Clayton Jacobson is an Australian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, writer, producer, actor, musician, and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

. His debut feature film was ''

Kenny Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant of Cionnaith". ...

'', which was released in 2006 in Australia to critical acclaim, winning a number of awards. He has acted in a number of films, including '' Animal Kingdom'' (2010).

Early life and education

Clayton Jacobson is the brother of ''Kenny'' actor

Shane Jacobson Shane Jacobson (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian actor, entertainer, director, writer, and comedian, best known as the " Dunny Man" for his performances as the eponymous character Kenny Smyth, a plumber working for a portable toilet rental ...

. He graduated from the Swinburne Film & TV School.

Career

Jacobson began his career editing music videos and features films. He then directed music videos, television commercials, and

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s until making his debut as a feature film director with ''

'' in 2006. Jacobson first had the idea of improving the

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fie ...

technology in use for filming

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

when filming a TV ad for detergent in 2003. Watching his son playing

videogame A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, most ...

s and seeing the 3D technology used in them gave him the basic idea for developing

on-set virtual production On-set virtual production (OSVP) is an entertainment technology for television and film production in which LED panels are used as a backdrop for a set, on which video or computer-generated imagery can be displayed in real-time. The use of OSV ...

. In 2016, Jacobson and his son made one of the first prototypes for a virtual production stage in their shed, using a set of LED screens. However, he could not get anyone to take an interest in developing the technology further, so gave up on it. Other filmmakers had also caught on to the idea though, and in 2018 Australian cinematographer

Greig Fraser Greig Fraser is an Australian cinematographer. He received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for ''Dune'' (2021) and two other nominations for ''Lion'' (2016) and '' Dune: Part Two'' (2024). He is also known for ''Zero Dark Thirty'' (20 ...

used the technology to film the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' franchise

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

series, ''

The Mandalorian ''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise and begins five years after the events of the fil ...

'' (released 2019).

Awards and nominations

''Kenny''

'' received several awards and nominations, including: * 2006:

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Cinema of Australia, Australian film indu ...

(AFI) Awards **Nominated - Best Film (Clayton Jacobson, Rohan Timlock), Best Direction (Clayton Jacobson), Best Original Screenplay (

, Clayton Jacobson), Best Editing (Clayton Jacobson, Sean Lander), Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Jacobson); ** Won - Best Lead Actor (

); * 2006:

Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...

**Won - Best Actor (

), Best Original Screenplay; **Nominated: Best Film, Best Director; * 2006:

IF Awards The IF Awards, formerly known as the Inside Film Awards, Lexus Inside Film Awards, Kodak IF Awards, and Jameson IF Awards, was an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry. Its name derives from its origins at ...

**Won - Best Feature Film, Best Script (Clayton Jacobson,

), Best Sound (Craig Carter, Peter Smith), Box Office Achievement; **Nominated - Best Director (Clayton Jacobsen), Best Editing (Clayton Jacobson, Sean Lander)

''Brothers' Nest''

'' Brothers' Nest'' (2020), directed by Jacobsen, was nominated for the inaugural

AACTA Award for Best Indie Film The AACTA Award for Best Indie Film is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) since 2018. The award is presented at the annual AACTA Awards, which hand out accolades for achievements in feature film, ...

in the 8th edition of the

AACTA Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the cinema of Australia, film and ...

Personal life

Jacobson plays bass in the Appalachian folk band the Duck Downpickers.

Filmography

Jacobson has been involved in the making of the following films:

As director, producer, and writer

As editor

As actor

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobson, Clayton Australian film directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people)