Meet J.I. Mardones | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with J.I. Mardones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi J.I., can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am a chilean/texan filmmaker based in Austin TX.

I was born in Austin in 1987, but at the age of 4 I moved with my family to Santiago de Chile, where I lived for 30 years. I remember when I was a kid I did not feel “100% chilean” because I was born in the USA and at the same time I neither felt “100% american” because I started to live great part of my life in Chile and maybe that could explain why I always have had a strange need of escaping from reality.

At 9 years old, I saw Star Wars for the first time and because of that saga I became very interested about filmmaking, storytelling and sci fi stories in general. Years later, that led me to apply to the Film & TV Direction program at University of Chile, from where I graduated in 2015. Parallel to my film studies, I also developed my music skills by taking electric guitar classes and learning to compose music by self-taught. Besides, during these years I also used to record live concerts of my most favorite local metal bands, using my first camcorder.

After graduating from the film school, I realized how difficult (if not impossible) was finding a job in the chilean film industry, so I had no more option than start looking for something in the video industry. However, despite of being practically my whole professional career working in commercials, corporate videos, events, social media content, etc, my “inner filmmaker” always has been within me. During Covid Era, Blade Runner 2049 was the movie that inspired me to improve my skills and develop my own style as a camera operator, and then I also discovered an ukrainian videographer (https://youtube.com/@U4F_ToL) that inspired me to create J.I.Mardones Films in 2021, one year before moving back to Austin.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Something that I have been noticing, lately, is that when I have worked on set or have attended any event, there already are a few people that have recognized me, or at least, they say that they have seen me somewhere before. Besides, some of my cinematic styled videos, as J.I.Mardones Films, started to be shared by a few local business owners and event producers in their websites and newsletter emails. However, to be able to achieve that, I actually have been attending as many events as I can, posting a lot in the Facebook Groups, as well as being very consistent as a filmmaker.

In fact, my most important lesson learned during this 3 years living in Austin is the true meaning of “professionalism”. Professionalism is not precisely owning an expensive camera plus a gimbal stabilizer. Professionalism actually means setting clear terms and conditions when dealing with your clients before the shoot, anticipating any situation that may happen on set, making invoices, contracts, paying good salaries, as well as arriving to the film set on time, focusing on doing your job, being able to solve ANY problem during the shoot and/or during the editing process without stress, and of course, being realistic with your deadlines. In a society currently oversaturated of ”guys with a camera”, all those aspect that I previously mentioned, along with developing a good aesthetical taste an a unique style as a filmmaker, THAT IS WHAT ACTUALLY MAKES THE WHOLE DIFFERENCE.

After 10 years of consistent career, I already am clear about what are my most and my least favorite areas to work in as a filmmaker. Sport games actually are not my least favorite area but, for some reason, if in 10 years of career I haven’t shot any game “I think I will not in the next 10 years”… to be honest, I have never been so enthusiastic about sports. However wedding films and music videos actually are on the top of the “least favorite” list, specially because of the long editing and post-production times. Unless the pay was very good and the client gave me complete creative freedom (in the case of music videos), I would accept to work in these kind of projects. On the other hand, fashion has became one of my most favorite areas to work in during the last few years. In my experience, models and event producers always has been very appreciative of my work, even when I think the quality of the footage was not so good, so that has greatly motivated me to continue pursuing fashion film projects, as well as exploring new narrative languages and aesthethical resources in that area.

So here I am… currently looking to make my next move as a filmmaker. And certainly, something that I have been pending with, from a very long time, is… yeah! developing my first short film project as a producer/screenwritter/director, which may be submitted to film festivals and/or being uploaded on streaming platforms that accept short films, and then see what happens next.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I actually live in Austin TX but I already have visited Houston twice, just for the day. I haven’t had the opportunity to explore the whole city yet, but I already have been in Downtown and the surrounding sectors.

Houston impress me with its skycrappers! Certain sectors even remind me a little bit Santiago De Chile, the city where I lived for 30 years until I moved to Austin. Besides I also have seen a few abandon buildings that, combined with the futuristic aesthetics of the city, even remind me “Robocop 2”. Actually, what a coincidence! that movie was filmed in Houston so many years ago!

Of course I will continue visiting Houston again, in the future, but I hope next time I can stay longer, so then I can recommend you specific spots to visit.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First of all, MY PARENTS!

No, I am not the kind of person that, for example, comes from a military family “so that is how I learned to be so disciplined”, I neither come from a family that has owned a business for generations “so that is how I learned to be so organized with finances and blah blah blah”, I neither belong to a family of artists and I neither am a nepo-baby in the entertainment industry.

However, I must admit that I have an obsessive personality which was inherited by my mother and my maternal grandmother (RIP) as well. Certainly, a double-edged sword, but one day I realized that actually “thanks to my obsessive personality I have achieved certain key successes in my life” and that also explains why I enjoy sometimes investigating long hours about certain specific topics. Also, thanks to my father, I inherited a particular talent to take reckless economic decisions and explore non-traditional areas where, for some reason, you see a certain potential, even if they are not so “popular” or “profitable” yet. However, something very important I learned from him, a few years ago, is that “you may loose everything, at some point of your life, but no one will take away your education”. But at the end of the day I have to say that both of them have been a fundamental support in my decision to move to Austin.

In the second place, I would like to mention one of my most favorite artists: the chilean/californian musician Ben Lechuga (https://instagram.com/blechugag). He is an incredibly virtuous guitar player, composer and music producer, but also a very humble person, even more than other musicians I had the “pleasure” to meet in the past.

I met Lechuga in 2011, in Santiago de Chile, when he played in the neoclassical/proggressive metal band Delta (https://instagram.com/deltaprogband) and he became an inspirational artist for me, especially because he makes the most of all his available resources, not just his work tools, but also his knowledge, his creative ideas, as well as his professional career and network of contacts. A few years ago he also was featured on El Mercurio (the main newspaper of Chile) and I still remember one of his quotes: “the key is connecting with people that are so much more experienced than you”. Then, in 2019, he moved to Los Angeles CA. Sadly, that year I could not meet him again in person to say ‘goodbye’, when he made his last concert in Chile, but I know we will meet again soon, when he visits Austin TX on tour.

Website: https://jimardones.wixsite.com/films

Instagram: https://instagram.com/jimardonesfilms

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/jimardones

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jimardonesfilms

Image Credits
All images belong to J.I.Mardones Film except the BTS one at Canvas Advertising (https://instagram.com/canvas.advertising) and the “Absolute Cinema” cartoon by CheapoMedia (https://instagram.com/cheapomedia)