November 5, 2023 • 40 mins
On this week's episode: Jamie talks to local filmmaker Julia Tutko-Balena, SAG-AFTRA nears a potential deal with movie studios, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema opens in the Seaport District, Henry Winkler visits Boston area, and the best movies of 2023... so far!
Follow Julia Tutko-Balena: https://www.friendlyfilmmaker.com/
Washington Post "Best Movies of 2023... So Far... https://wapo.st/3SrbBKg
Watch full episodes at www.hubonhollywood.com
Listen on the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Follow Julia Tutko-Balena: https://www.friendlyfilmmaker.com/
Washington Post "Best Movies of 2023... So Far... https://wapo.st/3SrbBKg
Watch full episodes at www.hubonhollywood.com
Listen on the iHeartRadio app, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
On this week's episode, a newmovie theater is coming to Boston, But
don't you dare make a sound orrest getting thrown out an interview with local
filmmaker Juliette Tutto Balina. We alsotake a look at the best movies of
twenty twenty three so far, anda The Fonds is in town. I'm
James and this is the hob onHollywood. All right, we have a
(00:28):
jam packed episode this week. Butbefore we get to a great interview that
Jamie had with a local filmmaker workingon a variety of projects, including a
creature feature, let's take a lookat the latest developments in the sag After
strike negotiations. There is a verypotential possibility that a deal may be reached.
(00:50):
According to the sag After representative andPresident fran Dresher, they said that
they received an offer on Saturday duringa long, our, long zoom meeting
with the AMPTP. They said theyreceived an offer that was characterized as their
last, best and final offer.They are reviewing it and considering their response
(01:11):
within the context of the critical issuesaddressed in the proposal. So as of
this recording, maybe Monday, maybeTuesday, a deal has been reached.
There has been a lot of talkssaying that if a deal isn't reached by
the end of this week, thenthere are shows that may potentially not only
be delayed, but canceled entirely.So it seems like we are running up
(01:36):
close to the final countdown when itcomes to trying to strike a deal,
and so we're gonna have to waitand see again. As of this recording,
a deal has not been reached.They talked about it on Saturday,
but hopefully the deal what is describedas the last, best and final offer,
is legit and is good enough forSAGAFTRA to accept for its rest of
(02:00):
its members. But stay with theHub on Hollywood for any of the latest
developments and updates regarding this strike.You can follow us at hub on Hollywood,
on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter,Facebook threads, Jay Blanco Newsy,
and myself at James Rojas MMJ.Comment down below, what are your thoughts
(02:21):
about the ongoing strike. It hasbeen going off for I think over five
months now, and so we arevery close to a deal. A lot
of people are looking forward to this, so let us know. If you
are an actor, a local actor, how has this strike impacted you and
what are you hoping to see andget at the end of this deal?
Now moving on to more local news. Unlike the productions that have come to
(02:45):
a standstill, plans are moving forwardwith the opening of a new movie theater
in Boston Seapoor District. And thisis the I want to call it the
famous some call it the infamous AlamoDraft House Cinema opening its first theory on
November seventeenth. Now you may rememberor know heard of Alamo draft House.
(03:06):
They are very well known for notbeing shy about their hatred, their anger
directed towards movie talkers, gossipers,and people who just can't get off their
phone while watching a movie. They'revery quick to kick people out if they
are causing a ruckus. And ifyou know me, if you have watched
(03:29):
the show for a while, youknow that I am a big proponents for
I don't know, I don't wantto say punishing, but making sure that
people, you know, respect othersin the movie theater. I'm not a
stickler like you know. If we'regoing to like a Marvel opening night opening
weekend, of course you're going inand going in expecting cheers, applause and
(03:50):
a raucous kind of time. Ifyou're going to go see Taylor Swift's Eras
tour, you're expecting people to beup dancing, you know, you know,
singing along for something like that.However, there are things that are
you know, normal movies, whichthat don't deserve or need that kind of
behavior. And again, at thevery minimum, my thing is, you
(04:13):
know, don't talk to during themovie theater, don't be on your phone,
don't distract people, don't ruin itfor other people the experience. You
know, people pay a lot ofmoney to buy that ticket, to get
there on time, to buy snacksand concessions. I'm going on a long
tangent. Basically, I'm saying AlamoDraft House they don't play that game.
They don't mess around, and sothey are very quick and they have these
promos which are hilarious, and they'veincluded actors including Nicholas Cage saying, hey,
(04:40):
don't talk during the movie theater.If you do, we're going to
kick you out. Put that phoneaway. You're here to enjoy the theatric
experience. Anyway, Alamo Draft House, they are coming to Boston. The
CEO of Alamo Michael Custerman says,the theater has been in the works for
a long time, and to seeit become this really unique space for Boston
(05:00):
film fans to celebrate cinema together,we just couldn't be more excited. Boston
has an awesome movie history. It'san amazing city, and we are honored
to add something to that legacy thatwe think our guests are really going to
enjoy. They are having a softopening from the seventeenth of November to the
twenty second, so those who buytickets will be getting a twenty percent discount
(05:24):
on select menu items and scratching wincards for a chance to win prizes.
And they have what do they have? They have ten theaters, ten screens,
seven hundred and eighty seats, andthey are featuring, like I said,
an array of films, events,scratch tickets, food and beverage menus,
(05:46):
and luxury recliner seating throughout the throughoutevery auditorium. I'm very excited about
this. So again, this isn'tthe Seaport district, so very populated,
very busy, and expect the movietheater to be packed. However, I
just love the Alamo draft House wayof life. Their their business model of
you know, really respecting the moviemaker and the actors and and everyone that
(06:10):
put their hard work into making themovie and not let somebody who you know,
wants to have their own party,have their own discussion, have their
own you know, just disrespect onfull display. Okay, I'm not I'm
done. I'm done. I'm notgoing to go more into it before before
I really start sweating. Let's seenext topic. Henry Winkler. Of course,
(06:32):
you know him from Happy Days,you know him from Barry, you
know him from Arrested Deve Elements,the award winning actor, author, comedian,
producer and director. He was inCambridge this past weekend. This past
week he was at the Harvard Bookstorefor his new memoir, you know,
promoting it, doing a reading aswell as you know, autographs and whatnot.
(06:55):
But the book called Being Henry.It's described as being profound or with
profound heart, charm and self deprecatinghumor. It's a memoir about his life
in Hollywood and the curse of stardom, as well as you know, talking
about the testament of the power oftruth, kindness, and finding fulfillment within
(07:15):
yourself. It was since you mayknow. I am a reporter with WBZ
News Radio. I worked the morningshift Monday through Friday, so that means
I go to bed very early.So it's always unfortunate when you have things
like this where not even just togo cover it, but just to be
there as a fan. It's hardto go during some of these evening events,
but this one would would have beenreally cool to go see. But
(07:39):
Henry Winkler the funds stopping by Cambridgein the Boston area to promote being Henry,
which sounds like sounds like a HarrisonFord movie, or like the Harrison
Ford movie regarding Henry, which isa good movie also, which you should
watch if you are into that.Now, without further ado, let's get
(07:59):
into this interview that Jamie has donewith a local filmmaker, Julia Tutco Balina.
A great interview, a lot offun, and I feel like there
was a friendship forming during this interviewbetween Julia and Jamie, So maybe we'll
see more of Julia in the future. But without further ado, here is
Jamie's interview and thank you for beinghere on the Hub on Hollywood. We
(08:22):
are here with filmmaker Julia Tutco Balina. You are working on a number of
feature films right now. You've runa networking group called Friendly Filmmaker Group,
and you are local here to NewEngland. Thank you, Julia so much
for being with us on the Hubon Hollywood. Thank you so much for
having me, sir, We're excitedto have you. So you are friends
(08:50):
of a friend of our show,Connor Morley, who were talking to before.
So you helped participate in the fortyeight hour film project. Why don't
you tell us a little bit aboutyourself and how you got into film.
Oh gosh, oh. I thinkI was bitten by the acting bug first
when I was like nine. Iwas bitten by the writing bug when I
(09:11):
was about twelve, I started writingshort stories. I was bitten by the
film bug when I was eighteen orso in college, probably even before then.
I was like, Mom, Dad, can I study film in college?
And they're like, no, wewant you to eat for a little
so you're gonna go into math orcomputers or something of food on the table.
