Movies You Made: “Breaking Up When You’re Still In Love”
For the last 8 years, one of the many professional hats I’ve worn has been as a visiting lecturer in the Writing for Screen and Stage program at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. And as a screenwriting teacher, one of the great joys is to watch former students go on to establish themselves in the entertainment business.
One such WSS graduate is Jordan Imbrey. Only 2 years removed from the program, Jordan finds himself on the front edge of his career having worked his way from paid intern to Junior Producer at Buzzfeed.
In July, a short movie Jordan scripted and co-produced — Breaking Up When You’re Still In Love — debuted online. It has generated nearly 5 million views on Facebook and over 1.3 million views on YouTube. Here is some background on Jordan and the movie:
What is your job title and what do you do for BuzzFeed?
I am a Jr. Video Producer at BuzzFeed. The job is basically to be a multi-hyphenate creative. Producers write, produce, direct, shoot, edit, and often act in our own productions. For the most part, each of our staff of about 40 producers is responsible for taking 1.5 videos/week from start to finish so that they can be released across our various platforms. We are constantly striving to innovate and expand into new formats of web video and beyond.
What was the inspiration for this short film?
At BuzzFeed, we often operate by looking at our successes and trying to innovate new variations on them. This project was partially inspired by the success of a previous BuzzFeed Video called Breakup Sex by Jared Sosa, my mentor at the company. Because of that video’s success, we were confident that there was something very relatable and shareable about the emotions related to a breakup. I used this knowledge to write a screenplay based directly on my experience breaking up with a girlfriend to move to California while I was in college.
For me, the great challenge of this project was to write an inventory of moments specific enough to make the relationship feel real and believable, but broad enough to feel relatable to anyone who has experienced something similar. The tremendous performances by Nicole Zyana and Ben Stillwell tied these moments together in a way that felt real and authentic. It was very exciting to see this video go live. Since its release in mid-July, it has received almost 5 mil views on Facebook, and over 1 mil on YouTube. It has been a fascinating and exhilarating experience to read through the comments, and see people express how closely this story mirrored their own emotional experiences with breakup. Many people even shared this video with the person that they recently broke up with as a way of reconnecting.
Here is Breaking Up When You’re Still In Love:
It’s a terrific short film, one which reflects very well on the Writing for Screen and Stage program and Jordan’s participation in it.
Cast
Nicole Zyana
Ben Stillwell
Crew
Video Producers:
Jordan Imbrey
Buzzfeed
Website
Jared Sosa
Buzzfeed
Interns: Michele Sullivan, Rachel Dotson, Caroline Miller
Music:
Tyler Imbrey
I asked Jordan another question based on his experience with Breaking Up When You’re Still In Love:
What advice do you have for someone who may be interested in testing out their storytelling chops by producing a short film?
I think that very often we are taught to find our personal voices and express our unique visions in filmmaking. While this is very important and valid, I think that if there is one thing I have learned at BuzzFeed, it is that there is also great value in thinking about content from the perspective of the audience. When conceiving your shorts, it is important to keep the audience in mind, and create content that is useful for the audience in some way or that offers the audience opportunities to connect or reconnect with friends and family through your story. If you can marry the wants and needs of the audience at large with your personal voice and style, I believe that is where you can find success in creating short media with potential to go viral. I think part of the brainstorm process for web content should always include the question, “why would someone share this video?”
Congratulations, Jordan, and I look forward to tracking your career in the entertainment industry.
For more information on the Writing for Screen and Stage program, go here. You can visit our Facebook page here. For my interview with my colleague and director of the WSS program Dana Coen, who wrote 37 episodes of the CBS series “JAG” and served as series co-executive producer, go here.