THE INTERVIEW

November, 2023

JEAN FRENETTE

DIRECTORS OF DEJA-VU

BEST ACTION

Jean, tell us a bit more about yourself. Where does your desire to be a director come from?

I started a very young age in elementary school where I did théâtre and muppet voices, so my interrest in performing started very early, then when I was a teenager I was already deeply involve in karate training so I started to créâtes little story for live performances with some fight choreography, costume, props and music then it led me to want to explore the médium of camera work and this is when I fell in love with filmaking, purchasing my own video camera and started filming and experimenting all aspects of camera work, lens, editing etc.

What is your background?

I come from the world of film making, I have been working for over 3 décades as a 2nd Unit Director, Stunt Coordinator and early on in my carrer as a stunt performer; my interest of telling story through action has grown very strongly over the years and that made me want to write my own story and film them.

What were your reference for Déjà-vu, el prisionero de la torre?

Actually many things; film (Highlander), book Many lives many masters from (Dr. Brian L. Weiss), personnel interest in various essaie in Indhousime, Bouddhisme about the subject of réincarnation and past lives and the curiosity on the subject that has a lot of potential for imagination.

Jean you won Best ACTION at the RED Movie Awards, what does that mean to you?

I am extremely happy to Win Best Action Award at the RED Movie Awards; as I value this festival very much, I am super proud of this accomplishement!

You apparently shot this film in a very short time: 3 days, how did you do it?

As I like to be extremely prepared I had shot listed all the scenes with some bonus shots if time permitting; also having a script read through prior filming with actors helped a lot but at the same time I give myself flexibility for the spur of the moment if I see something that is better in the performances than what I had planned I will adjust naturally; also the duel was rehearsed and prevized so my crew knew exactly what was going to happen, where and when in the scene, and then of course the standard location survey with my D.O.P. and the rest of the crew involved.

What was the biggest challenge in this shooting?

Time was our major challenge as I had planned to shoot the entire short within 3 days.

Do you have an anecdote to share with us in particular?

Actually yes, during filming of the street downtown citv scene. our actor plaving the Homeless men was so convincing that real homeless came by to offer him help, food and making sure he was ok. A story within the story and truly a life lesson reminding us that we have to believe in human kindness.


You were 5 times world champion in karate, how has this helped and influenced you in your work?

Growing up training in martial arts, it gave the discipline and self confidence to do anything I can imagine I wanted to do; being focused and being able to adapt to any changes helped tremendously.

Can you tell us about the production methods, is a film produced in a classic way? Or self-production?

It was a self-production without any grant or financial support; I personnel invested and was fortunate to have sponsors that came aboard suppliying services and equipment to support the project.

What is your next project?

As I have been developping a few projects over the years we have 5 projects features and shorts ready to go, anotgher short is next in line !