Works In Progress:
Sargasso Dreams.
Feature-length screenplay written with the support of a John Brabourne Award from the Film + TV Charity, seeking finance.
The Light Inside.
Poetic-immersive documentary short about surviving mental illness, funded by The Victoria Wood Foundation, made in partnership with Bath Mind.
Wonderlooper.
Documentary about artist Di Mainstone transforming Sunderland’s Northern Spire bridge into a giant, playable musical instrument.
Out Of Sight.
Short screenplay about a group of migrant workers whose vanishing goes unnoticed. Finalist in IMDb Script to Screen Award 2020. Also one of
seven scripts selected for Live Read South West at Brief Encounters festival 2018. Seeking finance.
Works completed:
Change Step
Fiction short (20 mins) about an army veteran struggling to adjust to ‘civvie’ life.
Made for Forces Connect South West. Produced by Somerset Film. Screenplay by Dee Chilton. 2019.
If You Can Hear Me
Festivals and screenings:
- Laundrama, Bowness on Windermere UK.
- Little Theatre, Bath UK.
- Fest West, Salisbury UK.
Take Five
Five short dramas about adolescence and mental wellbeing, commissioned by the Charley Waller Memorial Trust. Devised with students from Space Theatre School, Taunton. Produced by Somerset Film. 2018.
Recovery Devon
Promo for this community interest company that promotes mental health and wellbeing. 2016.
Shoplifting / Fight / MDMA
Three short dramas commissioned by Somerset Youth Offending Team to help deter young people from offending. Devised with students from Space Theatre School, Taunton. Produced by Somerset Film. 2016.
A Special Place Part IV – Borderlands
Fourth instalment in a series of short documentaries profiling people and the places that inspire them. Poet Ruth Sharman takes us to her treasured Neolithic long barrow in Stoney Littleton, Somerset, on the way revealing themes that inform her work. 2016. Distributor: Gonella Productions.
A Special Place Part III – A Page In The Book Of Time
The director’s father, Andrew Lawrence, takes us on a walk across his beloved Dartmoor. 2010. Distributor: Gonella Productions.
Festivals and Screenings:
- Victoria Gallery Bath
- Purbeck Film Festival
- ING Bank London.
Pretty Vacant
Short film documenting artist Simon Lee Dicker’s work with college music students examining identity and sense of place through the filter of vacant retail units in Yeovil Town Centre. 2013.
http://www.simonleedicker.co.uk
A Special Place Part II – Sun
Composer Malcom Lipkin reveals how walks in his favourite Sussex forest inspired his third orchestral symphony – Sun. 2013.
Festivals and Screenings:
- Edindocs Film Festival
- American Online Film Awards
- Liverpool Lift-Off International Film Festival
- St Albans Film Festival.
Music for all Zimbabwe
Several shorts documenting a project supplying traditional instruments to children in rural Zimbabwe. 2013.
http://juneburrough.co.uk/music-for-all
Across The States In Thirty-One Minutes & Forty-Three Seconds
Super 8 diary by road and rail from New York City to San Fransisco. 2011.
Eye To Eye
Advocacy film about Restorative Practice, commissioned by Somerset Youth Offending Team. Produced by Somerset Film. 2011.
Community Justice
Documentary showcasing the pioneering work done by Chard Community Justice Panel. Produced by Somerset Film. 2010.
A Special Place Part I – Man On Moor
Jesse’s father, Andrew Lawrence, takes us on a walk across his beloved Dartmoor. 2010.
Distributor: Gonella Productions.
Festivals and Screenings:
HELD Festival, Croydon.
Isaac
Fiction short about a man finding forgiveness for the day he failed to save his younger brother from drowning. A UK Film Council / South West Screen / Somerset Film production. 2008. Screenplay by Anna Lea. Distributor: Gonella Productions.
Festivals and Screenings:
- Auburn International Festival for Children and Young Adults Sydney Australia
- Thess Short Film Festival Thessaloniki Greece
- Global Cinema Festival Indore India
- Cyprus International Film Festival
- WT Os International Film Festival Norway
- Platforma Video Festival Athens Greece
- Skepto Short Film Festival Cagliari Italy (FINALIST)
- Golden Knight International Film Festival Malta
- Bath Film Festival UK
- Norwich International Film Festival UK
- Short Cuts Film Festival UK
- Shepton Mallet Digital Arts Festival UK
More Than Just A Railway
Promo for West Somerset Steam Railway. Produced by Somerset Film. 2006.
