Doug Jones and Derek Maki: Get Me Doug Jones

Actor Doug Jones, and his manager, Derek Maki, dive into today's episode of The Fisch Bowl. Known for his work playing non-human and creature roles in movies and shows including Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, and Star Trek: Discovery, Jones now has his own documentary in the works called Get Me Doug Jones, telling his story as an actor and sharing his experiences that built his career. Swim into the bowl now to hear what Jones and Maki had to say!

Transcript

Welcome To The Fishbowl

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Attention on the fishes in the sea.

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to the fishbowl.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Doug Jones and Derek Monkey, manager of Doug Jones on the Fishbowl. Welcome. Hi, thanks for having us. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you for taking the time to swim in the fishbowl with me.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

I was hoping that you were going to have like a fishbowl set where you sat. That would'd be cool.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

It's in the works. I'm trying to get a whole like aquatic, you know, Jaws aquatic fishbowl theme going.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

You know, I played two fishmen in my career too. So this is apropos.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Exactly, exactly. And I have a lot of questions about those characters as well.

Doug Jones Finds His Lane

SPEAKER_00 0:48

But before we kind of get into that, my question for both of you is what got you interested in film and as well as some of your inspirations and everything that kind of led to where things are at now and the the Get Me Doug Jones documentary.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Okay, well, you can ask that one question. We can take up the entire hour doing that. Yeah, because I um well, that entire story with all its details are going to be in the documentary, yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

You know, as a young, skinny, goofy kid in Indiana with hopes and dreams, and then coming all the way up to today, where uh, you know, I have a 40-year career behind me now, and and a still a career yet ahead of me. We find a lot of details in that in that story. And the question people most people ask about like, how did how did this become what it is with me being like known as the guy who wears rubber bits and plays monsters and creatures in film and TV? That kind of happened by accident. I was hoping my my my aspirations were to be a goofy next-door neighbor on a sitcom. I grew up watching comedy, watching the Dick Van Dyke show and the Andy Griffiths show, Don Knotts as as as Barney Fife, and Dick Van Dyke as as a long lanky man who was leading his own sitcom, beautiful. And the Carol Burnett show, anybody on that, all the goofy people in that, Gilligan's Island, Gomer Pyle, all those old sitcoms that had funny people that weren't necessarily pretty. And I felt like a really ugly, uh geeky, out of sorts kid. And I thought, well, if I can grow up into one of these people, then I can be on TV. So that's where my my where my aspirations were. And then when I got to Hollywoodland in 1985, my first agent had me out on auditions that involved being tall and skinny and with a mime background. So movement was a thing that he was pushing with with all my auditions, as well as flexibility. I could put my legs behind my head, so contortionist was on my resume. Well, when you're going out for roles that are asking for that kind of physical tomfoolery, those roles often come with a look that has to be applied to you or slipped into you, zipped up the back and or glued on and or painted on. So I met a lot of creature effects makeup artists when I started booking these movement-oriented jobs and did a lot of commercials. So what happened was I booked my fourth TV commercial booking in 1986 was the Mac Tonight campaign for McDonald's, which was turned into a phenomenon. It was this crescent moon-headed character with a face on it and sunglasses on it. He was a cool hipster, like the nightclub singer that played on the piano that floated on the cloud

Mac Tonight And Creature Referrals

SPEAKER_01 3:32

as he sang about McDonald's. So that that campaign turned into a 27 commercial campaign over a three-year period. That's how I bought my first house. Excuse me, that was also the uh the catalyst for the rest of my career. Sorry. Are you okay?

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Oh yeah, it's a you know, and we're in the trench car. You know, you can you can you're welcome to have some water.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

No, I don't want I don't want to, I just don't want to die on camera. I uh what happened then was a lot of creature effects makeup people worked on these commercial shoots with us with the the the effects team. And so I started meeting and getting a reputation built with creature effects people. And by the end, well, uh by the end of that commercial campaign, I had relationships at all the major creature shops around LA. So what would happen in the referral process started? They would see a concept art of a tall, skinny creature and be like, I just worked with him on this commercial shoot. So those calls would come directly to me. So I kind of circumvented their usual casting process where TV show or a film would come to the Creature Effects house and say, Here's a monster we want in our in our movie or T or show. The the effects designers would say, Oh, we just worked with a guy, we have a guy that was perfect for this. And the show would say, Oh, well, you know better than we do, so bring him in, you know, show us some pictures and we're good to go. So I it was uh getting cast in things became easier because of these referrals. I owe my career to the creature effects designers, honestly. Awesome.

