How to Become a Video Producer with ZERO Experience - Insider Tips, Advice, and Realities

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[SPEAKER_00]: We live in the best time ever to become a filmmaker, whether you want to do big Hollywood films, streaming, or if you just want to be a YouTube content creator.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Where would someone start to become educated to know how to do all those things?
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[SPEAKER_00]: You don't wait for somebody to hire you, you start making.
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[SPEAKER_00]: videos.
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[SPEAKER_00]: When I was making videos in high school, I was shooting on VHS.
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[SPEAKER_00]: For those people who are dumb, like me.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_02]: You see like when you're watching shows at the end, it's like pretty tight.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And then I'll listen to people's names.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So many of them.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And then those other things are like executive producer.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But what does that mean?
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[SPEAKER_00]: I've rarely directed anything in my career where I wasn't always wearing a producer's hat as well.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Jason, thanks for coming.
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[SPEAKER_01]: On the show, this is the way to get started podcast.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So the intention for this podcast is just to get to know you your career path.
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[SPEAKER_01]: How you got here in light in our audience on trying to understand like realities of your profession.
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[SPEAKER_01]: I think everyone have they come from different walks of life and I think this will be great to highlight yours.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So, you work for avalanche?
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[SPEAKER_01]: Avalanche studios.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Avalanche studios, okay.
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[SPEAKER_01]: And you are in the video production space.
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[SPEAKER_01]: That's true.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So, I'm a producer at avalanche studios.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I've been there for a couple decades now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Like, a couple decades.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I got into this to be a director, right, to direct feature films and whatnot.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But I found that I make a living being a producer, which is different than directing similar fields and sometimes those roles and responsibilities are in opposition with each other and sometimes are completely aligned.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes I go on set as a producer director and sometimes I go on set as a producer and there is a director or sometimes I'm just the director.
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[SPEAKER_00]: you can wear those multiple hats and do stuff.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Most of stuff I do now is is kind of small crew stuff like four or five people going out and shooting things and then you know I've got those projects that are those big 60s, 70 people crew and we're shooting big things and doing that.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So for those people who are dumb like me.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We're dumb.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Uh, you see like when you're watching shows at the end, it's like produced by and then a listen people's names, right?
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[SPEAKER_01]: So many.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And then those other things are like executive producer and like, yeah, what does that mean?
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[SPEAKER_00]: For sure.
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[SPEAKER_00]: For sure.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So a director's role is is pretty well set.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A producer's role, there's a wide range.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So starting with like executive producers, those are the business people behind the project.
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[SPEAKER_00]: right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Those are either the individuals who are funding the project or who found the people to fund the project and are putting it together.
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[SPEAKER_00]: These are the business side of producing right in the executive producer.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A producer, they are in charge of the actual production.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so there's like a unit production manager, right, which is a type of producer
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[SPEAKER_00]: producers will make sure that you stay on budget and on time there's a team that goes with it like there's an assistant director whose job is to make sure you stand schedule right but they work for the the director and the producer as well so
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[SPEAKER_00]: It producing a weird role for sure.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My role as a producer, what I do at avalanche studios, a lot of it is working directly with the client, understanding what their vision is, communicating it to the crew, and then if I'm taking control creatively on set, then I'll step into that director's role and do that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: As a producer, as well, a majority of what I do at avalanche studios when I'm on set is I interview people, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: I talk to people, I get them to tell their story and do that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So we do a ton of interviews in that type of thing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But the role of a producer on a small documentary or a corporate video or a TV commercial or a full-length feature film or a television series or a streaming series, those roles are going to be so different from Project Project Project.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So it's hard.
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[SPEAKER_00]: to find.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of pathetic.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Like your producer, what does the producer do?
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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They're like a big project manager.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it's going to sound like it sounds like you're like a project manager type role where you have to understand the needs and then you have to essentially find a way to fill those needs and sometimes you have to be creative.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And finding those with building those needs is sometimes it's very explicit and how you do it.
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[SPEAKER_02]: That's interesting.
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[SPEAKER_01]: a lot of hiring crew and that kind of stuff is interesting.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm curious about, like, so someone in college or something, they're like, I want to, like, they like recording stuff, they like, you know, playing with their GoPro or whatever, making these short little clips or they're playing on YouTube, like, where would someone start to become educated to know how to do all those things and bounce around from, like,
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[SPEAKER_01]: actual, you know, TV shows to commercials to, you know, little projects or whatever.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Like where, where should they start in trying to be started?
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[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, I can take it on my path.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, right.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So I got, I got bit by the film bug when I was like junior high high school is right.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So it was, I mean, obviously it started like most kids.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It was, it was watching those classic films, the Star Wars, the Indiana Jones, all that stuff.
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[SPEAKER_00]: and then starting to recreate those movies with my friends, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And shooting that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I was fortunate enough.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I grew up in San Diego and at my high school we had a weekly show that we produced.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It was about 15 minutes long.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It ran.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We had eight, eight days and be days or whatever.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Oh sure.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so
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[SPEAKER_00]: So during the first 15 minutes of every class where the teacher wanted to show SD Live, which is what it was called, they would play this 15-minute video that was broadcast through the school.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so on average, people would watch SD Live at our high school.
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[SPEAKER_00]: like three to four times every week the same episode and okay then and go to the next episode was everyone like forced to watch it like everyone was like this is on TV this is what you're doing it was a it was a it was a combination of like uh school news right and so what's coming up this week it was a report on sports uh we had a surf team as well so there's a sketch comedy and it would end with a sketch
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[SPEAKER_00]: And that's kind of where I really jumped into it was focusing more on the creating those little three to five minute sketches and what not, and that really solidified me in this as well.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But eventually I became the director of that show, I think my junior and senior year.
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[SPEAKER_00]: at my high school.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I have a weird question.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm sure you're right now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have any of that contents to do?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Do you really do?
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[SPEAKER_00]: I do.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'd have to hunt a little bit for it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But in not only do I have some of the content, I still am in contact with a lot of those people that I've worked on projects with.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then we'll share our current projects with each other still today because some of them are still working in the industry and doing that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, yeah, for sure.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So that was that was high school in college.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I thought, well, I can't really, I can't really do film because because who does film, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: So I was like, I'll be a comms major.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'll do something adjacent to that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I was in a comms law class at BYU, and I was like, wait a second, this it feels like it was like a full-on law class and I was like, okay, first of all, I don't want to be a lawyer.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This is this is like the worst.
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[SPEAKER_00]: like understanding communication law and and having to read old arguments and stuff or I was like what am I doing like the only reason I'm in here is because I want to make film right and so that then I was like okay if if if if I'm doing comms just so I can be film adjacent I might as well
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[SPEAKER_00]: just going to film.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so I switched, I got a comms minor, majored in what it was called media arch, but it was a film degree with an emphasis in directing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's what I did.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then after college, I jumped into film distribution.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I worked for a film distribution company called The Excellent Entertainment and we'd do theatrical releases and whatnot.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then I worked for
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[SPEAKER_00]: Vineyard and did some behind-the-scenes documentaries on some feature films that they're doing and helped with their distribution as well and then finally ended up at Avalanche Studios where I've spent most of my career.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But how I got into like Avalanche Studios and stuff was as I was freelancing for a long period of time.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, most of
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[SPEAKER_00]: about half my time at avalanche studios was as a freelancer, which the bad part of that was like sometimes I'd work a 40 hour work week and have 5 or 6 billable hours, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: And, and, and I had
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[SPEAKER_00]: five kids, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: So have a lot of mouths to feed with with a little money to feed them.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But but what you're you're freelancing as a producer or as a producer as a producer and editor and anything I could get, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Any work I could get.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so what I would do to keep myself employed or not employ, but having freelance gigs is I'd create work for myself, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: So I'd find people who needed videos, I would do bids for them, I would sell them on it, I'd bring it to avalanche and avalanche would have me produce it, and then I'd take it and I'd edit it, and I'd
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[SPEAKER_00]: And one thing that that I was doing wrong at that point in my life was I was trying to hoard as much work as I could do, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: So why would I pass off my freelance business to anybody else if it meant that I couldn't feed my family, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But I became successful at what I did when I started to push out all the work that came my way.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So if there was a post-production project editing instead of trying to fight to get an editing job and especially I'd love those editing jobs that were like super long so I could just be like oh that means for the next two weeks I'm employed right instead I would push those out to other editors and try to create more work and so I became more of a work generator
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[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and then at that point, that's when I finally got hired on at Abalanche and I've been, uh, kind of, uh, me and the owner of the two producers there and that's what we do.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm trying to think of like the ecosystem, all the video production, uh, studio where it's like, in my head when someone says they're, they do video production.
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[SPEAKER_01]: They do everything in house, right?
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[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
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[SPEAKER_01]: So I, by the sounds of it, there's a lot of outsourcing and you'd like for sure, third parties.
