June 9, 2025 • 46 mins
Jason Connell's creative journey unfolds like a masterclass in artistic evolution. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma—where Francis Ford Coppola filmed The Outsiders and Rumblefish—Jason absorbed filmmaking magic from an early age through these seminal productions and repeated viewings of Jaws on HBO. These cinematic influences planted seeds that would later flourish across multiple media platforms.
His path to Los Angeles wasn't immediate. Working methodically through college and beyond, Jason taught himself editing, built confidence through small projects, and eventually made the significant move to California at age 32. The universe delivered a pivotal moment when he signed up as an extra on HBO's Six Feet Under, exposing him to the fascinating subculture of background actors. This experience sparked his first documentary, "Strictly Background," which took three years rather than his anticipated six months to complete, but became a festival darling that launched his filmmaking career.
Nine more documentaries followed, including "Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians." Simultaneously, Jason founded the United Film Festival, which expanded to multiple cities over its twelve-year run. This platform allowed him to honor cinema legends like John Landis and Vilmos Zsigmond, while showcasing independent films to appreciative audiences. When both documentary production and festival management began feeling unsustainable, Jason pivoted again—this time to podcasting.
His flagship show "Let's Talk Cobra Kai" exemplifies his talent for identifying opportunities and building communities around content. What began as a modest podcast about a YouTube Red series has become the number one Cobra Kai podcast, recently celebrating its 200th episode. This success spawned multiple additional podcasts under his Just Curious Media brand, including the rapidly growing "Good Thinking" positive affirmation series.
Throughout these transitions, Jason maintains core principles: find your tribe, maintain clear vision, create without delay, and adapt to changing circumstances. His most poignant revelation? Learning to be kinder to himself after years of intense self-pressure and comparison to others' timelines of success. His story serves as a roadmap for creative professionals navigating today's rapidly evolving media landscape.
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Speaker 2 (00:00):
Hot lights fade the curtains rise, new stories
waiting behind our eyes.
Charlotte and John with thefinal say.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Breaking down the screens in their own way.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
This is the final cut , where the real reviews ignite.
Welcome everybody to the FinalCut, the latest in our in-depth
look at film and TV.
And today we're excited becausewe're joined by a guest who's
based right in the heart ofHollywood at the moment.
Hence you can see the Hollywoodsigns behind us fake background
(00:43):
, can see the, the hollywoodsigns behind us fake background.
And this guy's jason connell,who's worn many hats.
Actually he's a filmmaker,storyteller and now podcasting
pioneer.
Jason began his creative journeyin tulsa, oklahoma, where he's
from, and then, you know, slowlywithin his career, made his way
to los Angeles, where hestarted to gain a reputation for
(01:06):
himself through documentaryfilms that spotlight the lives
and stories that maybe otherpeople overlook.
Voice to perhaps the realunsung heroes of Hollywood.
(01:27):
The background actor, or as welike to call them today, at
least in the UK, supportingactors, the SAs, and later Jason
went on to produce Holy Rollers, the true story of card
counting Christians, blendingfaith, statistics and subculture
Interesting.
But today Jason is the founderof Just Curious Media, a company
that's really making areputation for itself and
(01:48):
producing some standout podcasts, including podcasts on true
crime and also, perhaps mostnotably, let's Talk Cobra Kai,
which has established itself asthe number one most popular
podcast based around discussionof the hit Netflix show, so
we're really excited to talkwith Jason today and to explore
(02:10):
his journey.
So welcome to the Final Cut,jason.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's a pleasure to be here with you both.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, real pleasure for us to talk to you.
So can I kick off and take youright back to the very beginning
in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Because Iwas particularly interested to
read from your background thatyou actually saw Francis Ford
Coppola at work when he shot inthe early 1980s two seminal
(02:40):
films from that period of hisoeuvre, the Outsiders and
Rumblefish.
Now that must have been a heckof an influence on you.
So maybe take us through thoseearly years in Tulsa and how you
think it affected your career.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, that was a huge moment.
Now I was a kid so my fatherwas a big movie buff and he
spoke highly of Francis FordCoppola and we owned a
restaurant like a health foodrestaurant, which was so not
Tulsa, oklahoma at the time.
It was more like aCalifornia-type restaurant.
But the crew and I thinkCoppola as well would come into
(03:19):
the restaurant and eat theresometimes.
So my dad would come home, mymother would come home, they
both worked there, we owned itand they would talk about it.
So we knew this was happening,the outsiders first and then
Rumblefish, like a year later,the next year.
So it was a bigger deal than Ieven realized as a kid.
But it just kind of connectedsome dots for me, like oh wow,
(03:40):
movie making and this is the guythat did.
You know the Godfather,godfather, Part Two, the
Conversation, you knowApocalypse Now.
So that was starting to kind ofyou know, run around in my
brain.
Not to mention, I was veryinfluenced by the movie Jaws and
that was already running on HBOlike around the clock and I was
eight, nine years old watchingit.
(04:00):
Probably too much for a kid ofmy age, but I could recognize
something about it.
So those two things were justlike huge.
I'd never met coppola, but wewould try to go on set or or you
could like stand a block away,and it was just.
I mean, look back at that cast,it was insane who they had for
the outsiders everybody beforethey blew up, you know.
(04:22):
So years later we, or the nextyear, we went and saw it in the
theater and yeah, that just kindof cemented that moviemaking's
a thing.
But I never thought that Iwould be where I'm at now.
I was just in awe of it all.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
What led you eventually away from Tulsa and
to Los Angeles for what we mightcall the first third of your
career as a documentaryfilmmaker.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So it took a few decades, I think.
In college I started to tinkerwith because you know, this was
before there was digital editing, so linear editing.
It was just so cumbersome.
You had to know somebody, orthey worked at a news station
and they had access.
So I was in college studyingbusiness and just someone had a
camera and I grabbed it andstarted filming things and
(05:07):
friends had access and we wouldput together little things that
I was shooting on this linearediting bay and people would see
it and they would say, hey,you've got a real eye here, you
have some talent.
And then that led me to thenext thing.
And the next thing.
It was a slow progression, I'mnot going to lie, but by the
time I left college I really hadthe fever.
I didn't know if I was going tomake films, but I knew I wanted
(05:30):
to make things.
It could be skits for SaturdayNight Live or whatever it was.
I was going back.
I left Tulsa.
I went to a small well, Ishouldn't say that I went to
Oklahoma State, which is in asmall city in Oklahoma.
I went back to Tulsa, saved upmoney, bought my first editing
suite it was like a Sony VAIOediting and really taught myself
(05:50):
to edit and took that knowledgeand started shooting things and
started to get jobs, startedfreelancing.
It was like everything I didtook me to the next rung and I
kept building confidence andconfidence and I needed a lot of
it because I thought there's noway I could compete in
California.
But as a series of those thingshappened and I made a short
(06:12):
film that played at a festivaland that was really opened my
eyes to like, wow, I and like500 people were there and they
all loved the seven minute shortthat I did and I just thought,
hey, I, I could do this.
And so then I made the move,literally made that.
You know, grapes of wrath,oklahoma to California move,
(06:32):
thinking I'm going to do it.
But I wasn't 20.
I was like 32.
And I paid my dues a lot.
So that was the jump.
Now I didn't know I'd beenmaking documentaries and I can
pause there, but that's what ittook.
It took a lot of things to getme to that point, to come here
in 2004.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
So when you then arrived in los angeles and
hollywood, did you did you start?
So I'm really interested inyour documentary strictly
background and I and I watchedsome clips and so it just seems
so fascinating.
Did you yourself start?
As an extra, was that wasinspired or yeah, tell us a bit
(07:10):
about the background behind thefilm.
So the film is calleddocumentary, is called strictly
background yes, yeah, that'sexactly right.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I came out here.
I was here for a month.
I was on craigslist trying toedit things, shoot things, any
freelance work I could stir up,because I knew nobody, I didn't
know the industry, I just knew Ihad ambition and talent and a
lot of drive.
So I went on this ad and it wascasting for my favorite show at
(07:39):
the time, which was Six FeetUnder.
A great show on HBO Lasted likesix seasons, I believe.
Five or no, sorry, lasted fiveseasons and they were winding
down season four as a finale andthey needed some extras for an
art show scene.
So I like signed up, theycalled me and I went in and I
got to.
I would have paid them to letme watch them make my favorite
(08:01):
show.
And they put me in a scene andthat kind of blew my mind Like
wait a second, I'm in this scenenow.
And then I was meeting peoplethat do this type of work, a
background work for a living,and that was also like wait a
second, this is a job you know,like a career path, and so
anyway, the show wrapped and itwas amazing thing, alan Ball was
(08:22):
actually directing that episode.
Who created the series, who didAmerican Beauty and met some of
the cast.
And then months later it comeson HBO my family's freaking out
that I'm in a scene in ourmutual favorite show.
And so I went on another gigand it was like a huge Martin
Lawrence movie, two differentmovies, actually a lot like Love
(08:44):
and Rebound.
And that's when I said, okay,I'm going to make a documentary
about this, because thissubculture is amazing.
And I was literally on set orin extras holding is what they
call it and I told a buddy I go,I'm making a documentary about
this and it's going to be calledStrictly Background, and I'd
never made a documentary and Ididn't even know what I was
(09:05):
doing.
But I put my flag down and fivemonths later I was in
production of that movie.
That took me three years to do.
That I thought was only goingto take me six months.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Interesting, actually , that your documentary is
coterminous with quite anamusing Ricky Gervais series
from the same period calledExtras.
I just wondered how much theRicky Gervais series has any
relationship to what you saw andfilmed in terms of your
documentary.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
You know, we did come out first and I had a really
good friend, my landlord.
He became a good friend.
He worked for the HollywoodForeign Press and he bumped into
Ricky Gervais because I was atenant.
My movie had already come outon DVD back in the day and he
got a quote from Ricky Gervaisabout my show and we use that
quote.
So, I don't know if Gervais, youknow, whatever, it was a lot.
(09:59):
But people have ideas.
Everyone's got those ideas.
But I'm telling you it did openthe door for our doc.
It was like, hey, I heard ofEkster's Reconjure.
It really was a connector thathelped us get more publicity at
the time and it did great at thefestivals.
But I didn't know anything.
That first movie was like howlong is it going to take?
Like I said, it took threeyears, not six months, because
(10:20):
editing took 13 months.
