Jawline Documentary Follows The Fleeting Fame Of Teenage Social Media Success

By Monica Castillo


Like so several other teenagers growing up in 2019, Austyn Tester loves social media. Nevertheless the 18-year-old influencer isn’t just obsessed with earning likes and followers. Since high school, Tester has dreamed of using his live broadcast following as a way to escape his small town in Tennessee, move to L.A., And chase fame. Nevertheless especially for an aspiring teen heartthrob like Tester, it’s insufficient to be beautiful and online.


Liza Mandelup’s incisive documentary, Jawline, follows a crowd of teen gentlemen, including Tester, with sizable social media followings who embark on a nationwide tour — and the legions of fans who pay hundreds of dollars to meet them in person. Waiting for the gentlemen at every stop are mobs of young females, not unlike the generations of Beatles, *NSYNC, Justin Bieber, and One Direction fans before them. Through Tester and 22-year-old social media upstart Michael Weist’s experiences, Mandelup gives crowds an in-depth look at a social media gold rush to increase followers, brand deals, and achieve influencer status.


MTV News discussed with Tester, Mandelup, and Weist at the Sundance Film Festival about their wild ride through this social media bubble.


MTV News: Right now that you’ve seen the documentary with a group, what’s it like revisiting this chapter in your lives?


Austyn Tester: It's so cool. It's like watching a videotape that, not my mother, however Liza made. I was a baby, and someone was filming me growing up. It's crazy how short two years is, nevertheless how long it may feel any time as soon as you look back on it. It's like, my god, I've changed so much.


MTV News: Why did you determine to talk about positivity on your channel?


Tester: It's more just like my struggles in life, and why I overcame those. I can pass opinions down and help others. It was me being influenced by other social media influencers, ones that I was fans of who would motivate me and keep me positive. I wanted to be them. I'd like to spread the positivity like they do. Change peoples’ lives. It is constantly surrounding myself with positive people, even on the world wide web. Plus, why would I'd like to be negative or drama or anything? Why would I'd like to cause anyone harm or stress? Like, why not help them? Spreading love is better than spreading hate.


Director Liza Mandelup poses with film subjects Jovani Jara, Julian Jara, Michael Weist, Donavan Tester, and Austyn Tester at the Sundance premiere of Jawline


MTV News: How did you get in touch with Austyn to create a movie about him and his experience?


Liza Mandelup: I knew I wanted to create a film in this world, and I began filming various meet and greets. I noticed out that there were these meet and greets where these females pay cash to meet the guy that they have been following online really closely via live broadcast apps. That sounds really crazy. So, I went to a couple meet greets, also it was as crazy as I thought.


The emotions were just insane. These females were just so in love with these gentlemen that they've never met. They were telling me they were so connected to them and that they were the passion of their life. They were best companions and so they talk day-to-day. How is this possible for a 16-year-old to be doing all this? We began filming those meet and greets and then eventually noticed Austyn. He was discovered out of obscurity by someone who'd randomly seen him on the app, also it was sort of his very first time broadcasting. We began with him at the very beginning.


MTV News: and why did you get interested in live broadcasting, Austyn?


Tester: It's funny cause I have no clue. One day, I was like, let me download this live shooting app. I downloaded it, and I remember just sitting in my bed, criss-cross applesauce, just talking to the camera. Then someone popped up, "Hey." I'm like, "Hey, what's up?" I'm just talking to one individual, and then I get at most five people where it was so cool. I was like, "Alright guys, I'm gonna be back on tomorrow." Then, five people showed up again. It was awesome. I just discussed about whichever I wanted to, and I admired it.


MTV News: And then in the documentary, you go on this rollercoaster ride of a tour. What was it like to film those events?


Mandelup: With documentary you never know what is going to happen. We were habitually rooting for Austyn, especially meeting him young and thus early on and him attempting to chase his dreams. I thought this is the moment he's getting on tour and everything's going to happen.


Tester: Yeah, it's certainly a roller coaster ride, just how everything took off from Kingsport to the city. There's just no possibility there for me [in Kingsport, Tennessee]. I don't desire to prepare it sound like it's the crappiest Place on Earth, however for entertainment industry or anything like that, it is. You work in factory or you are a doctor or teacher, and it's sort of boring. Doing the same thing each day the rest of your life. It's not for me.


MTV News: The documentary also shows what it’s like immediately after a tour of meet and greets. How did it feel to go back inside broadcasting soon after that?


Tester: It was certainly a crash. Every weekend there was like a thousand screaming ladies, "AHHH, oh my gosh," and then, boom, back to Kingsport where I'm not managed anymore. It’s such a total lifestyle change. It was so hard adjusting. I began getting a lot of anxiety and stuff, just feeling like I didn't fit in.


Michael Weist: Post-tour depression is what we call it. It’s immediately after big festivals where we have tons of meet and greets. Even going back to L.A. Is still not the same as being on a tour bus day-to-day, waking up and going outdoors to thousands of screaming women. It's just different.


Mandelup: Austyn is just one story, nevertheless a lot of the struggle that we visualize is you're so young and you're working and you're being segment of this industry — piece of this ecosystem is that it brings you in and then spits you out. That is really hard for a teenager to experience once you of course, as a teenager, have so several anxieties and things to have to deal with. Then throw that in the mix [and] it could be really harmful for someone.


MTV News: One of the things that really stood out about the documentary was that Liza included a lot of voices of the ladies who go to these events. Why did you determine to include them in the film?


Mandelup: I saw the full thing as this categorize kind of triangle where it seemed like you have the boss, you have the talent, and then you have fangirl. The foundation of the film in my head was they all have to play off each other so that the viewer can understand the ecosystem.


As soon as we were actually filming, I thought we'll have like one fangirl to counteract the men. Each time I would meet a different fangirl, they were a chorus. One singular story doesn't necessarily explain what's happening. What's happening is hundreds and hundreds of females are following one boy. It only made sense to weave them all with each other. They were all dealing with their own personalized struggle. Every women story is heart-wrenching. It seemed like you wanted to give them a hug right after or something like that. This made me think about that time any time Once I was a teenage girl, also. That is a really hard time, so you really don't know where to put your emotions.


MTV News: Social media changes so speedily, what’s one of the things you found about this industry while documenting it?


Tester: I would mention social media changes a lot. I mean, the app I used to live shoot on any time If I got found on by a manager is gone right now. The platforms are always changing to the next. Some just sort of perish out.


Mandelup: Even as we were finishing shooting, the app that they were using was done. The film takes place on the coattails of the social media gold rush. Each person thought, I can get prominent off of this, and that person did it, and he's creating a ton of cash and has millions of followers. It became oversaturated. I think what you visualize in the film is this world of everybody thinking that all it takes is just going live all of the time or posting on social media all of the time, and I, also, can become famed. It's actually not that easy. It’s really hard to keep up with. I think a lot of men in the film struggled to keep up with that.


Weist: you could visualize my battles some of my clientele attempting to get them to stay focused because if they feel like they've made it they are really quick to be, "OK, I don't have to do it anymore." Well, if they don't, someone is going to come right up from the bottom and replace them, which happens.


MTV News: How has life changed for you since the end of the documentary?


Tester: I'm caught up with school. I'm a senior this year. I'll graduate in May, and then college will begin in fall. Currently, I'm in school along with a barista at Starbucks. People never desire to follow in case if you've nothing to support. I'm not posting on social media as much.


MTV News: Do you have any words of suggestions for kids who might have followed you or might be interested in going right after that social media lifestyle?


Tester: I would tell them to don't be discouraged by the negative comments. Remember why you began. It's very crucial to remember why you began this objective, why you wanted to obtain this objective, and, to never give up. It's going to get really tough some days. You are going to go up and down in life, nevertheless remember to stay motivated, stay consistent, and stay being yourself.