Filmmaker, creative producer, and director Jane S. Linter chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about her career in the entertainment industry.
Linter opened up about her background. “I am from the UK. I started off at an early age as a ballet dancer and eventually choreographer. I am well known for choreographing the Y Plan for the London YMCA for Virgin Media. My dancing career is what first brought me to NYC,” she said.
“I worked for WELLA, Inc stage directing massive hair and fashion shows around the world. This eventually lead me to Sebastian International haircare in LA (Proctor and Gamble) where I was made Head of Production. Through my work at Sebastian producing live events and commercials and photoshoots I went on to the Style Network as a Producer, and eventually to E! Entertainment as a Producer for Red Carpet Special Segments.”
“Then, I worked for Vogue Magazine in NYC as a Director creating their first ever video iPod casts for their Fashion On Demand Series and also for Zink Magazine NYC where I Directed the first and only fashion and video shoot with Cirque du Soleil for their 20 years Celebration 60 pages front and back cover. “
“At this time, I worked freelance also for MTV through Propaganda Films and produced a TV pilot called 21st C Man all about Men’s Fashion and Fitness with Men’s Health Magazine It was a break through show and lead me to decide I wanted to make my own film as listed below Peace, Love & Bikinis!,” she recalled.
Throughout her career in the industry, she garnered six prestigious awards in the entertainment business. In 2005, her documentary Peace, Love & Bikinis! was the “Best Documentary” winner at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival.
In 2016, Thread of Man won the International Fashion Film Award for “Best Documentary” at the La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival.
Legends of Baja won for “Most Innovative Documentary Short” at the Hollywood Film Festival in 2017, as well as “Best Documentary Short” at the Los Angeles Movie Awards, and in 2018, it was named “Best Documentary Short” at the Independent Filmmakers Showcase IFS Film Festival in the United States.
Most recently, in 2019, she earned the “Côte d’Azur Webfest Award” for “Best Director” for Who RU Wearing?
She is also a producer and creative director for fashion editorial and Celebrity Publicity photoshoots for Zink Magazine, Schon, Flaunt, Vogue, Harpers, and Ocean Drive Magazine.
On being a producer and director in the digital age, she said, “Now, is a really exciting time to be a producer and director in the digital age. Everything is so much faster and easier to manage. I actually do some of my best work in my car on my mobile phone. For very impatient people like me who need to get their ideas out fast, now is the best time to be a producer and director when you can simply rough-cut a piece in the Adobe RUSH app and upload it for editing in Adobe Premiere later. I am a writer and editor too.”
“I come from a producing and editing time prior to the digital era! When everything was shot on tape and had to be digitized for hours before you could even begin to start editing. The costs to produce shoot and edit have halved as a result of digital technology and the opportunity and speed with which to get your ideas made and distributed out there via the Internet are just incredible. It has changed the dynamics for the indie film maker with a creative dream and limited budget to be able to turn that dream quickly into a reality in no time at all and the digital short-form web series format has become the answer to all our prayers. Especially mine,” she said.
On her daily motivations, she said, “Every day, I am motivated by a strong desire and inspiration to create. If I’m not writing or editing, doing graphic design or thinking about a project or idea I feel anxious, restless and unfulfilled and frankly bored. I have a very active mind.”
“My motivation comes from somewhere deep inside and it’s not something I can clearly define other than to say it’s a driving force deep within which I was born with and probably expanded when I was a dancer. I used to be a professional dancer and choreographer back in the UK so the desire to express myself and discipline for motivation was actualized and fulfilled by performing in stage shows, commercials, music videos, etc or creating live events or commercials via choreography for clients I got my first taste of wanting to work in film though when I worked as a choreographer for the legendary film maker Ken Russell on a six-hour two-part made for TV movie for HBO called Prisoners of Honor.”
She shared that she inherited her motivation and creative desire from her parents. “My father was a well respected Jazz musician in London and my mother a ballet dancer who ran her own school. From a very young age I was running around with a sketch pad, always performing for my family center stage dancing singing or doing comedy acts or playing the piano and always encouraged by both my parents and grandparents to be an artist. I went to a local ballet school and passed all my ballet exams up to an Advanced Level for the British RAD (Royal Academy of Dancing). I remember I even organized the local kids in my neighborhood at age 10 into a kids club I had created – complete with its own members song. So you can say motivation was in my DNA,” she exclaimed.