I had no way of shape or formto understand that it was going
to take that long.
Then the festival circuit takesa long time.
You submit, you wait and all ofa sudden, once you start
getting into festivals and Iwent to Cork, ireland, where my
family's from, I went all overthe States and once you start on
(10:40):
the circuit, you're like goneand they're flying you there
Like bam, bam, bam, bam bam.
You're doing all these thingslike a roadshow and it blew my
mind and really kind ofvalidated me and that was it.
I didn't need anything else.
I was going to make more ofthem based on that experience
and all different stories thoughit's never easy, I'll tell you
(11:02):
that.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
But I'm always so proud of that first one because
without it I don't even have acareer out here.
A film festival is interestingplaces to meet people, but how
did you attract these?
How did you choose?
I mean, because you, you havechosen some kind of really
interesting characters, but howdid you find?
Speaker 1 (11:21):
them.
So by at the time I'd seen acouple of really good
documentaries.
One was called Home Movie andthe other one was called
Cinerama, and Spellbound wasalso very good and very popular.
But I really liked thisensemble piece where they would
follow some of the interestingcharacters, I should say, off on
their own little thing and thenthey would kind of bring them
(11:43):
back in.
And so I knew that I wanted tofollow some interesting eclectic
people trying to make it inHollywood, and I also hoped I
wouldn't have a hard timecasting it.
So I ran an ad.
It was February 4th 2005.
And I rented a place out onMelrose Avenue for all day, like
12 hours, and we had likehundreds of people show up who
(12:06):
wanted to be in the movie.
So it's a great place for acasting call in LA and the first
.
So when we got there like sixin the morning, seven in the
morning, there was one guyalready there and we weren't
even going to open for anotherhour and I was like what a
character he is.
And he did make it in the movieand he famously says in the
(12:27):
movie our movie he says I'drather be an hour early than a
minute late for any job.
Well, he was definitely an hourearly and we hired him, jeffrey
Gould.
So I met so many people thatday and I actually moved forward
with 13 people but I whittledit down to 10.
And then they were more older,interesting, they had some great
(12:50):
stories and substance and somepeople are supporting in a more
supportive role.
And then I had to go get acasting agency or two just to
kind of have that other voice.
And then we had to sprinkle inmovie clips and I had to get a
lawyer to really protectourselves on the better use you
know the Fair Use Act andeverything like that.
But it was a process.
(13:11):
If I'd known everything I knewbefore I started I may have
rethought it, but I was in andI'm so, so grateful for making
that film, and then you moved onto produce Holy Rollers, which
combines card counting andChristians.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Now that doesn't naturally go together.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
How did that all come together?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Yeah.
So after Strictly it's funny Inever directed again.
I did nine other docs, but Iwas just producing, but really
hands-on because I was alsorunning a film festival that
sprouted, which we'll save.
So all of a sudden I was busierthan ever.
So my director of photography,my DP on Strictly Background,
(13:59):
was my co-editor as well as verybrilliant, talented filmmaker,
and he wanted to make his firstmovie and he knew the people
from Holy Rollers and you knowspoiler alert he even joined the
team.
So we were talking one day andhe's like you know, we should,
you should do a documentaryabout these guys.
You have access and access issuch a big part of documentary
(14:20):
filmmaking.
You need access, you needpeople that trust you.
So we moved forward and when wewere just talking about the
idea, I just said let's call itHoly Rollers, the true story of
card counting Christians, and sothat's what it is, and we went
off about three years and sothey did trust us and he was on
the team.
We had that level of access andwe thought the movie might take
(14:41):
10 years to come out becausethe team was doing so well and
they didn't want to be outed.
But then things happen and themovie was allowed to come out
sooner than later and it didvery well at the festivals.
And Netflix it was.
I mean, it was picked up byNetflix at a time before Netflix
was making original shows, soit's like pre House of Cards,
(15:02):
and they came and called andwell, through my distributor,
and said hey, a three-year deal.
And it was just like wow, itwas such a big thing and it's
very controversial.
It did very well at the filmfestivals, as you can imagine,
because it's like such a greatdiscussion and nearly, nearly,
nearly, became a big narrativemovie.
We had an A-list directorattached, a studio, oh wow.
(15:25):
And then the last second or Isay last second, but it just
didn't go through Something elsewent through in that director.
I mean, he's done huge movies,so that was an almost story to
turn it into a bigger movie.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Anyway, interesting thing, what did you think some
challenging was working as anindependent filmmaker in LA, and
I can imagine that so manypeople traveling all over the
world to come to la to makemovies.
So what do you think thebiggest challenges are?
Speaker 1 (15:53):
well, you never have enough money right.
So there's that and I just thatwasn't a weakness, I just
accepted it right and I knew Ihad a vision.
So we never had, we weren't, weweren't living k cush and we
were all working for less andworking side hustles because we
loved what we were doing.
And we then started to build atrack record of getting
distribution.
So the biggest hurdle was well,I needed other, really A
(16:16):
players.
I needed a small group oftalented people with shared
vision.
So I was able to carve that out, which was fortunate for me.
When I started the filmfestivals, I really expanded my
network because when you'remaking a movie, you're like in a
silo, it's just a few of youguys and you're working away.
But the festivals allowed me totalk to other people, look at
(16:38):
their work, shared resources.
I began producing with people Imet through the film festival.
So I really liked that.
It got me out of just thatclosed off mindset and expanded
upon that and also justshepherding other people's work.
So for me, I'm not normal, Idon't think I'm abnormal, unique
(17:00):
, so I was doing that.
But, to answer your question,there's so many challenges and
what you have to do is believein yourself and your vision.
Maybe you don't want to be adirector, maybe you just want to
be a part of another team.
So find your tribe right, findwhat you're passionate about,
find your skillset and find goodpeople to be around.
(17:21):
Because I'll tell you what Imoved out here and I hit the
ground running because I washungry and I would meet people
that just wanted to talk, and Idon't mean that's a bad thing,
but I mean talk about doingthings.
And you check in with them sixmonths later and they're still
talking about maybe doingsomething.
I don't have time for that.
I am moving forward.
We only have so much time onthis planet and so much energy,
(17:42):
so create now when you have thecapacity to do so, and there's a
lot of those types of people.
In a place like los angeles,california, in oklahoma, I was a
unicorn there was.
I couldn't find another me butout here.
That's why I like bigger places, the pool of people, and I was
really fortunate to make themove here.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And what would you recommend for someone who are
interested in going to, maybefrom somewhere like Oklahoma
today and Well, the landscape'schanged.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
That was 2004.
Even places like Oklahoma sincethe pandemic I've seen that I
don't go there much, but I havefamily there.
They've changed.
There's a bigger art community.
People are leaving biggercities and going to other places
because they can afford to live.
So if I was 20 now, I don'tknow if I would rush to Los
Angeles.
But I'm here and this is mylife.
(18:36):
I've been here 20 years andthere's so many reasons that I
would never leave.
But I think you can do itanywhere.
You can find that tribe onlinenow.
That didn't exist when I cameout here.
I mean, we had internet, but wedidn't even have YouTube.
So it's just like find yourpeople around you.
Your other peers, colleagues,share stuff online, get ideas.
(18:59):
I mean, I'm a podcaster.
Now I don't have to be aroundpeople.
I can do it from anywhere.
We're doing it across thecountry.
What am I saying Across theworld right now?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Across the world.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, yeah.
You guys are far and wide andhere we are, so it has changed.
But really, you got to have avision for what you want to do.
I always have it clear as dayin my mind, and then it's about
creating that and makingadjustments as you go.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
That's so interesting that you've talked about the
way in which Los Angeles, whichtraditionally was seen as the
center you've got to be there oryou're no one.
Now this feeling that maybethat town is now being
de-centered is tremendouslyinteresting, and the way in
which the internet has liberatedit.
(19:44):
There was a famous mediaprofessor called Henry Jenkins
who said we're now in the era ofhere comes everybody, whereas
previously it was just one ortwo people in elites.
Now you've had several lives.
You've talked about the energythat you bring to all your
passions, and we must talk aboutwhat I would call maybe the
(20:05):
second act in your career so far, which is film festivals.
So you ran the United FilmFestival for, I think, 12 years,
so can you maybe talk usthrough that transition, the way
that you moved from being sortof, if you like, poacher to
gamekeeper?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yeah, and I guess I was doing the documentaries and
film festivals simultaneouslybecause they kind of fed each
other.
So that part.
They are two different things,but I was kind of doing them at
the same time.
And so I actually started thefestival in my hometown of Tulsa
and I did one festival like oneyear and then I moved.
So when I moved and I got, Imean it was just short films, it
(20:45):
hadn't grown, it hadn't reallyblossomed, but there was
something about that energy Iliked and also filmmaking, even
documentaries.
You're in fundraising, you'refinishing editing, you're
waiting for a festival.
There's still a lot of hurry upand wait.
You're finishing editing,you're waiting for a festival.
There's still a lot of hurry upand wait and, as I already
spoke to, I don't want to sitaround on idle hands.
So I was like you know what?
I had that festival in Tulsa.
(21:05):
It was a great way to meetpeople and that's what made me
have that eureka moment andstart it here in LA.
I already knew a lot offilmmakers and I like to do
things big.
So I started the LA one it wasLos Angeles United Film Festival
Kept it going in Tulsa, soresurrected a second year there
and why not cover the coast anddo New York?
(21:27):
And so I thought that's a greatidea because I can be in New
York once a year.
And this is small, this isn'tlike a festival that we have
multiple screens, but it is onescreen for seven days.
So I had to like buildrelationships with the right
venues, build, you know,connectivity with an audience.
And I'm telling you, over those12 years we started to really
(21:50):
grow and I expanded further.
I then took it to San Francisco, chicago and London for like
six of the 12 years, took it toSan Francisco, chicago and
London for like six of the 12years.
So then every two months I'mgoing to a city.
Eventually I had more help andit was a different lineup.
It would be kind of tailor-madefor Chicago more Chicago movies
and then some bigger movies.
And I just loved it.
(22:12):
I'd be producing.
That's kind of another reasonwhy I was producing the
documentaries by then and notdirecting.
I'd be in London talking to thedirectors, talking to the
editing team, because you coulddo that remotely.
And then, oh, I got to go on, Igot to introduce this movie.
