FEATURE: All eyes are on Nenagh filmmaker - sixteen-year-old Jake Mitchell

A Nenagh filmmaker won an award in Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year Awards 2022 at the Fresh International Film Festival earlier this month.

Sixteen-year-old Jake Mitchell won the Online Views Award for his music video, Mr Mean.
Jake says he is very happy to have won this award.

“It was a good achievement. The Fresh Filmmaker Festival is a great place for young people,” said Jake.

Mr Mean is a song and music video about a Grinch-like character. It has been watched 2,490 times on YouTube. But this is not Jake’s first film.

“I have been making films since the age of 9. It all started when myself and my friend Sean Paul decided to record a short video; ever since, I’ve been obsessed!

“I like to call the last six years practice,” said Jake.

He says he loves the creative freedom filmmaking gives him.

“It’s a creative passion, and you can do what you want to do, and there’s no restraints.

“If you have an idea in your head, you can make it anything you want,” said Jake.

Some of the Nenagh man’s previous projects include another music video, Birds in the Church and a short horror film called Follower. Jake is currently working on two new projects, including a documentary on Keeper Hill. Once released, Jake hopes his film will lead to an increase in tourism in the area.

“I’ve been increasingly interested in Tipperary’s own Keeper Hill. I’ve been there multiple times.
I’m currently in the process of producing the Keeper Hill documentary; so far, it has turned out better than I could have imagined,” said Jake.

He is also working on another Followers film for Halloween.

As well as filming and producing his videos, Jake also stars in them.

His YouTube channel, The Jake Show, has 104,000 subscribers and 123,820 views.
Jake has gained both national and local media attention.

He says the local support from the people of Nenagh he has received means a lot.

“The support of the locals from Nenagh has blown me away.

“They have always supported me, whether that is through encouraging messages or always tuning in to my interviews,” said Jake.

In the future, the young teen intends to pursue a career in film.

As well as film production, Jake also hopes to act and has been in contact with the casting department on a major streaming production.

Jake says there are two people without whom he does not believe he would be making films today.

The first is his primary school teacher at the CBS, Eoin Buckley.

“He would have us come to his office and work on editing and teach us about films.

“This went on for months and has paid a great deal. It won’t be forgotten,” said Jake.

The second is Tipp FM’s Trudy Waters, who worked with Fran Curry and invited Jake and Sean Paul on the show multiple times since they were 12-years-old.

He said Sean Paul has since left filmmaking to focus on his music.

Jake hopes his story will help people who want to get into filmmaking to follow their dream.He advises those thinking about starting to just go for it.

“If you are going to do it, then just do it.

“Like, don’t just sit there and think, oh, how can I get into the industry? Make your own films, build up your own resume.

“Don’t think about it too much and just go with the flow, really, I’d say,” said Jake.

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