In Hollywood, the world’s pre-eminent industry for commercial cinema, everything must meet a high bar in terms of quality and technical proficiency.
The same exacting standards and production values informing a film must also usually reflect in its trailer – a crucial element that acts as the centre piece of all activities aimed at promoting a movie once it is made. The same would apply to more contemporary innovations or interpretations of the trailer, e.g., teasers, that are well-suited to the age of social media.
This is the story of a young man from Laksham in Cumilla, Bangladesh - Jisan Kamrul Hasan, and how his relentless pursuit of a dream has taken him all the way to Culver City, California - the most populous as well as economically advanced of the 50 constituent states that comprise the United States of America - and the home of Hollywood.
Culver City itself is a hub of film and television production, best known as the home of the renowned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, or MGM Studios. But how did Jisan end up there?
More importantly, what was this young Bangladeshi motion graphic designer’s journey like, on the road to getting to work on the teasers and trailers for some of the most popular movies and series in recent times, from the critically acclaimed “Last Night in Soho” to the graphic-intensive hit " ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,’ from Marvel Studios.
Following a recent interview with a leading national daily, Jisan became known to the nation, and naturally many in the entertainment industry as well as netizens are waiting for an opportunity to give vent to their curiosity to learn more about Jisan and his journey.
“My journey actually started at a very early age back in 2002, when I was stunned by the majestic visuals in “The Lord of the Rings.” I wondered about the motion graphics, and I decided that I would learn this,” Jisan said in a telephone interview with UNB from his Hollywood home, engaging at length on different topics.
It wasn't until 2007 though, that Jisan would even get his first personal computer.
“At this stage though, things started moving very fast in my lane in life. Soon, sometime in 2008, I moved to Dhaka and began practising Photoshop on my own, thanks to YouTube.
His interest and practice in 3D animation and motion graphics led him to begin his bachelors in CSE at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST).
“I was already making money from graphic design and photography at that point and got my first opportunity as a motion designer after one of the seniors of my mess roommate approached me in 2012 and asked if I would be interested in working for his business as a graphic designer.”
That’s how a lifelong passion was stoked inside a young man with his future ahead of him.
“In 2013 I bought my camera and started photography as a freelancer. This phase of my life circulated around the dream of being a filmmaker. I made some short films, done wedding photographs, made a bunch of creative and talented friends and used to have regular and frequent visits to ‘Chobir Hat’ at Dhaka University’s Charukala,” Jisan reminisced.
Then in September, 2016, Jisan moved from Bangladesh to New York in the US East Coast, where he began working for a newspaper as a graphic designer, courtesy of an expatriate journalist Kazi Shamsul Hoque. “Little did I know, my real struggle was just starting,” Jisan says.
“I moved to Los Angeles in 2017, and the first year I had to survive with the bare minimum. A big and totally new city, a pretty costlier environment, and thousands of other obstacles. I survived, but then Covid-19 hit and I finally realised that was it, I had to put everything aside and give my passion a final try.”