So I just got used to that kindof pacing and connectivity and
I even started doingdistribution for movies through
(22:34):
our film festival because my owndoc started to get a lot of
distribution the 10 I did.
So then I became a sales repfor like a hundred movies,
getting them small deals,because no one will listen to a
one.
You know, hey, I have a film,but if you come in with like 20,
30, 40, the distributors willat least listen.
So I did all of that forseveral years at 12 years.
(22:56):
The issue is it kind of burnedme out a little bit.
I was going a little too hot, alittle too much, and you
realize like, and also I neverhad that big payday.
Festivals aren't cash cows.
They take a lot of work,tickets and the submissions
would help cover the bills andpay the staff and me something.
(23:17):
But it was nonstop.
We were getting thousands ofsubmissions.
We had lots of.
It was a great thing I did,it's amazing.
But at one point I just said,hey, I think it's run its course
.
Or what I should have done inhindsight is probably throttle
back and made the LA one bigger,because the LA one was just it
had gotten to another level here.
(23:38):
We had celebrities coming out,we honor people, we'd show
classic movies.
But I love the brand.
I'm so proud of it.
People still talk about ittoday if it comes up which is
really cool.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Do you have any interesting anecdotes?
The LA one, do you have any?
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Well, I mean, yeah, mean yeah, so I mean I was that
one.
We actually had two theaters wedid.
It was the Vista Theater, whichwas so famous and is actually
now owned by Quentin Tarantino.
He bought it during thepandemic, which is cool.
It's right like where Sunsetand Hollywood converged.
The Vista Theater you've seenit a in a lot of movies and they
(24:17):
do handprints out front, verysimilar to Grauman's Theater,
grauman's Chinese Theater inHollywood, but there's only like
room for like maybe 30 or 40 ofthem.
Well, I was able to bring fourof them to the Vista because of
my festival.
They would say hey, jason, doyou have anybody you want to
honor?
So I was so happy to honor CarlGottlieb who wrote Jaws.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
The theater's old this month, Exactly 50 this
month.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
He also directed movies like Dr Detroit and
Caveman, but he was a famous andis just such a famous writer.
So he came out.
We played Jaws in 35 millimeteryears ago.
Then we honored Vilmos Zygmunt.
Rest in peace.
Incredible cinematographer.
He did Close Encounters,deliverance.
I mean, this guy worked intohis 80s and he got his
(25:04):
handprints out front.
Then we had this is a big oneJohn Landis Honored him.
We played what movie we playedfor him I think it was Animal
House and met him.
He's an idol of mine.
I'm like I am honoring an idolof mine.
His handprints are still therebecause he's like.
He called me right back when weasked him via email.
He's like Jason, I've never hadmy handprints.
(25:25):
I didn't work out with Graumantiming, so he was elated.
And then I honored DabneyColeman and Mark Rydell because
they had worked on Golden Pond,rydell had directed it and of
course, dabney Coleman he justpassed away last year.
He became a dear friend and wedid a documentary on him called
Dabney Coleman, or Conversationswith Dabney Coleman or I'm
(25:47):
sorry, let me say that again,not Such a Bad Guy Conversations
with Dabney Coleman and a greatdoc, bio doc.
So those four things were worth.
Every bit that I put in the 12years To honor legends to myself
and others was like I mean itwas crazy.
I mean I'm still on cloud ninethinking about it.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Can I ask a bit about the motivation of doing this
film festival?
Was it that you wanted to havefilm that you didn't feel was
seen, or did you feel that youdidn't get a chance to be seen?
Or what was your motivation tostart a film festival?
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Fair, yeah, I'll tell you.
And to honor those guys was bethose great legends was because
we were playing classic movies.
We really were an independentfilm festival.
For you know, first andforemost and great question.
So back in 2000, 1999, I mademy first short film and no,
that's not true, it was thesecond short film I did and it
(26:46):
didn't get into that festival inTulsa, tulsa Overground.
That my first film got into andthey censored it.
And now this is the Bible Beltand it wasn't dirty, it was more
rated R, just some humor, adultlanguage, nothing bad.
But they said, jason, we lovedit, but we couldn't play it.
It got censored.
So I was like the slam dancemodel to Sundance.
(27:06):
I was like, oh, you censored it.
Okay, I'm starting my own filmfestival and that's where it
started from, and it wasactually called Tulsa Uncensored
Film Festival for the first fewyears.
And then I got away from that aswe grew and the brand grew
because people were thinking itwas like literal, like oh, it's
going to be raunchy, and so wemoved it to United, which was
(27:29):
more embracing.
So that was the genesis for thefestival.
But over time it was reallyshepherding other filmmakers in
quality.
We were very quality driven butwe really like to get local
premieres, like all festivals do.
So if someone didn't get into,say, an LA version, if they
didn't get into the LA FilmFestival or AFI, they're looking
(27:51):
for an LA premiere.
We became that third rung formany, many years.
We were getting great moviesthat would go on and get an HBO
deal.
We had short films by futureOscar winners, of other
documentaries or shorts, and Iwould always pair great shorts
with the features.
So we didn't have trailers, sowe would have a packed house and
(28:15):
they would watch a seven-minuteshort and these were high, high
quality and be blown away.
And we had like 90% filmmakerparticipation.
So we had Q and A's always.
So people loved it.
It was a film goers, filmmakersparadise.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yeah, she mentioned that, but at the same time, you
touched on the fact that thiswas a huge juggernaut and you
were really feeling stressed andalmost burnt out by it.
So is that why you decided tomove to podcasting?
Was that the aha moment andwhat brought you into the world
of podcasting, as opposed to,obviously, the filmmaking
(28:52):
background that you had workedin before?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
You know it wasn't this.
I don't think I was overlystressed.
I just kind of hit a wall oneday because it's a grind right.
I mean making 10 documentarieswith barely any money.
I kind of told myself, don't doit that way again.
I nearly made an 11thdocumentary, but we were going
for real funding and we almosthad it and something happened.
This is how the world works, orfilmmaking works, and it didn't
(29:18):
go through and I said, ratherthan just jump in and do what
you do, pump the brakes, don'tjust do it.
You've already done 10 of them.
And film festivals was kind ofthe same.
We were really close to gettingsome bigger sponsorship, but it
didn't happen.
So I didn't want to keep doingthe grind, but my own habits had
changed.
I mean, imagine watchinghundreds and hundreds and
(29:40):
hundreds of submitted films fromsome of these films should
never see the light of day Ihate to say it, but others did,
and that made me a betterfilmmaker.
Honestly, watching those.
And then I had people curatingthem to get to me and you could
just see flaws or beauty rightaway, I became really astute
curator and, not to mention, I'ma cinephile.
(30:01):
So I'm watching everything else.
But my own habits changed.
I don't have time to sit downand watch just incessant movies
over and over our newsubmissions and I was really
gravitating to audibles, podcastand kind of that old radio
intimacy right.
So I talked about it for yearswhen I was still finishing my
(30:23):
last couple of docs, like Ireally want to start a podcast,
and kind of toyed with the idea.
So I waited and then severalyears later, maybe five years
later, I already had the logofor Just Curious Media.
Then it was time wheneverything was tidied up, put
aside and I knew I wanted tomake this my third act and more
(30:44):
sustainable, because I don'thave to physically be all over
the place.
The price point's easier tomanage.
You don't need a huge, robustteam to look at all these movies
.
And so then I made the leap andI didn't know it would work.
I really didn't.
It's been six years now, sixyears it feels like yesterday.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
How do you think podcasting is similar or
different from documentary orfrom filmmaking?
How do you?
Speaker 1 (31:12):
well, they are very different.
They are, but it's it's beingcreative right, and it's
different in the sense that it'sI like the reward, I like doing
it and having an episode comeout and moving on to the next or
documentaries.
It's like you really can'tpivot too far.
You're making a movie andyou're making a movie and you're
bringing the ship in Harbor andyou can't really.
(31:35):
So I knew that I really wantedthe little wins along the way.
I didn't know I would come outwith a lot of shows and it would
keep growing.
I also had to pivot and startbringing in clients, because
even popular shows don't makerevenue right away and so that's
not sustainable.
So now I'm taking, it's grown alot in these six years.
(31:56):
I learned things along the way,but I'm still headed the same
direction.
But there's some more in thesense that you need equipment,
you need to understand editing.
I came in with a fullunderstanding of editing films
and I do all the post-productionand I mean I have years of
experience and it helps meimmensely.
In fact, to me it was easier,easier.
Oh, I only need this muchequipment compared to you know a
(32:17):
camera and and always getting anew camera and I mean it's so
much cheaper, but, um, but I'm,you know, I'm learning along the
way, and it just happened to bein a space that's just
continued to explode and growand we don't even know what
podcasts are going to become.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, well, let's talk about Cobra Kai, which has
really been a huge, huge hit,and why do you think that that
one in particular took off andbecame this juggernaut for you?
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Well, I'll tell you, when I chose it it was nothing
and no offense to it, but it wason YouTube Red.
Nobody I knew was talking aboutit.
But I had studied a lot of docu.
What am I saying?
I studied a lot of podcasts andI knew my first one.
I wanted to do a two-personconversation, like a recap show,
because that way I could reallyunderstand what I'm doing and
(33:11):
just get into it.
So I randomly chose Cobra Kai.
I reluctantly put the show onone day because I love the
Karate Kid.
I think it's a masterpiece.
John G Avildsen who would go anddo Rocky before?
Who did Rocky beforehand?
It's basically Rocky for kids,but it holds up.
It's a beautiful movie.
Pat Morita gets nominated foran Oscar, so that's like the
(33:33):
crown jewel and what is thisgoing to be?
But first episode in, I'm twoscenes in and I'm saying I am
going to do a recap show on thisand I'll be able to work out
all the kinks.
So I went and recruited aco-host who I had known from my
film festivals.
In fact he came.
Sal Rodriguez came to thetryouts for Strictly Background
(33:57):
because he grew up in Hollywoodand he was on shows like Wonder
Years and 90210 is an extra, andwe bonded right away.
But I was going for an oldercrowd, like an older cast, but I
kept his number and years laterI called him and hired him to
host an event and then we becamefriends and he worked with me a
lot as a host.
So I called him and hired himto host an event and then we
became friends and he workedwith me a lot as a host.
(34:18):
So I asked him and he watchedthe first episode and said I'm
in, or maybe he watched theKarate Kid again and he said he
was in.
