IFH 775 - Breaking Into Hollywood: The Power of Authentic Connections and Creative Vision with Jameson Parker
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You are listening to the IFH Podcast Network. For more amazing filmmaking and screenwriting podcasts, just go to ifhpodcastnetwork.com. Welcome to the Indie Film Hustle Podcast, episode number 775. Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on. Louis L'Amour.

Broadcasting from the back alley in Hollywood, it's the Indie Film Hustle Podcast, where we show you how to survive and thrive as an indie filmmaker in the jungles of the film biz. And here's your host, Alex Ferrari. Welcome, welcome to another episode of the Indie Film Hustle Podcast. I am your humble host, Alex Ferrari. Today's show is sponsored by Rise of the Filmtrepreneur, how to turn your independent film into a profitable business.

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Enjoy today's episode with guest host Dave Bullis. So in this week's episode, my guest is a producer of The Summer of 84 and is currently producing the upcoming series Julie and the Phantoms, which is set to release in 2020. He's a development director at Bright Light Pictures.

Without further ado, with guest, Jameson Parker. I started as an actor. I spent a lot of time as a kid wanting to be an actor and was in theater through high school. And I went to school for it. I went to college for it up here in Vancouver. Did a big conservatory theater program at the University of British Columbia. I worked for a long time in professional theater in Canada. Well, I guess a couple of five, six years or so.

long time um and then wanted to start making my own work and uh and thought you know if i'm gonna do this if i'm gonna like produce my own work i want to learn how to do it properly so um you know started putting a few things together met sean williamson who runs bright light and um

Just to ask him, hey, look, how do you – have you been doing it? You've been doing it for a long time. How do I get to where you are? And he took me under his wing and showed me how to produce properly and gave me the –

the tools to go out and find material and start producing stuff for bright light. And, uh, the rest just kind of took off and all of us, all of a sudden I'm here, uh, you know, with a couple of movies under my belt and excited for more and a couple of things on the horizon and working on my first TV show now. So it's, um, it's been, it's been an incredible ride with bright light over the past. I've been with them now for five years. Um,

So do you think that still happens? It's almost like an apprenticeship when you're able to approach Sean. A lot of the internships you hear about, they don't really kind of lead anywhere. Do you think you kind of like – you almost struck gold by forming that relationship and you just kind of were in the right place at the right time?

I think so, man. I think that there's a lot of people who still believe in that kind of formation, the apprenticeship kind of formation. I think that they're few and farther between. And there are a lot of internship opportunities out there, especially in L.A., that don't lead to anything. My

the way that I came to bright light was a little unconventional, but I do think that I did luck out by meeting Sean and, and, uh, um, and him taking me under his wing here. But then, you know, I saw the opportunity and, um, jumped on it. And there's been a few people who have been given this same opportunity here at the company that I've seen falter. And, um,

you know, not make the most of it. So I think it's a little bit like I got lucky, but also really wanted to capitalize on what was given to me. And so, yeah,

Um, yeah, it's tough. It's tough to form those relationships that are actually meaningful and somebody who genuinely cares about bringing up, um, young producers and writers and directors, um, and has the ability to do so, you know, usually those people who can make a real difference in your life are so hard to get ahold of and so hard to pin down in their time. Um,

I was pretty relentless with Sean. So in the beginning, just kind of knocking on his door and knocking on his door. And eventually he had to, uh, had to schedule a coffee with me. Well, that's kind of like the catch 22, you know, usually the people you want to meet, uh, are too busy actually making things. And the reason you want to meet them is because they're actually making things.

Yeah. And I think, you know, you kind of have to look. I've been asked that question a lot. Like, how do I you know, how do I break in? How do I find those people? And it's like, well, look at your look at your the people in your life, in your circle of influence and see what the six degrees of separation are to somebody. Make it personal.

Um, and try and work those routes. I met Sean because his son went to the same high school as I did, but years after me. Um, and one of my old teachers was like, Hey, I know you're doing this. Would you like to meet Sean? And I said, I would love to. And so I kind of lucked out that way. Um,

But it's been the same with other mentors in my life, a gentleman by the name of Todd Black. Todd runs a company called Escape Artists and they do – they did the Upside and the Equalizer movies and he's been an incredibly successful producer for many, many years. And I was introduced to Todd through a friend.

