We had the chance to connect with our creative partners, Junk Flower Films, to learn more about their production company and their story. Meet co-founders Rose Knopper and Keya Saxena, two recent NYU Tisch grads, building a creative legacy in New York City.
1. Can you tell us a bit about your journey into creative work? How did you both meet and start collaborating?
Rose: Keya and I met the first week of our freshman year at NYU Tisch almost 5 years ago. We saw Tyler Mitchell’s “I Can Make You Feel Good” exhibit at the ICP and were both so drawn to the work and artistry. It clicked that we had very similar visual sensibilities and ways of viewing the world. On the walk back from the museum I remember Keya talking about an idea she had of making an experimental documentary featuring female artists in New York.
Keya: I had this poem I won an award for in high school called “A Girl of Such Manner” and it was still mid-Covid ghost town at that time. I was super excited and grateful to be in New York, pursuing filmmaking and felt a strong creative urge to make something. Rose mentioned that she always wanted to be a cinematographer and so I thought this was a perfect opportunity.
Rose: We spent the rest of the semester exploring New York with my tiny Sony camera filming different female artists over the weekends. That was the first film we made together, and we kept collaborating on bigger projects ever since then.
Keya: I believe we’re at over 10 projects now that I’ve directed with Rose as the cinematographer, inclusive of narrative film, commercial & branded content, music videos and more. We’ve always been Junk Flower, we just decided to give it a name this year.
2. What inspires your visual style, and how do you approach capturing the essence of a person or moment?
Rose: While Keya and I have different artistic influences and tastes, we share a drive to represent characters with honesty and sensitivity. When we disagree about a visual choice, we always come back to this value to figure out the best compromise. For example, Keya likes still, wider frames and I prefer to get closer to the actors with movement. In Keya’s thesis film, Manjha, we compromised on shooting more medium shots with subtle camera moves to represent the main character’s inner emotions. We took this process to our shoot with Kaju too — we felt the unique, intricate details of the earrings lent themselves naturally to fluid, tighter shots. Keya had the idea of a slow, wide zoom out shot for the Kaju Girl Hero Video, and we eventually compromised with a closer zoom shot of the ear. We were excited how this combination of our two visual styles made a dynamic intro shot for the Hero Video, and showed off Kaju’s beautiful collection in one beat!
Keya: I definitely agree, I think Rose & I’s shared vision really strengthens with each project. When it comes to the visuals from a directing standpoint, I just really try to center the unique story and purpose. Considering color palettes, which was huge for the Kaju Campaign, personality of the subjects, and ultimately the goal of the project is the best way to hone a visual style, which translates to the shots and eventually the edit.
3. What has been the most memorable or challenging shoot you’ve done together so far, and why?
Keya: Not be biased, of course, but I will genuinely always hold such a special place for the Kaju Girl campaign we did with y’all! I felt like I really grew as a creative, getting to work with a client I really cared about, figuring out logistics from different sides of the country, and managing an open casting call of 500+ applicants. It really was unchartered territory for me and I’m so grateful to have got these learnings with this project.
Rose: We were truly honored to have Kaju’s trust in our creative styles and collaborate on all the different ways we could visualize the jewelry. My favorite part was location scouting for the Kaju Girl video. It was exciting to be inspired by the environment Keya and I walk by everyday and find special corners of where we live in Queens to represent Kaju’s collection.
Keya: Overall, it was memorable for us because doing a project like this, where we get to represent and work with so many young women and have fun with it, was something Rose and I always talked about years ago. We would look at i-D magazine and Princess Nokia music videos and dream of creating something like that. And we did! Truly so crazy to think about.
4. How do your backgrounds and personal experiences (cultural or otherwise) influence your creative process?
Rose: Keya and I always shared a goal of centering our work about women’s perspectives and bringing more non-male voices into the industry. This is crucial to our creative process; we value working with collaborators who share a similar ethos to ours, which most of the time is with other women. We believe it’s a necessity to have identities represented both in front and behind the camera.
Keya: I think there will always be an inherent tie between identity and creative process. Most of the work I do and projects I take on relate to an aspect of my identity in some way, whether that be being South Asian, being a woman, or even just an ethos I believe in as Rose mentioned. My work aims to center and push forward the diaspora and creatives I align with, and I truly believe this happens naturally as opposed to a conscious effort. I try my best to be seen as a well-rounded creative rather than pigeon-holing myself into an identity because I believe it’ll come through regardless.
5. If you could dream up your next big creative project without limits, what would it be?
Keya: At our core, we’re both narrative storytellers and while recently we’ve delved into commercial work, I think we’re both hoping to find our way back to our dream narrative projects - most likely a debut feature film. There’s a few features I’ve been writing for a few years now, one in particular entitled “To Kalradho”, a South Asian family road trip drama, which I hope to move forward with in the coming years. Coincidentally enough, the story moves from Connecticut, my home state, to Colorado, Rose’s home state, and so in many ways I think this project will be the perfect next big step for us.
Rose: I agree, it would be a dream to work on a feature together. I would be especially excited by the prospect of being able to bring together our other close collaborators and friends to make something with a longer time frame.
6. What's your favorite Kaju Studios piece?
Rose: I love the Tejal studs! The emerald gemstones remind me of a necklace my grandma gave me as a kid.
Keya: I was lucky enough to end up with one pair of the Kiran earrings after our first shoot with Kaju Studios and I wear her everywhere! My friends know growing up I would pretty much only wear hoops and if I ever had a Desi event then I would switch them out for jhumkas. Quite literally the perfect combination of the two, she’s gorgeous. Long live Kaju Studios!!!