So we didn't know this show wasgoing to blow up.
It was just something for me totry and this is what I wanted
to do.
So we did season one, season twothe show is still on YouTube
the pandemic hits.
We got like 50 downloads amonth, nothing crickets, but I
(34:42):
didn't care.
I was like I've made 20episodes.
I did the Karate Kid.
We did have a long version ofthe Karate Kid, scene by scene
breakdown, and then, when thepandemic hit, netflix got
involved and they moved thosefirst two seasons to Netflix and
all of a sudden the popularitystarted to grow and I looked at
(35:03):
our numbers and we're notgetting 50 a month, we were
getting thousands a week.
And I was like so I did nothingdifferent other than be at the
right place at the right timeand bet on the right horse.
So I quickly told Sal.
I was like, hey, netflix isgoing to do a third season and
maybe more, but we're getting alot of downloads.
We got to do episodes outsideof the show, of the show show.
(35:26):
So we started doing episodes onbehind the scenes of this and
let's talk about that, and nowwe just launched our 200th
episode a couple of weeks ago.
So we've done so many of thesenon, you know, episodes related
to the show, just in the generaluniverse of the karate kid
cobra guy, and we have so manyfans.
I couldn't be more thankful andgrateful for that.
(35:47):
So that gave me confidence,like strictly backgrounded, to
launch a second show and a thirdshow and so on and so forth.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
To me, with a sort of long history of being involved
with media in various ways,usually studying it.
In some ways it's kind of backto the egg with podcasts, isn't
it?
You know, it's radio reborn.
You know the oldest mediumsuddenly becomes.
(36:18):
And why is it?
And do you think that podcastsin the future?
Where do you think it's goingto go with podcasts?
You mentioned that it mighthave an unexpected future.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
You know, I don't know I'm willing to be surprised
, I'm just happy to be in it andI know that I'm not chasing a
fad.
Like really I'm not.
I know I'm willing to besurprised, I'm just happy to be
in it and I know that I'm notchasing a fad.
Like really I'm not.
I know I'm not a celebrity yet.
No, I mean like a big celebritythey launch a show and it's
like everybody's listening.
But stay true to making yourgreat content.
I perceive it as great and weknow we're connecting with fans.
You see numbers.
So I like that.
(36:57):
But to answer your question,where it's going, I mean I don't
know, but I know you can takechances and that I like.
Like I had an idea 14 monthsago, just over a year ago, and
it's called good thinking, and Ireally wanted to create a
positive affirmation show andyou can call it a podcast, but
sometimes it's not even apodcast but it falls under
podcast.
So it's one minute long.
I do a narration of a greataffirmation repeats three times
(37:17):
with music bed.
I've now done.
Today I released the 236thepisode.
It comes out every other day.
It's the fastest growing show Ihave to date.
I'm helping people.
It helps me to do it.
It's only one minute long, it'sfree and it's not conventional,
because I have some shows thatare always two hours long, but
you can do things out there andtest it.
It's only one minute long, it'sfree and it's not conventional,
because I have some shows thatare always two hours long, but
you can do things out there andtest it and guess what?
(37:40):
If it doesn't work and youdon't see any numbers, you can
put it aside and try somethingelse.
So I love that.
The point of entry is veryinexpensive and if you know what
you're doing, you can take ashot.
And so to me it's about brandbuilding, and who knows what
it'll be in the future.
It'll probably be oversaturated, like independent film was, but
there's always room for reallygood content.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
It's not a dream podcast.
You would like to do, youhaven't done, or like a dream
guest.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Yeah, exactly, in fact, the Good Thinking,
positive Affirmation Show isreally growing.
I really think I might exploregood thinking, positive
conversations and then havingnot just the one minute but
having a 15-minute conversationwith someone who is doing
interesting things in the worldas well.
It could be any walks of life.
I just love connecting withothers, from wherever they are,
(38:33):
if they have energy and a story.
And, much like you guys, you'reseeking out these same things.
So we all kind of like the samethings and I'm just trying to
find my niche within the niche,you know.
But it's just, it's so funny.
I thought it was really busyjust doing let's Talk, cobra Kai
, because it was all new to me,and now I'm doing a lot of shows
(38:53):
and I don't even feel like I'mbusy at all Because you're not
overwhelmed by it, like okay, Igot to do that, I got to slot
this, and it's like it becomesjust the life and not wearing
myself out and taking time forself.
But it's so fulfilling.
And to your point, of radio, Itotally agree.
I think there's an intimacyabout podcasting that we put on
(39:16):
our headphones or we're in ourcar and we can just zone out and
it doesn't require for you tosit and watch like a movie, and
that's what we hear.
We hear from fans.
The engagement I get is insane.
I've listened to every episodeof let's Talk Cobra Kai or let's
Talk Movies, or that's a Crime.
Some fans listen to the wholerun like a hundred episodes
(39:38):
Again, like a second time, athird time.
They drive across the countryor they drive for a living, or
they're always walking dogs fora living and you start to
realize you're impacting others.
You have a bond with people youdon't even know.
It's really special, and so nowI feel like a responsibility to
keep going special, and so nowI feel like a responsibility to
(39:59):
keep going.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
So, yeah, and, and to bring it full circle, you began
in documentaries, you're now inpodcasts and and, in a way, you
know, one of the not the onlyfunction of documentary, but one
of its primary functions was tobring about social change in
many ways.
Do you think that that that youpodcasts are the new
documentary in that respect,that they can bring social
change?
Speaker 1 (40:19):
I totally think so, and it's funny that I you know
kind of exit podcasting for nowor who knows if I ever go back,
but then it becomes you knowwhere Netflix is paying
filmmakers, I know, to do theseseries.
So it's funny whatdocumentaries turn into more
episodic and they're on Amazonand Netflix.
So it's like documentariesturned into more episodic and
and they're on Amazon andNetflix.
So it's like, oh, of course itgets easier.
(40:39):
But, yes, documentaries as well.
And there are documentarypodcasts, as you know, and I
haven't made one.
Mine are not the documentarystyle, but there's a point in
time that I want to explore that.
But yeah, I do believe it isnot replacing but it's like an
addendum to that.
You can get that informationhere.
You can.
I mean, I listen to a lot ofdocumentary podcasts.
(41:01):
Well, I don't have time to sitdown and watch it, but I can
listen to a 12-part series orwhat have you for sure.
I mean there's a couple ofshows I have coming online now
that are more in that vein, nota documentary per se, but more
news and informational andfascinating.
That will just be audio formatand I think that it's very
(41:22):
accepted.
So I mean, people want videopodcasts too, like this and
others, but the lion's share ofpeople are the most people still
just listen to podcasts becauseof the convenience.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
So, to wrap things up , what do you think is the
future for Jason Connell then,if we look forward, we've spent
all the time looking back, veryexcited.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
What's the future?
You know?
I hope that I just continue togrow this company just curious
media and have more shows they,they last, they reach more and
more people.
Shows, they last, they reachmore and more people and we're
able to work with more and moreclients.
I find that equally gratifyingto work, and not just a client,
but it's a partnership.
(42:04):
I really love to help others,and some of the shows that I'm
producing with partners andclients is they're coming to me
and they don't know anything andI love what their vision is.
So then we sit down and we mapthat out and a lot of times I
become the host, you know, themoderator for the show.
So this is even better.
So I want to see this grow,where I need a team to help it
(42:26):
continue on and we become a realbrand in the space.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Can I ask the final question then?
What would you?
We always ask our guests whatwould you say to your
21-year-old self?
Oh, man.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Wow, yeah, I think about that a lot.
Is there more to that?
Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
Yeah, and would you do it again?
I mean, what advice would yougive to yourself?
Speaker 1 (43:00):
give to yourself.
Okay, the short answer to thatwould be I would be kinder to
the 21-year-old self.
I was very hard on myself.
I pushed myself.
I tried to compare myself toothers.
If a filmmaker had donesomething at a certain age, I'd
rush to IMDb quickly, do themath and go gosh, they were only
22 when they did that, or 32when they did that.
And then I hear from otherfilmmakers who did the same
thing.
So I was very, very hard andpushed myself to kind of get to
(43:23):
where I'm at.
But I'm far kinder to myselfnow, like I'm not trying to hold
everything together like I didwith the festivals and
documentary filmmaking.
I took on too much and it doestake its toll on you.
We're only human.
Now I do a lot but I do it at areal easy level.
I have balance in my life likeI've never had it before.
(43:45):
I did leave California for fouryears during the pandemic.
I was on the East Coast andreally enjoyed my time there,
made a lot of friends, did a lotof work, have a lot of projects
.
But I came back because I dolove the sun, I do love warm
weather, I am on hikes and Iwork out every day and it's just
like I stay very balanced and Idid not see that.
(44:09):
I didn't understand that the21-year-old me but I would do
everything else the same.
The lessons I've learned andthe failures.
I learned a lot from failing ornot getting your expectations,
or nothing was easy.
So when you ever did finallyget to the mountaintop, it was
just so thrilling.
But it's not about that.
(44:30):
In fact, I won a lot of awardsat festivals a lot like
30-something awards.
Won a lot of awards atfestivals a lot like
30-something awards.
It felt equally, if not more,gratifying and fulfilling to
give awards to other people whenI was doing my festival and we
were giving awards.
That was just as thrilling, ifnot more, to honor them, because
it's not about the award.
I know it's not about the award, but that award helps catapult
(44:53):
you further.
But that award helps, you know,catapult you further.
So, yeah, a lot has changed,but I would probably tell myself
to be kinder to self.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
That's good To be kind.
Well, that's a lovely way toend and well, I honestly think
you've given our listeners areal award today.
It's been a fantasticconversation, so thanks ever so
much for for sharing your, yourbackground and your journey.
And I suppose just one verylast thing is where can
listeners and viewers find yourwork?
(45:22):
Obviously, just curious mediais your podcast company.
But some of those umdocumentary films that we've
been discussing the the earlyones where are they available?
Where could audiences find them?
Speaker 1 (45:34):
yeah, great question, because things come and go,
like our movies have all been on.
My films had all been onNetflix at one point in time but
Netflix phases out the oldright, so Amazon has really
become a place or a safe haven.
For most of the 10documentaries I did.
They're on there, either underprime or you can rent them for
like a dollar or $2.
(45:54):
So most of my films are onAmazon.
Some of them aren't availableright now but I think that'll
probably pivot at some point.