Guillermo Del Toro And New Goals

SPEAKER_01 5:08

And then getting up to today, when I started meeting directors like Guillermo del Toro in 1997 when I did his first American movie Mimic, and then that relationship started, yeah, it turned into six feature films and a TV series that he had me in. Now I'm getting recognized for not just my my movement, but also my acting skills, hopefully. And and so when when a director then comes back for you again and again, and he trusts your your acting abilities, he trusts the the way I climb into a character and become something you know otherworldly, that that then only only kept the snowball getting bigger and bigger and bigger as it rolled down the hill. So that's that's how I landed where I am today. And now that I'm 65 years old, a page is being turned now where I'm not really seeking more monsters, I'm really leaning in, leaning into human characters more now than ever before. I've been playing humans all along, but in smaller things that nobody knows. Now that's really been my my focus. I'll never say never to monsters and creatures again. I mean, if the right role, the right director, the right paycheck comes up, I I would be, I'll look into it. But but uh but right now what I'm seeking is is great human characters. So this documentary will address uh all the past. We're gonna get nostalgic about everything I've been through and all the the career that I've had. But then it also is a great is a great place to you know announce to the world that I am my career continues from this point on, and hopefully with more humans than ever before.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Awesome, awesome. Well, one I just want to say I I've I've literally been a diehard fan of yours since I was a kid. I think probably the first movie that I saw you in that I probably gained uh appreciation and fondness of one of the monsters was Billy from Hocus Pocus. I'm of that age, age range now. But I love makeup effects, I love the creators that make the the amazing monsters and creatures and demons and you know aliens and everything that we see on the screen and stuff you've portrayed, and I make it a point to really follow the the character character creature actors because I believe that they're some of the most inspirational in terms of like art forms, performance, you know, bringing those creatures to life. And I am one of those people that I totally get why a documentary like this is coming out, and I'm I'm happy and proud to help promote it. I guess the the next follow-up question to that with you, Derek, what what got you, why did you want to make the the documentary get me Doug Jones and Doug? What was your inspiration for working with Derek and William with directing

Why Derek Makes The Documentary

SPEAKER_00 8:09

it?

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Well, if we if I can start this, uh first of all, this relationship here is was formed back in 2007. I was at a convention in Europe and he was there representing some other actors. I was there by myself. I was sent there by uh by someone who didn't really know the convention circuit very well and said, Yeah, got this skin, go, okay, have fun. And I got there by myself at a table, you know, with uh a line of fans, and I didn't know really how to negotiate that. I watched him dealing with his clients, his actors, uh, and operating just handling all of the administrative work that goes behind it. So the actor, all the actor had to do was to greet the fans and hug on them and sign things and get pictures taken. That was great. So at the same time, he saw pictures on my table of what my career had been to that point. And Pan's Labyrinth had just come out. So the there were pictures of the phone and the pale man on my table. And he apparently had seen that movie just recently and was a huge fan of it. So I was gushing. I was like, oh my God, that's you!

