Unique experiences affecting disparate individuals, from the marginalized to the privileged, form the template for the types of stories filmmaker Jesse Gustafson conveys in his projects. After graduating high school in Florida, Jesse enlisted in the US Army at age 17, and was deployed on a peacekeeping mission to post-genocide Bosnia-Herzegovina. Considering the possibility of remaining in the military, Jesse decided to study theater, studying scenic design at the University of Florida and graduating with a BFA degree in stage acting and directing from UC Santa Barbara. After college he moved to Bangkok, Thailand where he directed and performed for an English-speaking theater company. He went on to work in theaters across the US, including Playwrights Horizons in New York, the American Reparatory Theater in Boston and the Magic Theater in San Francisco. He has an MFA in Film from Columbia University, where his thesis film, DAY 39, was a finalist for the Student Academy Award. He has directed the camp-cult action film, Black Site Delta, starring Cam Gigandet; and his other short films include The Starlight; Riches; and Double Header. He also produced frequent collaborator Laurence Vannicelli’s feature, Vera, as well as his short film, The Young Housefly starring Alex Karpovsky. In our conversation, we discussed life in the military; the relationship between trauma and empathy; and my involvement in his next film which features a psychiatrist.

Opening Credits: selfpity - Always Feel the Cold I Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0); In De Nadfin - Encontré I Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US); Closing Credits: A Crooked Pulse - Dark Spots I Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)