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[SPEAKER_00]: For sure, so avalanche studios, we have two producers, two full-time editors in an office manager.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So there's five of us that are employed.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not missing anyone.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's a small team.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But when we go on shoot, me and the other producer will go on the shoot.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One of us will produce one of us will direct, and then we'll have a freelance DP or director photography operating the camera.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We'll have a freelance audio person, a freelance hair make-up person, a gaffer, a grip.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever crew positions we need, teleprompter operator, whatever it is, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so we'll hire those out and Utah has a great crew for video and film production, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so we have our favorites, the people that we use over and over again, and then we're always trying to branch out to more freelancers as well.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Um, so you're almost behaving as like almost like a general contractor.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, uh, we have that feeling a lot where like people even ask us like how much does a video cost.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's the same as like how much does a house cost.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It depends on on how big of a video you want.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Like, uh, and what type of a production value.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You want in that, but yeah, is that general contractor, you are, you're looking at what they want, and then you're putting together the team that you'll need to produce that video based off of the budget based off the budget.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Right, so it's a big difference in whether or not it's like, do you want to tile the whole place?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Right, whatever, do you want to.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And like, like, we do projects that are in like the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on what
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[SPEAKER_00]: What they're looking to do, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: So thinking about like, okay, we got your transition, your whole growing up moving into becoming a producer, being a video producer.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Here's about like, when you think about the biggest challenges you have, like people who are thinking about getting into this industry, right?
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[SPEAKER_02]: intentionally little glamorous, right, or it appears to be the most glamorous thing about being in film is telling people that you're in film.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot of like, it's a fine mix of white color and blue color work, too.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There are days where I am behind a computer all day long working, and then there are days where I'm out in the sun, moving equipment, carrying things, doing stuff,
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[SPEAKER_00]: and actually I like that balance, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: I think I think I'd be even more overweight if it was just the desk and I would have an even worse back if it was just out in the sun.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Oh sure moving stuff all the time.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So I like that balance.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But
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[SPEAKER_00]: But for people who are trying to break in and do that, I think the first thing you've got to do is job shadow a volunteer on set, if you're fortunate enough to be in college and studying film and college, it's networking a group of filmmakers where you can start collaborating with them and building that team,
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[SPEAKER_00]: uh... you want to jump around you want to experience uh... being uh... you know that the dp operating cameras and doing that you want to experience being a producer and eighty a director a gaffer uh... you want to learn how to do audio and sound and and that kind of stuff to and just learn as many roles as you want because you will discover
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[SPEAKER_00]: that you think you like something until you do it and you'll be like, oh no, being a boom operator is like I've done that before holding a boom above somebody's head and it's miserable.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I hate that job, but there are some guys that are just like, yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I can do that.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's good pay.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm there all day.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I know what my job is.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I understand how to get good audio.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I can walk away from the shoot without carrying any baggage, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: As a producer, you know, after a day of shooting, you carry everything.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It'll always be with you.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And so there are roles on set that, um,
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[SPEAKER_00]: That are great and that will appeal to some people and others not so yeah, really just starting with like who do I know working on a project, how can I jump in and help helping with major films that come in through the state or TV shows or series or whatnot jumping out as many of those as you can.
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[SPEAKER_00]: When you're on set you're you're you're doing a bunch of things when you're first on set you want to and these are for people trying to break into the industry.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One, you got to learn your job and you got to learn to do it well, but you're also networking the whole time, right?
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[SPEAKER_00]: You're you're showing other people on set that that you're go get or that you want to learn.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You're asking questions, but but also like not overextending on those questions.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you don't want to be that person at the right time.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So engage properly showing initiative doing that kind of stuff and then just being somebody that people like, you know, having that positive attitude because because most of the jobs that you're going to get, especially when you're first starting out is somebody a producer will be like, hey, I need this position and all my normal people are unavailable and somebody going like,
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[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you know what that kid who helped that, he would be great for this and and then you start getting worked that way and people start recommending you and whatnot.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So my general sense on this is that the industry is also smaller than people realize right in that sense of like if you don't
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[SPEAKER_00]: Is that like that's like that's like that's like yeah, no it it isn't it isn't I I would say it's it's funny It's having worked in the Utah film industry for 20 years.
17:46.963 --> 17:58.327
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I feel like I know everybody in the industry Yeah, and I'm constantly meeting people that that have worked in the industry for just as long and we have like
17:59.647 --> 18:06.612
[SPEAKER_00]: 70 mutual friends on social media and stuff, but we've actually never met or worked together.
18:06.972 --> 18:13.496
[SPEAKER_00]: The other thing is often you don't know the other people in your position, right?
18:13.596 --> 18:19.300
[SPEAKER_00]: And so if you are, like I say, you're the DP, you're operating the camera, you're doing all that.
18:19.480 --> 18:38.362
[SPEAKER_00]: sure you're not on set with other dp's right so you don't go to ever meet the the other dp's every now and then all have a shoot where we have you know like a three four five camera shoot and sometimes you're bringing in multiple dp's but sometimes you're bringing in one dp and a bunch of camera operators underneath them and whatnot so
18:39.102 --> 18:41.263
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, yeah, you don't know who you don't know.
18:41.343 --> 18:42.004
[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of the thing.
18:42.044 --> 18:46.026
[SPEAKER_00]: But it is it is kind of a Everybody knows everybody.
18:46.086 --> 18:59.714
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess you could sit that way like like there's not there's not going to be more than like three degrees of separation between any two professional freelancer and the film industry in Utah when you brought up the the boom like
19:00.094 --> 19:00.454
[SPEAKER_01]: Hold there.
19:01.195 --> 19:21.371
[SPEAKER_01]: You see those on commercials like where the the camera will pan out and like it's like a comedy funny Like they drop it and like I always thought that that was just like not a thing I thought it was just like let's make it look like someone's doing something with the mic because I would imagine there would be a stand or something to hold that Like no, actually you have to you can't do it with I mean you can't do it with the stand and we do it with the stand all the time
19:21.711 --> 19:32.096
[SPEAKER_00]: But that's if, like, if, if I was making this, uh, this podcast with boom mics, yeah, we would just have, uh, stands over us and they wouldn't be moving because we're not moving.
19:32.416 --> 19:32.857
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, sure.
19:32.997 --> 19:34.277
[SPEAKER_00]: But as people, you have to.
19:34.337 --> 19:35.918
[SPEAKER_00]: People are, are moving, right?
19:36.258 --> 19:44.202
[SPEAKER_00]: And, and if we're doing a scene with both of you and I and the boom operator, I have to go back and forth between who is, who's talking.
19:44.502 --> 19:47.644
[SPEAKER_00]: And I got to do that without, without touching the, the
19:49.825 --> 19:52.366
[SPEAKER_00]: all this stuff in the audio as well.
19:52.426 --> 19:56.147
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, yeah, it's kind of just a big pain in the butt.
19:56.347 --> 20:03.209
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the other thing is you'll have hidden lava or mics inside the clothing.
20:03.469 --> 20:07.650
[SPEAKER_00]: But then you get clothes, wrestle, and that kind of stuff.
20:08.070 --> 20:17.173
[SPEAKER_00]: And then in major films, like they'll end up doing ADR, audio dialogue replacement, where the actors will come in,
20:17.693 --> 20:23.418
[SPEAKER_00]: and they'll re-perform their lines in a studio and then those just dub the voices that way as well.
20:24.019 --> 20:36.289
[SPEAKER_01]: So, how would someone, like, what would be your recommendation on if someone was like, well, if, if I want to do these small little roles for like a smaller production, like video production studio, or if I want to break into Hollywood?
20:36.489 --> 20:41.213
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, are there, do you have any recommendations or like, identifiers of how to kind of go that route?
20:41.253 --> 20:43.095
[SPEAKER_01]: More, more of the professional filmmaking.
20:43.275 --> 20:43.735
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
20:43.775 --> 20:44.476
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll tell you this right now.
20:44.596 --> 20:46.397
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how to break in Hollywood, right?
20:46.497 --> 20:47.618
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I've never done it.
20:47.898 --> 20:48.899
[SPEAKER_00]: I've never tried it.
20:49.039 --> 21:02.829
[SPEAKER_00]: I after I graduated from BYU, I got accepted to a Master's Program and Pasadena at Arts Center and and then I looked at that opportunity and I turned it down just just for financial reasons and family reasons and and that kind of stuff.
21:03.189 --> 21:03.670
[SPEAKER_00]: So I never
21:04.170 --> 21:06.712
[SPEAKER_00]: went out to Hollywood and made movies.
21:06.732 --> 21:08.613
[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't know how to break into that industry.
21:09.054 --> 21:11.095
[SPEAKER_00]: But networking is networking, right?
21:11.335 --> 21:12.816
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's about who you know.
21:14.037 --> 21:19.901
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's that combination of luck, talent, work effort, and that kind of stuff.
21:20.822 --> 21:25.505
[SPEAKER_00]: So I would assume that would be the same thing.
21:25.686 --> 21:30.689
[SPEAKER_00]: But here in Utah to break in, you've got to hold this balance
21:33.491 --> 21:34.052
[SPEAKER_00]: as well, right?