SPEAKER_02 9:12

And I'm looking at I just watched this movie, and it actually has it became my favorite film of all time, taking actually the place of Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back, which is now second. And I was just blown away and I couldn't believe it. And you know, over the weekend we would, you know, sit next to each other during the promoter meals and we would just keep chit-chatting all weekend. And it finally became like when we when I got home, Doug took me to dinner and said, I want to hire you. So it was like that was fantastic. And and it's been you know, 18 years now. Yeah. And you know, so your earlier question about what you know how we got into this industry would leads up to the film for my answer. So I moved to Hollywood just like Doug did to be rich and famous. And I was an actor, and I I was in an improv theater troupe for 10 years and did all the the pounding of the pavement and did you know commercials and in what you what we do as a young struggling actor. And then uh eventually I kind of got caught up in the in the waiting of I hated the all the nose you got. So I made a film of my own called Instant Dads, which you can find on Amazon. And that film was on the film festival circuit and got nominated for best picture five times and won the honor twice. And then a happy path was a sidetrack was put in front of me of this this management side of the world. And my first celebrity client was actually Billy D. Williams, and he is still my client to this day, he's but he's family as well. So is Doug. Like it's becomes more than just the business relationship. So over the years, now I've been doing these conventions and appearance management while at the same time my creative side was kind of like stifled. So I found other outlets like producing some some film documentaries which I've participated in. But I I wanted to have more creative control and more say over what was happening. And so I've watched Doug struggle. He's cried on my shoulder, I've been to red carpet events with him and and cheered him on. I've had triumphs with him where he shared with me his joy. And and I have watched this man for 18 years, and and there is a side of him that I see that no one else does. And and you know, one day it was like, why don't I make a movie about Doug and show the world? You know, I I watched fans frown over him at conventions, and if they could just see how amazing he is, and I I I'm like, I'm gonna talk to Doug about this. I have to make a movie about him. And he turned me down twice. And he's like, No, uh no, we're not doing that. Just forget it, get it out of your mind. And, you know, it would frustrate me because I Doug never has received the accolades that he's reserved he's deserved. He's been in Oscar-winning films, he's been in Oscar-nominated films, he's been in on Emmy nominated TV series, but he doesn't have statues of his own. And so this film is my love letter to Doug. And it's going to be the accolades that he's never gotten. This is going to be his statue. So he'll have a DVD sitting on his desk. But it was the third time that we met. I kind of ambushed him. I hired this amazing director, William Conlin, who made a movie called Making Apes. It's a documentary about the original Planet of the Apes series of films and the makeup uh that went into making those movies. I'm a huge documentary person. I love documentaries mainly because I don't like to read. So documentaries are a way for me to learn. And it doesn't matter the type of documentary. I love, you know, medical documentaries, behind-the-scenes documentaries, history documentaries. But the one thing I hate with certain documentaries are talking heads. It's so boring. I want talking heads, but I need a story to go along with it. And Williams' film, Making Apes, does just that. I was when it was over, I was like, oh my God, what I want to know more and I want to get to know this person more. So a friend of mine happened to know him and he introduced me. And so I told him about my idea about this Doug Jones thing. And he's like,

Story Over Talking Heads

SPEAKER_02 13:20

wow, I'd love to be part of that. And I'm like, Well, the problem is Doug doesn't want to do it. And he goes, Okay, well, we're gonna get him to do it, you and I together. So they ambushed me.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

We were in Las Vegas about to start the convention, the Star Trek convention there that happens every year. I was at the hotel about to go downstairs to start the day, and Derek texted me, stop by my my hotel room on your way down. I want to talk to you about something. I get there, and he's introducing me to William Conlan, who was in the room. This is a a director gave me all of his credits and and and told me the the bent that he that William wants to have with making this movie as well. Because the thing, the thing that did not interest me about a documentary was that I do interviews all the time, and and a lot of a lot of journalists want to let's go back to the beginning and just say how did you get kind of how we started this interview, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

That's that's yeah, that's a curiosity most people have is how did to walk us through your career to up to this day. So I didn't want to do that one more time on a documentary. It's it's been done, done, done, done, done. So now with William and Derek collaborating on how do we tell a story, that's okay. Now we're now you've got my interest a little bit more with the story about about the person, not just the bullet points on my IMDB list. So when you broaden it out to that, then okay, we we dip back, we only not only talk to co-stars and directors and makeup artists I've worked with, but we also get to talk to my three older brothers, my lovely Mrs. Lori, my daughter Natitia, my my we even talked talked to my my high school drama coach. We found her after 40 years of not speaking, not uh not being in touch with her, we got back in touch with her for the first time, and they caught all this on film of us seeing each other, hugging each other for the first time. All on stage, it's all real. Yeah, and uh awesome. Yeah, so these are moments that don't happen in a podcast interview. That that that's what I want. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

That's that's amazing. Now, if I like I was already intrigued with with the the concept of a documentary about you. Now this sounds like so much more heartfelt and not just a story, but like people get to see the real you and you know, like I guess behind the scenes stuff as well. But I I've always looked up to you and admired you for your work. So I've I've I've I've actually been trying to get you on my show for like this this year will be 10 years that I've been doing it. So thus it's come to fruition. And absolutely, I I think we're actually LinkedIn and I think we follow each other on Instagram or something, or Twitter, one