I was like, can I doit on the side. They're like
(09:31):
sure, yeah, And so Iweaseled my way onto a few film sets.
When I was about that age eighteen, nineteen years old on my first
film set and I've been I've beenjust side hustling it ever since. And
then about five six years ago,at the same time, like two months
three months after my son was born, I also gave birth to my company's
(09:54):
and just say, yeah, beendoing it by myself ever since. That's
a lot of birth thing for oneyear. That was a lot. Yeah,
I have two kids, and soyou know I'm the day all right.
So where in New England? Areyou from? Boston? Born and
(10:15):
bred? Born and bred in Boston. How do you feel about the film
industry here in New England because itjust seems like every year there are more
and more opportunities and do you geta sensor that as well? I absolutely
get that sense. I feel likethe community was pretty small when I first
started, but maybe I don't knowif it was just my own experience,
(10:39):
like trying to reach out and findpeople back in the days of Craigslist.
I actually met one of my longtimefriends on Craigslist before it got all sketchy
and mercury on there, and we'vebeen friends for like twenty something years now,
and she was up in Maine.She came all the way down to
meet me at Copley Library to workon her script, her feature script.
And that's one of our first projectstogether. And I mean, and ever
(11:03):
since then, the networks grow.You know, I met a friend who
wants to do something. They meta friend who wants to do something else.
I go on their sets, theyhelp on my sets. It's just
it's growing. It feels like mynetwork is growing, and so maybe the
community is growing. But I thinkit's both at the same time, like
my worldview is expanding, almost atthe same time that the city's film community
(11:26):
is growing and becoming more vibrant.Also, social media has a lot to
do with it too, I feelbecause this when I first started again,
it was like Craigslist, Facebook wascoming out, you know, like MySpace
was still a thing. You gotyour top eight up. You remember my
space anymore? But that's why Imet my husband, Actually I met him
(11:48):
on my Space. Hilarious and lovely. That's a heck of a story.
Oh my god, it's hilarious.I want more. I'll tell you more.
I love it. I'm I'm incoffee after this. But yeah,
so social media is gaining ground,and so I feel like people are putting
more of their work out there,and there's a bigger presence online. But
(12:11):
I feel like people were still makingprojects on the side in their mom's backyards
before social media. I don't thinkthat's a novel concept. I just think
we're becoming more aware of it becauseof social media. But that's that's my
feeling. I think it's both handin hand. Yeah, Well, we
love featuring local filmmakers, actors,you know, all of the above,
(12:33):
everyone who loves and involved in makingmovies here in this region. Tell us
a little bit about your companies andwhere do you occupy the space of you
know, Hollywood East. Oh goodness. I decided to make my own mark
on things, especially since, likeI said, I went into this commitment
(12:54):
when my child was born, myfirst one, and I wanted to have
room and my life for both familyand art and it was very important to
me. So i still work parttime and I'm committed to film, but
I'm also very much committed to beinga family person and not giving that side
up as much as possible. Soyes, I'll go away for a film
(13:15):
shoot here and there, but otherthan that, like my kids come home
from school and you know, Mama'shere. My little one is with me,
and you know, and I getto play with her before she goes
off to school when she's five,you know. So I have that joy
of being a mom mixed in withthe fact that I love to create things.
So I write at home. Ican do production work at home.
(13:37):
I can do social media at home. I can do a lot of things
from home aside from being on afilm set networking. So Friendly Filmmaker is
the group that I started, andit's grown into a newsletter now there are
several hundred people subscribe to my weeklynewsletter about film stuff, and yes,
I do stuff about what I'm upto. Friendly Filmmaker produce. I try
(14:00):
to do four short films a year. I'm starting to do feature films now.
This is the first year where I'mdoing a feature film. And guess
what I'm doing three one of themposter behind me, The Wolf Boy,
The Party that Just Happened. Weare doing a creature feature in the style
of Bela Lagosi and The Mystery Theaterthree thousand and pay homage to the in
(14:26):
camera of visual effects side of things. If you've seen were Wolf by Night,
then you know what I'm talking aboutwe're going to make one of those,
and that's going to be a verybig undertaking in twenty twenty four.
That's my primary focus. And asidefrom that, I'm working on a narrative
feature and a documentary and those aregoing to be amazing projects too. But
(14:48):
The Wolf Boy is going to bethe biggest ambus, most ambitious thing ever
because we're going all nuts on it, hold on as they were, and
and we're not going to hold backon the If we have to big borrow
and steal food and locations and thingslike that, that's one thing. But
(15:09):
one thing that we're not skimping onis the makeup, and so that's why
our budget is so high. Wehave a scene spark going, so anybody
who wants to help us out andsee a creature feature come to Fruition,
then hit us up there. Uhit's it's going to be absolutely insane.
Like even just for the Halloween party, we got a makeup artists to help
out and dress up our main characteras the wolf BOYE. If you can
(15:31):
take pictures with everybody, and itwas crazy, like you are standing there
next to the wolf point and youcan't see that. It's like the visual
effects. Just hold up face toface two feet away. It's crazy,
absolutely nice. That is so exciting. Yeah, so are these all your
brain child? Tell me a littlebit about where I try to collaborate.
(15:54):
I do a lot of my ownthings, but I also sometimes when I
link up with people and they tellme the stories that they want to do,
I just get get I get afire in my heart and I'm like,
yes, of course I'll help you. And so wolf Web is one
of those situations. I didn't writethe script and I'm helping executive produce it
and I'm going to be the directorof photography. I've got some crazy great
(16:17):
ideas for some of the shots.But that's where I put my creative stamp.
In terms of the script, it'sone of the few projects that I
didn't write, and in terms ofacting, it's one of the few projects
I'm not gonna be in front ofthe camera. I'll be holding it this
time for my documentary that's entirely me. That's going to be a full on
me project, a very low budgetbecause it's just going to be me filming.
(16:38):
Actually, I'll come back on theshow and i'll tease that one later.
But and there the third one,and I appreciate I know a little
bit you soon. And the thirdone is also in development and not ready
to be announced just yet. Butthat's also not when I wrote. But
the script is absolutely fantastic. It'sall already won awards. So I'm excited
(17:02):
to be working on that project aswell, and I'll be adp on that
as well. So how do Ilove to do a little bit of everything?
I am sheet of many hats,I joke to everybody I know,
And that's exactly what you need tobe, you know, in this industry
and working your way up and justdoing what comes from your heart, right
And that's what's excited. That's what'sso exciting about filmmaking too, is you
(17:25):
can do a little bit of everythingand and touch something creative in that many
ways. So tell me a littlebit about the people that you get to
work with and the talent that youfound that is that is here in our
region. My goodness, that's avery good question. I have been lucky
(17:47):
enough to be on set with alot of good people that turned into friends,
and some people I've seen on multiplesets that have turned into long term
contacts. And say, if youneed a gaffer, I know a person
if you if you need a soundrecordist, I know several people like I
have names that I could name dropfrom really talented, friendly and this is
(18:07):
why I call the Friendly Filmmaker.It took me four months to come up
with a name for the brand,but then when I hit it, I
was like, of course, it'sso perfect because the only successful sets,
in my opinion, I've been onsets that have had projects that tank,
that happens and for whatever reason,but the toxicity, I'm not here for
it. I don't know, no, thank you, But I feel like
(18:30):
in this community there are so manypositive vibes and people that really want to
do art and really feel passionately andcreatively fulfilled by contributing joyfully to a project
and joyfully to a set environment.And those are the people I hang out
with. Those are the people thatcome back to Those are the people I
help for free, And those arethe people that help me for free sometimes
(18:51):
on sets. And it's just thatfostering that kind of art for art's sake.
It's so Indie. It's so veryIndie, because like, yes,
we have bills to pay, andyes, please do hire me for things
if you think of me. Butat the same time, there are some
days when you're just chomping at thebit because your heart wants to create something,
and so you'll negotiate a sweat equitydeal of like you help me and
(19:14):
I'll help you in some sort ofsituation like yes we're both broke, and
yes we're you know, struggling tomake a project come alive on an indie
budget versus you know, a twentyfour everybody of all that. But you
just sometimes there's a story that youwant to tell and get out there,
and you will make you will hustleto make it happy. You will,
you will problem solve in whatever wayyou can to make it come alive.
(19:38):
And I love that vibe. It'sso very present here. You name it.