21:34.072 --> 21:38.336
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't want to be doing free work for, you know, your whole career.
21:38.356 --> 21:38.917
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
21:39.377 --> 21:47.987
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and so, uh, but at the same time, like I don't think free work ever leaves your identity when you're a filmmaker, right?
21:48.047 --> 21:49.028
[SPEAKER_00]: So there, there are
21:49.428 --> 21:55.769
[SPEAKER_00]: there are friends that I have that if they needed free help, I would go and help them on on set.
21:56.189 --> 22:03.531
[SPEAKER_00]: I would do whatever crew position they needed if they were trying to get a project off the ground, but it's kind of balancing that.
22:03.591 --> 22:14.513
[SPEAKER_00]: So I like to think when you first start, you're in that like 90% free work, 10% paid work and then over time you're replacing it and you know,
22:14.953 --> 22:29.127
[SPEAKER_00]: Eventually, hopefully you're like at 99% paid work and 1% free work, but always having that willingness to go back and give back, especially if you're helping students or other things, just doing that.
22:30.008 --> 22:35.333
[SPEAKER_00]: Or you can help the free work thing by allowing people to jobs out of and doing that kind of stuff.
22:35.913 --> 22:40.616
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, the the other thing that you got a balance out to is a passion projects as well.
22:40.656 --> 22:53.884
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, like, you have to have, um, some sort of passion project that you're going because, because while you're in college and, and you're shooting whatever you want, you have all the freedom in the world, because you have no clients.
22:53.904 --> 23:00.728
[SPEAKER_00]: You have no, nobody's saying this is what I want, but once you're out in the real world, even if you're working on big Hollywood films, you still have a client.
23:00.888 --> 23:01.028
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
23:01.048 --> 23:03.250
[SPEAKER_00]: You still have somebody telling you what to do, right?
23:03.390 --> 23:16.018
[SPEAKER_00]: Even if you are the director and are making all the creative choices, you still have executive producers that are breathing down your neck and forcing you to do things that you don't want to do and change in all through the stories.
23:16.038 --> 23:21.921
[SPEAKER_00]: And, and, you know, and you have to learn how to fight those battles with, you know, you know, you have to learn how to fight those battles with.
23:22.902 --> 23:26.124
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you got to know which battles to fight and which ones to be like, okay, fine.
23:26.284 --> 23:29.405
[SPEAKER_00]: You can, you can put this dog in the movie.
23:29.425 --> 23:29.665
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.
23:29.966 --> 23:33.267
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever, whatever creative choices you're fighting against, right.
23:33.707 --> 23:44.873
[SPEAKER_00]: So, but, but having a passion project now allows, once you're in the career, it, it continues to like breathe life into what you're doing, right, so that you actually enjoy that.
23:44.953 --> 23:45.053
[SPEAKER_00]: So,
23:45.453 --> 23:55.541
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll do passion projects, I've done everything from like feature link documentaries to short films and other stuff that keeps me like creatively excited.
23:56.281 --> 23:59.123
[SPEAKER_00]: Tyler and I have a passion project.
23:59.844 --> 24:01.325
[SPEAKER_00]: So Tyler and I have this passion project.
24:01.505 --> 24:12.853
[SPEAKER_00]: We have a podcast that we do called The Adventure AI where we play Dungeons and Dragons with artificial intelligence and that is how much money
24:15.195 --> 24:16.936
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we made a few hundred, actually.
24:16.976 --> 24:18.837
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's not zero.
24:18.877 --> 24:19.677
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not zero.
24:19.777 --> 24:21.158
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
24:21.378 --> 24:23.459
[SPEAKER_00]: Unless you add in all of our expenses.
24:23.659 --> 24:24.359
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, then it's negative.
24:24.399 --> 24:26.480
[SPEAKER_00]: And then it's negative.
24:26.580 --> 24:26.800
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
24:26.880 --> 24:27.560
[SPEAKER_00]: Passion fruit.
24:27.880 --> 24:31.402
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think we have very similar equipment to what we're on right now.
24:31.482 --> 24:31.682
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.
24:31.742 --> 24:32.022
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
24:32.482 --> 24:37.905
[SPEAKER_02]: And I got the passion projects are like not just like keep you energized, but they're also.
24:39.705 --> 24:43.567
[SPEAKER_02]: They're like a way for you to have a creative outlet where you have complete control, right?
24:43.767 --> 24:44.007
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
24:44.127 --> 24:50.829
[SPEAKER_01]: I remember going to college, uh, the person who comes in line that was like this is they're really good at like passion projects was like Devon super Trump.
24:51.449 --> 24:59.670
[SPEAKER_01]: Like he was all about like kind of the, the college scene people doing crazy fun stuff and like, hey, I'm I'm having FOMO.
24:59.690 --> 25:01.571
[SPEAKER_01]: Like I wish I could be in some of his videos.
25:01.731 --> 25:04.652
[SPEAKER_01]: But like he turned that passion project into a career business.
25:04.672 --> 25:04.832
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
25:04.892 --> 25:05.292
[SPEAKER_01]: It's career.
25:05.372 --> 25:05.632
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
25:05.732 --> 25:07.452
[SPEAKER_02]: It made great money doing it for sure.
25:07.732 --> 25:09.553
[SPEAKER_02]: But another question here is like,
25:11.453 --> 25:25.005
[SPEAKER_02]: like the dark side of the job, but like the kind of things that people don't know about when they think that they're getting into it, they're like, oh, hey, here's the realities of working in the sort of space that you may be having considered when you're talking about getting into it.
25:25.145 --> 25:30.410
[SPEAKER_00]: I haven't seen any of the CD gross dark side of filming.
25:30.430 --> 25:31.270
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe not that dark, but.
25:32.071 --> 25:33.892
[SPEAKER_00]: But that side does exist, right?
25:34.332 --> 25:36.813
[SPEAKER_00]: And there are awful things that can happen in that.
25:37.473 --> 25:43.655
[SPEAKER_00]: But the reality is it's not your nine to five job, right?
25:43.735 --> 25:47.837
[SPEAKER_00]: There are, and some weeks, a full week or a full month, I might be nine to five.
25:48.237 --> 25:58.582
[SPEAKER_00]: But then other days, I might have a call time at four o'clock in the morning, which means I got to get up like a two o'clock in the morning and you're done when you're done.
25:58.862 --> 25:59.142
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
25:59.222 --> 26:04.525
[SPEAKER_00]: So my longest film day was I can that 26 27 28 hour type day.
26:04.565 --> 26:04.745
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
26:04.765 --> 26:05.325
[SPEAKER_00]: Just straight no sleep.
26:08.827 --> 26:09.927
[SPEAKER_00]: straight no sleep.
26:10.408 --> 26:32.135
[SPEAKER_00]: That was my first professional shoot right out of college and I was making a movie with a bunch of former college students as well and some of them were still in college and those are, we did a feature film and I think our shortest day was like 15 hours, we were six days a week and it was
26:33.075 --> 26:52.506
[SPEAKER_00]: It was just, it was impossibly difficult to keep up with that schedule and so sometimes you'll have that right now I I'm a producer and so if there is a bad shoot like that it's kind of my fault right because I because I'm planning it and so I try to make sure.
26:53.667 --> 27:06.934
[SPEAKER_00]: that my sets are positive, happy that that people are telling jokes and having a good time and enjoy this this feeling because your fellow filmmakers, they become kind of like your family, right?
27:06.954 --> 27:12.717
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of these people, you know, I just love them to death and and you don't want it to be miserable for them.
27:14.443 --> 27:17.125
[SPEAKER_00]: Which which simply means you got a fetem, right?
27:17.205 --> 27:28.532
[SPEAKER_00]: You got you got to make sure that you're not going over a 12 hour workday and if you are That that you're making it up to them with payment or or other things as well, right?
27:28.572 --> 27:29.933
[SPEAKER_00]: You're you're making it worth their while
27:30.513 --> 27:49.847
[SPEAKER_00]: and you're not surprising them with that, a lot of times you'll travel on travel sounds glamorous as well going out and filming somewhere, but like a lot of those times I've been on plenty of shoots where again you've got a six o'clock flight so you've got to be at the airport at like 430 because you got all this gear and luggage which means you got to get up early.
27:50.287 --> 28:00.690
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you land at whatever place you're going to be after a couple of layovers, you get in midday, and then you've got to work from like three in the afternoon till midnight, right?
28:00.750 --> 28:05.892
[SPEAKER_00]: So so there are going to be these just crazy crazy long days that that are exhausting.
28:07.313 --> 28:12.978
[SPEAKER_00]: film, gear and equipment is not light, so you're lifting and moving, heavy things.
28:13.899 --> 28:19.624
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes you're outside and that means you're working in super cold or super hot conditions.
28:21.446 --> 28:23.988
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and especially in Utah.
28:24.429 --> 28:30.955
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been on shoots where I wasn't prepared for how cold it was going to be.
28:31.916 --> 28:36.842
[SPEAKER_00]: Frankly, because I didn't know that we're going to be outside that long or that I was even going to be on a shoot that day.
