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Austin (gatsby) jamieson - 23

I BELIEVE IN THE PURSUIT OF CREATING HIGH VALUE AT A LOW COST. 

I'VE BEEN MAKING MOVIES EVER SINCE MY MOTHER BOUGHT ME MY FIRST HANDY CAM AT 10. AT 16 MY BEST FRIEND AND I WOULD MAKE A SHORT FILM CALLED 'ISOLATION', A DOCUMENTARY WHERE I WOULD LOCK MYSELF INTO A ROOM FOR SEVEN DAYS WITH NO SUNLIGHT, ENTERTAINMENT, BED, OR HUMAN CONTACT. OF COURSE THIS WAS A BAD IDEA IN RETROSPECT, BUT I'D GO ON TO LEARN INVALUABLE LESSONS ABOUT COMMITMENT, INTERVIEWING, EDITING AND EVENT ORGANIZING WITH A SOLD OUT PREMIER AT OUR LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE.  

GRADUATING A YEAR EARLY AT 17, MY BEST FRIEND AND I WOULD GO ON TO PRODUCE A 13 PART TRAVEL VLOG SERIES ABOUT OUR ADVENTURES IN EUROPE TOGETHER. MISSING PERSONS, NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES, AND MAKING SURE THE CAMERA WAS ROLLING ALL THE WHILE, AMOUNTED TO ONE OF THE GREATEST ADVENTURES OF MY LIFE. 

BY 18 I HAD ENROLLED IN THE MOTION PICTURE ARTS PROGRAM AT CAPILANO UNIVERSITY. IT WAS THERE THAT I WOULD PRODUCE A FILM ON SET FOR THE FIRST TIME AND MEET THE PEOPLE I CONTINUE TO COLLABORATE WITH TO THIS DAY. 

I'D END UP LEAVING THE FILM PROGRAM AFTER A YEAR AND WRITE AND PRODUCE TWO  HALF HOUR SHORT FILMS, 'THE ASH UNDER MY NAILS' AND MY DIRECTORIAL DEBUT 'DADDY. WORKING WITH CASTS AND CREWS OF OVER 30 PEOPLE, SHOOTING UP TO 10 PAGES A DAY, ALL ON MICRO BUDGETS, WAS THE CHALLENGE OF A LIFE TIME BUT CEMENTED THE PHILOSOPHY I CARRY ABOU HIGH VALUE WORK AT LOW COST. 

BOTH FILMS WOULD GO ON TO SELL OUT THEIR PREMIERES AT THE ‘NAT AND FLORA BOSA CENTRE’ AND ‘SCOTIA BANK CINEPLEX THEATRE’ RESPECTIVELY. 

AT 21 I WOULD START THE MOTN, A CREATIVE ARTS SPACE WITH THE MISSION OF PROVIDING AN ENVIRONMENT FOR UP AND COMING ARTISTS TO CREATE. PHOTOGRAPHY, TATTOO’S, HIP HOP CYPHERS, AND EVENTUALLY BECOMING ONE OF VANCOUVERS TOP RATED COMEDY CLUBS. 

WITH MULTIPLE ARTICLES WRITTEN ABOUT THE CLUB, THOUSANDS OF PATRONS, A FEATURE SHOW IN THE JUST FOR LAUGHS FESTIVAL 2022, A WILDLY SUCCESSFUL TATTOO STUDIO AND NOT TO MENTION OUR WEEKLY CYPHER WITH ICON HIP HOP. THE MOTN WAS DOING REALLY WELL.  

MY HEAD TATTOO ARTIST AT THE MOTN AND I DECIDED TO TAKE A TRIP TOGETHER UP TO THE ARCTIC WHERE UPON OUR RETURN HOME WE WOULD CRASH OUR CAR, FLIPPING THREE TIMES INTO A LAKE UPSIDE DOWN. STRANDED IN THE YUKON, DAYS AWAY FROM THE NEAREST TOWN BY FOOT, AND WITH A PASSENGER WITH A BROKEN BACK THINGS LOOKED BLEAK. BUT AFTER A SERIES OF FORTUNATE EVENTS AND GOOD HEARTED PEOPLE, WE ALL ENDED UP BEING MORE OR LESS OKAY IN THE END. THE LESSONS I LEARNED THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE NOT ONLY INFORM MY THINKING AS AN ARTIST BUT AS A BUSINESS OWNER.  

