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Rafi Jacobs

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Bloomfield Hills native and Andover High School graduate, Rafi Jacobs, has always been artistic. As a co-founder and producer at Static Films – a full-service production company in Los Angeles that provides creative and logistical support to independent filmmakers – he gets to continue on that path.


Jacobs met his current producing partners, Stephen Mastrocola and Liana Montemayor, in 2021 as independent producers on an Easter-themed horror/comedy feature film. “The synergy was undeniable; we had to flush out the possibilities,” he said.


During Static’s first official year, they would execute four more feature films. “We caught lightning in a bottle,” said Jacobs. One, “Wine Club,” a comedy about a former child sitcom star who denounces the industry and accidentally starts a cult, is currently available on Apple, Amazon and Tubi. The remainder are on the film festival circuit and working to secure distribution.


“Max Dagan,” a crime drama starring Rob Morrow (Northern Exposure), Zachary Gordon (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), follows a son trying to get his dying father out of prison on a compassionate release, recently had its world premiere for a sold-out audience as the coveted Closing Film at Dances With Films in Los Angeles.


“The energy and reception were electric,” he said. The film has since received two more festival acceptances.


Additional Static titles include “Breakup Season,” starring Chandler Riggs (The Walking Dead) and Samantha Isler (Molly’s Game); “Crossword,” starring Michael Vlamis (Roswell, NM) and Aurora Perrineau (Westworld); “Guttersnipes,” starring Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass) and John Carroll Lynch (Fargo); “Floater,” starring Jacob Wysocki (Unfriended) and Jeffrey Nordling (Big Little Lies).


Jacobs attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) to study photography, film and video.


“SAIC instilled a methodology to understanding the driving forces behind art making; the research and dialogue tools necessary to exhibit work with clarity, conviction and connection,” said Jacobs, who has exhibited photographs and experimental video works in galleries and museums worldwide, including Art/Video International (Israel), Duplex Gallery (Switzerland), the Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography, and the Spectacle Theater (Brooklyn, NY).


Inspiration also came from his move to Tel Aviv, Israel in 2014, where he worked at Green Productions. “Their ethos of creating poignant dramatic narratives made a harmonious pairing with me,” said Jacobs. In the long run, he knew Los Angeles would be a likely landing spot for his pursuits, and he has been there since 2016.


In 2017, under his Koss Market Films banner, named for his family’s Hastings Street grocery, established in Detroit in the 1930s, Jacobs wrote and directed his first LA-based short film, “Dissonance,” in which a late-blooming millennial seeks retribution after catching the blowback from his friend’s violent altercation.


“I’m incredibly proud of that piece,” he said. “It had a magical world premiere at the Catalina Film Festival in Los Angeles and continued on to have a healthy festival run.”


Jacobs is currently developing his feature directorial debut, which he aims to film in Michigan next year. “Increasing the positive representation of Jewish culture, identity, spirituality and religion, while breaking the caricatures and tropes that have shaped historically negative depictions in entertainment, is paramount to my work,” he said.


His collaborations along the way have been impactful.


“Indie filmmakers are lucky to make a movie every three to five years. But, as a producer, executing at a greater frequency and scale offers the accelerated ability to optimize executional practices, nurture relationships with extraordinary creatives, in front of and behind the camera, and build out sales/distribution pipelines, which all become influential for my personal projects,” said Jacobs.


“Because, ultimately, getting to make movies with your friends is the dream.”


Story: Jeanine Matlow

Photo: Marcus Henderson

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