On life during quarantine, she said, “I have been doing great during the quarantine actually probably better than most. Since I work from my home/office anyway it hasn’t really been that much different. In fact there have been less distractions and I have been much better able to focus on my writing projects and be more productive. I was already thinking about digital web series and streaming long before COVID-19 and the pandemic has now fast- tracked that and given it the push it needed. But what it has done is created a huge demand for content and brand integration.”
“Right now, three projects (two of my own) are all streaming at the same time,” she said. “Two films and a web Series. With my comedy web series Who RU Wearing? winning ‘Best New Comedy Web Series’ in 2019 in Cannes and now streaming on Cote d’Azur Web TV and my documentary feature film Peace, Love and Bikins! Now streaming on Apple TV,Tubi, RokuTV I’m getting quite a few well-timed residual checks coming in so the timing couldn’t be better with everyone stuck at home watching streaming channels . It has given me confidence and re-enforced my belief to keep going to create more of my own material.”
Regarding her future plans, she shared, “I’m finishing up my script for the web series Who RU Wearing? and raising finance to make more webisodes and a film. I’m looking for funding for that right now to get ready for shooting by the time the next red carpet award event happens in 2021 which is what the show is all about. Who RU Wearing? is narrated through the eyes of the intern who enters into a world of glitz and glam only to find out that all that glitters is not gold.”
“I am also working with a friend of mine Sean Kanan on his critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning digital drama series, Studio City, in the capacity of brand integration producer on Amazon Prime,” she said. “I’m finishing up on a live studio show format StyleWatch with an online sales component incorporating my ecommerce website StyleshopUSA.com which features haute couture and luxury accessory brands from the red carpet.”
“I am also working with FNL Fashion News Lifestyle network on their new Fashion channel IDFW – International Digital Fashion Week as Director of Global Brand Integration Partnerships which starts screening today on the FNL Network. Please download their App,” she exclaimed.
“IDFW replaces live fashion weeks around the world during COVID-19 and will showcase all the designers latest collections on one digital streaming platform. I can’t wait to see it today and so excited and proud of my good friend Rocco Leo Gaglioti, the CEO for taking on this marathon task.”
For young and aspiring directors and producers, she said, “My advice to young aspiring directors and producers is ‘just do it’ and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise I started my career as a performer I didn’t have a formal film training I’m self-taught but I just knew I wanted to do it. It was a passion that had to be fulfilled if you’re not passionate about it then don’t do it. I’m a bit of a rebel so I wasn’t going to go into it college-trained text book perfect.”
“My first ever documentary feature film Peace, Love and Bikinis! won an Award for Best Screen Craft was recently remastered and is currently streaming in 2020 on Apple TV, Roku TV, Tubi TV. And Xumo TV,” she said.
“I would also say the most crucial and vital thing to know is how to edit,” she said. “This will save you so much time and money later down the road believe me and it will teach you how to be a better director.”
On her use of technology in her daily routine as a director and a producer, she said, “I do nearly everything on my cell phone. Including rough editing. Until my eyes get tired then I switch to a laptop. I do a lot of research online using Google every few hours and I use WhatsApp to keep in touch with everyone.”
For Linter, the word success is her mantra. “To me, it means winning awards and fulfilling my own goals I set for myself because I set the bar really high for me. Coming from a background as a dancer and choreographer I have an athlete’s mind so I enjoy winning and being the best I have a very competitive nature so success for me is definitely winning. I have won three Awards on my own projects I have created or directed and three where I have worked as a producer on some else’s,” she said.
She also opened up about brand integration. “Brand integration is the next big thing. I’m finding myself more and more in demand as a brand integration producer. This requires a lot of knowledge of working both with a script the clients and the exec producers and knowing which products to place where and how much money to ask for and negotiating how to integrate that brand seamlessly into the storylines and adding creative follow- up press and media opportunities to create cross promotional marketing campaigns,” she said.
“I have used this technique for my own projects to underwrite costs Advertisers are desperate to be seen and make sales ATM. With my background in fashion, more people are reaching out to me to help them. My own show series is sponsored by fashion brands and this is a growing trend,” she said.
Speaking of brand integration, Linter served as a brand integration producer for the biopic Tesla starring Ethan Hawke, which was released in select theaters and on Premium VOD IFC Films on August 21, 2020. She worked with art director Carl Sprague.
To learn more about Jane S. Linter, check out her IMDb page.