Remembering Camden Toy And Hush

SPEAKER_00 16:00

of the ones. But I've like started to say that I I've followed like not just your career, but other like character actors, and one person who unfortunately passed away a couple years ago now, who I believe you had the chance to work with, who on the topic of Pittsburgh, where I'm located, Camden Toy.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Oh, of course, one dear the dear dear friend. Yes, we loved him dearly.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

Yeah, he was a friend of mine, and also a client of Derek's big heart Doug and I actually got to visit him sh before he passed away. We we drove up, well, Doug drove, I rode to up to San Luis Obispo, where he was and got to spend some time with me.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Spent a day with him. Yeah, it was really and we you arranged uh a one more convention for him. His last public appearance was with me at a convention in Mississippi, maybe I think, or somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Yeah, I think it was Mississippi in the class.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

And he, oh my god, he was in so much pain.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

But he championed, he championed through, and you would never know. He wanted to do it. I mean, he was like, Derek, I'm getting on that damn plane, and the promoter was gracious enough to, you know, not every actor gets first class all the way, and and Camden, you know, he knew he knew his pecking order in in Hollywood. The promoter said, Derek, I know he's sick, first class the whole way, treat him right. We got to go to dinner with him on Saturday night while he was in excruciating pain, but he wanted that time, and we're lucky to have had it.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

And the fans at that convention had no idea that he was going through late stage cancer at the time.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Such a champ. I I adored him.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

I was lucky enough to have him on my show as one of like my first big kind of interviews, and one of the things that you've worked on, and I believe with him was Buffy. And actually, the episode that we specifically talk about that probably is one of if not the most infamous episodes is the one with where the the demons that steal the voice.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Yes, it was the hush episode. And he and I played the two lead gentlemen, yeah, gentlemen in that.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

Yes, yes. I still have nightmares about that that episode of Right then. It it turned out exactly like it was supposed to. And I remember growing up in the age where cable still was pushing the limits in terms of what they could show in restrict wise. I remember the X-Fos had that episode that was like their version of like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and I believe that got banned from cable. And I'm pretty sure they do not play the Buffy episode Hush too often either. But when it but when it's if if and when it's on, I will watch it hands down. It's probably my favorite episode in the entire series. I thought the concept was brilliant, you know. It it actually could work for uh a feature-length film, whoever's listening.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

I'll share something with you. I every podcast we've done for this film, trying to share little tidbits and something exclusive that'll be just for your viewers. And Camden will be a part of the film because we're gonna show we're gonna talk about him for quick very very briefly in the film, and probably one of these pictures from this night. So this was the last dinner we got to do with him at that event we were talking. So this is a personal picture. No one's ever seen this before except Doug and Camden.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

That was an an incredible evening. And for those of you watching that know Candon, you'll you'll see a drink there. Candon was an alcoholic, but he was 28 years sober. Sober, yeah. That is a non-alcoholic drinker.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

We were having mocktails that night.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

Well, I wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Yeah, but yeah, that's something we shared in common. That was a good night. That was a good night. That's the last time we saw him alive. Yeah, was that weekend. And um what a joy, what a joy he was.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Yeah, Camden, I I I met him at the Horror Realm convention here in Pittsburgh. I covered, I had him on the show from actually from an area where my dad used to live and lives close to now, Murraysville, here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Another Pittsburgh uh person that you were able to work with is the one

Batman Returns And Set Memories

SPEAKER_00 20:24

and only infamous Batman.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Well, I I've worked with Batman. Which Batman, though? You were Michael Keaton?

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Michael Keaton, yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

The one and only Batman. Well, bless you. Yeah. Yeah. I had a great time on Batman Returns as one of Danny DeVito's henchmen. His sidekicks were uh called the the Red Triangle Circus Gang. So I was like a kind of a flated evil, uh, uh faded evil clown. My name in the title was was in the titles was Thin Clown, Doug Jones. Let us stretch. Yeah, no, well, it's like that kind of describes me from head to toe. But I had a great time on that. That was my first time being in a in a big major studio film. And uh it was I was just so like, oh my gosh. On my way to the set, my first day of filming, I had the radio on in the car, and the DJ was saying, Yep, today starts the filming of Batman Returns. It was it was that big of news that that was that like we hadn't you couldn't watch the movie yet, but it was started filming that day, so it was big LA news that Batman Returns is in production. Da-da! So I thought, well, this is a big deal. There's no big deal. If they're talking about the radio, you know. So I had a great experience with that. Danny DeVito was uh he called me hello, kid, every day. Makeup trailer together. The Oscar renowned Oscar winning makeup artist V Neal did both of our makeups. Uh, she turned him into the penguin with such oh what a transformation that was. And then she she did my clown makeup and kind of had to mess it up a little bit because we we weren't we weren't uh we were evil clowns. So Anyway, had a great time. Great time on that. I've actually had uh beyond the show.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

