Jamie Travis (born August 13, 1979) is a Toronto-based filmmaker who has written and directed award-winning short films, music videos and television commercials. He received international recognition for his two short film trilogies, ''The Patterns'' and ''The Saddest Children in the World''. His six short films all premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

, and his work has had numerous retrospective screenings at festivals and art galleries.

Life and career

Travis’ graduating short film, ''Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner'' (2003), is a surrealist portrayal of three young siblings forced to endure their mother's bizarre culinary abuses. The film earned numerous awards, including Best Production Design at the Leo Awards, Best Script at the Golden Sheaf Awards and Best Canadian Film at Montreal's Prends ça court! Film Series. With ''Patterns'' (2005) – a playful avant-garde send-up of the suspense genre in which a woman waits anxiously for a phone call – Travis was awarded the

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

's prize for Best Western Canadian Director of a Short Film. ''Patterns'' was followed by two sequels, ''Patterns 2'' (2006) and ''Patterns 3'' (2006), which transformed the austere formalism of the first installment into a boy-meets-girl romp, complete with song, dance and documentary interludes. Other festival highlights include the BFI's

London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, formerly known as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (LLGFF), is the biggest LGBTIQ+ film festival in Europe. It takes place every spring in London, England. It began in 1986, as a season of gay and ...

and the

Hamptons International Film Festival The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October ...

, where ''Patterns 3'' took home the award for Best Short Film. A dark comedy about a nine-year-old who plans to close his birthday party with a suicide, '' The Saddest Boy in the World'' (2006) firmly planted Travis on the international map. The film was met with favorable press, with upwards of 150 festival screenings and multiple awards, including Best Canadian Short at the

Calgary International Film Festival The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, in late September and early October. CIFF is the largest international film festival in Alberta and the sixth largest in Canada. The Festival's ...

, Best Short Film at the

Victoria Film Festival The Victoria Film Festival is a publicly attended film festival in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada running for ten days in February. The festival shows both Canadian and international films and unreels 150 films with 55 Features on 6 screens ...

in British Columbia, and Audience Favorite at the NexT International Short Film Festival in Bucharest. Travis concluded his Saddest Children in the World trilogy with ''

The Armoire ''The Armoire'' is a 2009 Canadian short drama film directed by Jamie Travis Jamie Travis (born August 13, 1979) is a Toronto-based filmmaker who has written and directed award-winning short films, music videos and television commercials. He rec ...

'' (2009), in which a game of hide and seek goes awry. Upon its premiere, the film received an honourable mention for Best Canadian Short Film at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, and a coveted spot on TIFF's year-end

Canada's Top Ten Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival and announced in December each year to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films."Canada's Top Ten awards will honour excellence in Canadian cinema" ...

list. It has also gone on to win Best Live-Action Short at the 2010

Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...

and Best Short Film at the 53rd

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

. Travis has also directed music videos for renowned Canadian indie artists

Tegan and Sara Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumenta ...

and crafted television commercials for prominent brands and organizations. He is currently developing his feature film debut. Travis lived in Vancouver for over 25 years. He is Jewish on his father's side. He is out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

."Jamie Travis opens Montreal’s Image+Nation film fest"
''

Daily Xtra ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former ...

'', October 20, 2009.

Filmography

*''Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner'' (2003) *''Patterns'' (2005) *''Patterns 2'' (2006) *''Patterns 3'' (2006) *'' The Saddest Boy in the World'' (2006) *''

'' (2009) *'' Kouchibouguac'' (2011) *'' For a Good Time, Call...'' (2012) *'' Finding Carter'' (2014) *'' Faking It'' (2014-2016) *'' Scream: The TV Series'' (2015-2016) *'' Star'' (2018) *'' Angry Angel'' (2017) *''

The Bold Type ''The Bold Type'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Sarah Watson and produced by Universal Television for Freeform. It is inspired by the life and career of former editor-in-chief of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine Joanna Col ...

'' (2017-2019) *''

Claws A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or tarsus ...

'' (2017-2019) *'' Charmed'' (2018) *'' Dare Me'' (2020) *''

Panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reactio ...

'' (2021) * ''

Yellowjackets A yellowjacket is a black-and-yellow vespid wasp. Yellowjacket(s) or Yellow Jacket(s) may also refer to: Places * Yellow Jacket, Colorado, an unincorporated town * Yellow Jacket, Florida, an unincorporated area in Dixie County, Florida Arts, e ...

'' (2021)

Music videos

*"Back in Your Head" by

(2007) *"Hell" by

(2010)

DVD

Kimstim is releasing ''The Patterns Trilogy'' along with ''Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner'' and ''The Saddest Boy in the World'' in one comprehensive package on August 3. ''The Armoire'' will be included in issue no. 12 of Wholphin, a quarterly DVD magazine created by

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...

and Brent Hoff of

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...

publishing house.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Travis, Jamie 1979 births Film directors from Toronto Writers from Toronto Living people 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian gay writers Canadian LGBT screenwriters LGBT film directors Canadian television directors Canadian male screenwriters LGBT television directors Gay screenwriters 21st-century Canadian LGBT people