And just kind of the same thing. You should meet this person. And Todd has been incredibly generous with his time. And it's been a very, very cool working relationship. So, yeah, I think it's there are opportunities out there. You just kind of have to really dig to seek them out sometimes. Yeah. Yeah, that's very true. And, you know, you mentioned breaking in, which, you know, I was.

which is in my notes to talk about, but since you actually brought it up, what advice do you have for breaking in? Because you hear all these, there's a lot of different theories or recommendations or advice that you hear out there about how to break in. Some people say do it with a spec script. Some people say do it with making a short film. Some people say maybe even start with an apprenticeship as the old way was kind of like that. So what do you feel on that, Jameson? I mean, look, I think it's a...

There's a lot of advice out there because there's a million different ways that you can do it. And I think what really helps is self-awareness and figuring out, okay, this is what I want to do. This is where I want to be.

And these are the tools at my disposal. Some people won't be as lucky and won't have one or two degrees of separation from somebody who will give them the time. And then I think you need to work on your craft, hone your craft, go out and also go out and meet those people, but not in a –

Like, very obviously networky way. I'm so opposed to that word. I need to go and network because it's not about networking. It's about forming real human relationships with people and finding things that you have in common and.

That may be film. You know, it may be film. It may not. But creating real relationships with people and understanding what your point of view is like the number one thing I think to break in. There's just a lot of white noise out there. And then I always go back to the Duplass brothers, always go back to the Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay, who would always say, yeah,

Just keep making shit. Just keep making shit. The cavalry isn't coming. The cavalry isn't coming. Um,

And they were like the first short films that you make will be terrible and then you'll make a few that are just a little less terrible and then they get less and less terrible until it's something passable. So keep – there's an element of perseverance that kind of permeates everybody's story. There's every success story. There is this – yeah, this element of perseverance and banging your head against the wall until the brick cracks. It is –

I feel that a lot, too. So, so Jameson, you know, you mentioned networking, you know, do you ever go to any of these networking events? Cause I'm sure you get invited to like 10,000 events, you know, a month. Is there, we'll be right back after a word from our sponsor and now back to the show. Do you ever go to any of these events and you just kind of feel that, you know, maybe sometimes these aren't the best approach to this, if you know what I mean?

Yeah. Um, yeah, I get invited to a few. I mean, Vancouver's community is a lot smaller than Los Angeles. When I, when I'm in LA, like I split my time between, between Vancouver and Los Angeles. When I'm in LA, there's a lot of invites and there's a lot of these things. And I think it's about choosing the right ones when you get to a certain point. Like there is a value there for sure to just to be around people and to meet people. But, um,

I actually have a great success story from these networking events where there's one in Los Angeles called the Little Black Book event. And I think it's phenomenal. Lots of junior executives, people at great companies who are doing cool things, who are really, really hungry and passionate go to this event. And I was taken to it by another producer at Bright Light like three years

Maybe more years ago. And that is actually where I met first met Matt Leslie, who wrote Summer of 84, where he first pitched me summer was that one of these networking events. And so I have a really great relationship with them. Yeah.

and, you know, have seen direct success come out of it. So I do believe in spending your time, which is your capital, spending your time on doing these things, going to South by Southwest, going to Cannes, going to Toronto if you can, and going to these festivals and meeting people and swapping ideas and stories. And yeah, I think there's a great advantage to them, being a part of a community.

Well, you know, that's fantastic. You were able to actually meet the writer of Summer of 84 there. So, you know, what are some of the, you know, kind of like, what did he do that was actually, you know, right or just kind of what did he do that didn't seem, you know, you know what I mean? When you go to a lot of these network events,

some people just scream desperation. And then if you're really unlucky, you meet somebody like me there and you're like, Oh God, I'm never going to these things again. But, um, but, uh, but you know, when you see all these people there and some of these people just so just like, I mean, they're, they're just ready to latch on to anybody for anything. You're like, Whoa, well, you know what I mean? It's so, so what was the way that you were approached? You know, that, that was actually where you were like, you know what? I actually want to hear this pitch.