28:37.623 --> 28:45.854
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I've had many shoots where I was like, well, if I could wake up again and do this day over again, like thermal underwear is coming on.
28:45.894 --> 28:48.177
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like an actual coat, you know.
28:49.057 --> 29:07.892
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm bald, and so I'm losing heat out of my head like crazy, and I'm from San Diego, and so these cold days get to me real bad, but yeah, I would say that's kind of the dark side of that is, I think there can be a tendency to abuse crew and
29:10.433 --> 29:11.194
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm aware of that.
29:11.234 --> 29:21.523
[SPEAKER_00]: And so as a producer, I'm always trying to fight for my crew, and I think sometimes they'll be like, yeah, Jason fights for us, and other times they'll be like, yeah, remember that day?
29:21.543 --> 29:23.844
[SPEAKER_00]: But you did.
29:24.145 --> 29:35.134
[SPEAKER_00]: But I would guess that if somebody's worked for me, I'm one of our shoots, I would say, you know, 19 out of 20 days.
29:35.514 --> 29:38.356
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a light, easy day versus a crazy
29:39.397 --> 29:47.185
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, when you travel to like a different state and you fly, do you third party outsource the equipment or do you bring everything with you?
29:47.545 --> 29:48.326
[SPEAKER_00]: It depends on the shoot.
29:48.566 --> 29:58.095
[SPEAKER_00]: So I have never done a shoot where it's 100% of the gear is is outsource there locally.
29:58.135 --> 30:00.998
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're always at least bringing a camera or something.
30:01.418 --> 30:10.165
[SPEAKER_00]: So I had a shoot in Australia the beginning of last year and I flew out, I was the producer director on that thing.
30:10.205 --> 30:29.840
[SPEAKER_00]: I flew out with a client and with a DP and we filmed in Melbourne and Brisbane and in both of those cities before I got there, I contracted with a local video production companies and they provided me with I think each of them had like a three-person crew
30:30.420 --> 30:34.241
[SPEAKER_00]: and additional gear and lighting and other things that we needed.
30:34.321 --> 30:42.364
[SPEAKER_00]: So we tried to travel with as much as we can, but at a certain point, you've got to be like, okay, it's not cost effective.
30:42.424 --> 30:44.125
[SPEAKER_00]: No, it's not cost effective.
30:44.185 --> 30:54.649
[SPEAKER_00]: One of my very first international shoots, it was a one person shoot as well where we just sent one person out.
30:54.689 --> 30:57.330
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was me and I'm not even really
30:57.630 --> 31:21.911
[SPEAKER_00]: camera operator guy so so they gave me some some training and stuff but I remember and and so I had the camera, I had the lights, I had the tripod, I had the audio equipment, I had a green screen and a thing to build all this stuff that you're just like really quick green screen interviews up in Canada as well but but even just going through customs without much gear,
31:22.652 --> 31:23.373
[SPEAKER_00]: by yours.
31:23.493 --> 31:24.774
[SPEAKER_00]: It was, it was a lot.
31:24.834 --> 31:25.714
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was intimidating.
31:25.754 --> 31:26.295
[SPEAKER_00]: It was hard.
31:26.675 --> 31:41.006
[SPEAKER_00]: And so now we don't and the shoot went fine, but but our policy and not because of the Vancouver thing, but but because of just experience, like we don't do one person shoot, two person in a moment of a minimum.
31:41.046 --> 31:41.206
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
31:41.546 --> 31:43.427
[SPEAKER_01]: So like when you, I'm just trying to like,
31:44.528 --> 32:08.581
[SPEAKER_01]: So I used to work for an agency and we would do like estimate statement of works and whatever or whatever depending on the client like how does someone go about identifying the cost for that stuff like when you go in a national it's like I need to hire out a crew so then they just need to is it all just in the discussion with the client of like what do you need what do you envision and it takes a while to then compile all the costs for all of those things and get back to the client
32:10.582 --> 32:36.484
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's exactly right there there are we have we have a bid sheet that we work off of right we know like if you told me what you were looking for and and it was just a new time I could probably give you a guest of its cost without having to go through everything and I'd probably within like 10% of the final thing because I've done so many of these bids and and people are requesting the exact same video over and over and over again.
32:37.624 --> 32:49.270
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's kind of just plug in this many crew, these positions at these rates, this camera package, this grip and lighting package, this many days of post-production and everything that goes with that.
32:50.570 --> 32:57.894
[SPEAKER_00]: But when it comes to international stuff, like there are pretty standard video production rates.
32:58.794 --> 33:04.877
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we'll put together a bid based on what we think it's going to be.
33:05.317 --> 33:15.465
[SPEAKER_00]: will reach out to a few companies do a reality check on those prices and make sure it fits with within that and then we'll give that that bid.
33:15.765 --> 33:21.690
[SPEAKER_00]: And then at Avalanche studios we we like really good at staying within our our bid.
33:21.710 --> 33:24.892
[SPEAKER_00]: So if we quote, you know, $30,000 for video, it's going to be $30,000 unless the scope changes.
33:24.932 --> 33:25.052
[SPEAKER_00]: And so
33:29.195 --> 33:41.585
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll make it work when negotiate with the video production companies, we know how to speak that language to them as well, so for, you know, you know, we'll just be like, hey, like, this is where our right needs to be right.
33:41.885 --> 33:43.847
[SPEAKER_00]: What can you get us for this and get that?
33:44.527 --> 33:54.511
[SPEAKER_00]: And most companies are like us, where if a client comes to us and said, you know, let's say it should be 30,000, but they have like 27,000.
33:54.591 --> 34:01.294
[SPEAKER_00]: We can find a way to squeeze that in and make it work for them, right?
34:01.414 --> 34:08.037
[SPEAKER_01]: And you said earlier that pretty much everyone requests the same type of video.
34:08.057 --> 34:09.558
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, what do you mean different types of video?
34:10.198 --> 34:28.763
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so a super common video that we do would be like interviewing three, four people at a company talking about a rollout of a new product and we'd interview them, we'd show be a roll of them.
34:29.323 --> 34:51.425
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we show the product and we Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
34:52.399 --> 34:53.880
[SPEAKER_00]: I've never considered doing that before.
34:54.021 --> 34:56.723
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, like sure, it's very much.
34:57.224 --> 35:03.850
[SPEAKER_00]: It would be like, I assume, if you made websites and people came to you and said, this is what I need in a website.
35:03.890 --> 35:05.171
[SPEAKER_00]: You'd be like, yeah, I've made it.
35:05.211 --> 35:06.072
[SPEAKER_00]: I've made this website.
35:06.212 --> 35:09.055
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I've made this website a thousand times.
35:09.095 --> 35:10.917
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I know how to make this video for you.
35:11.137 --> 35:13.619
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, what's your like worst day on set?
35:14.800 --> 35:16.121
[SPEAKER_00]: my worst answer.
35:16.441 --> 35:20.164
[SPEAKER_00]: So I hate high stress situations.
35:20.204 --> 35:20.464
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
35:20.584 --> 35:20.784
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
35:21.204 --> 35:23.586
[SPEAKER_01]: And there are like a time like urgent time.
35:24.547 --> 35:30.651
[SPEAKER_00]: So sometimes yeah urgent timelines or live events can be more stressful than other times.
35:32.392 --> 35:34.853
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes you're working with like for example.
35:35.834 --> 35:44.465
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to go into specifics, but I've been on shoots at the Sundance Film Festival, right?
35:44.945 --> 35:54.156
[SPEAKER_00]: And there are, whether it's working with the festival directly or with a Hollywood studio that's coming in and hiring us, there is this...
35:55.938 --> 36:10.544
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, high-tenth culture that that comes with, with working in those, those environments where where people are are over sensitive about every, every detail on, on how a shoe goes.
36:10.564 --> 36:19.627
[SPEAKER_00]: And they, they, they can create a level of stress that just doesn't need to be a part of, of, of the whole process, right?
36:19.787 --> 36:21.808
[SPEAKER_01]: And so wearing the wrong color shirt or like,
36:22.529 --> 36:43.828
[SPEAKER_00]: well yeah or just like we'll do a lot of things where it's like you have to be here at this time and you have to do this only to you know for them to be stressed out about about stuff where we show up where it's like yeah they want us you want us done and ready to go two hours before the a-list actor walks in the things there's just
36:45.670 --> 36:50.957
[SPEAKER_00]: There's just a higher pressure on some of these shoots that I feel like doesn't need to be there.
36:51.397 --> 36:59.588
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I don't think you get the best work out of people when you put them in a high stress situation, right?
37:01.190 --> 37:03.853
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the old like, you know.
37:04.414 --> 37:23.084
[SPEAKER_00]: military thing like what is it a slowest moves move this fast right it's it's that thing like like be be very methodical take your time get it done right and if you allow the process to work it it it will go fast but if you but if you're frantically changing everything and freaking out
37:29.187 --> 37:42.933
[SPEAKER_00]: photo shoot for a teen magazine, it was a cover shoot for it, and they had like 70 people on crew doing just just for a still shot.
