Latest / CINEMACTIVIST / S03E09 - Meet Jacob Perrett

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S03E09 - Meet Jacob Perrett · CINEMACTIVIST

• Speaker 1: Welcome to Cinema Activist. I'm your host John Lines and I'm here today with Jacob Perrett. How are you doing, good sir? And we're Speaker 2: Doing good, my friend. How are you? Awesome. Speaker 1: here at Cusawego Square at Cup and Spoon. They have delicious ice cream. So how have you been, good sir? Speaker 2: Best you've ever had. Doing good, doing good. Happy to be out here on outside in this beautiful day with you. Speaker 1: Yeah, it is a beautiful day. So you just got back from film festival premiere of your new film, which is Photo Negative, which we will get into, but this episode is going to be about meet Jacob Perret. That's your Yes, correct. Speaker 2: Yes, that is me, correct. Correct. Dude, I'm used to talking about the movie, I'm not used to talking about myself. Speaker 1: I know, I hate talking about myself, so sorry. And then in the next episode we're gonna bring in some special guests correct. Who are involved in the film and then we'll dive into the film. And then I think we'll do a third episode and maybe talk about making film in Western Pennsylvania. Mm-hmm. And then maybe in a fourth episode, I'm thinking we'll get you together with Jill Killington, who I did a series with, and invite some other filmmakers, from both Both out west and here on the east coast and kind of have a big collaborative conversation about all things indie film. How does that sound? Speaker 2: It'd be like the Avengers teaming up. Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely. So all right, when you were starting out as a young scrubber, did you grow up and were you born and raised in in Western PA? Where where are you from, Jacob? Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm from I'm from Sagertown, which i is a town that you've heard of before but Yeah. Nobody I mean, I even say it's interesting, like you mentioned, we were just in Tennessee and I'll bring up like I never say I'm from Sagertown 'cause no one knows what that is. so I'll say like either Erie or Pittsburgh. More people know Pittsburgh, but even like Erie would be like, really, where's that at? And I'm like, It's one of the the Great Lakes. I remember at home. You did you ever learn that in school? What? It's it's called it's the acronym for the Great Lakes. It's it's home, it's Huron. Ontario, Michigan, and Erie. To learn something. We're here to learn about film, bro. Speaker 1: It's all good. Yeah, I mean I always do I do find it weird when people don't know where Erie is. Right. I'm like it's a lake and they're like, where? But that's Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: all right. So we're here in the middle of nowhere making movies. Yeah. Independent films. So when you were growing up in Sagertown, did you like to r draw color? Were you a storyteller back then? Speaker 2: Yeah, so I mean I I'm an only child, so you know, no siblings. I sort of had to learn to entertain myself. I think that n naturally resulted in taking in a lot of movies and T V and stuff like that. But I didn't I didn't initially start there. I think it was because I don't know, it's something that just didn't seem like like attainable per se. Like, you know, those people have I don't y I wasn't even perceiving money at the time, but like it just there was some detachment there like I don't know. Right, right. And and so I guess to answer your question, yes I was creative, but I sort of started out in like drawing and stuff like that. What I did I so I heard an episode you made comics. Yeah. I made comics as well. Alright. Yeah. Speaker 1: Who were in what were your characters in the comics? Speaker 2: Dude, I did I did like Pirates of the Caribbean. I know that's super weird. You think like superhero Yeah, yeah, Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: yeah. I like Jack Sparrow and Okay. Yeah, so I did Speaker 1: Do you had your own adventures of Jack Sparrow kind of a thing? Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean I did like original stuff as well. I couldn't tell you like I don't know what superhero, but like I mean I was into Spider Man and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 1: Okay. But did you create your own superhero at you don't remember what the stone is all right. All right. Speaker 2: No. Probably purposely blocked it up. Sorry. but yeah, so I I sort of started there and then it was it was like a while before I found like film specifically because I I I did like sports for a while. Okay. And and I think I was like sort of trying to find like a sense of community, you know? Yeah. because Speaker 1: Sports was where it was at in small town America, right? Speaker 2: Right, yeah, and as you can imagine, yeah, you go to Sagretown and you're like, I wanna make movies, people are like, Yeah, you know, it's not a not a thing. Yeah. so Speaker 1: Or they laugh and say what kind of movies, right? With a little smirk on their face. I get that a lot too. Speaker 2: And I was doing I was doing like well and that's another thing, speaking of like community, like I I had like friends, but like it wasn't like I don't know, like it's weird when you're like ten years old and you invite kids over and you're trying to construct a movie. They just all around Speaker 1: Dang, all right. Yeah, you wanted to direct at a very young age then. Speaker 2: Yeah. So I I I s I started like when I was doing videos at first I was doing like stop motions because you know y I didn't need anyone else. I had all the characters there. So I did like stuff with like Legos and like claymation. It wasn't clay, it was like Play Doh, but That's cool. So I did that and then Do you there are yeah. Speaker 1: still have any of those has Taylor seen Speaker 2: Not voluntarily. You've probably seen some of I mean, who am I talking to? No one's No. Speaker 1: yeah, sure. Sorry for breaking the rule. No camera to cut away to. Speaker 2: Right. no, we'll make this episode really meta. Okay. Speaker 1: That's fine. We can put in a stop motion. We can make Carly's and and Taylors and they can be standing next to the cameras with their arms crossed watching us. Speaker 2: so yeah, I was doing well and I quickly found out that I didn't have Patience for stop motion because I mean so tedious. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. so like yeah, not only would I like edit the Legos and st you know, frame by frame, stuff like that. and and now that I think about it, the c I I wasn't doing stop motion with like a like a a D SLR or like a picture. I was using my my video camera at the time and I would press record and then press it again really fast. Okay. Speaker 1: So you got a few frames and they weren't always the same. Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Very jagged, you know. Speaker 1: But still the theory was there. You're you're trying. Probably pretty jittery. Speaker 2: And then I would take it Yeah. I would take it into to paint on like my parents' old like family computer and I would edit like the mouse for talking and stuff like that. And then I I don't know, I eventually reached a point where was like I can't I'm I'm gonna do live action. Speaker 1: So what was your first live action and who who was in it? Did you do shorts for school or was it just on your own? Speaker 2: I did a I had a YouTube. Yeah. Okay. And and I guess I should mention it, that's pretty important. Yeah. That is sort of what bridged the gap between like I don't know, like I said, I used to watch movies and T V and there felt like some sort of like disconnect. I w saw YouTube and I was like, Well, these people are, you know, doing it or similar things without any money. Yeah. I could do that. And that that kind of, you know, started my journey towards the stuff that I used to be Speaker 1: So what's your YouTube channel and when did you start it? Or your first one if it's not the one you've Speaker 2: First one? man. I Speaker 1: If you don't wanna say what it's called, but when did you start it? Speaker 2: started it probably I don't know, I was probably like like like eleven or twelve, so that would have been two thousand and seven, eight, like really or really early YouTube. And it was so I mean YouTube's always been kind of like a CD place. Mm much much less so now with community guidelines and whatnot. But when it started there was like some crazy stuff on there. Yeah. And my mom Yeah, my mom Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 2: was like monitoring my cat because she didn't want people like I mean I was a kid. Speaker 1: Good job, Mom. Yeah, yikes. That sounds terrifying. Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. Well and it's interesting to I mean this is kind of side quest but like to think of like t to I'm sort of like the first generation to grow up on the internet. Like you have you might have like home videos and stuff like that. Yeah. But like my whole life is on the internet. Yeah. Like mostly private it now. But Speaker 1: So is that channel your original channel still out there or did you take it down? Speaker 2: It's still out there. I took down I took down the big one from when I was like a teenager. Okay. But that one from when I was a kid is still Speaker 1: All right, so what kind of stuff were you doing on the channel back then? Speaker 2: The the very first one. Yeah. that was that was my stop motions. okay. And then that was sort of transitioned into like little like short films like like my friends and I like playing like Halo and Call of Duty, so I would I do like like muzzle flashes and stuff with like Nerf guns. Okay. Yeah. Speaker 1: So getting into some VFX there. Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. And the crazy thing with that was like I didn't know how to like download so if there was like a say like a green screen effect with like an explosion, I didn't know how to download the video. So I would set my camcorder up and record the literal screen. Speaker 1: Love it. Speaker 2: And then would I mean it's already like not great quality to begin with and then it's like it yeah, yeah. It didn't look great in the aftermath, but I did the same thing with like muzzle flashes, like if I couldn't download the one that I wanted, I would just like snap a picture. Okay. Speaker 1: No, but that's all right. Yeah, you're trying to like find your way around using the technology that you had access to, right? I mean, that's cool. Okay, so you were what age eleven when you started like your first YouTube? Okay. So when was your first like all live action short film that you've done? And what was it? And did you write it? Was it an adaptation? Speaker 2: I mean I did the first one I can't even like quite quite remember exactly like I don't know the a I I I did I did like s a lot of stuff with like zombies. That was that was Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it but e the zombie stuff back then was like it had like a twinge of like even like comedy and self-awareness, like we're in the apocalypse, but like we're legitimately like kids, so like I don't know, there was like some Speaker 1: Like your own kind of Shawn of the Dead kind of Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. I didn't know what Shauna did it was