Um, Matt is real. Matt is a really down to earth guy. And we just spoke in a very human way. We just kind of in that's kind of what I love. Like, it's not so focused. I get out of this interaction, you know, and it's less about having a real human voice.

connection than it is about what can I what kind of transactional piece can I pull from this person. And, you know, Matt is was and always will be a very engaging person who is super passionate about his work. But has a he does have a confidence to him that you go, you

This isn't off-putting at all, which is great. And so that was – we had a real conversation and you can kind of tell, OK, this is a guy that not only do I want to read his script but I also want to hang out with him more. And Matt and I have become great friends over the years. I'm such a big, big fan of his. So it's – I don't know. It was something very –

just normal about it and less transactional, which is what really turns people off.

So did some of the advice that like Sean gave you help to kind of like – did you kind of decipher some of that? Meaning when you're listening to a pitch, is this idea fully realized? Can you envision this in your head? Can you see the poster? Would this be even marketable and not only here in America but overseas and stuff like that? Is that some of the things that went through your head when you're hearing the pitch? Yeah.

honestly, it was just a movie that I wanted to see. I wanted to see a lot of those things like, you know, can you see the poster? Can you see the trailer? Is it going to do well overseas? Like that is, those are notes from studio execs and, um, and it's, it's tough because we don't, you know, we don't have a marketing department here. We don't have, um, uh,

distribution arm we don't have a foreign sales arm here so yes we have an understanding of the market and kind of hope that we fit within that but I mean my philosophy has always been more about what movies I want to make rather than what movies the market wants to see I kind of feel like

If you chase that, if you chase what's doing well in the marketplace, you're always going to be behind the eight ball. You know what I mean? Like, um, and you get things like Gemini man and you get things like, um, what was the big ball Terminator dark fate that bombs at the box office. And, you know, you're, you're responding more to a market than to, um, a great story or, um, a really cool, uh,

piece of acting and casting in something. And when he pitched me summer, it was, I could see the movie. I understood what it was. And I grew up loving those films that he referenced and the Goonies, um, stand by me, Disturbia rear window was a big one, was a big influence for us and for them on the script. Like, um, uh,

But it was really when he sent me the lookbook that I was like, oh shit, this – I have to read this script immediately. That was a big one for that movie that I was like, this is really cool. When you see these movies that come out like Gemini Man, you mentioned Terminator.

You know, it seems to be that's what the studios are always chasing. It's either the big superhero movie or it's a reboot remake of, you know, a piece of the series. You know what I mean? Like a series that can't come out. That's why, you know, I've always been trying to gravitate towards seeing original films now because, you know, it's weird to say this, Jameson, but...

And sometimes it's harder to actually get to see those movies because they maybe don't have a release on Netflix or something like that. And they're certainly not going to be in the theater because there's superhero movies and reboots in there. So you have to really start to kind of be on the look for those types of things. You really do. And I just feel like people are starting to get –

of the reboot of the reboot. I mean, I know that I am. I'm also like you and I are a different class of filmmaker, not class, I guess is the wrong word, but a different type of film watcher. Like we spend our lives talking about movies and seeking things out. It is too bad that all that is out there now are franchises and reboots and something based on IP that there's a...

you have to really, really seek out cinema that is original and interesting. Um, and then there's things that break through like Jojo rabbit. And, um, I mean, even some of the Tarantino stuff is, is, is a tour cinema is like really great original cinema, but it is drawn. It is driven, sorry, by a star. It is driven by some kind of narrative. Um, so, um,

Yeah, I wish that there was more of an appetite for some of those original stories. TV is where it's at, though, right now. That's where people are putting all of those stories. Right, right. And that's where you see stuff like Breaking Bad and you get to see all the Game of Thrones and all. Well, even though that's an existing property, maybe that's a bad example. But you know what I mean? It's still…

But like Succession, I'm watching Succession right now or See on Apple TV or what else? I mean, like you said, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, all the great examples of television, right? Like, yeah, there's a TV is where original stories are being told right now. So what are some of your favorite TV shows in the past couple of years that you've seen?

I spend a lot of my time watching movies because we typically develop films. But the stuff that I have watched that I have loved, like I am in the middle of Succession now and really, really love it. Mad Men is actually is probably one of my all time favorites. There is just something I love about Mad Men.

uh, those kind of corporate dramas. Um, and I've always been fascinated by advertising. I've realized that Mad Men is a, um, a very stylized, fictionalized version of, um, uh, of the ad agency world, but it's still endlessly fascinating to me. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor and now back to the show. Um,

And then we got to work with Rich Summer on Summer of 84, which was really cool and really fun. And I also watched that I've loved like, oh, actually both of Phoebe Waller Bridges shows crashing and oh my God, what I'm blanking right now. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm not even familiar with it. So I don't know. It'll come to me. It's just one. I'm just having a brain fart right now. Yeah.

A lot of Sherlock I loved. Like there is, there's just a lot of great TV. So when, you know, you mentioned that, you know, you do a lot of work with movies primarily, you know, and we were talking about original, you know, stories and, you know, finding those original screenplays. So Jameson kind of take me through like how you find like a piece of material and then how you go about, you know, kind of developing that piece of material.

Fleabag. Fleabag is the name of the show. Thank you. I thought that was your answer. I was like, I don't know what he's talking about. You're like, I don't know what he's talking about. How do I find a piece of... I mean, look, it's tough. It's like gold mining, really. It's like gold mining except the...

version of gold that you're looking for changes for each person who's looking for it it's it's very weird like you have to sift through a lot of rock and mud and dirt to get to something that you want to spend time with um and it's about you know it's about finding a germ of an idea in something it's about finding um

something worth spending time on and something that is really engaging and

Um, at least that's what it is for me because you, then you're going to end up spending so much time with it on rewrites and having to pitch the thing to a million different people first to bring directors on, or maybe another writer to come and do a rewrite. And then it's actors and financiers, and you're always talking to agents and managers and you have to have this passion for that project that, um,

is unrelenting or it's going to become such a slog because you spend so much time with these pieces of material. So, um, yeah, it's about finding something you love. And then also, I mean, on top of that, it's about finding people that you like working with. I mentioned how much I liked working with, um, Matt and Steve on summer of 84, but RKSS too, who directed the film,

are just such great. I mean, they're fun filmmakers. They put a lot of their really, uh, phenomenal energy up on screen and they, um, are just so, so great to work with that. I've got two more projects with them because I enjoy what they enjoy. We, um, have a great kind of back and forth and understanding of each other as filmmakers. And, um,

I want to help develop their voice and take it out into the marketplace. So just with knowing all of that, when you do actually go out there to find material, do you get materials like maybe submitted to you like, hey, this script was on the blacklist or, hey, this script was rated by Script Shark or this script was a finalist for the Nicole Fellowship? Is that one of the other ways you find screenplays?

Yeah. I mean, there are, um, agents and managers who I, um, who I appreciate their taste and have a good relationship with. I get stuff from them. I get stuff from, um, actors and writers and directors that, that I know, or that, you know, bright light knows that we work with. Um,

I'm also going out and kind of mining some of the things that I love, whether it's books or plays or articles that I think would make great films and finding, you know, something that we can start to build out, you know,

So it really comes in a lot of different forms. Sometimes we get things – Sean gets things sent to him by directors that he's worked with in the past or writers that he's worked with in the past and wants to work with them or see if there's something in a script that they've sent to him. So it comes to us in a lot of different forms for sure. But there is always some kind of –

vetting process before it gets to me or Sean or anybody else at Brightlight for sure. Yeah, and again, like we were talking about with the networking, you always have to have some kind of vetting process for a whole number of reasons. But you always want to make sure that relationship, again, like you said, it's not going to be like a transaction or what are you doing for me right now? Yeah, it's always going to be hopefully a genuine interaction.