I haven't seen it in such a long time now. I need to. Yeah. We just got some new pictures of Doug. I I'm gonna show them to you later. Okay. No, no, on the set because I was young. I needed the money. What? What? We're always looking for new images to refresh at for conventions. And I've got a new one of you and Keaton. I have to show it to you, and if you like it, we're gonna print it and then put it on the table. So yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Fantastic, or I should say, uh in the in the fish pun sense.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

Fin that's you might be the first customer for it. Yeah, wait, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Well, and also if you like Batman, I don't know if you're if you are aware of a YouTube channel called Bat in the Sun. Bat in the Sun, they it production company that does a lot of fan films based on DC characters. And uh DC is fine with them doing this because it they're very slick, beautiful production quality. And I was in a Batman short called Batman Dying is Easy, and I got to play the Riddler for just a split second in that. It was a kind of a flyby, but uh their their fan base went nuts over it. It was very sweet to hear. And that that that Batman was played by Kevin Porter, who was a did a such a great job with with that character. And then I just recently did something else with Bat in the Sun. Uh there another Batman short in which I got to play Alfred. Yes, his his his loyal butler. That's cool. Had a ball with that, and then the age I'm turning into, it's like this is getting more appropriate all the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Like like the the Riddler and Alfred, like total worlds apart, worlds apart. Yeah, perfect, perfect uh casting for both. Obviously, I want to ask a little bit more about the documentary before, and hopefully a little bit more. Obviously, I have some Hellboy questions. I I I know you probably get them all all the time, but uh that's that's like uh on on on the fish the fish bowl, we have to talk about the most infishamous fish out there. Very fish, yeah. Ape sapien, and and I'm sure you get this asked all the time

Hellboy 3 And Fan Demand

SPEAKER_00 24:18

as well. Will we ever, ever see Hellboy 3?

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Oh, well, I'm not the one who can answer that question, unfortunately. It's that's uh those decisions are way above my pay grade. But if it were up, if it were up to Guillermo del Toro, Selma Blair, Ron Perlman, and me, absolutely, of course we would all love to do a part three for you. Once those reboots started happening for much cheaper than than the first, then you know, then it's more difficult to come back around and continue the the first two movies in a in another sequel. So I'm I but again, I don't know how that could happen. I guess it could. The fans like you, thank you very much, have been clamoring for a part three for since since 2008. Yeah. So thank you for that. These these 18 years have not gone unnoticed. We we're all aware. So if you see interviews with Ron Perlman or with me, we have both said, yes, I would love to come back and do a part three, but it is not up to us. When people hear Ron say that, especially they're like, Oh guys, it's happening. No, that neither of us have the power to make that movie happen because we don't have 150 million dollars of our own to put into it, right? So that that's it. I think it's probably a big money question, a big you know, production question. And you know, Hellboy One was done at Sony Studios, Hellboy Two was at Universal Studios. So where would the home be for part three? I uh I don't know how this works exactly.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

So and also I guess in the day of streaming versus like how long stuff is actually released in theaters versus like people who like me, old-fashioned, still go to the theater, and and really I'm an advocate for going to see a movie in a theater. My first memory is actually at age three seeing Back to the Future Part Three in theaters, and my first R-rated movie that has probably been a big reason that I'm obsessed with basically the entire cast of the expendables, as well as makeup effects, is Total Recall, H5.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

Wow, total recall, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

So obviously make up effects, Rob Button, uh Rick Baker, Stan Winston, Pittsburgh again, Tom Savini. You know, I I I

