Austin Film Fest: Jefferson White Tackles New Role As The Writer
You may recognize Jefferson White as Jimmy on Yellowstone. Now, he’s taking on a new role as an Academy Award winning writer of a short film in the short film The Writer. The 30 minute flick made its premiere at the Austin Film Fest with White in attendance.
Before we get to our one-on-one chat, here’s a little bit about the film.
About The Writer
White plays a self-isolated writer navigating the pressure of the film industry, family and paying his dues. As he struggles with the pressure of a follow up project, distractions and the looming presence of his deceased father, his ambitions and drive to succeed cause him to lose himself. It’s also a story about learning what’s important and, more importantly, what’s not.
The film is full of faces you may recognize. In addition to White, his character’s wife is portrayed by Sara Paxton (Aquamarine, Sydney White). Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Tulsa King) plays the father while Sherri Saum (The Fosters, Sunset Beach) portrays his agent. McDonough also appeared on Yellowstone. Texas native Kariana Karhu plays the daughter.
As a fourth generation player in the film industry, Writer/ Director Austin Glasser explained that his script portrays the darker side of what it takes to write a screenplay. With his experience in the industry, he felt he could tell this story in a way that an audience can relate to, whether they do this kind of work or are striving for another type of goal.
Why a short? Glasser explained, “A short is a good starting ground for anyone. It helps you realize what you need to take that next step and build from there.”
There were no major investors and Glasser financed the majority of the project himself. “It went well,” he said. “We got an amazing crew, an amazing cast and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.”
One-On-One With Jefferson White
Speaking of cast, we chatted with White before the Austin Film Fest premiere.
We started by asking how he got involved with this project. He’s known Austin’s father David Glasser for a good long while as David is the CEO of 101 Studios Co., the hugely successful production company behind Yellowstone,
When David approached White with his son’s screenplay, the actor was immediately struck by the script, saying it really leapt off the page.
We asked White about being involved with a short film as well. Here’s what he finds interesting about this type of project and process.
“Shorts are like short stories versus novels. It’s a really interesting form with its own opportunities. It’s a very concentrated, focused kind of storytelling. This short takes place all in one cabin over the course of several years and the short format lets you really get down to the meat, the juicy stuff.” – Jefferson White
That said, White is on screen the entire time so you really get to feel his character’s emotions and conflict. He clearly gave this role his all and while the character may not achieve the success he once hoped for, White surely does. I look forward to seeing more “juicy” roles from him in the future.
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