37:43.053 --> 37:43.573
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah.
37:44.033 --> 37:53.317
[SPEAKER_00]: And they hired us to come out and do behind the scenes and do a little interview with the actress being shot and whatnot.
37:54.037 --> 38:01.582
[SPEAKER_00]: And we were out in the sand dunes and she was arriving by helicopter because she was unset on a film shoot out here in Utah.
38:01.702 --> 38:02.223
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
38:02.343 --> 38:16.172
[SPEAKER_00]: She arrived by helicopter and the producer on the thing was like, hey, when she lands, we want you guys to be set up, get to helicopter landing, having her get out of the thing and into the car that's going to escort her to shoot and stuff.
38:16.192 --> 38:17.553
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're like, yeah, we can do that.
38:18.153 --> 38:31.829
[SPEAKER_00]: We get there, we set up the helicopter lens and she gets out and she's walking towards the camera and the producer who asked us to get this shot runs up to us and starts yelling at us.
38:33.325 --> 38:34.987
[SPEAKER_00]: she hasn't been through hair make up yet.
38:35.367 --> 38:41.674
[SPEAKER_00]: You cannot film her without it and I sit in there going like, are you putting on a show for her?
38:42.114 --> 38:44.116
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, like, did you set this up?
38:44.396 --> 38:50.623
[SPEAKER_00]: So that that, like, like, if you're going to do it, just tell us, like, well, we'll go out there.
38:50.663 --> 38:56.369
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll pretend to record it, but so there are there are things like that where it's just like,
38:56.909 --> 38:58.390
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
38:59.050 --> 39:00.731
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't, I don't like those types of sets.
39:00.851 --> 39:05.313
[SPEAKER_00]: I want when my crew gets off a shoot, I just want them to be happy.
39:05.413 --> 39:07.354
[SPEAKER_00]: I want them to be like, yeah, that was a fun day.
39:07.774 --> 39:13.176
[SPEAKER_00]: We got some cool shots, we did some cool things, and same with the client as well.
39:13.216 --> 39:14.677
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I love having clients on set.
39:15.077 --> 39:17.438
[SPEAKER_00]: I love having them be a part of the process.
39:17.878 --> 39:21.360
[SPEAKER_00]: Sit, talk to them, explain to them what we're doing, why we're doing it, how we're going to get these
39:26.622 --> 39:31.423
[SPEAKER_00]: I just don't like those pointlessly high stress situations that don't need to be.
39:31.443 --> 39:39.366
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so you like the situations where just a group of creators are coming together, having a good time, and creating something cool.
39:39.466 --> 39:41.126
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah.
39:41.206 --> 39:43.807
[SPEAKER_02]: What would you say would be like one of the coolest things you've worked on so far?
39:44.487 --> 40:02.802
[SPEAKER_00]: So recently my favorite project I did I just did a three commercials starring John Heeder for a company called Nice, so nice isn't Israeli company that bought a local company called in contact and in contact had been one of our clients for decades and
40:03.462 --> 40:17.265
[SPEAKER_00]: And so they had as bid on this huge three-part commercial that we did, they're a long format commercial, so they're like two minutes each with 30 second cut-downs and 15 second cut-downs and whatnot.
40:18.266 --> 40:22.466
[SPEAKER_00]: John Heeter was a guy that I went to college with, and so I knew him.
40:29.392 --> 40:30.492
[SPEAKER_02]: And you say you went to college with him.
40:30.512 --> 40:31.953
[SPEAKER_00]: And I went to college with him.
40:32.293 --> 40:35.634
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I called him up and I was like, hey, can you want to be on the thing?
40:35.654 --> 40:37.415
[SPEAKER_00]: When you go, she had a raid, did all that.
40:37.435 --> 40:40.336
[SPEAKER_00]: And he was great to work with him and do that again.
40:40.716 --> 40:45.258
[SPEAKER_00]: But the cool part about this commercial was he was playing two roles.
40:45.318 --> 40:50.020
[SPEAKER_00]: He was playing a current version of himself who was kind of a loser.
40:51.060 --> 40:53.841
[SPEAKER_00]: And then a future like Napoleon Dynamite.
40:55.542 --> 41:03.888
[SPEAKER_00]: and then like a future version of himself that was all swath and cool and like just a couple weeks in the future after using the software that the version is about.
41:04.349 --> 41:23.042
[SPEAKER_00]: And so there was going to be a lot of this interaction between future John and current John and going back and forth between these these two and we had a long discussion on how we achieved that whether we'd use green screen and other stuff or body doubles and all these things and eventually I was like
41:24.263 --> 41:35.628
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a super easy solution to this because I not only went to school with John Heeter, I went to school with John Heeter's identical twin brother Dan Heeter.
41:35.669 --> 41:40.691
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I was like, hey, why don't we call up Dan and I get Dan to be in it.
41:40.751 --> 41:48.895
[SPEAKER_00]: And so Dan, like Dan so sweet, he's the nicest guy in the world and he agreed to come and be in this commercial and Dan had to play.
41:49.555 --> 41:50.155
[SPEAKER_00]: both parts.
41:50.235 --> 41:52.817
[SPEAKER_00]: He memorized both lines for both parts.
41:53.237 --> 42:04.165
[SPEAKER_00]: And so as John's performing as one person, Dan's performing as the other, and Dan knowing that in the final thing, every time a character is talking, it's going to be John, right?
42:04.185 --> 42:05.525
[SPEAKER_00]: It's never going to be him.
42:05.866 --> 42:07.787
[SPEAKER_00]: But he, he just did a great job.
42:08.227 --> 42:10.489
[SPEAKER_00]: performing this with his brother and doing that.
42:10.849 --> 42:22.117
[SPEAKER_00]: We had so much fun on set and I actually had a couple of the people on the crew that I went to film school with as well and so that was a three-day shoot.
42:23.078 --> 42:27.080
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you joined us on set one day and I did see one of those days and
42:28.301 --> 42:30.783
[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, it was just, it was super fun.
42:31.243 --> 42:44.091
[SPEAKER_00]: It was, I've rarely directed anything in my career where I wasn't always wearing a producer's hat, as well, and I started out as a producer on these commercials.
42:44.431 --> 42:56.058
[SPEAKER_00]: But as we got closer to the point of shooting, Dave Lindsay, who owned Evelyn Studios, he pulled me a size like, hey, look, I want you to be able to focus 100% on directing on this one.
42:56.858 --> 43:20.529
[SPEAKER_00]: So take off the producers hat, go in and direct this thing, and that was a moment I've been waiting a few decades for to be able to go in and just be like, hey, I'm not, I'm not worried about budget, I'm not worried about things I even had, you know, minor stuff where like I wanted a specific shot and I was talking to the DP about it and she's like, well, we're going
43:26.031 --> 43:33.193
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I'm not going to check it, but the order of the lens and we'll let the producers talk about that, right?
43:33.594 --> 43:34.534
[SPEAKER_00]: I want this shot.
43:34.574 --> 43:44.137
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so there was a few moments like that where I got to be like, okay, I want this commercial to be exactly how I envision it.
43:44.637 --> 43:46.518
[SPEAKER_00]: And we had a great time with it.
43:47.578 --> 43:55.145
[SPEAKER_00]: And one of my favorite things about the commercial too is when the future John heater comes in, the lighting dramatically changes.
43:55.185 --> 44:09.018
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's kind of, it's just normal boring office light, and then when the future version of him comes in, everything goes dark, and everything's a little bit like blue, like blues, like this, and purples and pinks and stuff like that.
44:09.798 --> 44:16.260
[SPEAKER_00]: And it just felt like, so I called it Kansas lighting and Oz lighting and so we'd make that transition.
44:16.740 --> 44:21.101
[SPEAKER_00]: And then part of that transition too, we needed that transition in shot.
44:21.281 --> 44:26.542
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we had the lighting team have systems where they can transition between.
44:26.582 --> 44:28.303
[SPEAKER_00]: So it wasn't just a on-off.
44:28.343 --> 44:32.064
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like a flicker flicker flicker change and stuff like that.
44:32.144 --> 44:33.724
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was a fun commercial.
44:33.744 --> 44:36.065
[SPEAKER_00]: I had a ton of fun and obviously John was hilarious throughout.
44:37.046 --> 44:42.627
[SPEAKER_01]: adding John on and then bringing on his brother, like, were they, are they both familiar and acting?
44:43.268 --> 44:46.208
[SPEAKER_00]: So obviously, John is a part of what actor did.
44:46.328 --> 44:53.030
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Dan, Dan actually does, previs, for like Hollywood, Marvel films and whatnot.
44:53.070 --> 44:54.970
[SPEAKER_00]: So he will, and it's previs.
44:55.270 --> 44:56.371
[SPEAKER_00]: It's previsualization.
44:56.431 --> 45:00.592
[SPEAKER_00]: He will animate like an action sequence, right?
45:00.652 --> 45:04.753
[SPEAKER_00]: So, so a typical, you know, how it like in a lot of times in those Marvel movies,
45:06.513 --> 45:26.047
[SPEAKER_00]: The reports of the way in the film, they're getting into the final battle and the final battle starts and there's usually that shot where it's like you're on character one and that moves over to character two and it's like you're watching you're like This is going for more than like two minutes of one shot as you're going every like like it's like end game when they all came out right right
45:26.307 --> 45:45.426
[SPEAKER_00]: so that that type of stuff isn't just like let's just move the camera here and there it's it is multiple shots that get stitched together um but but to make sure that shot works and the camera flow works and stuff they'll create it they'll animate it first and then they'll start replacing it significantly cheaper to do that.
45:45.466 --> 45:46.147
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah yeah yeah yeah
45:46.267 --> 45:51.530
[SPEAKER_00]: So they, they, and they want to know what it's going to look like before they do the work, right?
45:51.570 --> 45:53.351
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why they do the previsualization of it.
45:53.391 --> 45:55.712
[SPEAKER_00]: So he'll, he, that's what he does, right?
45:55.752 --> 45:58.033
[SPEAKER_00]: So, and he went to film school.
45:58.573 --> 46:07.318
[SPEAKER_00]: We, in fact, when we, when we got together one night, we, we watched one of the, the short films that Dan and I made that we were in together.
46:07.358 --> 46:11.920
[SPEAKER_00]: So if I, so he done a little bit of acting, but like me, he's not a professional actor.
46:12.520 --> 46:12.800
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
46:13.060 --> 46:19.422
[SPEAKER_00]: Like he knows his way around acting, but he's not at that level as John or whatever.
46:21.503 --> 46:32.266
[SPEAKER_00]: But he did more on the performance and acting side than what we asked him to do for that commercial, which was awesome.
46:32.706 --> 46:36.727
[SPEAKER_00]: That being said, like going back to John here, though John
46:37.827 --> 46:51.440
[SPEAKER_00]: by far, is the best actor I've ever worked with in my life, the most natural, the most talented, though, and I've worked with a lot of great actors, and a lot of great local Utah actors, and I haven't worked with John.
46:51.500 --> 46:55.503
[SPEAKER_00]: The last time I directed John in a scene, it was in my senior
46:59.447 --> 47:12.586
[SPEAKER_00]: like he and you may look at him, like Napoleon Dynamite, he says doofy kid or whatever, like he's a serious real actor and I would jump at any opportunity to work with him again.
47:12.606 --> 47:13.868
[SPEAKER_00]: He's fantastic again.
47:14.533 --> 47:29.791
[SPEAKER_01]: You mentioned, kind of going a little bit back, you mentioned how someone to break into this type of career and industry is they could shadow right get to know all the different roles get to familiar gaffing and lighting and all this stuff.
47:32.053 --> 47:39.877
[SPEAKER_01]: So, like, to someone just approach a studio and say, hey, I want to follow you, or like, what's kind of like your accusation?
47:39.917 --> 47:42.058
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they say to go, now you can walk in there.
47:42.098 --> 47:43.278
[SPEAKER_02]: Check all you around.
47:43.359 --> 47:45.359
[SPEAKER_02]: Just had up paper residence.
47:45.379 --> 47:46.380
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, here's what it is to do.
47:47.020 --> 47:47.701
[SPEAKER_00]: Short answer, yes.
47:48.061 --> 47:48.281
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
47:48.661 --> 47:49.782
[SPEAKER_00]: You can call up a studio.
47:50.222 --> 47:51.422
[SPEAKER_00]: We get this call all the time.
47:51.462 --> 47:56.465
[SPEAKER_00]: People asking to intern or job shadow or to starting career, whatever, right?
47:57.245 --> 47:58.506
[SPEAKER_00]: And in, like,
47:59.626 --> 48:03.330
[SPEAKER_00]: sometimes when they call, they call it the exact perfect time.
48:04.452 --> 48:08.576
[SPEAKER_00]: So luck is on their side, and it's easy to get them in and to get them working and doing stuff.
48:08.936 --> 48:12.300
[SPEAKER_00]: Other time they call on it's like, I got nothing for you right now.
48:12.540 --> 48:14.723
[SPEAKER_00]: I got nothing and so I usually tell people,
48:16.257 --> 48:17.938
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, I don't have anything this week for you.
48:19.099 --> 48:21.581
[SPEAKER_00]: Give me a call, no more than once a week.
48:22.241 --> 48:24.743
[SPEAKER_00]: And let's just stay on that train.
48:24.823 --> 48:28.145
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right?
48:28.185 --> 48:30.266
[SPEAKER_00]: And so if you're going for it.
48:31.367 --> 48:32.888
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, so you can call a studio.
48:32.928 --> 48:34.589
[SPEAKER_00]: You can volunteer to do that.
48:36.891 --> 48:37.731
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's a great way.
48:37.992 --> 48:43.395
[SPEAKER_00]: I think a better way, though, is finding students
48:46.037 --> 48:51.719
[SPEAKER_00]: their shoots or becoming a film student, you know, if you're if you're in Utah, BYU, UVU, um, even slick, they all have great film departments.
48:51.739 --> 48:52.880
[SPEAKER_00]: I, I think, uh, you should be Dixie, what is it now?
48:52.900 --> 49:02.204
[SPEAKER_00]: A text, or Utah, you know, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're,
49:02.284 --> 49:27.500
[SPEAKER_00]: Tech Valley, Utah Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech
49:27.540 --> 49:41.391
[SPEAKER_00]: You want to find a program that allows you to do projects and there's a culture within that university that creates those groups where you can volunteer and be on each other's shoots and help out.
49:41.591 --> 49:49.697
[SPEAKER_02]: How do you vet those sort of people to decide who, like, if you want to, like, I'm looking at myself as a person to me, like, oh, let's have a person wants to get into this.
49:49.737 --> 49:50.738
[SPEAKER_02]: How do I stand out?
49:51.198 --> 49:52.559
[SPEAKER_02]: Get all the people who are living.
49:52.659 --> 49:55.080
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so you stand out.
49:55.201 --> 49:59.783
[SPEAKER_00]: It people want to do business with people who they know and like.
50:00.123 --> 50:00.444
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
50:00.484 --> 50:01.564
[SPEAKER_00]: So you got to be likable.
50:02.004 --> 50:04.186
[SPEAKER_00]: You got to be someone or it's like, hey, you know what?
50:04.326 --> 50:06.627
[SPEAKER_00]: It's fun having this guy on set or this guy on set.
50:06.647 --> 50:08.768
[SPEAKER_00]: They're just, they're really cool to be around.
50:08.808 --> 50:09.649
[SPEAKER_00]: They're always smiling.
50:09.689 --> 50:10.509
[SPEAKER_00]: They're always happy.
50:10.849 --> 50:12.230
[SPEAKER_00]: They're always willing to help.
50:12.290 --> 50:15.912
[SPEAKER_00]: They never have excuses on why they're late or or whatever.
50:16.373 --> 50:21.656
[SPEAKER_00]: So show up on time, which is like 15 to 20 minutes before call time, right?
50:22.436 --> 50:35.262
[SPEAKER_00]: times at 7 o'clock in the morning, morning you don't park the car at 7, you're parking at like 645, you're getting the lay of the land, you're talking to people, and then when it's time to start, you jump in and start.
50:36.142 --> 50:40.344
[SPEAKER_00]: So someone who's working hard, someone who's trying hard, someone who is also
50:42.265 --> 50:45.508
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, engaged in other projects as projects as well.
50:45.568 --> 50:52.412
[SPEAKER_00]: So like, like, if someone is trying to job shadow at avalanche and they're like, okay, I think I found my end.
50:52.772 --> 50:55.474
[SPEAKER_00]: This is all I'm ever going to do is wait for avalanche to call.
50:55.574 --> 50:58.676
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, yeah, you know, you got to be, you got to be going out.
50:58.736 --> 51:02.378
[SPEAKER_00]: You got to be meeting people, you got to be talking to a bunch of people and trying to bunch of things.
51:02.799 --> 51:04.740
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you got to have your own vision, too, right?
51:04.780 --> 51:06.501
[SPEAKER_00]: Like it goes back to those passion projects.
51:06.561 --> 51:08.823
[SPEAKER_00]: If you don't have a project,
51:09.423 --> 51:15.107
[SPEAKER_00]: that that you want to produce or direct or do, then why are you in this?
51:15.347 --> 51:19.209
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like what are you working on now, right?
51:19.870 --> 51:25.574
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're trying to break into the industry, you better be working on a short film, right now.
51:25.914 --> 51:30.777
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, like, and if you're not, like, then start writing a short script today.
51:31.298 --> 51:33.339
[SPEAKER_01]: Right and and it's like building a portfolio.
51:33.359 --> 51:33.559
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
51:33.699 --> 51:33.879
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
51:33.919 --> 51:34.619
[SPEAKER_00]: You just want it.
51:34.679 --> 51:35.439
[SPEAKER_00]: You want to do it.
51:35.879 --> 51:38.660
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you have even if you're like, I don't know what to write.
