Hi! I am Jayesh, founder of Wet Grass Films, Mumbai. After much deliberation, I concluded it would be a good idea to tell my story. Afterall we are storytellers.

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It was a cold winter in 2006 when I decided to join Whistling Woods International, Mumbai, to study acting. Hailing from a small town, getting into a film school was the only way I could make my way to Mumbai. However, I was rarely exposed to international cinema. Even the masala Hollywood movies were dubbed in Hindi or Marathi. I remember watching Godzilla in Hindi in a packed single-screen theatre, and everyone was amazed by the CG & VFX. I didn’t know those words then. Those were simpler times. Reaching home at 3pm after school and catching just the movie’s end made me believe that all movies need to have a fight sequence at the end. All I understood about films was that ek producer hota hai, ek director aur ek actor hota hai. Producer paisa lagaata hai, jo apne paas hai nahi. Director direct karta hai, jo apne ko aata nahi. Haan acting sahi hai. 

 

So, with this tunnel vision, I embarked on my journey to be an actor. Starting with theater, I did a few acting workshops, and finally got into Whistling Woods in 2007. My world opened up, and how! During my first week, I realized I knew nothing about filmmaking and how limited was my knowledge of international cinema. I knew I had some catching up to do. The first six months of the foundation course covered all aspects of filmmaking - Direction, Editing, Cinematography, Production Design, Production, Sound design, and of course, Acting. I fell in love with all the fields and discovered the storyteller in me. My love for cinema motivated me to learn all about it. I watched three films a day, attended classes, screenings with guest lectures, and ate my professor’s brains out with a thousand questions. I did it all. At the end of the foundation course, I scored highest in Acting and Editing. Never in my wildest dream could I have imagined doing well in editing. This motivated me to study more about filmmaking as a whole rather than just focusing on acting. 

 

Two years later, with abundant knowledge of filmmaking and cinema, I set out to look for work in the industry. And a year later, I co-founded a production company, Frameboyance Films, in Mumbai. Our first project was for McDonald’s, which was an immense learning experience as we shot it in Delhi and Gurgaon. Away from our comfort zone, we shot for 9 nights and delivered. All the hard work and sleepless nights paid off when the client appreciated the output. It felt like I had been accepted in this beautiful world of LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION. There was no looking back now with the 2nd project in the offing. I directed a corporate video for Thirumala Precicasts Pvt. Ltd in Solapur followed by another for Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI) and a few more. My thirst for more and hunger for knowledge made me venture out on my own, and in the year 2011, Wet Grass Films came to fruition. This was when ‘I’ became ‘WE.’ I’m often asked, “Why Wet Grass?”. For me, the name ‘Wet Grass’ signifies an ever-youthful and fresh perspective towards cinema. At WGF, we are committed to delivering visually exciting and dynamic film production.

 

I realized social media content would boom, and to provide a better service, I enrolled at Don Bosco, Mumbai to study digital marketing. This knowledge came in handy when we joined forces with Mio Design Agency and made three ads for Reliance Life Insurance. As this was during Sachin’s retirement, the video featured his biggest fan, Sudhir Kumar Gautam. All the ads received great reviews and were appreciated by more than 600,000 people on YouTube. This cemented my relationship with Mio Design, and we shot ad films for Exo Dishwashing Bar for Jyothy Labs, Mahindra Cargo Vehicles, DSP Blackrock, ICICI Lombard, and many more. I cherish collaborations and have been fortunate to have collaborated with various agencies on a plethora of projects. Be it films with 26five agency for Accenture, ICICI Prudential, Bajaj Allianz or Dash Ideas for Birla Sunlife, Avanti Finance, Hettich India or Synapse Marketing for LEGO, Himalaya Wellness, Accelya, to name a few. We’ve also worked with brands like J. Hampstead, NSDL, Ceat Tyres, Mahindra Thar, Emperor Akbar Cardamoms, Elixia Tech, Mettler Toledo, Esteem Industries, Dell, and Luminous. 

 

Making ad films, brand videos, and animation inspired us to get into fiction films. We produced our first feature film, ‘Dad Hold My Hand,’ in London, UK, followed by a Marathi film - ‘Bodhi,’ as Executive & Line Producers. However, our proudest moment has been producing an animated short film, ‘Embrace,’ where we got an opportunity to collaborate with a talented Vancouver-based filmmaker, Jacquile Kambo. The short film was part of our expansion plan to Vancouver, where we made a talk show - ‘Women of Vancouver,’ an ad for a belt brand, and provided VFX services for an Oscar-nominated short film - ‘Quarantine Fling.’ 

 

With bigger goals and lots to learn, our journey continues. Now that you know our story, why don’t you check out our work?