But you could go to IMDb, lookme up, jason Connell,
c-o-n-n-e-l-l.
Also on justcuriousmediacomthere's links to my personal
website which ismrmrjasonconnellcom, and it kind
(46:15):
of takes you to IMDB the othermovies.
But yeah, that's a really goodplace to track me down.
But Just Curious Media, forsure, I update it all the time.
You can even listen to everysingle podcast on the website.
If you don't really understandapps and stuff like that, people
get overwhelmed.
So we try to make it realsimple for people.
But that's a great place forsure.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Brilliant Well.
Thanks ever so much, jason.
It's clear that your curiosityis contagious and I really hope
the audience will be curious tofind out more about your work.
Thanks ever so much.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
Thank you.
Oh, it's my pleasure.
You guys are fantastic and Ireally appreciate all your time.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Thank you ever so much, and thank you to our
audience for listening and we'llsee you next time.
Hot lights fade the curtains rise, new stories
waiting behind our eyes.
Charlotte and John with thefinal say.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Breaking down the screens in their own way.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
This is the final cut , where the real reviews ignite.
Welcome everybody to the FinalCut, the latest in our in-depth
look at film and TV.
And today we're excited becausewe're joined by a guest who's
based right in the heart ofHollywood at the moment.
Hence you can see the Hollywoodsigns behind us fake background
(00:43):
, can see the, the hollywoodsigns behind us fake background.
And this guy's jason connell,who's worn many hats.
Actually he's a filmmaker,storyteller and now podcasting
pioneer.
Jason began his creative journeyin tulsa, oklahoma, where he's
from, and then, you know, slowlywithin his career, made his way
to los Angeles, where hestarted to gain a reputation for
(01:06):
himself through documentaryfilms that spotlight the lives
and stories that maybe otherpeople overlook.
Voice to perhaps the realunsung heroes of Hollywood.
(01:27):
The background actor, or as welike to call them today, at
least in the UK, supportingactors, the SAs, and later Jason
went on to produce Holy Rollers, the true story of card
counting Christians, blendingfaith, statistics and subculture
Interesting.
But today Jason is the founderof Just Curious Media, a company
that's really making areputation for itself and
(01:48):
producing some standout podcasts, including podcasts on true
crime and also, perhaps mostnotably, let's Talk Cobra Kai,
which has established itself asthe number one most popular
podcast based around discussionof the hit Netflix show, so
we're really excited to talkwith Jason today and to explore
(02:10):
his journey.
So welcome to the Final Cut,jason.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
It's a pleasure to be here with you both.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, real pleasure for us to talk to you.
So can I kick off and take youright back to the very beginning
in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Because Iwas particularly interested to
read from your background thatyou actually saw Francis Ford
Coppola at work when he shot inthe early 1980s two seminal
(02:40):
films from that period of hisoeuvre, the Outsiders and
Rumblefish.
Now that must have been a heckof an influence on you.
So maybe take us through thoseearly years in Tulsa and how you
think it affected your career.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, that was a huge moment.
Now I was a kid so my fatherwas a big movie buff and he
spoke highly of Francis FordCoppola and we owned a
restaurant like a health foodrestaurant, which was so not
Tulsa, oklahoma at the time.
It was more like aCalifornia-type restaurant.
But the crew and I thinkCoppola as well would come into
(03:19):
the restaurant and eat theresometimes.
So my dad would come home, mymother would come home, they
both worked there, we owned itand they would talk about it.
So we knew this was happening,the outsiders first and then
Rumblefish, like a year later,the next year.
So it was a bigger deal than Ieven realized as a kid.
But it just kind of connectedsome dots for me, like oh wow,
(03:40):
movie making and this is the guythat did.
You know the Godfather,godfather, Part Two, the
Conversation, you knowApocalypse Now.
So that was starting to kind ofyou know, run around in my
brain.
Not to mention, I was veryinfluenced by the movie Jaws and
that was already running on HBOlike around the clock and I was
eight, nine years old watchingit.
(04:00):
Probably too much for a kid ofmy age, but I could recognize
something about it.
So those two things were justlike huge.
I'd never met coppola, but wewould try to go on set or or you
could like stand a block away,and it was just.
I mean, look back at that cast,it was insane who they had for
the outsiders everybody beforethey blew up, you know.
(04:22):
So years later we, or the nextyear, we went and saw it in the
theater and yeah, that just kindof cemented that moviemaking's
a thing.
But I never thought that Iwould be where I'm at now.
I was just in awe of it all.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
What led you eventually away from Tulsa and
to Los Angeles for what we mightcall the first third of your
career as a documentaryfilmmaker.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
So it took a few decades, I think.
In college I started to tinkerwith because you know, this was
before there was digital editing, so linear editing.
It was just so cumbersome.
You had to know somebody, orthey worked at a news station
and they had access.
So I was in college studyingbusiness and just someone had a
camera and I grabbed it andstarted filming things and
(05:07):
friends had access and we wouldput together little things that
I was shooting on this linearediting bay and people would see
it and they would say, hey,you've got a real eye here, you
have some talent.
And then that led me to thenext thing.
And the next thing.
It was a slow progression, I'mnot going to lie, but by the
time I left college I really hadthe fever.
I didn't know if I was going tomake films, but I knew I wanted
(05:30):
to make things.
It could be skits for SaturdayNight Live or whatever it was.
I was going back.
I left Tulsa.
I went to a small well, Ishouldn't say that I went to
Oklahoma State, which is in asmall city in Oklahoma.
I went back to Tulsa, saved upmoney, bought my first editing
suite it was like a Sony VAIOediting and really taught myself
(05:50):
to edit and took that knowledgeand started shooting things and
started to get jobs, startedfreelancing.
It was like everything I didtook me to the next rung and I
kept building confidence andconfidence and I needed a lot of
it because I thought there's noway I could compete in
California.
But as a series of those thingshappened and I made a short
(06:12):
film that played at a festivaland that was really opened my
eyes to like, wow, I and like500 people were there and they
all loved the seven minute shortthat I did and I just thought,
hey, I, I could do this.
And so then I made the move,literally made that.
You know, grapes of wrath,oklahoma to California move,
(06:32):
thinking I'm going to do it.
But I wasn't 20.
I was like 32.
And I paid my dues a lot.
So that was the jump.
Now I didn't know I'd beenmaking documentaries and I can
pause there, but that's what ittook.
It took a lot of things to getme to that point, to come here
in 2004.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
So when you then arrived in los angeles and
hollywood, did you did you start?
So I'm really interested inyour documentary strictly
background and I and I watchedsome clips and so it just seems
so fascinating.
Did you yourself start?
As an extra, was that wasinspired or yeah, tell us a bit
(07:10):
about the background behind thefilm.
So the film is calleddocumentary, is called strictly
background yes, yeah, that'sexactly right.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I came out here.
I was here for a month.
I was on craigslist trying toedit things, shoot things, any
freelance work I could stir up,because I knew nobody, I didn't
know the industry, I just knew Ihad ambition and talent and a
lot of drive.
So I went on this ad and it wascasting for my favorite show at
(07:39):
the time, which was Six FeetUnder.
A great show on HBO Lasted likesix seasons, I believe.
Five or no, sorry, lasted fiveseasons and they were winding
down season four as a finale andthey needed some extras for an
art show scene.
So I like signed up, theycalled me and I went in and I
got to.
I would have paid them to letme watch them make my favorite
(08:01):
show.
And they put me in a scene andthat kind of blew my mind Like
wait a second, I'm in this scenenow.
And then I was meeting peoplethat do this type of work, a
background work for a living,and that was also like wait a
second, this is a job you know,like a career path, and so
anyway, the show wrapped and itwas amazing thing, alan Ball was
(08:22):
actually directing that episode.
Who created the series, who didAmerican Beauty and met some of
the cast.
And then months later it comeson HBO my family's freaking out
that I'm in a scene in ourmutual favorite show.
And so I went on another gigand it was like a huge Martin
Lawrence movie, two differentmovies, actually a lot like Love
(08:44):
and Rebound.
And that's when I said, okay,I'm going to make a documentary
about this, because thissubculture is amazing.
And I was literally on set orin extras holding is what they
call it and I told a buddy I go,I'm making a documentary about
this and it's going to be calledStrictly Background, and I'd
never made a documentary and Ididn't even know what I was
(09:05):
doing.
But I put my flag down and fivemonths later I was in
production of that movie.
That took me three years to do.
That I thought was only goingto take me six months.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Interesting, actually , that your documentary is
coterminous with quite anamusing Ricky Gervais series
from the same period calledExtras.
I just wondered how much theRicky Gervais series has any
relationship to what you saw andfilmed in terms of your
documentary.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
You know, we did come out first and I had a really
good friend, my landlord.
He became a good friend.
He worked for the HollywoodForeign Press and he bumped into
Ricky Gervais because I was atenant.
My movie had already come outon DVD back in the day and he
got a quote from Ricky Gervaisabout my show and we use that
quote.
So, I don't know if Gervais, youknow, whatever, it was a lot.
(09:59):
But people have ideas.
Everyone's got those ideas.
But I'm telling you it did openthe door for our doc.
It was like, hey, I heard ofEkster's Reconjure.
It really was a connector thathelped us get more publicity at
the time and it did great at thefestivals.
But I didn't know anything.
That first movie was like howlong is it going to take?
Like I said, it took threeyears, not six months, because
(10:20):
editing took 13 months.
I had no way of shape or formto understand that it was going
to take that long.
Then the festival circuit takesa long time.
You submit, you wait and all ofa sudden, once you start
getting into festivals and Iwent to Cork, ireland, where my
family's from, I went all overthe States and once you start on
(10:40):
the circuit, you're like goneand they're flying you there
Like bam, bam, bam, bam bam.
You're doing all these thingslike a roadshow and it blew my
mind and really kind ofvalidated me and that was it.
I didn't need anything else.
I was going to make more ofthem based on that experience
and all different stories thoughit's never easy, I'll tell you
(11:02):
that.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
But I'm always so proud of that first one because
without it I don't even have acareer out here.
A film festival is interestingplaces to meet people, but how
did you attract these?
How did you choose?
I mean, because you, you havechosen some kind of really
interesting characters, but howdid you find?
Speaker 1 (11:21):
them.
So by at the time I'd seen acouple of really good
documentaries.