51:38.740 --> 51:39.521
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what to shoot.
51:39.881 --> 51:43.302
[SPEAKER_00]: Then take your favorite scene from a movie.
51:43.862 --> 51:47.763
[SPEAKER_00]: Watch it 30 times right down all the dialogue and reshoot it.
51:48.403 --> 51:54.325
[SPEAKER_00]: Get some friends and just and see where they set up the camera angles and see where they did that and and just.
51:54.965 --> 52:14.501
[SPEAKER_00]: Do it the best you can and then watch it and go why didn't this work why it why why does there's looks so much better, you know, and and and then do it again and again and and just have something that you're working on so if you're you know I have a son James and who's a writer and one of the things that that we talk about all the time if you're going to be a writer
52:15.061 --> 52:15.902
[SPEAKER_00]: You have to write.
52:16.863 --> 52:19.125
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't wait for an opportunity to write a book.
52:19.586 --> 52:22.208
[SPEAKER_00]: You write and write and write and write and write.
52:22.408 --> 52:23.249
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what you got to do.
52:23.289 --> 52:24.731
[SPEAKER_00]: And same if you're going to be a filmmaker.
52:25.131 --> 52:27.013
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't wait for somebody to hire you.
52:27.113 --> 52:31.557
[SPEAKER_00]: You start making videos when I was making videos in high school.
52:31.677 --> 52:38.945
[SPEAKER_00]: I was shooting on VHS back back in the day we had we had a little camcorder and then a cable.
52:39.805 --> 53:00.864
[SPEAKER_00]: a little about the down to a box that carried a VHS tape it was like a VCR that you carried around with your with your thing and and then we'd edit it tape to tape or it would be like get the first shot stop set up the second stop ready and action cut and you're just shooting an order and then you watch it and you see like
53:02.526 --> 53:09.391
[SPEAKER_00]: kind of work, you know, but like, but those are those are the things that you've got to do when you're breaking energy.
53:09.451 --> 53:11.332
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't wait, you create, right?
53:11.352 --> 53:12.433
[SPEAKER_00]: You just create, create, create.
53:12.633 --> 53:13.734
[SPEAKER_02]: That's some creative advice.
53:13.774 --> 53:23.902
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's like, the other thing you said was like, telling a person, hey, I don't have anything for you, call me in a week and you specifically said no more than one way or whatever.
53:24.102 --> 53:27.284
[SPEAKER_02]: So like the other thing I heard, do you like be greeting between the lines?
53:27.324 --> 53:28.125
[SPEAKER_02]: Like you need to be able to
53:29.927 --> 53:45.688
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, for sure, no, that's important and like I've worked with kids before I wanted to chop shadow who we set them up to get on set and they had some sort of car emergency Sure on on the way and legit or not
53:46.189 --> 53:48.311
[SPEAKER_00]: that's just a red flag, right?
53:48.671 --> 53:58.841
[SPEAKER_00]: Like if you can't get to where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there, you're, you know, and like give them another chance as another excuse, you know the chance another excuse, and then it's like, you know what?
53:59.141 --> 54:03.305
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like I'm not looking to, to job shadow excuses, right?
54:03.425 --> 54:03.726
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
54:04.046 --> 54:04.286
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
54:04.426 --> 54:08.090
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you want to, you want to come in ready to work and ready to do stuff.
54:08.110 --> 54:08.210
[SPEAKER_00]: So,
54:08.607 --> 54:16.313
[SPEAKER_01]: how involved or is avalanche studios titled like the film commissioner of Utah?
54:16.733 --> 54:20.055
[SPEAKER_00]: So we do some stuff with the film commission, right?
54:20.896 --> 54:26.380
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's usually if we need them for anything, which isn't very often, right?
54:26.460 --> 54:32.985
[SPEAKER_00]: So if there's a situation where we have a location where we just,
54:34.006 --> 54:43.554
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't have access to something sometimes we'll go to the film commission and do that film commission I believe also works on Tax incentives and that kind of stuff.
54:43.594 --> 54:48.178
[SPEAKER_00]: We've we've never had a project where we've needed to do that We've looked into a few and whatnot.
54:48.318 --> 54:59.167
[SPEAKER_00]: So we haven't worked super close with the Utah film commission But but we have over the years I would say in the 20 years I've been working with avalanche maybe a handful of times
54:59.922 --> 55:15.593
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, is there anything that we haven't talked about thinking about if you want to give advice to somebody or think someone thinking about getting into your film production or just film in general or anything that you feel like we haven't covered that you would want to like also say to them.
55:17.013 --> 55:35.470
[SPEAKER_00]: I think one of the big changes that we're going to see is AI, and I think there's a lot of people that I have talked to that work in my industry that are really, really afraid of AI, and what that means.
55:36.931 --> 55:42.415
[SPEAKER_00]: I think to fight against AI is foolish because you're going to lose, right?
55:42.435 --> 55:56.545
[SPEAKER_00]: There's going to come a point where you just, you know, you're like the Xerox or the Kodak or whatever, right, where you were blockbuster, where you didn't adapt soon enough and you lost where you could have been.
55:57.301 --> 56:19.590
[SPEAKER_00]: AI is a tool and learning how to use that tool is going to be important if you're going to be a filmmaker, right, relying only on AI is also dangerous as well, right, you want, you want to learn how to use it as a tool not as a creator, right, you want to make sure that that it's your vision.
56:20.230 --> 56:31.118
[SPEAKER_00]: that it is bringing to life rather than, hey, I don't have any ideas, give me a vision, and now that you've provided a vision, now provide the context and create it and do that.
56:31.138 --> 56:31.379
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
56:31.399 --> 56:34.981
[SPEAKER_00]: Because then, then you haven't brought anything to the table.
56:35.482 --> 56:44.329
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the, one of the dangers, morally of AI is it's ability to steal from other creators, right?
56:44.369 --> 56:44.549
[SPEAKER_00]: But,
56:47.848 --> 56:51.693
[SPEAKER_00]: name an artist that hasn't stolen from another creator, right?
56:52.153 --> 56:59.122
[SPEAKER_00]: Every musician, every painter, every filmmaker, they're all standing on the shoulders of giants, right?
56:59.822 --> 57:04.368
[SPEAKER_00]: And the difference is, is AI doesn't really acknowledge it, and if
57:06.590 --> 57:10.031
[SPEAKER_00]: in a way where they're not saying, hey, I'm pulling from this specific thing, right?
57:10.931 --> 57:16.272
[SPEAKER_00]: Also, if you're using it and they're stealing from somebody great and you don't know who they're stealing from.
57:16.712 --> 57:21.253
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't know why they're they're stealing that then you're not standing on the shoulders of giants, right?
57:21.613 --> 57:25.653
[SPEAKER_00]: You're just it's like you're reinventing the wheel a little bit, right?
57:26.053 --> 57:33.715
[SPEAKER_00]: So so I would just say just be careful with how you use AI but don't be afraid to use AI and
57:35.675 --> 57:49.023
[SPEAKER_00]: We live in the best time ever to become a filmmaker, whether you want to do big Hollywood films, streaming, or if you just want to be a YouTube content creator, whatever it is, right?
57:49.624 --> 57:56.628
[SPEAKER_00]: You have, you know, in your pocket, as a 13 year old kid, you have a better camera.
57:56.968 --> 57:57.708
[SPEAKER_00]: then I did.
57:57.728 --> 58:00.110
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, when I was in college.
58:00.130 --> 58:02.411
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, when I was in college, no, no doubt, no doubt.
58:03.111 --> 58:06.293
[SPEAKER_00]: And like, so just take advantage of it, right?
58:06.433 --> 58:08.193
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't don't make excuses.
58:09.314 --> 58:13.536
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you feel making is a team sport.
58:13.576 --> 58:14.997
[SPEAKER_00]: So find your team.
58:15.737 --> 58:31.987
[SPEAKER_00]: Find the people that you want to collaborate with who you work well with and just start creating and creating and have fun with it right this is I tell everybody that when they ask about my job, I say at beach working right because it's it's just super super fun to do so.
58:32.943 --> 58:39.945
[SPEAKER_01]: One last question on my end that it came to mind was, what are your thoughts on all of these?
58:41.326 --> 58:51.209
[SPEAKER_01]: So like on YouTube, if you search up like how to do film, how to record, how to do videos and stuff, there's so many resources of people trying to teach someone how to do something.
58:51.229 --> 58:52.669
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's a lot of different opinions out there.
58:52.729 --> 58:59.911
[SPEAKER_01]: So like what, how does someone go about making sure that they're getting the right education and direction?
59:00.131 --> 59:01.892
[SPEAKER_01]: If they wanted to go that route rather than like,
59:02.332 --> 59:06.853
[SPEAKER_01]: a traditional like film school and go to a specific college or something.
59:07.193 --> 59:09.134
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I don't know the answer to that question.
59:09.174 --> 59:11.075
[SPEAKER_00]: I went to film school route.
59:11.775 --> 59:16.096
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the biggest benefit to the film school route was the networking that I got out of it.
