The Initiative Production Company
We are a film production company dedicated to leading film in a new direction.
We believe that art, and filmmaking in particular, is not to simply reflect the brokenness of our sad reality, but to paint a picture of how the world could be and should be, and perhaps one day will be.
We are a group of film professionals that are devoted to the task of bringing hope and restoration to our world while refusing to compromise artistic quality or integrity.
Director / Producer
Jason Solari
Jason Solari is the founder of the Brisbane based production company, The Initiative. After founding the company in 2007, he has worked as director, writer, and producer on numerous award-winning short films. Jason got his start in radio production, but not satisfied with the creative intensity, he pursued education in filmmaking.
Years later, he went on to found a film training program based out of Brisbane Australia, and soon after founded The Initiative Production Company.
He created the story of The Umbrella and has worked closely with Writer/Producer Josh Potthoff to see this production fully realized. This is his debut feature film as director and producer.
He is currently the Creative Director of The Initiative.
Writer / Producer
Josh Potthoff
Josh Potthoff was an integral part of The Initiative from 2007 until 2013. In that time, he acted in and wrote several short films, winning awards for many of them.
After training for film in Hawaii, he came to Brisbane to help pioneer the film training program Jason Solari was starting.
Josh loves the power of stories and is constantly thinking of new ideas for future films.
He worked closely with Jason Solari on The Umbrella’s screenplay, giving life and flesh to Jason's concept. This is his first feature film as writer and producer.
Josh currently resides in Wyoming and continues to write screenplays for feature films.
Casting Director
Charis Jackson
Charis is a member of The Initiative, and has directed, produced, written and acted in several short films during her time. She has crewed several other feature films as miscellaneous crew. This is her first time as Casting Director.
Post Production Supervisor
Jonathan Proby
Jonathan is The Initiative’s tech guru. His vast knowledge of the science behind filmmaking made him the ideal candidate as the on-set sound mixer, and as post-production supervisor. This is Jonathan’s first feature film.
Sound Mixer
Jim Bonnefond
Jim has worked as a sound mixer/producer/engineer for over 30 years, producing albums for musical acts such as Kool & the Gang. The Initiative is honored to have a talent of Jim’s caliber lending his skills to their first feature.
Head Make-up and Hair
Jen Holt
Jen is the founder of JB Just Beautiful, a team of passionate, professional makeup artists, stylists, etc. in the greater Brisbane area. Jen brings over 18 years of experience in the industry to The Umbrella.
Editor
Rodrigo Cabral
Rodrigo has worked at various editing houses in Brazil, mostly editing music videos, corporate videos, and commercials. He is no stranger to narrative film as well, but this is his first attempt at editing together an entire feature.
Editor
Jay Evans
A former editor for the Australian Christian Channel, Jay now works as an in-house editor for The Initiative Production Company. Jay has edited together many promotional and short films. This is his first feature as an editor.