One was called Home Movie andthe other one was called
Cinerama, and Spellbound wasalso very good and very popular.
But I really liked thisensemble piece where they would
follow some of the interestingcharacters, I should say, off on
their own little thing and thenthey would kind of bring them
(11:43):
back in.
And so I knew that I wanted tofollow some interesting eclectic
people trying to make it inHollywood, and I also hoped I
wouldn't have a hard timecasting it.
So I ran an ad.
It was February 4th 2005.
And I rented a place out onMelrose Avenue for all day, like
12 hours, and we had likehundreds of people show up who
(12:06):
wanted to be in the movie.
So it's a great place for acasting call in LA and the first
.
So when we got there like sixin the morning, seven in the
morning, there was one guyalready there and we weren't
even going to open for anotherhour and I was like what a
character he is.
And he did make it in the movieand he famously says in the
(12:27):
movie our movie he says I'drather be an hour early than a
minute late for any job.
Well, he was definitely an hourearly and we hired him, jeffrey
Gould.
So I met so many people thatday and I actually moved forward
with 13 people but I whittledit down to 10.
And then they were more older,interesting, they had some great
(12:50):
stories and substance and somepeople are supporting in a more
supportive role.
And then I had to go get acasting agency or two just to
kind of have that other voice.
And then we had to sprinkle inmovie clips and I had to get a
lawyer to really protectourselves on the better use you
know the Fair Use Act andeverything like that.
But it was a process.
(13:11):
If I'd known everything I knewbefore I started I may have
rethought it, but I was in andI'm so, so grateful for making
that film, and then you moved onto produce Holy Rollers, which
combines card counting andChristians.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Now that doesn't naturally go together.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
How did that all come together?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Yeah.
So after Strictly it's funny Inever directed again.
I did nine other docs, but Iwas just producing, but really
hands-on because I was alsorunning a film festival that
sprouted, which we'll save.
So all of a sudden I was busierthan ever.
So my director of photography,my DP on Strictly Background,
(13:59):
was my co-editor as well as verybrilliant, talented filmmaker,
and he wanted to make his firstmovie and he knew the people
from Holy Rollers and you knowspoiler alert he even joined the
team.
So we were talking one day andhe's like you know, we should,
you should do a documentaryabout these guys.
You have access and access issuch a big part of documentary
(14:20):
filmmaking.
You need access, you needpeople that trust you.
So we moved forward and when wewere just talking about the
idea, I just said let's call itHoly Rollers, the true story of
card counting Christians, and sothat's what it is, and we went
off about three years and sothey did trust us and he was on
the team.
We had that level of access andwe thought the movie might take
(14:41):
10 years to come out becausethe team was doing so well and
they didn't want to be outed.
But then things happen and themovie was allowed to come out
sooner than later and it didvery well at the festivals.
And Netflix it was.
I mean, it was picked up byNetflix at a time before Netflix
was making original shows, soit's like pre House of Cards,
(15:02):
and they came and called andwell, through my distributor,
and said hey, a three-year deal.
And it was just like wow, itwas such a big thing and it's
very controversial.
It did very well at the filmfestivals, as you can imagine,
because it's like such a greatdiscussion and nearly, nearly,
nearly, became a big narrativemovie.
We had an A-list directorattached, a studio, oh wow.
(15:25):
And then the last second or Isay last second, but it just
didn't go through Something elsewent through in that director.
I mean, he's done huge movies,so that was an almost story to
turn it into a bigger movie.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Anyway, interesting thing, what did you think some
challenging was working as anindependent filmmaker in LA, and
I can imagine that so manypeople traveling all over the
world to come to la to makemovies.
So what do you think thebiggest challenges are?
Speaker 1 (15:53):
well, you never have enough money right.
So there's that and I just thatwasn't a weakness, I just
accepted it right and I knew Ihad a vision.
So we never had, we weren't, weweren't living k cush and we
were all working for less andworking side hustles because we
loved what we were doing.
And we then started to build atrack record of getting
distribution.
So the biggest hurdle was well,I needed other, really A
(16:16):
players.
I needed a small group oftalented people with shared
vision.
So I was able to carve that out, which was fortunate for me.
When I started the filmfestivals, I really expanded my
network because when you'remaking a movie, you're like in a
silo, it's just a few of youguys and you're working away.
But the festivals allowed me totalk to other people, look at
(16:38):
their work, shared resources.
I began producing with people Imet through the film festival.
So I really liked that.
It got me out of just thatclosed off mindset and expanded
upon that and also justshepherding other people's work.
So for me, I'm not normal, Idon't think I'm abnormal, unique
(17:00):
, so I was doing that.
But, to answer your question,there's so many challenges and
what you have to do is believein yourself and your vision.
Maybe you don't want to be adirector, maybe you just want to
be a part of another team.
So find your tribe right, findwhat you're passionate about,
find your skillset and find goodpeople to be around.
(17:21):
Because I'll tell you what Imoved out here and I hit the
ground running because I washungry and I would meet people
that just wanted to talk, and Idon't mean that's a bad thing,
but I mean talk about doingthings.
And you check in with them sixmonths later and they're still
talking about maybe doingsomething.
I don't have time for that.
I am moving forward.
We only have so much time onthis planet and so much energy,
(17:42):
so create now when you have thecapacity to do so, and there's a
lot of those types of people.
In a place like los angeles,california, in oklahoma, I was a
unicorn there was.
I couldn't find another me butout here.
That's why I like bigger places, the pool of people, and I was
really fortunate to make themove here.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And what would you recommend for someone who are
interested in going to, maybefrom somewhere like Oklahoma
today and Well, the landscape'schanged.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
That was 2004.
Even places like Oklahoma sincethe pandemic I've seen that I
don't go there much, but I havefamily there.
They've changed.
There's a bigger art community.
People are leaving biggercities and going to other places
because they can afford to live.
So if I was 20 now, I don'tknow if I would rush to Los
Angeles.
But I'm here and this is mylife.
(18:36):
I've been here 20 years andthere's so many reasons that I
would never leave.
But I think you can do itanywhere.
You can find that tribe onlinenow.
That didn't exist when I cameout here.
I mean, we had internet, but wedidn't even have YouTube.
So it's just like find yourpeople around you.
Your other peers, colleagues,share stuff online, get ideas.
(18:59):
I mean, I'm a podcaster.
Now I don't have to be aroundpeople.
I can do it from anywhere.
We're doing it across thecountry.
What am I saying Across theworld right now?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Across the world.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, yeah.
You guys are far and wide andhere we are, so it has changed.
But really, you got to have avision for what you want to do.
I always have it clear as dayin my mind, and then it's about
creating that and makingadjustments as you go.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
That's so interesting that you've talked about the
way in which Los Angeles, whichtraditionally was seen as the
center you've got to be there oryou're no one.
Now this feeling that maybethat town is now being
de-centered is tremendouslyinteresting, and the way in
which the internet has liberatedit.
(19:44):
There was a famous mediaprofessor called Henry Jenkins
who said we're now in the era ofhere comes everybody, whereas
previously it was just one ortwo people in elites.
Now you've had several lives.
You've talked about the energythat you bring to all your
passions, and we must talk aboutwhat I would call maybe the
(20:05):
second act in your career so far, which is film festivals.
So you ran the United FilmFestival for, I think, 12 years,
so can you maybe talk usthrough that transition, the way
that you moved from being sortof, if you like, poacher to
gamekeeper?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yeah, and I guess I was doing the documentaries and
film festivals simultaneouslybecause they kind of fed each
other.
So that part.
They are two different things,but I was kind of doing them at
the same time.
And so I actually started thefestival in my hometown of Tulsa
and I did one festival like oneyear and then I moved.
So when I moved and I got, Imean it was just short films, it
(20:45):
hadn't grown, it hadn't reallyblossomed, but there was
something about that energy Iliked and also filmmaking, even
documentaries.
You're in fundraising, you'refinishing editing, you're
waiting for a festival.
There's still a lot of hurry upand wait.
You're finishing editing,you're waiting for a festival.
There's still a lot of hurry upand wait and, as I already
spoke to, I don't want to sitaround on idle hands.
So I was like you know what?
I had that festival in Tulsa.
(21:05):
It was a great way to meetpeople and that's what made me
have that eureka moment andstart it here in LA.
I already knew a lot offilmmakers and I like to do
things big.
So I started the LA one it wasLos Angeles United Film Festival
Kept it going in Tulsa, soresurrected a second year there
and why not cover the coast anddo New York?
(21:27):
And so I thought that's a greatidea because I can be in New
York once a year.
And this is small, this isn'tlike a festival that we have
multiple screens, but it is onescreen for seven days.
So I had to like buildrelationships with the right
venues, build, you know,connectivity with an audience.
And I'm telling you, over those12 years we started to really
(21:50):
grow and I expanded further.
I then took it to San Francisco, chicago and London for like
six of the 12 years, took it toSan Francisco, chicago and
London for like six of the 12years.
So then every two months I'mgoing to a city.
Eventually I had more help andit was a different lineup.
It would be kind of tailor-madefor Chicago more Chicago movies
and then some bigger movies.
And I just loved it.
(22:12):
I'd be producing.
That's kind of another reasonwhy I was producing the
documentaries by then and notdirecting.
I'd be in London talking to thedirectors, talking to the
editing team, because you coulddo that remotely.
And then, oh, I got to go on, Igot to introduce this movie.
So I just got used to that kindof pacing and connectivity and
I even started doingdistribution for movies through
(22:34):
our film festival because my owndoc started to get a lot of
distribution the 10 I did.
So then I became a sales repfor like a hundred movies,
getting them small deals,because no one will listen to a
one.
You know, hey, I have a film,but if you come in with like 20,
30, 40, the distributors willat least listen.
So I did all of that forseveral years at 12 years.
(22:56):
The issue is it kind of burnedme out a little bit.
I was going a little too hot, alittle too much, and you
realize like, and also I neverhad that big payday.
Festivals aren't cash cows.
They take a lot of work,tickets and the submissions
would help cover the bills andpay the staff and me something.
(23:17):
But it was nonstop.
We were getting thousands ofsubmissions.
We had lots of.
It was a great thing I did,it's amazing.
But at one point I just said,hey, I think it's run its course
.
Or what I should have done inhindsight is probably throttle
back and made the LA one bigger,because the LA one was just it
had gotten to another level here.
