Jesse Pickett

Jesse Pickett is an award-winning director of numerous short films and his debut feature film "Blue Hour" (2020). In 2017, Pickett traveled the Lanzhou, Gansu, China, as part of a cultural exchange program. During this time, he made a documentary film, "Still Turning" (2017), which has since played at 26 film festivals globally and received one month distribution on the Archaeology Channel. "Still Turning" won third place at the Venice Architecture Film Festival (2021), received an award for special mention by the Jury and the University of Florence during the Firenze Archeofilm Festival Internazionale Del Cinema (2019), and received an Award for Special Mention by Jury for Awareness of Cultural Heritage during the Archaeology Channel Film Festival (2018). His debut feature film "Blue Hour" (2020), a coming-of-age drama set on a road construction crew, won the audience choice award at the Ottawa Canadian Film Festival (2021) and was nominated for Best Screenwriter and Best Male Lead Actor (Evan Rein) at the Leo Awards. Additionally, the film won Best Supporting Male Actor (Andy Maton) at the Ontario International Film Festival. The film was nominated for Best Feature Film at the Regina International Film Festival (2021), Central Alberta Film Festival (2021), and for Best Male Lead Actor (Evan Rein) at the UBCP Awards (2021). Pickett's follow-up short film, "Eddie Goes to Space" (2021), was nominated for Best Male Lead Actor (Andy Maton) at the 2022 Leo Awards. The film also won best North American Short Film at the Link International Film Festival. His most recent short films, "Jalopy" (2021) and "Reformat" (2022) are beginning to make their rounds on the festival circuit. "Jalopy", a dark comedy in which a man's body begins to break down similarly to a car, was nominated for Best Short Narrative and won Best Male Lead Actor at the Central Alberta Film Festival (2022). "Reformat", a speculative-fiction short about the mysterious death of an AI high school student on school grounds, was awarded funding from the British Columbia Art Council. "Reformat" won Best Short Narrative Film at the Central Alberta Film Festival and was nominated for 7 acting awards. Currently, Jesse Pickett has over 20 short films in development, as well as his next two feature films written.