back then. But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. and I mean back then like I I wrote everything and honestly it was probably rip offs of things that I saw on YouTube that I that I liked. I did that a lot. Even like with my stop motions I was like, you know Speaker 1: Were some of your favorites, are they still around today when you were a kid? Like I'm wondering if you if like the Philippo brothers or anybody like that were early influences and Speaker 2: Yeah, so I used to watch this really it's not really obscure. I think he's got like a million subscribers, but there was a channel called Forest Fire 101. Who he did like like Lego Batman animations, but they were almost like family guy episodes. So it's like a a children's sort of setup, you know, Legos, this and that, but they were like cussing and like shooting wow. All right. So but on the outside my parents were like, that's that's cool, he's watching that and then meanwhile they're you know, it's like adult themes and whatnot. so That's a really weird first influence, but yeah, that's it. Speaker 1: But I'm sure a lot of kids probably watched that and were influenced by it, right? It Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: feels more accessible and to trick the parents that it was safe. Speaker 2: Yeah. Well even just like like animation in general, like I remember there there's are you familiar with the duck song? okay, I was to say Forest Firewall went he did the duck song and that like a big viral thing. Selling children's books, but the creator I mean and the duck song is a very it is a PG but like just knowing that the creator made some kinda like heinous stuff like kinda amusing. But yeah. Speaker 1: Yeah. All right, so you're you're starting to work with that stuff. Where are we still in like grade school time now? Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. I mean i it it went into probably like like early middle school, high school as well. Yeah but I mean by that point I started transitioning from more like short films to to to like I had a I had a somewhat big channel when I was a teenager called Jacob Speaks. and that was totally different content from all of that. Speaker 1: Tell me about Jacob Speaks. Speaker 2: yeah, so it was it was it was a quite the departure. It was more like vlog like day in the life, but I also did like comedy sketch, you know, stuff and I was like a like a teenage heartthrob. sorta, yeah. Obviously. Speaker 1: All right. Okay, so you were writing this, w was this just you? Just take you into camera? Speaker 2: Yeah, I would involve like some friends for certain like skits and whatnot, but most of the time it was it was me. There was a point in time where I was doing like daily uploads which work. Yeah, Speaker 1: Damn. Speaker 2: yeah. Well that was back then when when your YouTube video didn't have to be twenty minutes long to be to get watch time. So you know. so I mean some of them were like, I don't know, a couple of minutes long. But yeah, thinking about that as a YouTuber today, I'm like I I do two videos a month now, you know. Speaker 1: Yeah. So how did how big did the channel get? How long did you do that? And yeah, talk about maybe if you wanna share some of the numbers and stuff. Speaker 2: Yeah, so I started I wanna say I started Jacob Speaks like fifteen or sixteen. all the way up until I was probably seventeen ish. Cool. And in that period I got I got like twenty thousand subscribers. Which that was big deal, man. Back Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a that's a Speaker 2: then that was that was yeah, super cool. Did you Speaker 1: Do you d interact with your audience too? Like in character or like it Speaker 2: Was it was much more personal, like so so in I mean, everyone kinda puts on a face for the camera, but like I I did it was much more like of a a personal Speaker 1: Professional kind of a thing or Speaker 2: Yeah, and like I don't know, y people kinda I guess thought that they I don't say thought that they knew the real me, but like I was I was a exaggerated version of myself, whereas and I say that because nowadays I I don't really share much of myself. You know, it was much more open yeah back then with Jacob Speaks. Speaker 1: Yeah, man. All right, well that's that's unexpected. I knew the name Jacob speaks, but I don't think I maybe I've watched some stuff like a long time ago. But Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Speaker 1: No, that so that's interesting. So you're obviously comfortable in front of the camera too or Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean I I definitely was back then but I attribute some of that to like, I don't know, like childhood bliss or something. Whereas when you grow up you start to like notice that I don't like that angle of myself or like I'm not, you know, a as charismatic as this other person that I like or that I watch, you know, and I don't know if that led to me being strictly behind the camera, but No, honestly I think it's because I'm a control freak, that's why I wanna be behind the camera. Yeah. Speaker 1: Yeah. Okay, so you did Jacob Speaks. Now we're getting towards like graduating high school. did you go to film school? Did you consider going to film school? What yeah how how was your path there? Speaker 2: So I was sort of sort of I don't know if they do this in schools anymore, but like my school in particular when I graduated in 2016 was very much go to college or go into the workforce. There's like or the military. I guess it's like what else would you do? But college was really, you know, I don't know, I guess expected. Yep. and so not knowing or knowing that I wasn't gonna go in the service and knowing that I didn't want to work at a factory job, I went to college. Speaker 1: Okay, I've heard of it. Speaker 2: I went to Edinburgh. Yeah, yeah. and I I did start in the film program. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 2: I went for maybe two two years and then I inevitably switched to journalism. Okay. and that was yeah. I I and I don't we don't have to get into it, but I I wasn't necessarily happy with the phone program at the time. Okay. Speaker 1: It's all right, we can get into it. Yeah. What what didn't what didn't you like about the approach? Was it too much theoretical? Speaker 2: Yeah. Well when I when I was a freshman there was a gentleman who was sort of head of the film program named Hanjin Park. Yep. And I really liked Honjin. And actually I was thinking about this the other No, he was he Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: was fantastic and I remember one of the first meetings that I had with him, he was like, What kind of films do you wanna make? He said, What kind of films did you want to make? And I was like, Well, I like I like Swiss Army Man and I like a Clockwork Orange. And he was like, Those are very different films and I'm like Yeah, Speaker 1: Well they're both fun very darkly funny. Speaker 2: yeah, yeah. so that just makes me cringe sometimes when I think about it. But I So Speaker 1: those answers. They're edgy comics. Speaker 2: Yeah yeah. Hanjin was was was there and then right right when I started like my film one courses the semester after is when he left. And then after that I feel like it was a period in the film program where they couldn't lock down a new head head person. Yeah. Speaker 1: And you're maybe feeling a little bit like you had lost your anchor at the There was good energy around him. Speaker 2: Yeah, because every every I don't know, I I felt like every semester when I would take a new film course it was like starting over again because there was Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: and I had one professor in particular who didn't know that there was more than one Star Wars movie. so I was like I was like I the class had like an argument with him because he wow he I won't say his name but Yeah, probably not. I don't even know his name. Okay. But Speaker 1: So curious though. Speaker 2: The he he so he grew up he was I don't know how old he was, but he was in the theater when the first Star Wars movie came out. Okay. And at the time it was just called Star Wars. There wasn't really you know Yeah. Yeah. So we would say a New Hope and he's like, It's just called Star Wars and we're like, It's Star Wars a New Hope and like it was just back and forth. And then I think I I switched to journalism the next semester. Speaker 1: All right. Understood. Okay. And how did you find your way to journalism? Did you did you always have an interest in like the documentary have you done a documentary? Speaker 2: I have not done a a documentary but in Speaker 1: Curious now for you to do one if you have a journalism background, but sorry, continue. What made you choose journalism? Speaker 2: I was I was I was head of I forget what the title was. I in in my eleventh and twelfth grade years of high school I was director of broadcasting for for for journalism. And Yeah, and I won like Speaker 1: So you had background there. Speaker 2: I got a scholarship for some of the stuff that I did and so I was like, Well, you know, they guess this is it's kinda like film, you know, like like different but, you know, still sort of utilizes my talent and Speaker 1: recording interpreting yeah Speaker 2: Yep. And even like from the like the writing side of of things, obviously when you people think of me they probably think, you know, film but like I I mean, I write a lot. I wrote I did a book, I you know, Speaker 1: When did you write your first book? Speaker 2: first book was a couple of years ago, twenty twenty four. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: It was a horror book. Okay. Yeah, yeah. What's it called? Yeah, it's called The Ichi From the Inside. Okay. it's got like bugs on the cover, it's kinda cool. Nice. Speaker 1: All right. Speaker 2: One of those things where I just enjoy t you know, reading in my free time and I'm a big fan of of Eric LaRocca. I'm not sure if he he's like LaRoca. Speaker 1: Not there. Speaker 2: To my knowledge, he he does everything completely on his own. I think he has like a publisher publishing deal now, but like when he started, it was all in zone and I mean I I I like I like mediums in which like or I guess projects that I can sit down and be like, I could do this. And I think there was something about his books in particular, like, I could do this. And and the reason that I s I don't want that to come off is like insulting. Yeah. But like DIY like you know, not a lot of pressure. Speaker 1: I mean I told like Jill Killington when I read The Gunslinger, Stephen King's The Gunslinger for the first time when I was like a child, I could see like every frame of that film and I that's always been my dream project. So like it sounds like somehow you connected either with this writer's voice or approach or the material or thematics or something but you felt like it was approachable to you. Speaker 2: And so I'm Speaker 1: I think it's a compliment. It's a compliment to the original. Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's I mean, when you think about it, that's even like like when it came time to, you know, do videos for the first time, it was watching other YouTubers and saying, I can do that you know, or like seeing yourself in it or something like that. So it was the same with with books. I dun man, I can't even really say the same thing with like movies per se, 'cause they still are s so daunting sometimes. But but yeah. Speaker 1: So journalism. Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah and and so so I got my my degree in journalism and public relations. I I focused in or I got my minor in public relations and branding and imaging. I haven't used it. But I thought it was cool at the time. Yeah. You know, when I was in school. When you think about it, 'cause I'm like I'm like, I don't even use my journalism degree, but what I do on my YouTube now is still I mean it's journalistic. Yeah. Speaker 1: I th I'm sure you used a lot of or l have learned a lot of things in writing and your approach to writing and research and stuff like that that you use. Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 1: Even if you're not considering it journalism, I'm sure you've picked up some some tools. Speaker 2: Well and it's funny because you know, journalism obviously is so so writing reading heavy. I remember even like maybe I shouldn't say this makes me sound like a prude. 'Cause I left I left the the film, you know, program 'cause I wasn't happy with it. And then I remember I was in the journalism program and I was you know, we proofread and peer read and I'm like, I don't know how like some of these people like graduated high school Speaker 1: You're tough. You're you're a critic. That's all right. Speaker 2: I know. Hey, I'm tough on myself too though, I guess. Speaker 1: That's good. Speaker 2: Do you find that that that you're that way with yourself as well? I'm Speaker 1: I'm my my partner, Deroda, is my harshest criteria for sure. She keeps me in check. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 1: Yeah, she keeps me in check and makes me better. I think I'm a little too high on my own supply as they say. Up my Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 1: own ass, as some might say. Yeah. I'm I'm a little more humble now, but yeah, I used to be kinda like, you know, full of full of myself and think I made everything great. Speaker 2: I have to tell you a story and actually I was debating on doing this on camera or off, but we're gonna keep it real. Speaker 1: All right. Speaker 2: So you so so growing up, I my mother, Kelly, was she was on stage. She did you know, sh always interested in acting in that regard, but she did make a foray into she was like going down to Pittsburgh, I believe, and she went to one of your auditions. I can't remember what film Speaker 1: wow. For that might have been for Unearth. We did hold audition. Speaker 2: This was like I was like a kid. Speaker 1: okay. Well it would have been like twenty eighteen we would have held auditions in Pittsburgh. The only time I've held auditions in the Speaker 2: Okay. Maybe it wasn't she went to different auditions, and she went to one of your she I think she was a a an an extra in one of your films. I can't remember which one. No Speaker 1: Schism or there are no goodbyes? Speaker 2: goodbyes. Yeah, cool. W did you film that in Pittsburgh? Speaker 1: we filmed some of it in Pittsburgh. Matt King was in that, by the way. Shout out to Matt King. Speaker 2: So maybe it was that one. But yeah, so anyways, seeing my mother go out and audition for all this stuff and hearing about John Lyons, like you were you were I'm I'm Speaker 1: shit. Speaker 2: this that's why I'm like on camera, off camera. You were like you were like the real deal in my head. It was like I was like, Well he's like doing it, you know, like John Lyons is you know. so it's it's funny now that we're we're we're doing this. Speaker 1: doing it. You're doing it, man. Yeah. that's cool. Okay. Yeah, you know what? I d I did recently re meet your mom. Yeah, yeah. I came to a play actually here at Cuswego Square. That Speaker 2: for us. Speaker 1: was Stahl. and Carly, your partner and And she looked familiar and when I said nice to meet you I believe she said we've met before. Yeah, yeah. Yeah yeah. So that's cool. Speaker 2: I told her I told her that I would tell you that story about how Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. Okay, so you have your journalism degree, you've had some YouTube channels and some regular followers and some success there. When do you decide like I don't know, when's like the next leap for you? What kind of camera equipment are you using at this point in time? When did you dis when did you buy your first camera? What was your first camera in the projects around that time period? Speaker 2: When I was in college I was shooting on a Canon Rebel T three I with with Cinnalenses. So that kinda made up for some of the Yeah. Where it's Speaker 1: The lenses are where Speaker 2: at. And that's what I I shot my first feature on. Speaker 1: And what was your first feature? Speaker 2: weird fiction. I I kinda go back and forth 'cause I I sort of made others in high school but I we don't we don't count those. Speaker 1: Okay. All right. Okay. Pointing to Taylor. I'm curious. Speaker 2: He's a really big fan of one of them in which we we do not talk about. So that's his first one. Speaker 1: Got it. Weird fiction is your what you're gonna call your first official. Is that the one that's first on your IMDB? Speaker 2: I think so, yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Thank God. Yeah. Speaker 1: So how did weird fiction go and tell me about weird fiction? Speaker 2: Yeah, weird fiction, it's an anthology horror movie. So it sort of started out, I had met Taylor Rhodes when I was in college, not going to college at the same time, but I was in college, he was working. we met, we started making some shorts together, and we kind of got to the point where we set up funding, I believe, for a our first feature. Cool. But it made like, I don't know, probably a hundred bucks, and we were like, all right, let's let's try this again. and so we were like, well we're already making all of these shorts, why don't we just make ones that are you know alive or common theme and do an anthology? Smart. and so that's where weird fiction came out of. I think the budget was the budget was a low. It was like three hundred dollars. Okay. Speaker 1: Okay. Yeah. So self funded? Three hundred dollars or did you where'd you get your three hundred dollars? Taylor Taylor gave you the three hundred dollars? No Speaker 2: No, c okay, so this is where I was confused. No no no no no. We so so we we made I I don't know if it was like a com I'm pretty sure it was like a combined effort. Like I put in some money, he he put in some you know. but after the fact when we were trying to get distribution for the film, we put it on Indiegogo. I think I I'm like trying to think why did I do that or since the film was already made, but I think I just wanted to We didn't even do festivals. We just we wanted like DVDs and like merch. Okay. And that's what we did. But that that raised Speaker 1: It's a way to pre sell it. That that could work. Did it work? How'd it go? Okay. How did your Speaker 2: I signed w I signed it with Wild Eye release. Speaker 1: indie go go go? How did your indie go go? Speaker 2: We sold like fifteen hundred dollars worth of products. Speaker 1: Awesome. That was a good idea then. Speaker 2: Right, 'cause then we took it into the next one and then it came out. Okay. Yeah. Speaker 1: That's that's a good idea actually. Yeah, you have your film done and then you use the platform to pre sell the Speaker 2: It almost feels I don't know it's not dishonest, but like I feel like people when they see a film they assume that it's not made yet. But that's what something I've always found kind of tricky is like how do you how do you you know, market make T shirts and Blu-rays and this and that for like a film that doesn't exist yet? Right. how do you make that enticing to to potential investors? Speaker 1: Yeah, unless it has a really good name or a really good hook or something graphically that people would really like want. Speaker 2: W what did you do for for Unearth? You said you had a Kickstarter in the go go. Speaker 1: We did a Kickstarter and yeah, our goal was like fifteen thousand and that was successful and so then we decided to just use that to shoot a six minute proof of concept and go from there. Speaker 2: With the the girl on the shovel in the cornfield? Or did I or Speaker 1: Yeah, baseball. Speaker 2: baseball bat, that's what it was. Mm-hmm. See, I remember I'm pretty sure my mom like showed me like, look at John Lyons. Alright. And I was like I'll Speaker 1: T Speaker 2: never be that Mom, my first man. Cut to you meeting her every time. Who are you? No, I mean Speaker 1: Yeah. Okay, so you did an Indiegogo, you used that so you raised fifteen hundred dollars minus the Kickstarter fees and the shipping fees and the yep, duplication fees. so what was your next project after Weird Fiction then? Speaker 2: After that we we started a feature called The Devil and Joel Harris. And it was like it was a feature, not an anthology or anything like that, just straight feature about it was it it's never it's not out. It's not out. We didn't finish it. Yeah, I got Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: So an and and I guess I won't get into the details of like how that, you know, went about. But it was either Speaker 1: Well you can share a little, like what it just wasn't working or Speaker 2: No, so so that that project didn't get finished and we then decided to do another anthology because it worked the first time. Yep. we thought we could do it better, you know, and I think we did. that one was called Spine Chiller. Okay, yeah. Speaker 1: was this one called. Speaker 2: And yeah, another it's it's a it's another anthology, but it's a little bit more kind of like trick or treat in the sense of like there's not really defined segments. They're all separate stories that intertwine with one another. Cool. Whereas weird fiction was kinda like horror host, here's the next story sort of thing. Yep. so yeah, we did Spine Chiller after Devil and Joel Harris and then I still really wanted to just make a straight feature, no anthology or anything and then so that was creature in the dark. We we did we started in twenty twenty and then that was around when right before the pandemic and what's interesting about that movie, to me at least, is it sort of deals it's post-apocalyptic and deals with partially with like this sort of parasitic virus that is on these creatures. And so you see people wearing surgical masks and whatnot. wow and then the pandemic happens. Yeah. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: so I'm not saying that I Speaker 1: Okay, so how did that one do? Did you do crowdfunding for that one? Speaker 2: it we did. Okay. Yeah, I think I think we got like probably like a thousand or something like that. That seemed to be like the the sweet spot for like every every project around that time. but that film in particular is special to me because when we had the the showing at our our local theater, I proposed to my wife at the end in front of everyone. Wow. Yeah. Roll clip. Carly. I have loved you since the first day that we met at Tim Hortons. So you know Facebook, right? Speaker 1: Heard of it. The Facebook. The Facebook. Speaker 2: The face Yeah. she so she went to a school called Maplewood. I went to Sagertown, they're both in the same district but you know, sort of we didn't know each other. Yeah. Yeah. And so it was a situation where I had, you know, mutuals so I kept seeing her in my, you know, recommended friends feed and I thought she was cute and I literally messaged her and I like, You're cute, you wanna go out? And it worked. Speaker 1: yeah. Good job, sir. Yeah. Good job. Okay, so at the theater Speaker 2: I made up for that with the proposal. It was much more romantic. Yeah, no. Speaker 1: It's all good. So when did you two start working together? Speaker 2: Our first project together was was Spine Chiller. She played a small part in one of the segments and then creature she played a it was just a voiceover. Okay Yeah, so Speaker 1: Tell me about the short. And then where did that fit in the timeline after like spine chiller? Speaker 2: so Spine Chiller creature proposed to Carly and then I got the opportunity to direct for someone else's anthology. So Rocky Gray who did are you familiar with Ten Thirty One is series Ten Thirty One Part One to Hope. Okay. Sorry. No, you're good. Sorry. Yeah. Are Speaker 1: No. Speaker 2: you familiar with him? He's he was the first drummer of Evanescence. What? Yeah, and here's the thing when he hired me to do that, I'm like trying to look up his phonography and I kept on seeing shit for Evanescence and I'm like get out of and then I go to the Bring Me to Life music video and he's back there on the drone and I'm like I'm like what is this? Speaker 1: No, I don't know any of this. Wow. Yeah. How did he reach out how did he find Speaker 2: Yeah, Speaker 1: you, reach out to you? How does that Speaker 2: We run a podcast together following Spine Chiller. I was on the podcast for Spine Chiller. He was on for ten thirty one part I don't know, it was one or two. we started talking after that and yeah, I don't know, it just but yeah, no, it was crazy. because yeah yeah, I looked at old like like evanescence videos with the arena sold out and whatnot and he's back there and I'm like, he's so chill about it. He doesn't talk about it. Speaker 1: no. Speaker 2: Yeah, he he's but he's a great guy. So So you're Yes, and our segment was called the locksmith. Okay. it was sort of like a giallo like almost it was like mixed with like slasher about this guy named Lennox Lockhart who he's he's this guy, he's all like burned up. Are you familiar with Blood and Black Lace? Yes. So you know how like the killer has like the it's not like pantyhose, but like spandex or whatever. So we did that with like the little Fedora hat, but like we cut out his mouth and he had these nasty teeth and his skin was all burned. Speaker 1: Sounds awful. Great. Love it. Good visual. Speaker 2: So Carly was technically the lead in that, but her first lead in in features that we did together with Sigil. Cool. Speaker 1: Yep. Speaker 2: which Sigil was directly after that segment. Here's the thing. Horror is great for for indie filmmakers because it's the most profitable genre. Yeah. Right. Speaker 1: And you don't need to have na big name stars and stuff. Speaker 2: Right, and I remember I was at one of the panels for at Erie Horror Fest, I think it was twenty whatever year that we showed sigil. three, four three? Three. I was at the and and and in that panel, one of the producers was like avoid drama like the plague. Unless you have Robert Pattinson or you like you know like named actors and I was like, Well shit, I just directed two drama films that I can't do anything with. but I I sort of view them as like stepping stones, I guess. like I had done horror, I had done drama. I I mean I feel like a lot of my work now is despite being horror is very character centric Speaker 1: Which I like and appreciate personally. Yeah, Speaker 2: So I think I think the drama aided and Speaker 1: it's all a process, right? So if you're working in drama I think it's it's definitely helping to make your genre films more impactful and more yeah. Speaker 2: My problem is or what I found that what I perceive my problem to be is you make a horror movie, you give it to a horror audience, they have there are certain unspoken expectations. And a lot of the times those audiences and this is not a diss or whatever, it's just something that I've noticed, they're not totally interested in your very complex characters and whatnot. Yeah. Those are the boring ones. Those are they just wanna watch people die. Yeah. Which sometimes I do too, but sometimes I wanna watch Speaker 1: Right. But there is an audience for more character based stuff, I feel like. But it it does feel like a little more niche in the genre for sure. Yeah, we we a lot of comments on Unearth was that it was slow, boring, not horrible. Speaker 2: I've heard all of that. Yeah. Yeah. Well especially with Speaker 1: Nothing happens until the last thirty minutes or whatever. It's like, Yep, I've heard it. Speaker 2: Yeah. well that's actually kinda is is reassuring because following Speaker 1: You're not alone. Speaker 2: yeah, following the the some of the reviews for the most recent film, very much that. We I mean yeah, we you haven't seen it yet. Speaker 1: Sounds like I'll love it. I have not and I sh I really should watch. Yeah, that's right. Ta what is it, ninety minutes? Alright. We s we'll still have daylight. Let's let's start it. And we're back. No, I still have not seen. Speaker 2: That was boring. That was No, No, I mean we we had the world premiere for for that at a Chattanooga Film Festival down in Tennessee. Awesome. Great Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: festival, great staff, you know, like they treated us very well. the audience was mixed, you know. a lot