Face to Face
Dramatic reconstruction of a Restorative Justice Conference involving a young offender, commissioned by Somerset Youth Offending Team. Produced by Somerset Film. 2003.
Odysseus – The Journey Home
Director of film projections for stage adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. Directed by Caroline Hunt for the Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton. 2003.
Boy
Docu-drama fundraiser for the WRVS meals on wheels service. 2001.
Runt
Award-winning fiction short (22mins) about a teenager whose efforts to impress his gang by stealing a pet piglet belonging to a hermit, take an unexpected turn when he discovers his victim to be a veteran of the Falklands War.
An NFTS production awarded completion funding by the Sir Anthony Hopkins Charitable Foundation. Screenplay by Clive Bradley. Story by Jesse Lawrence, Clive Bradley, Ornette Spencely. 1998.
Awards:
International Award for Best Film Bologna, Italy.
Grand Prix Européen du Conseil Regional de Bretagne, Brest, France.
Special Jury Prize Taipei Golden Lion Film Festival, Taiwan.
Special Mention Stuttgart International Short Film Competition, Germany.
Special Mention Aix-en-Provence Short Film Festival, France.
Official Selection Cannes Cinéfondation Competition, France.
Festivals and Screenings:
- London BFI Film Festival
- Premier Plan Angers France
- Tampere International Film Festival Finland
- Munich International Festival of Film Schools Germany
- Atlantic Film Festival Sante Fe USA
- Telluride Film Festival Colorado USA
- Prix Europa Berlin Germany
- Dinard Festival of British Cinema France
- Brief Encounters Bristol UK
- DAKINO Film Festival Romania.
Training and Qualifications:
BFI Story Day, London.
Raindance Producer’s Foundation Certificate
Creative England South West Talent Module.
Directing Actors – London Film Academy.
The Tools of Directing – Simon Phillips.
Exciting Treatments – Euroscript.
Film Noir – Euroscript.
How To Write A Treatment – The Script Factory, London.
Story Design – The Script Factory, London.
An Introduction to Screenwriting – three terms at City of Bath College.
Documentary editing – 3 day course led by Jo Ann Kaplan, Bath Film Festival.
3 year Postgraduate Diploma in Fiction Directing – NFTS.
Year Camera and Editing Traineeship on BBC drama serial Seaforth.
BA Hons in Modern History, Wadham College, Oxford University.
Other skills and experience:
Editing:
For over fifteen years Jesse worked as a film editor. Among Jesse’s many editing credits are:
Last Words – feature length documentary about the Battle Of Arnhem as told by surviving veterans. Directed by Roger Chapman. Distributed by Simply Home Entertainment.
L’Annonce – fiction short (15 mins) shot in France. Jesse also shot this film. Directed by Roger Glossop. Produced by Bowness Theatre Festival. 2018.
Days That Made Us – documentary short about youth offending. Winner of BFI First Light Youth Voices Award. Directed by Peter Snelling. Produced by My Pockets and Somerset Film. 2012.
Night / Day – fiction short. Directed by Deb Richardson. Produced by UK Film Council / South West Screen Digital Shorts / Somerset Film. 2010.
The River – fiction short. Directed by Adam Laity. Produced by UK Film Council / South West Screen Digital Shorts / Somerset Film. 2007.
Levels Best – 1 hour documentary about Somerset farming. Directed by Justin Owen. 2005.
Work for Charities:
Clients have included Unchosen Campaign against Modern Slavery, Biggerhouse, Dignity In Dying, the Wellcome Trust, the NHS, The Calvert Trust and Ethiopiaid
Teaching:
Several courses in film making at The Engine Room in Bridgwater.
Travel:
Extensively through Europe, and by rail across the USA, Russia and China.
Music:
Singer-songwriter with The New Spirits, debut album DownTown Project available for download.