Jake Fay is an award-winning American producer, writer, and director from Lynn, Massachusetts. Fay is known for his debut film, “The Process.” Since The Process, he has gone on to create a VLog series with KMF Lynn a hip hop group from Boston, Massachusetts, and birthed “We Present Live By” a live music video series on YouTube. Fay is in production on the feature film, Silencing the Court- The Antonio Anderson Story. Fay graduated from the University of Hartford with his bachelor’s in film and then went on to receive his master’s in business administration from the University of the Virgin Islands (the only HBCU outside of the continental United States).
Tell us about your experience at the Hip Hop Film Festival? My experience at the Hip Hop Festival was a very positive one. The hip-hop film festival did a great job running its program during a global pandemic. Even though the event was online, the program did a great job keeping it creative and building a community.
Why are stories from the culture important? Stories from the culture are important because hip-hop is overlooked and underappreciated. Hip hop is at the corner of everyone’s everyday life yet, people still seem to look down upon the artists in the community. The culture is sometimes looked upon as just the famous artists but in my eyes, it’s the local rappers and communities that push the culture forward. When writing The Process I took all of my inspiration from the culture especially my hometown of Lynn, Massachusetts.
What projects are you working on now? I’m currently directing a lot of music videos with the Boston music scene. I am also, directing and producing a feature-length documentary on Antonio Anderson a college basketball stand-out who was faced with many disabilities throughout his career at the University of Memphis and his time in the NBA. We have interviewed Basketball legends like Penny Hardaway, Mike Miller, John Calipari, and Josh Pastner.
Why do you think the Harlem Film House and Hip Hop Film Festival are important?
These are important because they are directly coming from the culture and are for the culture. There’s no smoke and mirrors they are all about Hip Hop and the culture.