of the, you know Yeah. Well I think at Hardcore. This this sort of s this this review I feel like sums it up. well there's a couple. There was one that said, something to the effect of the the awkward conversations were much more like terrifying than anything else. It's very care it's a very character, you know, based comment. and then another one was I don't know if I liked it or not, but it's the only film that I saw at CFF that made me want to tear my skin off, which as a horror movie, yeah. That's you know Yeah. so I I don't know, yeah, it's it's a very and I mean I can even though I I made it like I can watch it after the fact and say that's a really challenging film, you know. And I think at the end of the day some people some people want films that will challenge them and other people want films to forget about things. this is not one of those films. Yeah. Speaker 1: like yeah, the forget about ones I I less and less in my life do I watch those. Right. I really just want quality stuff every time I'm deciding to sure spend time with a film. Yeah. But I understand, yeah, some some people, you know, they say what wanna turn their brain off or just want a popcorn movie or yeah Speaker 2: You seen Master of Disguise? Speaker 1: No. I haven't seen Master of Disguise. What? Speaker 2: It's a it's a really old Dana Carvey. Dana Carvey. Dana Carvey. Yeah. It's like Speaker 1: Damn. Speaker 2: it's so weird. I saw it as a kid, Taylor saw it as a kid. It's like an inside joke. We we treat it as a masterpiece of like one's criteria but it's like not Speaker 1: Got it. Dude wears my car is probably my guiltiest pleasure, I would say. Speaker 2: Okay, I'm not familiar with that. Speaker 1: Well it's a good one. Speaker 2: What would you like compare it to like something that I might know? Like when did it come out first of all? Speaker 1: Do you guys know this one? Dude where's my c Nineteen ninety nine, two thousand is with Ashton Kutcher and the guy that was stifler in American Pie movies. Sean something. Speaker 2: Okay. That's that's your guilty pleasure, maybe or Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really dumb. Like stupid. Really st Speaker 2: I would say my guilty pleasure movies are like yeah, Master of Disguise, Cat in the Hat. I was just say Austin Powers, but I just like Austin Powers. Speaker 1: Yeah. I still have those in Snapper D V D Yeah containers. Yep. Yeah, there you Speaker 2: Yeah. Th those need a criterion release. Speaker 1: go. Right. You also yeah, I almost feel like, you know, in drama, what would they call Like character dramas? Like stuff that was very character focused. It almost feels like horror should 'cause I know he people hate the word elevated. Right. But it almost feels like there needs to be like I don't know. character based horror. There needs to be some other Yeah. So the people know what they're getting into. Cause it's like when we wanna s market a film, we want the most people possible to see it, right? So we're gonna market up front the visuals of you know the more genre elements. But yeah, we are letting down a part of the audience that then has different expectations. It is a tightrope walk. I mean, and then some people have that brand, like you know, we can name a bunch of you know our Ariaster and all kinds of people that also do character that's in j genre, you know, Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 1: but Speaker 2: Do you feel like those types of movies work only for higher budget like like like A twenty four, like they're allowed to do it? They're allowed to do it, but if Indy does it then you know what I mean? Speaker 1: Yeah, 'cause if you have like what, Pedro Pascal and you know who like if you have big name people in it, then you can get people to come and see it for that reason too. Yeah, I don't know. Speaker 2: That's thing though, is like I feel like like say, you know, Hereditary or or Midsummer or do you say Midsummer? Those are two films that like people genuinely like. Yeah. I feel like. I mean some people are like, you know, but like I feel like you could make that movie, you know, like if you or I made that movie, it would still be boring and slow. I don't know. Maybe it's because Florence Pugh's not in it. Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. But I I I personally I appreciate the types of films that you make and I really enjoyed sigil and I really looking forward to seeing Photo Negative when I get a chance. Maybe this is a good point to end this episode. Sure. And then we'll bring in for our next episode. Tune tune in next week or in a couple of weeks, for our next sit down with some members of the photo negative team. as well as Jacob. Thanks for being here. Whoa where can people go and find your your socials and Speaker 2: Yeah, so my my YouTube is called Something Sinister. and I post there twice usually two or three times a month. different, you know, it's true crime, it's internet horror mysteries, you know, stuff like that. and I'm on Instagram as well, at Jacobspeaks. There we go. Speaker 1: And what about some of your films? Where can people see like your most recent stuff? Speaker 2: So so s sigil is typically the the one that I want people to start with if they never seen any of my films. And that is getting distributed by Scream Team Releasing. It's set for later this year. Cool. so I'm just hoping it's out by the end of the year. Yeah. Sigil. Speaker 1: Okay, great. so keep an eye out first. Speaker 2: Yeah, and photo negative is still doing festivals. Distribution is in talks, not you know, set in stone yet. So yep. Of course. Speaker 1: Great. Well thanks for being here, Jacob. We'll be back next time.