Who Appears In The Film

SPEAKER_00 26:40

follow all these guys' careers, and I'm just as much of a fan of theirs as uh the actors. And I am too.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Yeah. Well, if he's a fan of people like that, one of the people in our documentary is Mike I always say his last name was Alizaldi. So he we he was one of our first interviews, actually. And again, oh, I didn't say that in this interview. Everyone we've asked to be in the film has said yes, and he was the first. We went and he was our first celebrity interview that we did.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Mike Alizaldi had he heads up the creature shop Spectral Motion. They're the ones and they're the ones who did my Abe Sapien makeup from the Hellboy movies, and they did me as the Silver Surfer for Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer, and and a host of other things as well. Also in Hellboy 2, they also created the Angel of Death that I played and the Chamberlain character that I played in that movie, too. So they've we've we've been through a lot together. So it was lovely to have him uh be interviewed for this documentary after all we've done together.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

Awesome, awesome. And any other uh celebrity giveaways you can you can cite it.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Yeah, the I'm being very strategic on how we release names, and part of it is out of respect. So we have a lot of interviews that are coming up, but I won't say who they are because if something goes wrong, their schedule changes, they need to get to another country, something happens with their family, whatever, and they don't get to record or film their interview. We may not be able to reschedule it and they won't be in the film. So we only announce who has completed their interview and is in the can. And every time we complete one, I don't wait. It immediately goes on IMDb as the next surprise. So we haven't had anyone as of late because we we haven't done interviews lately, but we're releasing every name. There are no surprises because honestly, we're those names are important to us to show it, gives credit, uh, credence, credence, credit, credence, credit, credence to the film for being legit. I mean, we are an independent film, we're not, we're not owned by a big studio. So those names help us go. Holy cow, they've got Noah Wiley, they've got Senequa Martin Green, they've got Ron Pearlman. Whoo, you know, it's amazing. So yeah, no secrets. There are names coming, so you'll have to wait.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

So if you if you go to IMDB and look up Get Me Doug Jones, you'll see the list of people that he's talking about that have already been filmed and are are definitely in the in the movie. And that includes those three names he just mentioned Ron Pearlman, Selma. Ron Pearlman, uh, Noah Wiley. I worked with him on a series called Falling Skies for three seasons. Sonico Martin Green, the lead actress of uh of Star Trek Discovery with me for five seasons. And Harvey Gehan is in it. He played Gizmo in What We Do in the Shadows with me. And we also have uh Mike Mignola, the creator of the Hellboy Comics, who also advised on the movies. We love him. And the list Oh, so many. I mean, so many of David Ajala, Anthony Rapp. Yeah, a bunch of my co-stars from Star Trek Discovery as well. Leonard Moulton, the film historian. Leonard Malton, the film.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Oh awesome.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Yeah, it was tickled pink that he wanted to talk about me. Are you kidding? Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

And

Crowdfunding Plans And Perks

SPEAKER_00 29:51

then I guess what's like the next steps for like the the release process and stuff like that to get the film out there and uh when and if if if at all, if you can even say if there's like possible like release date in in like an eye.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

Well, the the our goal is to release it early next year, and we want to have it in every film festival that we can get it into. And I'm very proud to say that we were able to raise all of the funding for principal photography on our own, which is very hard for an independent film to do. Our next step right now is to do a crowd finishing campaign. So that's where we're going to reach out to some of your fans and some of his fans and other people out there in the world who we will tell them all about the film and say, look, we need your help to make it a reality now. And we're gonna have one of those platforms where you do crowdfunding, where people can buy things for as little as $30 or $40 all the way up to $20,000, and they will get their names in the credits. And then that those funds are how we're going to pay for music rights and how we're going to pay the editor, and how we're, you know, film festivals are very expensive. When you see celebrities walking the red carpet at cons or at Sundance, it costs money to get those people there. Plus, you have to pay for your submission of your film into those festivals. And if they don't pick you, you don't get that money back. So we need to raise those funds to finish this film and make it a reality. So Doug was gracious enough to donate some uh items from his personal archives, like what we do in the shadow scripts, Riskad Art Trek Discovery scripts. We've got some prosthetic pieces from Sort of Rue. The list goes on. Some of his co-stars have been gracious enough to sign autograph pieces for us that will be perks on the platform. So we're looking to get the platform active May this month, and it'll be a 60-day window. So we're hoping that everyone can go to getmedugjones.com. Getmeedugjones.com is the official website of the film. And when the campaign goes live, it'll be blasted all over that website, all over our social media. And then people like you are going to reblast it for us, which we thank you so much for. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Absolutely, absolutely. And I I have to say this, Derek, I I believe uh we've we've been in contact uh before through via email, and I think we may have even met in person because uh Billy D. Williams has come to the Pittsburgh Still CityCon a number of times. So the the I I I had to put the face to the name, but I I I I know we've been in contact definitely through email, and I believe we've met possibly face to face at one of the I guarantee you that if you met Billy D.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