Actors, directors, photographers, artistslike literal like artists, people who
want to do storyboards for a living, production designers, musicians, yeah,
composers, geez, name it,and they're they're with us. You know,
(20:02):
they're on the friendly filmmaker list.Like I don't gatekeep. I'm not
like, oh I just do actingor oh I just do writing. I
am she of many hats and Ispeak to the people that are she of
many hats or they have many hats, and and I write for whoever wants
to hear about all aspects of film, and that's what my newsletter is about.
(20:22):
And that's where where I hit sendand it goes out to all those
email addresses for people who do sometimesjust one job that they love passionately,
very well to the core. Andsometimes folks like me who are like people
who do a lot of a lotof a little bit of everything. And
sometimes friends who are interested, likethey'll come on set and be a PA,
but they don't really want to pursuea career, like they have a
(20:45):
jobby job that they're happy with.They just like to do it sometimes for
fun. Those are on my emaillist as well, and like within the
community, and I see them onmy sets and I love it. I
just love it. It's just soit's just so me, and it's also
so like just where I want tobe. It's it's the positivity of creating
art that I love about this community. I just love it. Well,
(21:07):
your passion comes through, it's reallyreally does. Where can where can people
find your newsletter? How do theysign up? How do they connect?
If you go to friendly filmmaker dotcom. There's a big fat subscribe button,
and I refuse, for the record, from here on forever now,
I refuse to put any sort oftracking on it because Google is like,
hey, hey, I see you'vegot a website. You want to put
(21:29):
a little cute you a link onthat sacred We'll put some ads on there,
We'll give you some money, Likenope, nope, nope, nope.
So you don't have any fear oflike me selling information or any sort
of sketchy things that sometimes indie peoplelike do, and and like you just
don't, don't worry. You unsubscribe, you'll never hear from me again.
Yeah, but friendly, friendly isthe theme. Friendly is the friendly is
(21:52):
so very the theme. I keepit on my website too, like,
yeah, you're here. I'm theonly one that sees your email on the
only one that sends an email likethat's me. I'm a one stop shop.
So yeah, and I you know, and I love that because I'm
also you know, with with withthe two kids, and I want to
be there for them, but Ialso want to do my art right.
I'm more on the acting side anda little bit of of the writing side.
(22:18):
But it's it's so wonderful to beable to have that balance and still
create and connect with people. Sowhat is the ultimate dream? What?
What are what do you hope tosee in the next years or somehow?
My long term hope is that Iset up a nice environment and the company
(22:44):
that can earn enough from the creationsthat we make such that we can pay
artists and musicians and people live withinthe community a living wage. That's my
long term goal. I also wantedto put out some courses for free,
because I actually, as somebody whogrew up in the poorer parts of Boston,
(23:07):
I'm very keenly aware that courses costmoney, and they also buy dint
of that gatekeep, people who wantto learn something are literally prevented from doing
it because the expenses of the courseare like sometimes boiled down to do I
eat or do I learn? DoI pay rent? Or do I get
a chance to learn, to advance, to improve myself and to prepare myself
(23:27):
for a future job that I actuallywant to do, and their gate kept
from that by the fact that coursescost money, And so I want to
put a punch in that face offeringfree courses like literally just do the same
thing that other people have, Likeyou can buy other people's courses feel free.
But at one point, one ofmy dreams for twenty twenty four is
(23:48):
to put together a series of coursesof filmmaking where people can literally just download
the video and learn and learn something. And I try to do little snippets
of that on my YouTube channel rightnow. Now it's still growing because it's
just me a one stop shop,so I'm still developing that end of it.
But that's my twenty twenty four goalis to put up a free course
(24:10):
and then longer term goal, likeI said, I want to establish a
friendly for maker company that works bycreating projects, selling our movies, and
earning enough from those sales to beable to pay that people pay a staff
a living wage. So that's mylong term goal. How did you teach
yourself? So where did you learn? Along the way? There are the
(24:34):
filmmaking thought right there. Sometimes theybutt heads against each other, Oh do
you need film school or don't youneed film school? I was not trained
in film school, so I learnedon sets. Ever since I was eighteen
nineteen, I was at least onone set a year, probably closer to
two and as of late because ofmy because I was able to start my
(24:57):
own thing. It's for sets ayear at a minimum. I do the
forty eight every year. That teachesme a new several set of skills.
It's a different kind of filmmaking,competitive filmmaking, rushed filmmaking. And then
I try to make my own projectsjust for a year, and they may
be small, and they may bevery low budget, but they keep me
(25:18):
learning. Every single set teaches mesomething. Oh that's what that camera trick
does. Oh, that's how agamble works. Oh that's what those lenses
do. I know a lot morenow than I did twenty five years ago
when I first started. Yeah,I mean it's just learned bit by bit
through experience, exactly. And it'sgot to be rough right now, you
(25:40):
know, for the people who arein the industry and for those who who
want to learn, who have been, you know, counting on those sorts
of experiences. With the strikes thatare happening right now. I know the
writers have their deal, but theactors are still not quite there yet.
I was wondering if you had atake on all of that's that's happened right
now, because that's where I learn, and that's where I get my gigs
(26:03):
to be on set. Anybody,anybody who's seen any videos of mine on
the YouTube, knows that I geta little salty about this because, oh
yes, let's have a little bitof thought drama, spill the tea.
I just because I'm such a sharingmom kind of person, like I always
was that way. I I justdon't understand the mentality of people who earn
(26:29):
crazy, crazy millions of dollars fromfrom the films that they put out,
from the TV shows that they putout, and don't pay the people that
helped make it happen. I don'tunderstand why they're being so stingy, miserly,
penny pinching, selfish. Two yachtsis not enough mentality of just not
sharing. I'm looking at you,heads of you know, looking at you,
(26:52):
heads of you know, everybody.I'm look at you. If you've
got you know, three yachts andfifteen vacations lined up like and you are
not, and you're you're the lowestpeople in your company, are barely making
minimum wage. There's something very wrongand just immoral at this point. And
so I don't understand the residuals systemwas set up a million and a half
(27:18):
years ago. You know, inthe sixties, people were able to live
off of it until the eighties.You know, you did one TV show
once it was put on reruns,and you were able to live off of
it because yes, people were stillwatching your show. Yes, people were
still laughing at the lines you wroteor the ways you delivered them. And
those actors and writers got their residualsjustly so because they're still entertaining people with
something they made twenty years ago.Good, let's go. But now with
(27:44):
streaming, the advent of new technologycomes the advent of new opportunist opportunistic selfishness
is that, oh, well,we don't have it in our contract that
we have to pay them, sowe won't. And I don't like that
mentality. It's so dirty and selfish. So I us pay the writers.
Man, thank you for settling onthe writers at last, you finally see
(28:06):
their value. Like, but nowcome on now, if pay the actors,
please just down and do good againfor the actors. I'm so I
just that's not what friendly filmmaker isall about. Like I was just telling
you that my long term vision,like I have a breakdown CEO plan,
like where everybody's like, there's noCEO gets seventeen digits versus somebody who's emptying
(28:30):
the trash bins gets you know,minimum wage. And so minimum wage is
not even minimum wage at this point, like it needs to be nuffed anyway,
right, it's below poverty level,it is. You can't pay rent
on minimum wage, you can't youcan't buy groceries. Minimum wage is.
It's tragic, it's terrible, andso I just me to no end,
(28:51):
and it really frankly disgusts me becauseit's just so deeply unfair that you create
something with a team of people andyou keep everything almost everything that you you
you you throw a few coins theirway and you're like that should be enough
for you. Oh I'm so sorry, Like excuse me. I just don't
get it. Somebody didn't raise them, right, That's what I'm thinking,
(29:15):
is like this unethical self fishness isjust no thank you, not how I'm
going to raise my kids a lot. There you go exactly exactly, except
that mic is extensive. Don't dropit. Great soundbites there, It's true.
