J.M. Harper joins Bonaparte

“I am a character-driven filmmaker,” says director J.M. Harper. A glance through his beautifully-crafted, authentically-observed shorts, documentaries and commercials shows that this rings true. 

His docu-style films for Gatorade feature Lionel Messi and Serena Williams and their rise to stardom, his Facebook spot celebrates black creatives and his Allianz spot shows heartfelt vignettes in a community. His awards cabinet proves the compelling nature of his works, boasting accolades from Sundance, Tribeca, Adweek Creative 100 and Cannes Lions.

Harper, who recently signed with Berlin-based production-house, Bonaparte, reflects on how his commercials carry the same authenticity as his shorts and documentaries. “A commercial fundamentally is a capitalistic endeavor, but figuring out how to bring humanity, intention and conflict – real drama – is a distinct and important journey.”

Harper was born in the metropolis of St. Louis, raised among the cornfields of Illinois, and first wielded a camera while studying in Berlin. It is this cultural immersion that Harper credits in giving him a “wide perspective on human behavior.” As an entirely self-taught talent, the multi-hyphenate director also gained a thorough grounding in every facet of filmmaking, including cinematography and editing. This opened the space for Harper to have both greater creative autonomy over his projects, and allowed the development of his unique visual style. 

Harper honed his craft in Berlin but then went to Senegal and across the Americas to shoot documentaries. Black narratives feature strongly in Harper’s work, which will also be at the core of his anticipated documentary for Paramount Pictures, a film exploring hip-hop lyrics and the criminal justice system. This also is integral to some of his commercial work. He comments, “At the beginning of my career as a commercial director, there weren't enough stories being told about Black people from a Black filmmaker’s perspective. I hope I've done my part to bring that to light.”

In his films for Facebook, Harper promotes their We The Culture programme, a network connecting black creatives. He communicates the disruptive impact of these creators with this series, what he coins as “good trouble”. It was important for him to visualize their stories in an engaging way. One film, Takiyah, looks at the experience of a young woman forming her path as a ballerina. To make it appear like Takiyah was glitching while dancing, Harper rigged two 35mm cameras side by side to create the stereoscopic effect. This experimental visual language echoed the disruption Harper wanted to communicate “this wasn’t just a technical exercise, but it tied into the story in an interesting way. I'm really not about style for style’s sake”.

Beyond directing, shooting and editing films, Harper is reshaping the industry he is working in. The filmmaker launched Change the Lens, in 2020, a non-profit organisation working to advance the representation of black people in this industry, yet Harper elaborates that he does not want to be “pigeon-holed” as a creative.