(23:38):
We had celebrities coming out,we honor people, we'd show
classic movies.
But I love the brand.
I'm so proud of it.
People still talk about ittoday if it comes up which is
really cool.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Do you have any interesting anecdotes?
The LA one, do you have any?
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Well, I mean, yeah, mean yeah, so I mean I was that
one.
We actually had two theaters wedid.
It was the Vista Theater, whichwas so famous and is actually
now owned by Quentin Tarantino.
He bought it during thepandemic, which is cool.
It's right like where Sunsetand Hollywood converged.
The Vista Theater you've seenit a in a lot of movies and they
(24:17):
do handprints out front, verysimilar to Grauman's Theater,
grauman's Chinese Theater inHollywood, but there's only like
room for like maybe 30 or 40 ofthem.
Well, I was able to bring fourof them to the Vista because of
my festival.
They would say hey, jason, doyou have anybody you want to
honor?
So I was so happy to honor CarlGottlieb who wrote Jaws.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
The theater's old this month, Exactly 50 this
month.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
He also directed movies like Dr Detroit and
Caveman, but he was a famous andis just such a famous writer.
So he came out.
We played Jaws in 35 millimeteryears ago.
Then we honored Vilmos Zygmunt.
Rest in peace.
Incredible cinematographer.
He did Close Encounters,deliverance.
I mean, this guy worked intohis 80s and he got his
(25:04):
handprints out front.
Then we had this is a big oneJohn Landis Honored him.
We played what movie we playedfor him I think it was Animal
House and met him.
He's an idol of mine.
I'm like I am honoring an idolof mine.
His handprints are still therebecause he's like.
He called me right back when weasked him via email.
He's like Jason, I've never hadmy handprints.
(25:25):
I didn't work out with Graumantiming, so he was elated.
And then I honored DabneyColeman and Mark Rydell because
they had worked on Golden Pond,rydell had directed it and of
course, dabney Coleman he justpassed away last year.
He became a dear friend and wedid a documentary on him called
Dabney Coleman, or Conversationswith Dabney Coleman or I'm
(25:47):
sorry, let me say that again,not Such a Bad Guy Conversations
with Dabney Coleman and a greatdoc, bio doc.
So those four things were worth.
Every bit that I put in the 12years To honor legends to myself
and others was like I mean itwas crazy.
I mean I'm still on cloud ninethinking about it.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Can I ask a bit about the motivation of doing this
film festival?
Was it that you wanted to havefilm that you didn't feel was
seen, or did you feel that youdidn't get a chance to be seen?
Or what was your motivation tostart a film festival?
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Fair, yeah, I'll tell you.
And to honor those guys was bethose great legends was because
we were playing classic movies.
We really were an independentfilm festival.
For you know, first andforemost and great question.
So back in 2000, 1999, I mademy first short film and no,
that's not true, it was thesecond short film I did and it
(26:46):
didn't get into that festival inTulsa, tulsa Overground.
That my first film got into andthey censored it.
And now this is the Bible Beltand it wasn't dirty, it was more
rated R, just some humor, adultlanguage, nothing bad.
But they said, jason, we lovedit, but we couldn't play it.
It got censored.
So I was like the slam dancemodel to Sundance.
(27:06):
I was like, oh, you censored it.
Okay, I'm starting my own filmfestival and that's where it
started from, and it wasactually called Tulsa Uncensored
Film Festival for the first fewyears.
And then I got away from that aswe grew and the brand grew
because people were thinking itwas like literal, like oh, it's
going to be raunchy, and so wemoved it to United, which was
(27:29):
more embracing.
So that was the genesis for thefestival.
But over time it was reallyshepherding other filmmakers in
quality.
We were very quality driven butwe really like to get local
premieres, like all festivals do.
So if someone didn't get into,say, an LA version, if they
didn't get into the LA FilmFestival or AFI, they're looking
(27:51):
for an LA premiere.
We became that third rung formany, many years.
We were getting great moviesthat would go on and get an HBO
deal.
We had short films by futureOscar winners, of other
documentaries or shorts, and Iwould always pair great shorts
with the features.
So we didn't have trailers, sowe would have a packed house and
(28:15):
they would watch a seven-minuteshort and these were high, high
quality and be blown away.
And we had like 90% filmmakerparticipation.
So we had Q and A's always.
So people loved it.
It was a film goers, filmmakersparadise.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Yeah, she mentioned that, but at the same time, you
touched on the fact that thiswas a huge juggernaut and you
were really feeling stressed andalmost burnt out by it.
So is that why you decided tomove to podcasting?
Was that the aha moment andwhat brought you into the world
of podcasting, as opposed to,obviously, the filmmaking
(28:52):
background that you had workedin before?
Speaker 1 (28:55):
You know it wasn't this.
I don't think I was overlystressed.
I just kind of hit a wall oneday because it's a grind right.
I mean making 10 documentarieswith barely any money.
I kind of told myself, don't doit that way again.
I nearly made an 11thdocumentary, but we were going
for real funding and we almosthad it and something happened.
This is how the world works, orfilmmaking works, and it didn't
(29:18):
go through and I said, ratherthan just jump in and do what
you do, pump the brakes, don'tjust do it.
You've already done 10 of them.
And film festivals was kind ofthe same.
We were really close to gettingsome bigger sponsorship, but it
didn't happen.
So I didn't want to keep doingthe grind, but my own habits had
changed.
I mean, imagine watchinghundreds and hundreds and
(29:40):
hundreds of submitted films fromsome of these films should
never see the light of day Ihate to say it, but others did,
and that made me a betterfilmmaker.
Honestly, watching those.
And then I had people curatingthem to get to me and you could
just see flaws or beauty rightaway, I became really astute
curator and, not to mention, I'ma cinephile.
(30:01):
So I'm watching everything else.
But my own habits changed.
I don't have time to sit downand watch just incessant movies
over and over our newsubmissions and I was really
gravitating to audibles, podcastand kind of that old radio
intimacy right.
So I talked about it for yearswhen I was still finishing my
(30:23):
last couple of docs, like Ireally want to start a podcast,
and kind of toyed with the idea.
So I waited and then severalyears later, maybe five years
later, I already had the logofor Just Curious Media.
Then it was time wheneverything was tidied up, put
aside and I knew I wanted tomake this my third act and more
(30:44):
sustainable, because I don'thave to physically be all over
the place.
The price point's easier tomanage.
You don't need a huge, robustteam to look at all these movies
.
And so then I made the leap andI didn't know it would work.
I really didn't.
It's been six years now, sixyears it feels like yesterday.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
How do you think podcasting is similar or
different from documentary orfrom filmmaking?
How do you?
Speaker 1 (31:12):
well, they are very different.
They are, but it's it's beingcreative right, and it's
different in the sense that it'sI like the reward, I like doing
it and having an episode comeout and moving on to the next or
documentaries.
It's like you really can'tpivot too far.
You're making a movie andyou're making a movie and you're
bringing the ship in Harbor andyou can't really.
(31:35):
So I knew that I really wantedthe little wins along the way.
I didn't know I would come outwith a lot of shows and it would
keep growing.
I also had to pivot and startbringing in clients, because
even popular shows don't makerevenue right away and so that's
not sustainable.
So now I'm taking, it's grown alot in these six years.
(31:56):
I learned things along the way,but I'm still headed the same
direction.
But there's some more in thesense that you need equipment,
you need to understand editing.
I came in with a fullunderstanding of editing films
and I do all the post-productionand I mean I have years of
experience and it helps meimmensely.
In fact, to me it was easier,easier.
Oh, I only need this muchequipment compared to you know a
(32:17):
camera and and always getting anew camera and I mean it's so
much cheaper, but, um, but I'm,you know, I'm learning along the
way, and it just happened to bein a space that's just
continued to explode and growand we don't even know what
podcasts are going to become.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, well, let's talk about Cobra Kai, which has
really been a huge, huge hit,and why do you think that that
one in particular took off andbecame this juggernaut for you?
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Well, I'll tell you, when I chose it it was nothing
and no offense to it, but it wason YouTube Red.
Nobody I knew was talking aboutit.
But I had studied a lot of docu.
What am I saying?
I studied a lot of podcasts andI knew my first one.
I wanted to do a two-personconversation, like a recap show,
because that way I could reallyunderstand what I'm doing and
(33:11):
just get into it.
So I randomly chose Cobra Kai.
I reluctantly put the show onone day because I love the
Karate Kid.
I think it's a masterpiece.
John G Avildsen who would go anddo Rocky before?
Who did Rocky beforehand?
It's basically Rocky for kids,but it holds up.
It's a beautiful movie.
Pat Morita gets nominated foran Oscar, so that's like the
(33:33):
crown jewel and what is thisgoing to be?
But first episode in, I'm twoscenes in and I'm saying I am
going to do a recap show on thisand I'll be able to work out
all the kinks.
So I went and recruited aco-host who I had known from my
film festivals.
In fact he came.
Sal Rodriguez came to thetryouts for Strictly Background
(33:57):
because he grew up in Hollywoodand he was on shows like Wonder
Years and 90210 is an extra, andwe bonded right away.
But I was going for an oldercrowd, like an older cast, but I
kept his number and years laterI called him and hired him to
host an event and then we becamefriends and he worked with me a
lot as a host.
So I called him and hired himto host an event and then we
became friends and he workedwith me a lot as a host.
(34:18):
So I asked him and he watchedthe first episode and said I'm
in, or maybe he watched theKarate Kid again and he said he
was in.
So we didn't know this show wasgoing to blow up.
It was just something for me totry and this is what I wanted
to do.
So we did season one, season twothe show is still on YouTube
the pandemic hits.
We got like 50 downloads amonth, nothing crickets, but I
(34:42):
didn't care.
I was like I've made 20episodes.
I did the Karate Kid.
We did have a long version ofthe Karate Kid, scene by scene
breakdown, and then, when thepandemic hit, netflix got
involved and they moved thosefirst two seasons to Netflix and
all of a sudden the popularitystarted to grow and I looked at
(35:03):
our numbers and we're notgetting 50 a month, we were
getting thousands a week.
And I was like so I did nothingdifferent other than be at the
right place at the right timeand bet on the right horse.
So I quickly told Sal.
I was like, hey, netflix isgoing to do a third season and
maybe more, but we're getting alot of downloads.
We got to do episodes outsideof the show, of the show show.