(29:38):
So we're hoping, you know,negotiations are still ongoing this week,
so very much hoping that by thetime, uh, very soon, that
we have a doable, liveable dealagreed. And for the writers is encouraging
because even if they rousingly admit that, hey, you're not gonna have new
show without writers, guess what evenand if they have to be pulled by
(30:00):
the wallet instead of by the heartstrings, at least they're you know,
they're coming to the table. SoI'm optimistic that the string will end soon
for the actors. That was thefirst first dinner bell was that the writers
got their due, and hopefully I'moptimistic that it will end soon and fairly
so for the actors. But staystrong, man, because I mean again,
if they don't have talented faces toput in in the scenes, then
(30:25):
you're not going to have any entertainment. That's just what it boils down to,
exactly. There's no content without creators. The creators make it. It
just doesn't make any sense. So, Juliet, before we let you go,
is there anything else that people needto know about you? Oh?
Wait, actually I had a morespecific question. Tell me about a favorite
(30:47):
project that you have made so far, and then we'll wrap up with all
of your socials where people can findyou favorite project. That's like picking a
favorite child. But oh man,I've learned so much with all the things
that I've done. I mean,my short film Guidance has won multiple multiple
(31:08):
awards because it was written from aplace of love. Another short film that
I did, Fortune Teller, peoplehave been asking me to turn it into
a feature because it's the kind ofcreepy thriller that mind games that I love
to write, and subverting expectations islike one of my favorite things. But
I mean, recently I did DIBson Mars, which was the first musical
(31:32):
I've ever done for a forty eighthour because we pulled that out of the
lottery and we were ready for it. The music is great, and the
fun that we had making that feverdream of a movie is unparalleled. Like
everybody who had an idea was like, yes should I should I kiss the
clown shoes? Yes? Please dobasketball? Yes? Please do? I
(31:52):
should dump this on my head insteadof drinking it? Yes? Please do
this chess board is a drink?Now great, Yes, let's make it
happen. It was feverishly artistically hilariouslyfun. It was great. Yeah,
and now I'm working on more projectsthat light a fire in my spirit,
so it's hard to answer just one. And it's not about diplomacy. It's
(32:15):
just about my own intrinsic artistic selfishnesslike I can't pick yeah, and pursuing
that joy. So, Julia,where can people find you on the social
media as your websites? Just plugit all. I'm everywhere on social media,
but the best place is All roadslead to Rome. Go to friendly
Filmmaker dot com. You will getlinks to my newsletter there and you will
(32:37):
find my YouTube channel from there.So dub dub dub Friendlyfilmmaker dot com and
all roads lead there. So goright ahead. Best of luck in all
of your projects. We hope tohave you back on soon. Thank you,
Julia, Thank you so so muchfor having me. This was a
joy. Vie. I'm glad allright, fantastic interview, Jamie. Be
(32:58):
sure to keep track of and hercareer. Her projects in the future.
Will list, you know, anysocial media stuff down below. But yeah,
Julia, thanks so much for joiningus on the Hub on Hollywood.
Now, wrapping up this episode,let's take a quick look at the best
movies of twenty twenty three. Sofar. This is a list compiled by
the Washington Post staff, and Iwas very happy to see the first movie
(33:23):
that they post, or at leastthe picture that they posted for being among
the best movies of the year sofar is a movie that I talked about
reviewed last week on last week's episode. That is The Holdover, starring Paul
Giammaudi dominic Cessa and a great castof supporting actors. In this movie,
the movie that takes place in nineteenseventies New England. They filmed everywhere in
(33:47):
Massachusetts, seemingly. They filmed inBoston, they filmed in Worcester, they
filmed in gill they filmed on locationin actual spots where you can go and
visit. And one of the coolthings that I enjoyed watching it now once
but twice. The first time Iwatched it with a small group of other
movie critics uh press uh, maybefive or six of us in the movie
(34:08):
theater when we watched it, Andthere are a couple of people who every
time an iconic piece or part ofBoston popped up, you had, oh,
you know, a good uh admirationand plods and and and whatnot.
But in the screening in Somerville atthe Summerville Theater, where they also did
filming inside uh inside for The Holdovers. UH. The the theater was filled
(34:32):
with cast, or rather with withcrew, background actors non union. I
guess it was filled with people whoworked on the film, and so when
you had people in places start poppingup on screen, UH, people just
broke out and applause. Director AlexanderPayne was also in attendance, uh for
(34:52):
for that screening, also for aQ and A afterwards. If you go
to WBZ and NewsRadio dot com,you could hear the story that I put
together after the fact. But longstory short, I love that The Holdovers
is the first movie here listed onWashington Post's Best Movies of twenty twenty three.
So far they have sixty seven Ithink sixty seven movies listed here.
(35:15):
Not all of them I've seen,so I'm gonna skip through most of them.
But on the list as well includesTaylor Swift, the Era's tour,
breaking boundaries and records all around thatis still in theaters. I believe I'm
still very popular. I think it'sopening up a door for other musicians to
(35:36):
bypass the movie studios and go straightdirectly to movie theaters, in this case
AMC theaters, where they had thisexclusive screening at the AMC theaters across the
nation, And so you just sawthousands and thousands of people young and old
going out to see Tara Tara Taylorin her era's tour Say that five times.
(35:58):
Also unsurpris on the list. Barbie, Barbie, of course on the
list. We also have Mission ImpossibleFallout Part one making the twenty twenty three
list. Let's see what else dowe have here? We have again a
lot of movies that I haven't seen, including Air starring Ben Affleck Matt Damon.
(36:19):
That's still on my to do list. So many movies to watch and
get to, but it's so hard, especially with a newborn baby. Also
on the list, are you there, God, it's me Margaret, baby
Ruth. As I mentioned, Barbieis on there. Let's see what else
do we have here? Do Creedthree? This one actually surprised me because
I feel like Creed three came outso long ago, but apparently it came
(36:43):
out this year, starring Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors. That's there.
We have Emily Eternal Memory, TheFive Devils these. I haven't seen
Flora and Son. I actually gotscreening for that. I was not able
to make it, but I've heardreally good things about this. This is
(37:04):
about an adorable Irish fairy tale followingthe relationship drama between a single mother in
Dublin and her unmanageable teenage son anda serious and a serious, super cute
guitar teacher. Heard good things aboutthat one if you're into music. Also
on the list is Guy Ritchie's TheCovenant, starring of course it's Jake Gillenhall,
(37:25):
but also Christian Ochoa. We interviewedhim. He's a local New England
guy. We had him on arecent interview on The Hub on Hollywood.
So if you have not checked outthat episode, check it out. And
after you check that out, checkout The Covenants, which also getting a
lot of really good reviews. Areally good Guy Ritchie film. I believe
(37:47):
it's on Where is This Apple TVPlus and Prime Video, so check that
out. Let's see John Wick chapterfour. I have mixed feelings about John
Wick. Loved John Wick the originalfirst one, the second one was good,
and then I started I started thinkingI didn't catch the third one,
(38:07):
and I didn't catch the fourth one. I don't know why when they start
pumping these out. I know KeanuReeves is great and he's a you know,
icon, legend, god, whateveryou want to say. I love
him too, but I just haven'tbeen driven to the movie theater to see
them though I did really enjoy oneand two. Also coming out recently,
Killers of the Flower Moon starring LeonardoDiCaprio, And of course this is the
(38:31):
Martin SCORSESI thriller based on David Grant'snonfiction book based on the murders of the
Osage Osage Indians in nineteen twenties Oklahoma, three and a half, about three
and a half hours long, Sothat is a dedication to go into.
And let's see The Little Mermaid alsomade the list. Let's see The Lost
(38:54):
King Mission a possible Dead Reckoning partone. Actually, let's see if the
because I also really enjoyed The Creatorthis year. Is it on here?
I see Sharper again. A lotof these movies I have not had this
time to see. Spider Man Acrossthe Spider Verse, very very great movie,
(39:15):
really good stuff. Teenage Mutant,Ninja Turtles, Mutant Mayhem made the
list. Very cool very cool.I love the animation in that film and
oh my god, I guess it'snot here the creator. The creator did
not make the list. I woulddefinitely add that to my list of the
best movies of twenty twenty three sofar. Let us know. I'll put
(39:38):
a link to the Washington Post downhere, and it'll be a shareable link,
so if if you are not subscribedto it, you will still be
able to read it. But letme know what are your thoughts on the
list and your list of best moviesof twenty twenty three so far. Well,
I think that'll wrap things up.Jamie will be back for next week's
(39:58):
episode of The Hub on Hollywood.But again, great interview, great stuff.