Williams, you met me because I've been with him for 30 years. He goes nowhere without you. He doesn't go anywhere without me. So I am right by his side the whole time.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Yeah, yes, that then definitely uh I I'm happy one to have both of you on the show, but also Derek to put like the the face to the the the name, you know, and a pleasure having both of you swimming in the bowl with me. I I I do have a couple closer questions since we're kind of like at that

Favorite Movies And Comfort Watches

SPEAKER_00 33:16

point. My first question is what are some of your both your favorite films in general? I know Derek, you mentioned, or I think Doug mentioned for you Pan's Labyrinth, and it was Empire, but any other like just films in general that were inspirations for you know where you're at today.

SPEAKER_02 33:36

My top five would be Pan's Labyrinth, The Empire Strikes Back, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Jaws, and Tootsie. With Justin.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

He was brilliant. He was brilliant in that. He was robbed of the Oscar A year, too. Yeah, yeah. But uh mine, mine, uh yeah, I'm I'm a kinder. I I as an audience member, I like to watch kind, gentle things with happy endings. I my favorite movie of all time is Somewhere in Time with Jane Seymour, Christopher Reeve. It's time travel romance. Oh and runners up would be uh Nodding Hill with Julie Roberts and Hugh Grant, Waking Ned Divine, and an Irish movie about old people that I absolutely love. And Meet Joe Black. Love Meet Joe Black.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

That's a great movie.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

Oh golly. Again, talk about there's some fantastical in there, but it's a really beautiful romance at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 34:27

Yes, yeah. There's there's that's one of my favorite movies. There's a lot of different uh elements in.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

That's interesting because people would look at you and go, What he doesn't like science fiction movies, you know, or horror films, I know.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Yeah, yeah, I do I do, like I appreciate them, and and horror things and dark things like like, but uh, but I like to watch is not what the genre that I play in.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

Yeah. And and here's uh the the final fish question of the fishbowl today.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

Okay.

If You Could Be A Sea Creature

SPEAKER_00 34:56

And and the fish theme. And and a and being Abe Sapien and uh shape of water. Both of you, if you could be a fish, any type of fish or sea creature, both real, mythical, whatever, what fish mythical, real sea creature would you be?

SPEAKER_02 35:20

In general, it doesn't have to be a fish.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

It can be a fish. It can be a sea creature, mythical, real I would be a sea turtle.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

They're my favorite. I go scuba diving and swimming with them is probably one of the most magical things someone could ever do in their lifetime.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

And I would be a happy go-lucky smiley dolphin any day of the week. Oh, yes. Love them dearly.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

Awesome, awesome. Well, Derek, Doug, the double Ds again. Uh thank you so much for taking the time to swim in the bowl with me. It was a pleasure having you both on the show. I'd love to have both of you again anytime, and I hope the temperature was just right.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Yeah, thank you so much for for giving your time to us too. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

Absolutely, absolutely, thank you so much.

Shirts Merch And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_00 36:12

Hey there, all my fishes in the sea. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode and for being a subscriber. Your continued listenership and support means the most and helps keep the show growing to deeper and deeper depths. I want to let all my guppies in the sea know the fishbowl has now officially partnered with fastcustomshirts.com, where they're now selling custom fishbowl t-shirts under their podcast and website section. Every t-shirt that's purchased helps and goes a long way to keep the show growing to deeper and deeper in higher, higher depths. I also now have custom hats, beanies, handbags, pens, mouse pads, everything to make you look like the coolest looking fish in the sea, which you can DM me directly on Instagram at the Fishbowl88 or on Facebook at just the fishbowl, or you can friend request me, Sam Fish, directly and get yours today. Your continued listenership and support again means the most. It's the most important fishes that flock together. We are a school of fish and we keep the unit going. Let's all keep swimming upstream.