Videos by JanLucanus

In 2007 we expanded the Creative Impulse Entertainment company to encompass not only film production, but also publishing and music. The flagship property of CIE is "JFH: Justice-For-Hire", a mixed martial arts action comic book series that challenges convention and boasts to have "the most realistic action sequences ever drawn for a comic book" (Newsarama.com). The first issue hit comic stores internationally on December 29 of 2007, and the Season 1 Finale hit on July 2, 2008. Season 2 is coming soon so stay tuned. I recut the original Creative Impulse Publishing launch commercial to contain some of the amazing praise that the "JFH" comic book has received thus far (the original commercial is also on YouTube). Enjoy. For more info and updates, please sign up for our mailing list at: www.JUSTICE-FOR-HIRE.com and check out the official Martial Arts Creative Team YouTube channel (the "JFH" action choreography team) at www.YouTube.com/Justice-For-Hire

**Warning - brief but artistic nudity. Viewer discretion is advised.** To date, this is one of my favorite works of editing that I have done. I received my first two feature film offers based on this reel, and turned both down in favor of dedicating myself to building my Creative Impulse Entertainment company and "JFH: Justice-For-Hire" franchise. There are some clips from a music video that I directed less than a month after shooting the "JFH" featurette. Also, it is important to note that there are two shots in the beginning of the reel in which I am acting under the watchful eye of another talented director (I had gotten permission to use them in my reel years back - they are quick cuts, maybe you can catch them), but all the rest of the footage was under my direction. Enjoy. www.CreativeImpulseEnt.com

"JFH" has a great deal of importance to me in my life. While the property has prospered and grown in both creativity and popularity worldwide (and continues to do so), for me it is a personal tribute to foresight, intuition, and dedication. I knew in my sophomore year of film school that my final project had to be one I could live and work with for years if I really wanted to enter the entertainment arena in a unique way. When I came to the realization later that year that I wanted to revisit the "Ebony & Ivory" characters (based off both the audience reaction to the original film and the fun/passion we had for making "E&I"), I knew that the journey to making something as niche as a martial arts action/adventure film would be an intense one. Many tried to deter me from the project: my senior film class didn't want me to make the film, my script was too long (it was 47 pages, which is no longer a short film, but a featurette, which itself means it's longer than 30min. but shorter...

I cut my first reel while I was supervising the editing of "Hotel Harbor View" and had a great sense of freedom while doing it. I did a great deal of research for this as well; I called up all of the major production companies where the hottest music videos of the day worked and got their reels sent to my "office" (which would have been tough if I had told them what it was for, but two directors at the music video company I interned at told me to just pretend I was a manager for some up and coming musician, and that worked every time). When I say the hottest director's, I mean everyone from Francis Lawrence to Little X to Hype Williams to Joseph Khan to Sophie Muller (and of course I purchased the Palm Pictures series with Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham). If you want to be great you must look upon greatness. So the research was fun, plus it is always a wonderful experience to revisit old works and add new music to them to change the tone. Editing can be a very spiritual...

The first film officially shot under the newly formed and officially incorporated Creative Impulse Entertainment company (a name that I had literally been using since grade school). This film noir was shot in the Spring of 2003 and cutting this trailer marked the very first time that I had edited anything by myself in a digital format (Final Cut Pro). The final cut of the full film, which I directed but did not edit (I supervised a fabulous editor that I learned a great deal from - he cut on Avid), went on to win numerous awards (including "Best Short Film") and play in many national and international film festivals. The story is based off of the Japanese Manga graphic novel "Hotel Harbour View" by Natsuo Sekikawa and Jiroh Taniguchi. The lead Japanese actress helped us get the approval to make the film from the creators themselves. We used the Manga as our storyboard, which proved to be an invaluable technique. I love this film and share the first title card of the credits...

This was my first music video and my first opportunity to work with my great friend, Sage Michael. Sage was the understudy of the multi-platinum recording group Dru Hill. He and his band, Dangerzone, continue to peroform shows with some of today's top artists, including Ludacris and Bobby Valentino. This video was shot in the summer of 2003. A lot of the CG effects that we had planned never made it in, as I had yet to really dive into any form of CG collaboration. The final product is nothing to write home about, but it was a great learning experience from many perspectives. Enjoy. Directed by Jan Lucanus, shot by Roberto DeJesus, edited by Greg Payton.

This version of the film (or video, I should say) was inspired by an incredibly visceral trailer that I had shot for the concept on 16mm in my first semester of sophomore year of film school. Even though the 16mm black & white footage was beautiful, it was shot all MOS (without sound) and needed to be edited on a Steenbeck machine (the classical style of editing where you physically cut each piece of film). Anyway, due to issues with getting allotment time to use the Steenbecks and the sound studios for precise narration, I never had the chance to cut the entire 16mm version together, then the semester was over (and the good people at NYU can be real hardasses when you want to actually get work done outside of class structure). So, after my stay in Italy, I felt super creative and "experimental" and decided to remake "Blue Candy Lights" in video format during the first semester of junior year in my experimental film class, this time with sound, some new cast and some old from the...

I feel that I have the ability to evaluate my own work with an artistic eye; I know when I've made crap, I know when I'm on to something, and I know when I create something awesome. This piece happens to be one of my favorite films that I have done to date. I was drowning myself in Radiohead for months, then one early morning in my dorm room in Florence I was in a half dream/half awake state hearing the song "Spinning Plates" in my head. But the volume in my mind was low enough that I could feel something deeper inside - two new personalities. I immediately felt like a vessel for these two characters inside and started speaking their words, and in my mind's eye, I could ALMOST see them clearly. In my groggy state, I quietly got up from my top bunk bed, so as not to disturb my roommate, grabbed a pad and pen and started scribbling the dialogue I was hearing/whispering. It was such a surreal experience, and one that I will most definitely access again when the time is right....

Hot off the heels of a string very successful short films during the first semester of my sophomore year of film school, I felt confident and creatve enough to tackle another project (my 19 year old attempt at directing a rather large feature film during school), which crashed and burned in a day after months of prep (live and learn). After a few months of a remarkable emotional lull, I was given the opportunity to study in Florence, Italy for part of the summer. There I found new inspiration and freedom and did nothing but experiment in film and in life. This piece is the first one I shot out there, and marks the very first time I worked with my now long-standing collaborator and friend, Mercer Boffey. I hope you enjoy.

Once I got into film school (college), the curriculum had me doing a whole bunch of projects that I didn't necessarily care for (of course, in the end, they all helped to develop me as an artist). In 2001, my sophomore year at NYU, they finally gave me a camera. After two projects that showed off what I had learned at NYFA, I knew it was time to call on Ian Morgan and show the school what I really could do. This film was the most highly promoted and anticipated film of the class, drew attendees from all over and outside of the college, and basically blew the roof off what people had seen in terms of choreography and editing (I am specifically talking about the final scene on that one). This was also the first film where I had original music composed specifically for the project. I hope you enjoy this classic, as it is dear to my heart, and inspired the expanded "Justice-For-Hire" featurette (my senior thesis) as well as the critically acclaimed "JFH: Justice-For-Hire" comic...