Please comment down below, Please likeand follow and share this video,
you know, share us with yourfriends. The more word we get out
there, the more feedback, youknow, helps the helps the podcast grow,
helps us grow. And we loveto hear your thoughts, your own
reviews, and we love to sharethem and give shout outs when we can,
(40:21):
so be sure to follow us atHelp on Hollywood, Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram, TikTok, threads, Jamiej Blanco Newsy and myself at James
Rojas m m J. But yeahfor the help on Hollywood. I'm James
and we'll see you next week.
On this week's episode, a newmovie theater is coming to Boston, But
don't you dare make a sound orrest getting thrown out an interview with local
filmmaker Juliette Tutto Balina. We alsotake a look at the best movies of
twenty twenty three so far, anda The Fonds is in town. I'm
James and this is the hob onHollywood. All right, we have a
(00:28):
jam packed episode this week. Butbefore we get to a great interview that
Jamie had with a local filmmaker workingon a variety of projects, including a
creature feature, let's take a lookat the latest developments in the sag After
strike negotiations. There is a verypotential possibility that a deal may be reached.
(00:50):
According to the sag After representative andPresident fran Dresher, they said that
they received an offer on Saturday duringa long, our, long zoom meeting
with the AMPTP. They said theyreceived an offer that was characterized as their
last, best and final offer.They are reviewing it and considering their response
(01:11):
within the context of the critical issuesaddressed in the proposal. So as of
this recording, maybe Monday, maybeTuesday, a deal has been reached.
There has been a lot of talkssaying that if a deal isn't reached by
the end of this week, thenthere are shows that may potentially not only
be delayed, but canceled entirely.So it seems like we are running up
(01:36):
close to the final countdown when itcomes to trying to strike a deal,
and so we're gonna have to waitand see again. As of this recording,
a deal has not been reached.They talked about it on Saturday,
but hopefully the deal what is describedas the last, best and final offer,
is legit and is good enough forSAGAFTRA to accept for its rest of
(02:00):
its members. But stay with theHub on Hollywood for any of the latest
developments and updates regarding this strike.You can follow us at hub on Hollywood,
on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter,Facebook threads, Jay Blanco Newsy,
and myself at James Rojas MMJ.Comment down below, what are your thoughts
(02:21):
about the ongoing strike. It hasbeen going off for I think over five
months now, and so we arevery close to a deal. A lot
of people are looking forward to this, so let us know. If you
are an actor, a local actor, how has this strike impacted you and
what are you hoping to see andget at the end of this deal?
Now moving on to more local news. Unlike the productions that have come to
(02:45):
a standstill, plans are moving forwardwith the opening of a new movie theater
in Boston Seapoor District. And thisis the I want to call it the
famous some call it the infamous AlamoDraft House Cinema opening its first theory on
November seventeenth. Now you may rememberor know heard of Alamo draft House.
(03:06):
They are very well known for notbeing shy about their hatred, their anger
directed towards movie talkers, gossipers,and people who just can't get off their
phone while watching a movie. They'revery quick to kick people out if they
are causing a ruckus. And ifyou know me, if you have watched
(03:29):
the show for a while, youknow that I am a big proponents for
I don't know, I don't wantto say punishing, but making sure that
people, you know, respect othersin the movie theater. I'm not a
stickler like you know. If we'regoing to like a Marvel opening night opening
weekend, of course you're going inand going in expecting cheers, applause and
(03:50):
a raucous kind of time. Ifyou're going to go see Taylor Swift's Eras
tour, you're expecting people to beup dancing, you know, you know,
singing along for something like that.However, there are things that are
you know, normal movies, whichthat don't deserve or need that kind of
behavior. And again, at thevery minimum, my thing is, you
(04:13):
know, don't talk to during themovie theater, don't be on your phone,
don't distract people, don't ruin itfor other people the experience. You
know, people pay a lot ofmoney to buy that ticket, to get
there on time, to buy snacksand concessions. I'm going on a long
tangent. Basically, I'm saying AlamoDraft House they don't play that game.
They don't mess around, and sothey are very quick and they have these
promos which are hilarious, and they'veincluded actors including Nicholas Cage saying, hey,
(04:40):
don't talk during the movie theater.If you do, we're going to
kick you out. Put that phoneaway. You're here to enjoy the theatric
experience. Anyway, Alamo Draft House, they are coming to Boston. The
CEO of Alamo Michael Custerman says,the theater has been in the works for
a long time, and to seeit become this really unique space for Boston
(05:00):
film fans to celebrate cinema together,we just couldn't be more excited. Boston
has an awesome movie history. It'san amazing city, and we are honored
to add something to that legacy thatwe think our guests are really going to
enjoy. They are having a softopening from the seventeenth of November to the
twenty second, so those who buytickets will be getting a twenty percent discount
(05:24):
on select menu items and scratching wincards for a chance to win prizes.
And they have what do they have? They have ten theaters, ten screens,
seven hundred and eighty seats, andthey are featuring, like I said,
an array of films, events,scratch tickets, food and beverage menus,
(05:46):
and luxury recliner seating throughout the throughoutevery auditorium. I'm very excited about
this. So again, this isn'tthe Seaport district, so very populated,
very busy, and expect the movietheater to be packed. However, I
just love the Alamo draft House wayof life. Their their business model of
you know, really respecting the moviemaker and the actors and and everyone that
(06:10):
put their hard work into making themovie and not let somebody who you know,
wants to have their own party,have their own discussion, have their
own you know, just disrespect onfull display. Okay, I'm not I'm
done. I'm done. I'm notgoing to go more into it before before
I really start sweating. Let's seenext topic. Henry Winkler. Of course,
(06:32):
you know him from Happy Days,you know him from Barry, you
know him from Arrested Deve Elements,the award winning actor, author, comedian,
producer and director. He was inCambridge this past weekend. This past
week he was at the Harvard Bookstorefor his new memoir, you know,
promoting it, doing a reading aswell as you know, autographs and whatnot.
(06:55):
But the book called Being Henry.It's described as being profound or with
profound heart, charm and self deprecatinghumor. It's a memoir about his life
in Hollywood and the curse of stardom, as well as you know, talking
about the testament of the power oftruth, kindness, and finding fulfillment within
(07:15):
yourself. It was since you mayknow. I am a reporter with WBZ
News Radio. I worked the morningshift Monday through Friday, so that means
I go to bed very early.So it's always unfortunate when you have things
like this where not even just togo cover it, but just to be
there as a fan. It's hardto go during some of these evening events,
but this one would would have beenreally cool to go see. But
(07:39):
Henry Winkler the funds stopping by Cambridgein the Boston area to promote being Henry,
which sounds like sounds like a HarrisonFord movie, or like the Harrison
Ford movie regarding Henry, which isa good movie also, which you should
watch if you are into that.Now, without further ado, let's get
(07:59):
into this interview that Jamie has donewith a local filmmaker, Julia Tutco Balina.
A great interview, a lot offun, and I feel like there
was a friendship forming during this interviewbetween Julia and Jamie, So maybe we'll
see more of Julia in the future. But without further ado, here is
Jamie's interview and thank you for beinghere on the Hub on Hollywood. We
(08:22):
are here with filmmaker Julia Tutco Balina. You are working on a number of
feature films right now. You've runa networking group called Friendly Filmmaker Group,
and you are local here to NewEngland. Thank you, Julia so much
for being with us on the Hubon Hollywood. Thank you so much for
having me, sir, We're excitedto have you. So you are friends
(08:50):
of a friend of our show,Connor Morley, who were talking to before.
So you helped participate in the fortyeight hour film project. Why don't
you tell us a little bit aboutyourself and how you got into film.
Oh gosh, oh. I thinkI was bitten by the acting bug first
when I was like nine. Iwas bitten by the writing bug when I
(09:11):
was about twelve, I started writingshort stories. I was bitten by the
film bug when I was eighteen orso in college, probably even before then.
I was like, Mom, Dad, can I study film in college?
And they're like, no, wewant you to eat for a little
so you're gonna go into math orcomputers or something of food on the table.
I was like, can I doit on the side. They're like
(09:31):
sure, yeah, And so Iweaseled my way onto a few film sets.
When I was about that age eighteen, nineteen years old on my first
film set and I've been I've beenjust side hustling it ever since. And
then about five six years ago,at the same time, like two months
three months after my son was born, I also gave birth to my company's
(09:54):
and just say, yeah, beendoing it by myself ever since. That's
a lot of birth thing for oneyear. That was a lot. Yeah,
I have two kids, and soyou know I'm the day all right.
