action sports (freestyle skiing and competing in terrain park and halfpipe competitions in his youth), Jackson Tisi clearly has an affinity for the outdoors.

Represented by Fela in North America and Armoury in the UK, Tisi has made waves with campaigns for Cadillac, Spotify, and Jim Beam, alongside a Gold from the YDA, cementing his position as a commercial filmmaker to watch.

Here, he talks us through the items that have cemented his creativity over the years, from a vintage Contax camera to a cherished skateboard deck with a slick backstory.

The Contax T2

This camera is special to me. 

I love the form factor and feel of it. 

I have a love/hate relationship with it since it is bound to jam nearly once every roll and half of the photos it takes are out of focus. 

It has no focus control and minimal settings. These limitations make it a very personal camera and not a professional one, in my opinion. 

I love to take this to set and on trips to capture memories, not photographs. The often blurry but rich images this camera takes are really charming to me. 

Shooting on film with a point-and-shoot also forces the process to be efficient and not precious. 

I take a photo quickly and move on, waiting to see how it will develop weeks from then. 

It allows me to be present in the moment while saving it for later.

The Prints

I bought these prints a few years ago. 

Each photo is from a different Magnum photographer, and each one inspires me for different reasons. 

I also love the scale. 

They are relatively small photos but all hang well as a series together and stand out in the negative space. 

It’s important for me to surround myself with physical works of art that inspire me.

The Books

I am a collector of a few things. 

One aspect of collecting for me comes from photography and art books. 

This is a sample of the collection and each book inspires me for one reason or another. 

Each of these books represents a time or event in my life. 

Whenever something special or eventful happens, I tend to celebrate by buying a book. 

My favourite bookstore in the world is Dashwood in New York City.

The Comics

I’ve been obsessed with comics since I was a child. 

Watchmen is one of the greatest books ever and is one of the things that inspired me to want to tell stories. 

I’ve always been super into anything Batman as well. 

As a filmmaker, it is a joy to immerse myself in these expansive and detailed visual worlds. 

The art inspires storyboarding and cinematography and the writing inspires my storytelling. 

I read lots of regular books too, but graphic novels have a special place in my heart. 

An artist with whom I think all filmmakers should become familiar is Moebius (Jean Giraud). 

I have a bunch of his books and his art style is truly unbelievable. 

I revisit his work frequently.

The Outdoor Chess

I love where I live. 

I am surrounded by different citrus trees. 

My girlfriend and I have fallen into a routine of playing chess outside next to our lime tree in the evenings.

It’s become one of my favourite things to do.

The Skateboard

I try to collect small objects or props from shoots that are very meaningful. 

I have a shelf in my office with a bunch of these various objects on it. 

They each represent a different and unique memory for me and create a chronology of my journey as a director.

One of my most treasured souvenirs from set is this skateboard deck from a shoot I was doing. 

I shot a short film called Good Medicine out on the Wind River Reservation and at the Riverton skatepark in Wyoming. 

The film was about how gifted the native youth are at skateboarding and how they walk in two worlds, balancing a rich and vibrant heritage with being a modern skater. 

The kids we were working with surprised me on the last day of shooting by giving me a blank deck that they all signed. 

It is one of the most moving and profound memories I have of a film set, and I am deeply grateful for the trust of their community.