JACQUES
THELEMAQUE.
Filmmakers Bureau is led by an award-winning writer, director, producer, programmer, entrepreneur and longtime filmmaker advocate whose experience spans the full independent-film lifecycle - from writing and directing to production, festivals, distribution, industry strategy and the relationships that help projects move forward.
Jacques Thelemaque has spent more than three decades working across the independent-film landscape - not only advising filmmakers, but making films himself. He has written, directed and produced features and shorts, taken projects through production and post, launched them into festivals, dealt with audiences and distribution, and experienced first-hand the creative and practical problems independent filmmakers face.
His feature The Dogwalker, which he wrote, directed and produced, played the Los Angeles and Hong Kong International Film Festivals and won Best First Feature at Cinequest. His short Transaction screened at Sundance and won the Labo Grand Prix du Jury at Clermont-Ferrand. Other directing credits include Infidelity in Equal Parts, Egg, My Last Day on Earth and Love Without Socks.
As a producer, Jacques has worked on independent features including Shock Television, Within, Midnight Movie, The Revenant and Audie and the Wolf. That hands-on experience - developing material, assembling resources, solving production problems and trying to get work seen - is central to the way he advises filmmakers today.
Real-World
Filmmaking
Jacques’s perspective comes from having occupied the filmmaker’s chair himself: writing scripts, directing actors, producing under constraints, solving problems on set, finishing films, submitting to festivals and living with the consequences of every creative and business decision.
His work has screened and won awards at major festivals including Sundance, Clermont-Ferrand and Cinequest. Just as important, he has also experienced the less glamorous realities that shape independent work: budgets that dictate creative choices, difficult packaging decisions, festival strategy, audience building, production tradeoffs and the long stretch between finishing a film and finding its path into the world.
The Dogwalker
Writer / Director / Producer. Feature film; screened at the Los Angeles and Hong Kong International Film Festivals and won Best First Feature at Cinequest.
Transaction
Short film; screened at Sundance and won the Labo Grand Prix du Jury at Clermont-Ferrand.
Producing
Produced independent features including Shock Television, Within, Midnight Movie, The Revenant and Audie and the Wolf.
Short Films
Additional directing work includes Infidelity in Equal Parts, Egg, My Last Day on Earth and Love Without Socks.
Clarity +
Experience
What filmmakers often need most is not another generic opinion. They need someone who can quickly understand where the project actually is, identify the decision that matters most right now, and connect creative questions to real-world next steps. That is the work Jacques has been doing - formally and informally - for years.
His advisory approach is candid, practical and holistic. He can help pressure-test a script, sharpen a financing strategy, evaluate a production plan, rethink a festival path, assess a distribution offer, or simply help a filmmaker decide what to do next when everything feels noisy or stalled.
Development
Script and story analysis, project positioning, packaging strategy and determining whether material is truly ready for the next stage.
Strategy
Fundraising plans, investor-facing materials, production decision-making, course correction and the practical architecture behind a film’s next move.
Festivals + Distribution
Premiere strategy, submission planning, festival positioning, distribution evaluation and realistic release pathways for independent work.
Network
When a project needs expertise beyond one advisor, Jacques can help filmmakers identify the right conversations, collaborators and specialists.
Breadth of
Work
YOU DON’T NEED
ONE EXPERT.
Jacques remains the primary advisor on Filmmakers Bureau engagements. But independent films touch dozens of specialized disciplines, and no one person should pretend to know everything.
When a project would benefit from additional expertise, the Bureau can draw on a broad network across film finance, entertainment law, casting, production, post, festivals, sales, distribution, publicity, technology and more.
Explore the Network →Advice lands differently
when you’ve made the films.
Filmmakers Bureau exists to help independent filmmakers make smarter decisions, move their projects forward and access the perspective, candor and professional breadth that can turn confusion into momentum.