So where in New England? Areyou from? Boston? Born and
(10:15):
bred? Born and bred in Boston. How do you feel about the film
industry here in New England because itjust seems like every year there are more
and more opportunities and do you geta sensor that as well? I absolutely
get that sense. I feel likethe community was pretty small when I first
started, but maybe I don't knowif it was just my own experience,
(10:39):
like trying to reach out and findpeople back in the days of Craigslist.
I actually met one of my longtimefriends on Craigslist before it got all sketchy
and mercury on there, and we'vebeen friends for like twenty something years now,
and she was up in Maine.She came all the way down to
meet me at Copley Library to workon her script, her feature script.
And that's one of our first projectstogether. And I mean, and ever
(11:03):
since then, the networks grow.You know, I met a friend who
wants to do something. They meta friend who wants to do something else.
I go on their sets, theyhelp on my sets. It's just
it's growing. It feels like mynetwork is growing, and so maybe the
community is growing. But I thinkit's both at the same time, like
my worldview is expanding, almost atthe same time that the city's film community
(11:26):
is growing and becoming more vibrant.Also, social media has a lot to
do with it too, I feelbecause this when I first started again,
it was like Craigslist, Facebook wascoming out, you know, like MySpace
was still a thing. You gotyour top eight up. You remember my
space anymore? But that's why Imet my husband, Actually I met him
(11:48):
on my Space. Hilarious and lovely. That's a heck of a story.
Oh my god, it's hilarious.I want more. I'll tell you more.
I love it. I'm I'm incoffee after this. But yeah,
so social media is gaining ground,and so I feel like people are putting
more of their work out there,and there's a bigger presence online. But
(12:11):
I feel like people were still makingprojects on the side in their mom's backyards
before social media. I don't thinkthat's a novel concept. I just think
we're becoming more aware of it becauseof social media. But that's that's my
feeling. I think it's both handin hand. Yeah, Well, we
love featuring local filmmakers, actors,you know, all of the above,
(12:33):
everyone who loves and involved in makingmovies here in this region. Tell us
a little bit about your companies andwhere do you occupy the space of you
know, Hollywood East. Oh goodness. I decided to make my own mark
on things, especially since, likeI said, I went into this commitment
(12:54):
when my child was born, myfirst one, and I wanted to have
room and my life for both familyand art and it was very important to
me. So i still work parttime and I'm committed to film, but
I'm also very much committed to beinga family person and not giving that side
up as much as possible. Soyes, I'll go away for a film
(13:15):
shoot here and there, but otherthan that, like my kids come home
from school and you know, Mama'shere. My little one is with me,
and you know, and I getto play with her before she goes
off to school when she's five,you know. So I have that joy
of being a mom mixed in withthe fact that I love to create things.
So I write at home. Ican do production work at home.
(13:37):
I can do social media at home. I can do a lot of things
from home aside from being on afilm set networking. So Friendly Filmmaker is
the group that I started, andit's grown into a newsletter now there are
several hundred people subscribe to my weeklynewsletter about film stuff, and yes,
I do stuff about what I'm upto. Friendly Filmmaker produce. I try
(14:00):
to do four short films a year. I'm starting to do feature films now.
This is the first year where I'mdoing a feature film. And guess
what I'm doing three one of themposter behind me, The Wolf Boy,
The Party that Just Happened. Weare doing a creature feature in the style
of Bela Lagosi and The Mystery Theaterthree thousand and pay homage to the in
(14:26):
camera of visual effects side of things. If you've seen were Wolf by Night,
then you know what I'm talking aboutwe're going to make one of those,
and that's going to be a verybig undertaking in twenty twenty four.
That's my primary focus. And asidefrom that, I'm working on a narrative
feature and a documentary and those aregoing to be amazing projects too. But
(14:48):
The Wolf Boy is going to bethe biggest ambus, most ambitious thing ever
because we're going all nuts on it, hold on as they were, and
and we're not going to hold backon the If we have to big borrow
and steal food and locations and thingslike that, that's one thing. But
(15:09):
one thing that we're not skimping onis the makeup, and so that's why
our budget is so high. Wehave a scene spark going, so anybody
who wants to help us out andsee a creature feature come to Fruition,
then hit us up there. Uhit's it's going to be absolutely insane.
Like even just for the Halloween party, we got a makeup artists to help
out and dress up our main characteras the wolf BOYE. If you can
(15:31):
take pictures with everybody, and itwas crazy, like you are standing there
next to the wolf point and youcan't see that. It's like the visual
effects. Just hold up face toface two feet away. It's crazy,
absolutely nice. That is so exciting. Yeah, so are these all your
brain child? Tell me a littlebit about where I try to collaborate.
(15:54):
I do a lot of my ownthings, but I also sometimes when I
link up with people and they tellme the stories that they want to do,
I just get get I get afire in my heart and I'm like,
yes, of course I'll help you. And so wolf Web is one
of those situations. I didn't writethe script and I'm helping executive produce it
and I'm going to be the directorof photography. I've got some crazy great
(16:17):
ideas for some of the shots.But that's where I put my creative stamp.
In terms of the script, it'sone of the few projects that I
didn't write, and in terms ofacting, it's one of the few projects
I'm not gonna be in front ofthe camera. I'll be holding it this
time for my documentary that's entirely me. That's going to be a full on
me project, a very low budgetbecause it's just going to be me filming.
(16:38):
Actually, I'll come back on theshow and i'll tease that one later.
But and there the third one,and I appreciate I know a little
bit you soon. And the thirdone is also in development and not ready
to be announced just yet. Butthat's also not when I wrote. But
the script is absolutely fantastic. It'sall already won awards. So I'm excited
(17:02):
to be working on that project aswell, and I'll be adp on that
as well. So how do Ilove to do a little bit of everything?
I am sheet of many hats,I joke to everybody I know,
And that's exactly what you need tobe, you know, in this industry
and working your way up and justdoing what comes from your heart, right
And that's what's excited. That's what'sso exciting about filmmaking too, is you
(17:25):
can do a little bit of everythingand and touch something creative in that many
ways. So tell me a littlebit about the people that you get to
work with and the talent that youfound that is that is here in our
region. My goodness, that's avery good question. I have been lucky
(17:47):
enough to be on set with alot of good people that turned into friends,
and some people I've seen on multiplesets that have turned into long term
contacts. And say, if youneed a gaffer, I know a person
if you if you need a soundrecordist, I know several people like I
have names that I could name dropfrom really talented, friendly and this is
(18:07):
why I call the Friendly Filmmaker.It took me four months to come up
with a name for the brand,but then when I hit it, I
was like, of course, it'sso perfect because the only successful sets,
in my opinion, I've been onsets that have had projects that tank,
that happens and for whatever reason,but the toxicity, I'm not here for
it. I don't know, no, thank you, But I feel like
(18:30):
in this community there are so manypositive vibes and people that really want to
do art and really feel passionately andcreatively fulfilled by contributing joyfully to a project
and joyfully to a set environment.And those are the people I hang out
with. Those are the people thatcome back to Those are the people I
help for free, And those arethe people that help me for free sometimes
(18:51):
on sets. And it's just thatfostering that kind of art for art's sake.
It's so Indie. It's so veryIndie, because like, yes,
we have bills to pay, andyes, please do hire me for things
if you think of me. Butat the same time, there are some
days when you're just chomping at thebit because your heart wants to create something,
and so you'll negotiate a sweat equitydeal of like you help me and
(19:14):
I'll help you in some sort ofsituation like yes we're both broke, and
yes we're you know, struggling tomake a project come alive on an indie
budget versus you know, a twentyfour everybody of all that. But you
just sometimes there's a story that youwant to tell and get out there,
and you will make you will hustleto make it happy. You will,
you will problem solve in whatever wayyou can to make it come alive.
(19:38):
And I love that vibe. It'sso very present here. You name it.
Actors, directors, photographers, artistslike literal like artists, people who
want to do storyboards for a living, production designers, musicians, yeah,
composers, geez, name it,and they're they're with us. You know,
(20:02):
they're on the friendly filmmaker list.Like I don't gatekeep. I'm not
like, oh I just do actingor oh I just do writing. I
am she of many hats and Ispeak to the people that are she of
many hats or they have many hats, and and I write for whoever wants
to hear about all aspects of film, and that's what my newsletter is about.
(20:22):
And that's where where I hit sendand it goes out to all those
email addresses for people who do sometimesjust one job that they love passionately,
very well to the core. Andsometimes folks like me who are like people
who do a lot of a lotof a little bit of everything. And
sometimes friends who are interested, likethey'll come on set and be a PA,
but they don't really want to pursuea career, like they have a
(20:45):
jobby job that they're happy with.They just like to do it sometimes for
fun. Those are on my emaillist as well, and like within the
community, and I see them onmy sets and I love it. I
just love it. It's just soit's just so me, and it's also
so like just where I want tobe. It's it's the positivity of creating
art that I love about this community. I just love it. Well,
(21:07):
your passion comes through, it's reallyreally does. Where can where can people
find your newsletter? How do theysign up? How do they connect?
If you go to friendly filmmaker dotcom. There's a big fat subscribe button,
and I refuse, for the record, from here on forever now,
I refuse to put any sort oftracking on it because Google is like,
hey, hey, I see you'vegot a website. You want to put
(21:29):
a little cute you a link onthat sacred We'll put some ads on there,
We'll give you some money, Likenope, nope, nope, nope.
So you don't have any fear oflike me selling information or any sort
of sketchy things that sometimes indie peoplelike do, and and like you just
don't, don't worry. You unsubscribe, you'll never hear from me again.
Yeah, but friendly, friendly isthe theme. Friendly is the friendly is
(21:52):
so very the theme. I keepit on my website too, like,
yeah, you're here. I'm theonly one that sees your email on the
only one that sends an email likethat's me. I'm a one stop shop.
So yeah, and I you know, and I love that because I'm
also you know, with with withthe two kids, and I want to
be there for them, but Ialso want to do my art right.
I'm more on the acting side anda little bit of of the writing side.
(22:18):
But it's it's so wonderful to beable to have that balance and still
create and connect with people. Sowhat is the ultimate dream? What?
What are what do you hope tosee in the next years or somehow?
My long term hope is that Iset up a nice environment and the company
(22:44):
that can earn enough from the creationsthat we make such that we can pay
artists and musicians and people live withinthe community a living wage. That's my
long term goal. I also wantedto put out some courses for free,
because I actually, as somebody whogrew up in the poorer parts of Boston,
(23:07):
I'm very keenly aware that courses costmoney, and they also buy dint
of that gatekeep, people who wantto learn something are literally prevented from doing
it because the expenses of the courseare like sometimes boiled down to do I
eat or do I learn? DoI pay rent? Or do I get
a chance to learn, to advance, to improve myself and to prepare myself
(23:27):
for a future job that I actuallywant to do, and their gate kept
from that by the fact that coursescost money, And so I want to
put a punch in that face offeringfree courses like literally just do the same
thing that other people have, Likeyou can buy other people's courses feel free.
But at one point, one ofmy dreams for twenty twenty four is
(23:48):
to put together a series of coursesof filmmaking where people can literally just download
the video and learn and learn something. And I try to do little snippets
of that on my YouTube channel rightnow. Now it's still growing because it's
just me a one stop shop,so I'm still developing that end of it.
But that's my twenty twenty four goalis to put up a free course
(24:10):
and then longer term goal, likeI said, I want to establish a
friendly for maker company that works bycreating projects, selling our movies, and
earning enough from those sales to beable to pay that people pay a staff
a living wage. So that's mylong term goal. How did you teach
yourself? So where did you learn? Along the way? There are the
(24:34):
filmmaking thought right there. Sometimes theybutt heads against each other, Oh do
you need film school or don't youneed film school? I was not trained
in film school, so I learnedon sets. Ever since I was eighteen
nineteen, I was at least onone set a year, probably closer to
two and as of late because ofmy because I was able to start my
(24:57):
own thing. It's for sets ayear at a minimum. I do the
forty eight every year. That teachesme a new several set of skills.
It's a different kind of filmmaking,competitive filmmaking, rushed filmmaking. And then
I try to make my own projectsjust for a year, and they may
be small, and they may bevery low budget, but they keep me
(25:18):
learning. Every single set teaches mesomething. Oh that's what that camera trick
does. Oh, that's how agamble works. Oh that's what those lenses
do. I know a lot morenow than I did twenty five years ago
when I first started. Yeah,I mean it's just learned bit by bit
through experience, exactly. And it'sgot to be rough right now, you
(25:40):
know, for the people who arein the industry and for those who who
want to learn, who have been, you know, counting on those sorts
of experiences. With the strikes thatare happening right now. I know the
writers have their deal, but theactors are still not quite there yet.
I was wondering if you had atake on all of that's that's happened right
now, because that's where I learn, and that's where I get my gigs
(26:03):
to be on set. Anybody,anybody who's seen any videos of mine on
the YouTube, knows that I geta little salty about this because, oh
yes, let's have a little bitof thought drama, spill the tea.
I just because I'm such a sharingmom kind of person, like I always
was that way. I I justdon't understand the mentality of people who earn
(26:29):
crazy, crazy millions of dollars fromfrom the films that they put out,
from the TV shows that they putout, and don't pay the people that
helped make it happen. I don'tunderstand why they're being so stingy, miserly,
penny pinching, selfish. Two yachtsis not enough mentality of just not
sharing. I'm looking at you,heads of you know, looking at you,
(26:52):
heads of you know, everybody.I'm look at you. If you've
got you know, three yachts andfifteen vacations lined up like and you are
not, and you're you're the lowestpeople in your company, are barely making
minimum wage. There's something very wrongand just immoral at this point. And
so I don't understand the residuals systemwas set up a million and a half
(27:18):
years ago. You know, inthe sixties, people were able to live
off of it until the eighties.You know, you did one TV show
once it was put on reruns,and you were able to live off of
it because yes, people were stillwatching your show. Yes, people were
still laughing at the lines you wroteor the ways you delivered them. And
those actors and writers got their residualsjustly so because they're still entertaining people with
something they made twenty years ago.Good, let's go. But now with
(27:44):
streaming, the advent of new technologycomes the advent of new opportunist opportunistic selfishness
is that, oh, well,we don't have it in our contract that
we have to pay them, sowe won't. And I don't like that
mentality. It's so dirty and selfish. So I us pay the writers.
Man, thank you for settling onthe writers at last, you finally see
(28:06):
their value. Like, but nowcome on now, if pay the actors,
please just down and do good againfor the actors. I'm so I
just that's not what friendly filmmaker isall about. Like I was just telling
you that my long term vision,like I have a breakdown CEO plan,
like where everybody's like, there's noCEO gets seventeen digits versus somebody who's emptying
(28:30):
the trash bins gets you know,minimum wage. And so minimum wage is
not even minimum wage at this point, like it needs to be nuffed anyway,
right, it's below poverty level,it is. You can't pay rent
on minimum wage, you can't youcan't buy groceries. Minimum wage is.
It's tragic, it's terrible, andso I just me to no end,
(28:51):
and it really frankly disgusts me becauseit's just so deeply unfair that you create
something with a team of people andyou keep everything almost everything that you you
you you throw a few coins theirway and you're like that should be enough
for you. Oh I'm so sorry, Like excuse me. I just don't
get it. Somebody didn't raise them, right, That's what I'm thinking,
(29:15):
is like this unethical self fishness isjust no thank you, not how I'm
going to raise my kids a lot. There you go exactly exactly, except
that mic is extensive. Don't dropit. Great soundbites there, It's true.
(29:38):
So we're hoping, you know,negotiations are still ongoing this week,
so very much hoping that by thetime, uh, very soon, that
we have a doable, liveable dealagreed. And for the writers is encouraging
because even if they rousingly admit that, hey, you're not gonna have new
show without writers, guess what evenand if they have to be pulled by
(30:00):
the wallet instead of by the heartstrings, at least they're you know,
they're coming to the table. SoI'm optimistic that the string will end soon
for the actors. That was thefirst first dinner bell was that the writers
got their due, and hopefully I'moptimistic that it will end soon and fairly
so for the actors. But staystrong, man, because I mean again,
if they don't have talented faces toput in in the scenes, then
(30:25):
you're not going to have any entertainment. That's just what it boils down to,
exactly. There's no content without creators. The creators make it. It
just doesn't make any sense. So, Juliet, before we let you go,
is there anything else that people needto know about you? Oh?