59:16.156 --> 59:18.217
[SPEAKER_00]: It still worked with a lot of those professionals today.
59:19.737 --> 59:29.880
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're trying to get a YouTube education, you have access to some of the best material ever created for teaching you how to do it.
59:30.470 --> 59:35.835
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, and it's all shortened and so I think it's a great, I think it's a great resource.
59:36.296 --> 59:37.277
[SPEAKER_00]: Just jump in and use it.
59:38.620 --> 59:46.142
[SPEAKER_00]: try it if you're following advice and it works keep on doing it and if you're following advice and it doesn't work for you then ditch it.
59:46.462 --> 59:47.122
[SPEAKER_00]: Do something else.
59:47.142 --> 59:50.883
[SPEAKER_00]: So I wouldn't be afraid to look at YouTube tutorials.
59:51.243 --> 01:00:01.105
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, kind of the smartest people I know in the film industry aren't afraid to admit they don't know how to do something, right?
01:00:01.205 --> 01:00:01.465
[SPEAKER_00]: And so
01:00:02.005 --> 01:00:06.788
[SPEAKER_00]: I think of David Wade, he's our editor, his name's, we call him Wavy.
01:00:07.989 --> 01:00:27.282
[SPEAKER_00]: He does, he does all our post-production, he's our post-production supervisor, and when he doesn't know how to do something, he goes to YouTube, he watches a video, and it teaches him how to do it, and even though he's in his thirties, and he's watching a YouTube tutorial with this.
01:00:27.962 --> 01:00:34.924
[SPEAKER_00]: He won't kid with a with a braces and trying to explain this off like he doesn't he doesn't go like I know more than a skit.
01:00:34.944 --> 01:00:37.645
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, Oh, teach me teach me how to do this right?
01:00:37.925 --> 01:00:42.326
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I want to learn how to do this and and so yeah, swallow your pride and learn something.
01:00:42.366 --> 01:00:46.567
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so I would say a YouTube education is going to be fantastic.
01:00:47.648 --> 01:00:51.629
[SPEAKER_00]: But it there is something to say to having like
01:00:52.309 --> 01:01:10.740
[SPEAKER_00]: a professor who has studied film history and film grammar and can explain those things and teach us things and expose you to movies in time periods and countries that that you would have no exposure to.
01:01:12.460 --> 01:01:33.985
[SPEAKER_00]: without that type of education and so yeah you'll miss out on some of that stuff but yeah colleges and for everyone it's not affordable for everyone it's it may not be realistic for everyone and so if you're if you're gonna get your education that way then then do it jump in and do it and go for it.
01:01:34.345 --> 01:01:56.574
[SPEAKER_00]: Now it's usually a time we have for any additional plugs or any other things you want to add if I'm projects so I mentioned I do the the podcast adventure AI with Tyler so if you are if you love D&D and you love AI and you love idiots talking like this there's not a better show
01:01:57.334 --> 01:01:57.835
[SPEAKER_00]: to listen to.
01:01:57.855 --> 01:02:04.581
[SPEAKER_00]: I also do another podcast called Mooling It Over with Brandon Mool and we talk all things creative.
01:02:04.601 --> 01:02:11.608
[SPEAKER_00]: Brandon Mool is the author of the Fabel Haven and Beyonders and Candy Shoppore and all those five Kingdoms all those series and whatnot.
01:02:12.469 --> 01:02:17.834
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we just talk creative things and we have creative guests on and so that's a great show.
01:02:17.894 --> 01:02:19.015
[SPEAKER_00]: Mooling It Over with Brandon Mool.
01:02:20.576 --> 01:02:20.836
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
01:02:20.936 --> 01:02:22.156
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's all my career.
01:02:22.176 --> 01:02:24.957
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have any other projects coming up that you want to share?
01:02:25.577 --> 01:02:26.578
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think so.
01:02:26.618 --> 01:02:30.359
[SPEAKER_00]: We've got, you know, I've always got projects at Avalanche Studios.
01:02:30.479 --> 01:02:34.560
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to check out our work there, AvalancheifinStudios.com.
01:02:35.080 --> 01:02:37.461
[SPEAKER_00]: If you need video production work, give me a call.
01:02:37.521 --> 01:02:40.962
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to help out with that and create something.
01:02:41.302 --> 01:02:41.822
[SPEAKER_02]: Awesome.
01:02:42.302 --> 01:02:44.503
[SPEAKER_02]: You also have a, was the documentary that you did?
01:02:44.623 --> 01:02:45.623
[SPEAKER_02]: Was that the one you worked on?
01:02:46.063 --> 01:02:49.244
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, so I did documentary a few years ago called Dog Valley.
01:02:49.904 --> 01:02:53.244
[SPEAKER_00]: That one's on Apple TV, so you can look that up.
01:02:53.304 --> 01:02:56.965
[SPEAKER_00]: But Dog Valley is a feature-linked documentary.
01:02:57.925 --> 01:03:06.647
[SPEAKER_00]: It's although you work on a project and you want people to see the project and stuff, I'll just say right off the bat, Dog Valley is not for everyone.
01:03:07.707 --> 01:03:11.208
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a true crime story about a murder that took place.
01:03:12.248 --> 01:03:29.633
[SPEAKER_00]: In 1988, in Southern Utah, when a gay young man was picked up by two individuals who sexually abused him and tortured him and then beat him to death and then left his body on the side of the road, basically, in a strange way.
01:03:30.573 --> 01:03:45.048
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's a horrific film, and we go into those details as respectfully as possible without trying to pull punches as well.
01:03:45.068 --> 01:03:47.430
[SPEAKER_00]: It was a hard balance.
01:03:48.051 --> 01:03:52.956
[SPEAKER_00]: And just a significantly important film to understand.
01:03:53.016 --> 01:03:53.076
[SPEAKER_00]: And
01:03:54.357 --> 01:04:05.088
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, since that film and since having a son who's come out, I've done a lot of work in the LGBTQ space trying to make life a better place.
01:04:05.148 --> 01:04:06.689
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, that was a dog valley.
01:04:06.709 --> 01:04:07.951
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a great project.
01:04:07.971 --> 01:04:08.051
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
01:04:08.671 --> 01:04:09.132
[SPEAKER_00]: Bring that up.
01:04:09.192 --> 01:04:10.353
[SPEAKER_01]: And that whole Apple TV said.
01:04:10.553 --> 01:04:13.097
[SPEAKER_00]: I said, yeah, it's on Apple TV, so you can purchase it.
01:04:13.317 --> 01:04:15.520
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, it is not for everyone.
01:04:15.560 --> 01:04:18.885
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's not a, hey, gather up little kids and let's watch a show.
01:04:18.905 --> 01:04:19.005
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
01:04:19.025 --> 01:04:19.306
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, right.
01:04:19.326 --> 01:04:26.156
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is about dogs and valleys and no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
01:04:26.576 --> 01:04:41.560
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, we get into a very sensitive topics, including, you know, the death penalty and other stuff and yeah, it's, it's a hard film, but it's a good film and I'm super proud of it and super grateful to have been able to work on that.
01:04:41.918 --> 01:04:44.479
[SPEAKER_00]: And then back in the day, I'll just do this one last thing.
01:04:44.499 --> 01:04:48.621
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't even think it's available anymore, but I did a board game.
01:04:48.741 --> 01:04:52.822
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that's Feast and Fam, and that was published by Shadow Mountain.
01:04:52.862 --> 01:04:55.944
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I had a little stint in the board game space.
01:04:55.964 --> 01:04:59.825
[SPEAKER_00]: The board game space is one that used to have a gaming company that I owned.
01:04:59.885 --> 01:05:03.687
[SPEAKER_00]: And we used to make apps and whatnot as well, but
01:05:04.067 --> 01:05:20.632
[SPEAKER_00]: but it it it it fell into that same like story telling aspect like how do you how do you tell a story with with a game you know so yeah avalanche videos so you mentioned that earlier any social media platforms that people should look at or just the website.
01:05:20.872 --> 01:05:22.774
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, just the website, just the website.
01:05:22.874 --> 01:05:24.335
[SPEAKER_00]: I need to do better at social media.
01:05:24.355 --> 01:05:27.458
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, it's a hard day.
01:05:27.518 --> 01:05:28.479
[SPEAKER_00]: It's hard.
01:05:28.639 --> 01:05:38.929
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, if you look at my name, there's, there's one other Jason can photo that I know of in the world and, and he's in, in Europe somewhere and, uh, he's not a filmmaker and he's not a filmmaker.
01:05:39.569 --> 01:05:41.290
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, if you get to a boring Jason.
01:05:41.330 --> 01:05:42.531
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm sure he's a Jason.
01:05:42.551 --> 01:05:47.774
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure you're a great I have it's nice to know there's another one of us out there.
01:05:47.834 --> 01:05:49.195
[SPEAKER_01]: So we'll eat know if he comments on the yeah.
01:05:49.215 --> 01:05:55.358
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, he won't All right, let's go get awesome Jason appreciate coming on