AFTER RETURNING HOME, THE CLUB WOULD GO ON TO DO BETTER THAN IT HAD EVER BEFORE. WITH MONTHLY SOLD OUT HIT SHOWS LIKE 'HOT TAKE' AND 'MOVIE MADNESS', THE MOTN WAS SELLING OUT TWO SHOWS A NIGHT ALL THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND AND STARTED GAINING THE ATTRACTION FROM TOURING COMEDIANS LOOKING TO MAKE THE CLUB THEIR DESTINATION FOR WHEN THEY CAME TO TOWN. RIDING HIGH OFF THE WAVE OF ENERGY THAT COMES AFTER A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE I THOUGHT NOTHING COULD GO WRONG NOW. FAMOUS LAST WORDS.  

A MONTH AFTER THE ACCIDENT THE MOTN WOULD GO ON TO BURN DOWN IN A FIRE FROM A NEIGHBORING BUILDING, ALONG WITH MOST OF EVERYTHING WITHIN IT. I WOULD BE LYING IF I SAID THIS WASN'T A VERY TOUGH DAY, BUT LUCKILY I BARELY HAD A MINUTE TO MOURN. WITHIN HOURS A FRIEND OF THE CLUB HAD CREATED A CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN AND IT HAD RECEIVED THOUSANDS OF RESHARES AND HUNDREDS OF DONATIONS TO HELP US REBUILD. IT WAS A MIRACLE AND OVERWHELMING AT THE SAME TIME.  

OF COURSE FOR ANYONE A SUMMER LIEK THIS IN YOUR EARLY 20'S MIGHT BE ENOUGH FOR ONE TO JUST THROW IN THE TOWEL, AND A PART OF ME WANTED TO. BUT WHEN I STARTED READING THE COMMENTS FROM PEOPLE ON WHAT THE MOTN HAD MEANT TO THEM I REALIZED IT OUTGREW MY SCOPE OF WHAT I THOUGHT POSSIBLE. RELATIONSHIPS SPARKED, CAREERS STARTED, FRIENDSHIPS BUILT, DREAMS FORMED AND BABY BORN FROM TWO PEOPLE WHO MET AT A CYPHER. THE MOTN WAS HOME TO A LOT OF PEOPLE, AND THEY LET ME KNOW. 

STRAIGHT AWAY ICON HIP HOP, THE ICE CREAM TRUCK, AND MYSELF GOT TO WORK ON A FUNDRAISING EVENT FOR THOSE ABOVE THE MOTN WHO LOST THEIR APARTMENTS AND WERE BACK OUT ON THE STREETS OF EAST VANCOUVER. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE SHOWED UP TO OUR FREE, OUTDOOR FESTIVAL, AND WE RAISED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN DONATIONS AND FUNDS TO HELP THE COMMUNITY. IF I HAD ANY LINGERING DOUBT ON MY DUTY TO REBUILD, IT WAS SQUASHED AFTER THIS NIGHT. 

I WORKED DAY AND NIGHT LOOKING FOR A NEW LOCATION THAT WOULD HOUSE US. I KNEW THERE WAS NO WAY I COULD FIT EVERY DYNAMIC OF THE OLD MOTN INTO A NEW SPACE BUT WAS BLESSED TO BE INTRODUCED TO HARBOUR PODCAST STUDIOS, WHO HAD A SPACE WHERE WE COULD SET UP THE TATTOO SHOP AND RETURN BACK TO COMEDY SHOWS. EVEN THOUGH I WAS WORKING WITH LESS OF A BUDGET THAN THE FIRST MOTN, I WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND BUILD BACK BETTER.

THE MOTN WOULD GO ON TO ONCE AGAIN TO FIND ITSELF SELLING OUT WEEKENDS, RUNNING INSANE AND CREATIVE MONTHLY SHOWS, BRINGING IN INCREDIBLE TALENT FROM OUT OF TOWN, AND OPERATING AS VANCOUVERS PREMIERE COMEDY CLUB. WE’VE BEEN FEATURED ONCE AGAIN IN THE JUST FOR LAUGHS FESTIVAL 2024, HAD A FULL 2 PAGE SPREAD ARTICLE IN THE DISCORDER MAGAZINE, AND A FEATURE STORY IN ON CLOBAL NEWS.  

NOW AT 23 I CONTINUE TO RUN THE BUSINESS FROM A FAR, DOING WHAT I LOVE TRAVELLING THE WORLD, WITH A NEW FILM COMING OUT THIS YEAR, WHILE THE CLUB REMAINS MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER.