Interview with Jack Serra on Generation Well

Director and writer Jack Serra was born in Alabama, in the United States, in the year of 1999. He has lived in New York, California and Texas. He started making narrative shorts, music videos and commercial work in his adolescence. He began the production of his debut feature in 2021, when he set up the production company ARZ Pictures. He has since directed nine short films. His latest work Generation Well premiered at the LA Shorts International Film Festival.

Joshua Polanski – I read that this film comes from a place of personal loss. Can you say more about that? What about your experience with those emotions did you aspire to capture?

Jack Serra – I lost my father when I was 23, and that experience fundamentally changed me. With Generation Well, I wanted to explore the quiet, lingering weight of grief – how it can isolate you, but also force you to confront who you are. The film isn’t autobiographical, but it’s rooted in the atmosphere of loss I carried during that time.

JP – You seem to shoot in many locations. Can you tell me more about what you valued most in scouting each location? What did that process look like for you?

JS – In all honesty, we didn’t have the pick of the litter when it came to locations. But that limitation pushed me to focus on finding consistency in tone and style, even if the spaces themselves weren’t ideal on paper. I was always looking for textures and moods that would visually tie the story together. In the end, that constraint helped create a more unified world for the film.

JP – The film uses a structure and editing style that favors, in a good way, estrangement. One feels like the world isn’t quite right through the structure alone. Can you walk me through your approach to editing in Generation Well?

JS – I knew from the start that I didn’t want the edit to feel seamless or conventional.

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