Wait, actually I had a morespecific question. Tell me about a favorite
(30:47):
project that you have made so far, and then we'll wrap up with all
of your socials where people can findyou favorite project. That's like picking a
favorite child. But oh man,I've learned so much with all the things
that I've done. I mean,my short film Guidance has won multiple multiple
(31:08):
awards because it was written from aplace of love. Another short film that
I did, Fortune Teller, peoplehave been asking me to turn it into
a feature because it's the kind ofcreepy thriller that mind games that I love
to write, and subverting expectations islike one of my favorite things. But
I mean, recently I did DIBson Mars, which was the first musical
(31:32):
I've ever done for a forty eighthour because we pulled that out of the
lottery and we were ready for it. The music is great, and the
fun that we had making that feverdream of a movie is unparalleled. Like
everybody who had an idea was like, yes should I should I kiss the
clown shoes? Yes? Please dobasketball? Yes? Please do? I
(31:52):
should dump this on my head insteadof drinking it? Yes? Please do
this chess board is a drink?Now great, Yes, let's make it
happen. It was feverishly artistically hilariouslyfun. It was great. Yeah,
and now I'm working on more projectsthat light a fire in my spirit,
so it's hard to answer just one. And it's not about diplomacy. It's
(32:15):
just about my own intrinsic artistic selfishnesslike I can't pick yeah, and pursuing
that joy. So, Julia,where can people find you on the social
media as your websites? Just plugit all. I'm everywhere on social media,
but the best place is All roadslead to Rome. Go to friendly
Filmmaker dot com. You will getlinks to my newsletter there and you will
(32:37):
find my YouTube channel from there.So dub dub dub Friendlyfilmmaker dot com and
all roads lead there. So goright ahead. Best of luck in all
of your projects. We hope tohave you back on soon. Thank you,
Julia, Thank you so so muchfor having me. This was a
joy. Vie. I'm glad allright, fantastic interview, Jamie. Be
(32:58):
sure to keep track of and hercareer. Her projects in the future.
Will list, you know, anysocial media stuff down below. But yeah,
Julia, thanks so much for joiningus on the Hub on Hollywood.
Now, wrapping up this episode,let's take a quick look at the best
movies of twenty twenty three. Sofar. This is a list compiled by
the Washington Post staff, and Iwas very happy to see the first movie
(33:23):
that they post, or at leastthe picture that they posted for being among
the best movies of the year sofar is a movie that I talked about
reviewed last week on last week's episode. That is The Holdover, starring Paul
Giammaudi dominic Cessa and a great castof supporting actors. In this movie,
the movie that takes place in nineteenseventies New England. They filmed everywhere in
(33:47):
Massachusetts, seemingly. They filmed inBoston, they filmed in Worcester, they
filmed in gill they filmed on locationin actual spots where you can go and
visit. And one of the coolthings that I enjoyed watching it now once
but twice. The first time Iwatched it with a small group of other
movie critics uh press uh, maybefive or six of us in the movie
(34:08):
theater when we watched it, Andthere are a couple of people who every
time an iconic piece or part ofBoston popped up, you had, oh,
you know, a good uh admirationand plods and and and whatnot.
But in the screening in Somerville atthe Summerville Theater, where they also did
filming inside uh inside for The Holdovers. UH. The the theater was filled
(34:32):
with cast, or rather with withcrew, background actors non union. I
guess it was filled with people whoworked on the film, and so when
you had people in places start poppingup on screen, UH, people just
broke out and applause. Director AlexanderPayne was also in attendance, uh for
(34:52):
for that screening, also for aQ and A afterwards. If you go
to WBZ and NewsRadio dot com,you could hear the story that I put
together after the fact. But longstory short, I love that The Holdovers
is the first movie here listed onWashington Post's Best Movies of twenty twenty three.
So far they have sixty seven Ithink sixty seven movies listed here.
(35:15):
Not all of them I've seen,so I'm gonna skip through most of them.
But on the list as well includesTaylor Swift, the Era's tour,
breaking boundaries and records all around thatis still in theaters. I believe I'm
still very popular. I think it'sopening up a door for other musicians to
(35:36):
bypass the movie studios and go straightdirectly to movie theaters, in this case
AMC theaters, where they had thisexclusive screening at the AMC theaters across the
nation, And so you just sawthousands and thousands of people young and old
going out to see Tara Tara Taylorin her era's tour Say that five times.
(35:58):
Also unsurpris on the list. Barbie, Barbie, of course on the
list. We also have Mission ImpossibleFallout Part one making the twenty twenty three
list. Let's see what else dowe have here? We have again a
lot of movies that I haven't seen, including Air starring Ben Affleck Matt Damon.
(36:19):
That's still on my to do list. So many movies to watch and
get to, but it's so hard, especially with a newborn baby. Also
on the list, are you there, God, it's me Margaret, baby
Ruth. As I mentioned, Barbieis on there. Let's see what else
do we have here? Do Creedthree? This one actually surprised me because
I feel like Creed three came outso long ago, but apparently it came
(36:43):
out this year, starring Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors. That's there.
We have Emily Eternal Memory, TheFive Devils these. I haven't seen
Flora and Son. I actually gotscreening for that. I was not able
to make it, but I've heardreally good things about this. This is
(37:04):
about an adorable Irish fairy tale followingthe relationship drama between a single mother in
Dublin and her unmanageable teenage son anda serious and a serious, super cute
guitar teacher. Heard good things aboutthat one if you're into music. Also
on the list is Guy Ritchie's TheCovenant, starring of course it's Jake Gillenhall,
(37:25):
but also Christian Ochoa. We interviewedhim. He's a local New England
guy. We had him on arecent interview on The Hub on Hollywood.
So if you have not checked outthat episode, check it out. And
after you check that out, checkout The Covenants, which also getting a
lot of really good reviews. Areally good Guy Ritchie film. I believe
(37:47):
it's on Where is This Apple TVPlus and Prime Video, so check that
out. Let's see John Wick chapterfour. I have mixed feelings about John
Wick. Loved John Wick the originalfirst one, the second one was good,
and then I started I started thinkingI didn't catch the third one,
(38:07):
and I didn't catch the fourth one. I don't know why when they start
pumping these out. I know KeanuReeves is great and he's a you know,
icon, legend, god, whateveryou want to say. I love
him too, but I just haven'tbeen driven to the movie theater to see
them though I did really enjoy oneand two. Also coming out recently,
Killers of the Flower Moon starring LeonardoDiCaprio, And of course this is the
(38:31):
Martin SCORSESI thriller based on David Grant'snonfiction book based on the murders of the
Osage Osage Indians in nineteen twenties Oklahoma, three and a half, about three
and a half hours long, Sothat is a dedication to go into.
And let's see The Little Mermaid alsomade the list. Let's see The Lost
(38:54):
King Mission a possible Dead Reckoning partone. Actually, let's see if the
because I also really enjoyed The Creatorthis year. Is it on here?
I see Sharper again. A lotof these movies I have not had this
time to see. Spider Man Acrossthe Spider Verse, very very great movie,
(39:15):
really good stuff. Teenage Mutant,Ninja Turtles, Mutant Mayhem made the
list. Very cool very cool.I love the animation in that film and
oh my god, I guess it'snot here the creator. The creator did
not make the list. I woulddefinitely add that to my list of the
best movies of twenty twenty three sofar. Let us know. I'll put
(39:38):
a link to the Washington Post downhere, and it'll be a shareable link,
so if if you are not subscribedto it, you will still be
able to read it. But letme know what are your thoughts on the
list and your list of best moviesof twenty twenty three so far. Well,
I think that'll wrap things up.Jamie will be back for next week's
(39:58):
episode of The Hub on Hollywood.But again, great interview, great stuff.
Please comment down below, Please likeand follow and share this video,
you know, share us with yourfriends. The more word we get out
there, the more feedback, youknow, helps the helps the podcast grow,
helps us grow. And we loveto hear your thoughts, your own
reviews, and we love to sharethem and give shout outs when we can,
(40:21):
so be sure to follow us atHelp on Hollywood, Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram, TikTok, threads, Jamiej Blanco Newsy and myself at James
Rojas m m J. But yeahfor the help on Hollywood. I'm James
and we'll see you next week.
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