(35:26):
So we started doing episodes onbehind the scenes of this and
let's talk about that, and nowwe just launched our 200th
episode a couple of weeks ago.
So we've done so many of thesenon, you know, episodes related
to the show, just in the generaluniverse of the karate kid
cobra guy, and we have so manyfans.
I couldn't be more thankful andgrateful for that.
(35:47):
So that gave me confidence,like strictly backgrounded, to
launch a second show and a thirdshow and so on and so forth.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
To me, with a sort of long history of being involved
with media in various ways,usually studying it.
In some ways it's kind of backto the egg with podcasts, isn't
it?
You know, it's radio reborn.
You know the oldest mediumsuddenly becomes.
(36:18):
And why is it?
And do you think that podcastsin the future?
Where do you think it's goingto go with podcasts?
You mentioned that it mighthave an unexpected future.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
You know, I don't know I'm willing to be surprised
, I'm just happy to be in it andI know that I'm not chasing a
fad.
Like really I'm not.
I know I'm willing to besurprised, I'm just happy to be
in it and I know that I'm notchasing a fad.
Like really I'm not.
I know I'm not a celebrity yet.
No, I mean like a big celebritythey launch a show and it's
like everybody's listening.
But stay true to making yourgreat content.
I perceive it as great and weknow we're connecting with fans.
You see numbers.
So I like that.
(36:57):
But to answer your question,where it's going, I mean I don't
know, but I know you can takechances and that I like.
Like I had an idea 14 monthsago, just over a year ago, and
it's called good thinking, and Ireally wanted to create a
positive affirmation show andyou can call it a podcast, but
sometimes it's not even apodcast but it falls under
podcast.
So it's one minute long.
I do a narration of a greataffirmation repeats three times
(37:17):
with music bed.
I've now done.
Today I released the 236thepisode.
It comes out every other day.
It's the fastest growing show Ihave to date.
I'm helping people.
It helps me to do it.
It's only one minute long, it'sfree and it's not conventional,
because I have some shows thatare always two hours long, but
you can do things out there andtest it.
It's only one minute long, it'sfree and it's not conventional,
because I have some shows thatare always two hours long, but
you can do things out there andtest it and guess what?
(37:40):
If it doesn't work and youdon't see any numbers, you can
put it aside and try somethingelse.
So I love that.
The point of entry is veryinexpensive and if you know what
you're doing, you can take ashot.
And so to me it's about brandbuilding, and who knows what
it'll be in the future.
It'll probably be oversaturated, like independent film was, but
there's always room for reallygood content.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
It's not a dream podcast.
You would like to do, youhaven't done, or like a dream
guest.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
Yeah, exactly, in fact, the Good Thinking,
positive Affirmation Show isreally growing.
I really think I might exploregood thinking, positive
conversations and then havingnot just the one minute but
having a 15-minute conversationwith someone who is doing
interesting things in the worldas well.
It could be any walks of life.
I just love connecting withothers, from wherever they are,
(38:33):
if they have energy and a story.
And, much like you guys, you'reseeking out these same things.
So we all kind of like the samethings and I'm just trying to
find my niche within the niche,you know.
But it's just, it's so funny.
I thought it was really busyjust doing let's Talk, cobra Kai
, because it was all new to me,and now I'm doing a lot of shows
(38:53):
and I don't even feel like I'mbusy at all Because you're not
overwhelmed by it, like okay, Igot to do that, I got to slot
this, and it's like it becomesjust the life and not wearing
myself out and taking time forself.
But it's so fulfilling.
And to your point, of radio, Itotally agree.
I think there's an intimacyabout podcasting that we put on
(39:16):
our headphones or we're in ourcar and we can just zone out and
it doesn't require for you tosit and watch like a movie, and
that's what we hear.
We hear from fans.
The engagement I get is insane.
I've listened to every episodeof let's Talk Cobra Kai or let's
Talk Movies, or that's a Crime.
Some fans listen to the wholerun like a hundred episodes
(39:38):
Again, like a second time, athird time.
They drive across the countryor they drive for a living, or
they're always walking dogs fora living and you start to
realize you're impacting others.
You have a bond with people youdon't even know.
It's really special, and so nowI feel like a responsibility to
keep going special, and so nowI feel like a responsibility to
(39:59):
keep going.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
So, yeah, and, and to bring it full circle, you began
in documentaries, you're now inpodcasts and and, in a way, you
know, one of the not the onlyfunction of documentary, but one
of its primary functions was tobring about social change in
many ways.
Do you think that that that youpodcasts are the new
documentary in that respect,that they can bring social
change?
Speaker 1 (40:19):
I totally think so, and it's funny that I you know
kind of exit podcasting for nowor who knows if I ever go back,
but then it becomes you knowwhere Netflix is paying
filmmakers, I know, to do theseseries.
So it's funny whatdocumentaries turn into more
episodic and they're on Amazonand Netflix.
So it's like documentariesturned into more episodic and
and they're on Amazon andNetflix.
So it's like, oh, of course itgets easier.
(40:39):
But, yes, documentaries as well.
And there are documentarypodcasts, as you know, and I
haven't made one.
Mine are not the documentarystyle, but there's a point in
time that I want to explore that.
But yeah, I do believe it isnot replacing but it's like an
addendum to that.
You can get that informationhere.
You can.
I mean, I listen to a lot ofdocumentary podcasts.
(41:01):
Well, I don't have time to sitdown and watch it, but I can
listen to a 12-part series orwhat have you for sure.
I mean there's a couple ofshows I have coming online now
that are more in that vein, nota documentary per se, but more
news and informational andfascinating.
That will just be audio formatand I think that it's very
(41:22):
accepted.
So I mean, people want videopodcasts too, like this and
others, but the lion's share ofpeople are the most people still
just listen to podcasts becauseof the convenience.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
So, to wrap things up , what do you think is the
future for Jason Connell then,if we look forward, we've spent
all the time looking back, veryexcited.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
What's the future?
You know?
I hope that I just continue togrow this company just curious
media and have more shows they,they last, they reach more and
more people.
Shows, they last, they reachmore and more people and we're
able to work with more and moreclients.
I find that equally gratifyingto work, and not just a client,
but it's a partnership.
(42:04):
I really love to help others,and some of the shows that I'm
producing with partners andclients is they're coming to me
and they don't know anything andI love what their vision is.
So then we sit down and we mapthat out and a lot of times I
become the host, you know, themoderator for the show.
So this is even better.
So I want to see this grow,where I need a team to help it
(42:26):
continue on and we become a realbrand in the space.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Can I ask the final question then?
What would you?
We always ask our guests whatwould you say to your
21-year-old self?
Oh, man.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Wow, yeah, I think about that a lot.
Is there more to that?
Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
Yeah, and would you do it again?
I mean, what advice would yougive to yourself?
Speaker 1 (43:00):
give to yourself.
Okay, the short answer to thatwould be I would be kinder to
the 21-year-old self.
I was very hard on myself.
I pushed myself.
I tried to compare myself toothers.
If a filmmaker had donesomething at a certain age, I'd
rush to IMDb quickly, do themath and go gosh, they were only
22 when they did that, or 32when they did that.
And then I hear from otherfilmmakers who did the same
thing.
So I was very, very hard andpushed myself to kind of get to
(43:23):
where I'm at.
But I'm far kinder to myselfnow, like I'm not trying to hold
everything together like I didwith the festivals and
documentary filmmaking.
I took on too much and it doestake its toll on you.
We're only human.
Now I do a lot but I do it at areal easy level.
I have balance in my life likeI've never had it before.
(43:45):
I did leave California for fouryears during the pandemic.
I was on the East Coast andreally enjoyed my time there,
made a lot of friends, did a lotof work, have a lot of projects
.
But I came back because I dolove the sun, I do love warm
weather, I am on hikes and Iwork out every day and it's just
like I stay very balanced and Idid not see that.
(44:09):
I didn't understand that the21-year-old me but I would do
everything else the same.
The lessons I've learned andthe failures.
I learned a lot from failing ornot getting your expectations,
or nothing was easy.
So when you ever did finallyget to the mountaintop, it was
just so thrilling.
But it's not about that.
(44:30):
In fact, I won a lot of awardsat festivals a lot like
30-something awards.
Won a lot of awards atfestivals a lot like
30-something awards.
It felt equally, if not more,gratifying and fulfilling to
give awards to other people whenI was doing my festival and we
were giving awards.
That was just as thrilling, ifnot more, to honor them, because
it's not about the award.
I know it's not about the award, but that award helps catapult
(44:53):
you further.
But that award helps, you know,catapult you further.
So, yeah, a lot has changed,but I would probably tell myself
to be kinder to self.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
That's good To be kind.
Well, that's a lovely way toend and well, I honestly think
you've given our listeners areal award today.
It's been a fantasticconversation, so thanks ever so
much for for sharing your, yourbackground and your journey.
And I suppose just one verylast thing is where can
listeners and viewers find yourwork?
(45:22):
Obviously, just curious mediais your podcast company.
But some of those umdocumentary films that we've
been discussing the the earlyones where are they available?
Where could audiences find them?
Speaker 1 (45:34):
yeah, great question, because things come and go,
like our movies have all been on.
My films had all been onNetflix at one point in time but
Netflix phases out the oldright, so Amazon has really
become a place or a safe haven.
For most of the 10documentaries I did.
They're on there, either underprime or you can rent them for
like a dollar or $2.
(45:54):
So most of my films are onAmazon.
Some of them aren't availableright now but I think that'll
probably pivot at some point.
But you could go to IMDb, lookme up, jason Connell,
c-o-n-n-e-l-l.
Also on justcuriousmediacomthere's links to my personal
website which ismrmrjasonconnellcom, and it kind
(46:15):
of takes you to IMDB the othermovies.
But yeah, that's a really goodplace to track me down.
But Just Curious Media, forsure, I update it all the time.
You can even listen to everysingle podcast on the website.
If you don't really understandapps and stuff like that, people
get overwhelmed.
So we try to make it realsimple for people.
But that's a great place forsure.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
Brilliant Well.
Thanks ever so much, jason.
It's clear that your curiosityis contagious and I really hope
the audience will be curious tofind out more about your work.
Thanks ever so much.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
Thank you.
Oh, it's my pleasure.
You guys are fantastic and Ireally appreciate all your time.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Thank you ever so much, and thank you to our
audience for listening and we'llsee you next time.
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