Right, right. And then, you know, and you want to be able to build on that and you want to be able to keep going, you know, and make like, you know, two, three, four, five, six movies, you know, and just keep growing and building together, right? That is, that would be the ideal for sure. Doesn't always work out that way. I mean, not everybody works well together, but that is the ideal, you know, to be able to work with the same people that you enjoy working with time and time again.

So just to kind of continue with that question, Jameson, have you ever seen someone's YouTube short film and become interested in maybe working with that person? The reason I ask is because you kind of – if you look at like – what was that movie? Kung Fury. Yeah. That movie came out or even the guy who did Too Many Cooks.

I mean, he was able to get some traction on that. Then you see the other... I forget what his name is. I think it's the guy who did the Evil Dead remake. Is it Alvarez, I think his name is? Oh, yeah.

Yes, Fede Alvarez. Yes, and then – so he did Panic Attack and then he was able to make Evil Dead. Do you see – do you ever actually maybe go on YouTube or anybody at Bright Light ever look at what anyone's doing in that sort of realm on YouTube or Vimeo or anything like that?

I'm sent stuff for sure. Uh, there's, I'm sent stuff. Um, it's tough because YouTube is such, has such a glut of material on there that, um, it's, if I, if I spent any amount of time on it, if I spent any amount of time that would actually yield results, I would be only doing that. Like there's just not enough hours in the day. Um, and,

So, but I am sent stuff like people like, hey, what do you think about this director? What do you think about this short film? And there was like, I can point to one in particular. There's a filmmaker by the name of Brian Petzos and Brian's made a couple of short films. One was called Tiki Taki. One was called Lightning Face.

And my friend Greg Loretano, another producer, sent me his material and was like, hey, I'm trying to put together this guy's feature. Would you be interested in helping? And immediately you could see that this guy had a style. He had a point of view. He was an incredibly deft filmmaker. And so it was definitely something that I wanted to be involved in. I didn't end up being on the.

feature with them, but I was really, really excited about this filmmaker. And it ended up getting made, which was great. So I'm excited to see the film and still talk to Brian and Greg about the movie regularly, which is awesome. Yeah, because the reason I brought that up was just because

That's kind of the medium kind of lends itself towards filmmakers as more and more people have gotten on there. But like you pointed out, there's a gluttony on there. And two, things can't be monetized anymore if they're – YouTube's censorship has gotten like really, really out of hand. I mean hell, I'm even demonetized.

So basically it's like you have to be very super squeaky clean and no violence. So it's kind of hard if they're hoping to get any monetization from views on that side of it. But on the flip side, it can gain some exposure for people. Like David F. Sandberg is another example. He actually started on YouTube and then he made Lights Out.

Yeah. I mean, look, it is – it's more about – I think it's less about YouTube, more about people who –

are just making material like that is the that is the kind of Thread between all of these people is that they're just they're making shit right there. They're out there and they're actually getting their hands dirty And doing things and that you know whether they shot Sean through on YouTube or because they just sent a private link to somebody

We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor. And now back to the show. They they're out there making things and refining what they like and figuring out what they want to do behind the camera. It's I think that's the common thread rather than YouTube or Vimeo or whatever the hosting platform is.

Yeah, that's a good point. You're trying to actually build a channel out of that stuff. It kind of ties in because your first project was White Ninja. That was based off a webcomic. But again, it's kind of like a similar idea. They went out, they put something out there, and they were able to develop it. And then all of a sudden now it's a web series or a TV show, I mean. Yeah, White Ninja was such a cool project. I mean –

That webcomic was web 1.0. It was so, so early on. And it was an idea that a friend of mine had had to turn it into a digital series when that was kind of everybody was chasing digital and they were chasing any kind of platform, Snapchat series. We were working with Vine before that was defunct and just thought that that platform lent itself to

so beautifully took this resurgence of the comic strip. You know, what does a comic strip look like outside of the Sunday papers and in this digital world and thought that these six second kind of loops were the perfect place to, I guess,

to rebirth the um the comic strip so it was cool for a minute and then as soon as we finished season one vine shut down and we were like oh shit okay well um where are we gonna put this now yeah i remember vine um but i know what you mean like there's always you know and all those social media channels there's always seems to be something that's kind of um

Almost like intuitive to that. You know what I mean? Like a piece of content that's intuitive to that type of channel, like Vine was to that. Yeah, I think it was a cool experiment. After season one, I had already – I had been, I guess, deep in with Brightlight, and that was when I –

kind of left that show and went on to do just bright light things. So this, the first season was really cool. And, um, and it was interesting to develop for a completely different platform. I mean, we're doing it now for Jeffrey Katzenberg's Quibi. We're making a series. Um, and it is, it's very interesting. These new distribution models and these new ways that you can connect and, and, um,

Get your product out to consumers right right and then you know because you actually have another TV show you're actually making right now Which is uh you know Julie and the Phantoms? Yeah, you actually want to do it actually want to talk about that I mean because I actually I I haven't informed me, but I'm actually interested to hear your kind of your your take on it Yeah, I will I can talk about it as much as I can talk about it it is

based on a Brazilian television show. Um, it is a Netflix original with music and dance and, um, drama and comedy. And it's really fun and, um, gorgeous show, uh, executive produced. And some of the episodes directed by a gentleman by the name of Kenny Ortega. And Kenny is like,

Mr. Song and Dance. He's the dude when it comes to filmed musical theater and musical on film. You know, somebody who worked with Gene Kelly and Donna Summer and Michael Jackson and directed Newsies and Hocus Pocus and all the high school musicals and Descendants franchises. And so he is an incredible creative leader and

Um, and this project for me is more of a, you know, all this stuff that I've done to this point has been very, um, independent and DIY, you know, even though summer of 84 was, I mean, technically a studio movie with gunpowder and sky acting as the studio, um,

It was still very much a small movie. It was, we had a lot of creative control over it. We had a lot of fun making the film that we wanted to see. But this for me is a big learning experience. So, so when I, so you finally, so I mentioned Netflix and I was like, so I didn't even know this was going to be on Netflix. So that's a huge congrats, man.

Oh, thanks, man. Yeah, I mean, it's a very crazy time to be working with the company. Just seeing how they react to all of these other streamers and distribution platforms coming in, it's been very cool to talk with our colleagues at Netflix. And interesting to work for a company that is so on the cutting edge, treats their creatives with such –

Such reverence. It's awesome. Yeah, it's a really great company. Yeah, because I mean, every creative, I mean, right now, that's the goal is a Netflix series. Yeah, yeah, it is...

It's cool. And it was something that we are, I mean, Sean has done a couple of them, but I'd always wanted to work with them. And, um, we'd done a two seasons of a series called haters back off and a couple of movies for Netflix, but to actually get to do this, it's, um, it's cool. They're putting a lot of, a lot of weight behind it because they see a lot of potential in Kenny's work. Obviously he's created hits and made a lot of money for Disney and Netflix wants a little bit of that, I think. Yeah.

And Haters Back Off, that was from Miranda Sings, right? That was, yeah. I didn't work on that, but it was a bright light show, yeah. Okay. You know, I actually enjoyed that. I actually thought that that was because a friend of mine was a big fan of Miranda Sings, the YouTube series, and then I started watching the Netflix show. I actually think they hit the groove pretty well with that.

It was very offbeat for sure. I thought it was – but she has a super specific type of comedy that really clicks with a lot of people. And so I think she – it was a really fun series. But – and we got to make two seasons of it. Yeah. Yeah. I think the uncle – and I forget what the actor's name is. But he was kind of like –

the more traditional comedy sense. That's why, you know, I think that's why when Miranda had her quirky sense of comedy, I think that's why they complement each other well. Particularly that pilot episode I thought was really well done too. You know, just shooting a commercial in a pet store. Like shooting that pilot in a... I just thought that was really funny. Yeah, it's very cool, man. She was awesome. And it's actually crazy. Doing that show was apparently the...

Hardest show to control from a security standpoint, like her fans were crazier than Sean and the company had ever seen. Worked with, you know, everybody in Hathaway and Robert Redford and Shia LaBeouf and Nicholas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson. Like he's worked with so many people in the.

Heart, you know, the craziest fans that they'd ever seen was for her. It was kind of kind of funny. So so basically they would just like find out where they were filming and just kind of like they didn't want to leave until they met her or something like that. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sneaking her in and out of places. And oh, yeah, it was it was crazy.

So, you know, just speaking of, uh, if, you know, crazy, you know, Jameson, what, what is the hardest producing obstacle you've ever had to overcome? You know, as a question, I, I always make sure to ask producers, you know, what, what is that, that, that biggest challenge that you've either had to, to, to kind of figure out on set or, or what have you, you know, what, what was that, what was your biggest challenge? Hmm. Um,

It's a good question. Actually. I'm trying to think if I can point to anything. I mean, look, none of these problems that you have on set are life or death for the most part. They really shouldn't be like, we're not out here making, we're not out here saving lives. We're making filmed, uh, entertainment for television and the movie theaters and the, some of the streamers, I guess now, but, um,

So we don't have people's lives in our hands. So anytime that there's a big quote-unquote crisis, it's always – we always try and remind ourselves, at least here at Brightlight, that it's not life or death to just take a minute, take a breath, and we can figure it out. And if it can be solved with money, it's not really a problem. So I'm trying to pinpoint like a huge challenge. I think it's mostly just people and making sure that everybody is –

as happy as they can be. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor. And now, back to the show. You know, you're working with 150, 200 people on set. There's always going to be problems and egos and, you know, things to solve. But I think it is really just navigating how you...

um, how you deal with people and how you deal with ego. Um, that's a, that's a daily challenge for sure to just kind of keep it as, um, mellow and, um, I guess calm as possible, you know? And, um, that's why, that's why we do this. We want to make, want to make movies and want to be on set and create something rather than being in the boardroom. So, um, yeah,

Those long hours and the tough challenges are a fine trade-off.

So a lot of this does come down to communication and kind of diffusing bad situations and stuff like that. Just having the different producers on here, that's kind of what I've inferred from just interviewing different producers like yourself is one, you have to be able to communicate to everybody. And most of the producers that I've had on here and most of the producers that I've met, everybody from –

you know, producing stuff you see in the theater to producing, you know, indie films to producing whatever. Um, that seems to be the, the big thing is also they want to be able to, a lot of them are more approachable, um, meaning on set they're approachable. Like if you want to come talk to them about something, um, they're pretty approachable, but in that, in that way, um, that's, that's sort of what I've found is that it's communication, you know, being a people person, um,

I've only worked with maybe two producers who don't want to talk to anybody ever for whatever reason. I don't know why, but they're just like, hey, everyone stay away from me unless you're the director or whatever. So you know what I mean? Most of them pretty much have those two things in common. Yeah, I mean, that's it. I think that that's...

That's a lot of this industry is communication and people skills, right? It doesn't matter if you are on set talking to a grip or if you are in development talking to a writer. You're always trying to get people on the same page and you as the producer are –

kind of the meeting spot for everything. You're watching over the entire project from a 30,000 foot perspective and so you are always trying to bring people into that same vision and keep them on track.

like i said whether you are on set um or whether you are in development like it is always just dealing with people and how do you couch certain things you know how do you um how do you deal with one person versus the next because not everybody responds to certain tactics well um

Yeah, it's a people business for sure. And that's why, you know, that's why kind of to come full circle, it's a trust business and it's hard to break into. People hire the same people again and again and again because they have great working relationships with them and they speak a common language and they know, you know, in high stress scenarios, they can count on this person. Yeah.

And they can count on them time and time again. So, you know. Yeah, I found that out too. You know, just working with the same people over and over again. There's a reason why directors, producers, et cetera, do that stuff. It's just because, you know, they've built a relationship. It's trust. You know, just, you know, when I do work,

um, different things. It's like, you know, sometimes you want to work with a different director of cinematography and then all of a sudden you realize, ah, this wasn't such a good idea. Uh, so, you know, it, it, it just happens. I mean, I, I've been on a set before where, you know, the director of cinematography is just not cooperative and just wants to be off on his own and doesn't want to talk to anybody. And you're like, Oh, okay. Uh, I don't know how this is going to work, but, um,

Um, but you know, it's stuff like that. That's why you're about the biggest obstacle that, that, that question. I always, again, I just reiterate, I always ask that to producers just because you see the gamut of, you know, you show up to a location and it's not, you know, maybe it's not ready or something's different. Uh, you know, your director cinematography doesn't want to show up or you have somebody show up and they want to, you know, they want to ask for more money the day of. Um, by the way, all those things I mentioned have happened to me in one way or another. It's, uh,

It's a very challenging role to be in and you're juggling so many different things and there's so much going on that there are bound to be crazy problems. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So, you know, Jameson, we've been talking for just about 45 minutes. You know, just to kind of put a period at the end of all this, is there anything that we can get a chance to discuss that you wanted to discuss right now or anything at all? Yeah.

No, nothing that comes to mind. I mean, it's so great. It's so fun to talk to people about the nuts and bolts of making independent cinema. And it is an incredible passion of mine. I do love working in TV and I'm having a phenomenal experience with this show. But there is something so satisfying about

kind of knuckling down and making independent film that I love. So I'm excited. I've got one in the pipe for June, July next year that we'll shoot here in Vancouver, it looks like. And I'm excited to kind of get back to those independent roots while I'm in between some of these more studio gigs.

You know, and that's really cool. And, you know, whenever, never, if you ever want to come back on Jameson, you know, when, when any of these projects come out, uh, please let me know. And, uh, I'd be glad to have you come back on. Oh, I appreciate it, man. This has actually been a, uh, a really great experience. You were right at the top when you're like, I haven't had a bad time yet. Um, yeah, this is, this is great. Kind of no holds barred conversation.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I'm glad you had a good time. And where can people find you online? Do you have any social media channels or any websites you want to give out? Yeah, I mean, brightlightpictures.com is where we're putting up everything that we do. I'm on Twitter. I'm on Instagram. But I keep Instagram kind of just for me.

So Twitter and, and, uh, and bright light pictures is where I usually am. And like you, um, did before this, my IMDB is where it has all the stuff that we're currently, I'm currently working on and stuff that's coming up. And, um, that's a great place to, to find out what's, what we have at bright light and what I got going on here too. And, uh, everyone, I'm going to link to all that in the show notes at Dave Bullis podcast.com. Um,

It's kind of funny. I got in trouble with YouTube and I got in trouble with Apple. I am this close to Emerson from just being erased from the internet completely. I just keep pissing off these giant internet corporations, and I'm not even trying to do anything.

I got in trouble with Facebook over posting this podcast, and I'm like, all right. Well, I'm batting 1,000. So I'm telling you. It's like I've done – I'm just – I'm this close away from just pissing off every internet giant, and then I won't be able to do anything. Yeah.

the gatekeepers yeah yeah so seriously my god uh i haven't pissed off riser comcast yet so i need to work on that so um but uh it's still the beginning of the week you got time yeah yeah right yeah see what i can do this week uh but everyone it's it's uh dave bulls podcast i have all my social media channels on there i have every episode of the podcast on there as well uh and

And again, thank you for everyone who always keeps sharing this podcast. And Jameson, I want to say thank you so much for coming on. This has been a blast. Thank you so much for having me, man. Really excited to keep listening to your podcast and hopefully be on it again in the future.

I want to thank Dave so much for doing such a great job on this episode. If you want to get links to anything we spoke about in this episode, head over to the show notes at indiefilmmuscle.com forward slash 775. And if you haven't already, please head over to filmmakingpodcast.com, subscribe and leave a good review for the show. It really helps us out a lot, guys. Thank you again so much for listening, guys. As always, keep that hustle going, keep that dream alive. Stay safe out there, and I'll talk to you soon.

Thanks for listening to the Indie Film Hustle podcast at IndieFilmHustle.com. That's I-N-D-I-E-F-I-L-M-H-U-S-T-L-E.com.