Creative State | The Gary Washington Episode #1

One thing I love about the one and only Gary Washington is his passion for film and filmmaking. Even if he wasn't paid to help make the good stuff, he'd be out there shooting horror films that make us hold each other a little tighter and a little longer. 

Anything that does that is pure goodness in my book. 

In this episode he discusses the first film that blew his mind (hat tip to James Cameron), the power of oral history and how this shaped his love of storytelling, and how he makes ends meet as a content creator. Plus, let's not forget Bleedingham - perhaps the best horror film festival on the planet. 

So plug this into your ears and hear from the one and only G-Dub. It's inspiring, informative, and pure goodness. 

© 2023 Moment Film Co, LLC

Transcript

Creative State | The Gary Washington Episode

[00:00:00] Just when you thought it was safe to boogie in the streets. Along comes creative state at the intersection of art and business.

Chris: I'm here today with, the esteemed one and only Gary Washington. Not only is, Gary, the editor of the popular YouTube series card Issues and Car Trek.

Not only is he a graduate of Western Washington University and faculty adjunct, . Not only have you helped produce and direct multiple projects here in the P n W, not only are you the past president, One of the coolest film cinemas around the, Pickford Film Center, but you are the kingpin of what I consider to be like the premier or film festival on the planet, and that's bleeding ham.[00:01:00]

So Gary, man, it's really nice to talk to you. I think that you just bring such a passion to filmmaking and you're one of those people who if you weren't getting paid for it, you'd be out there doing it anyway. And I think that's the mindset I'm looking for in to, to bring to myself more in 2023, is just that creator mindset.

So it's, really nice talking to you and, I look forward to a good, conversation. Hey but, tell me then why 

Gary: horror? All right. Well, before we get started, first of all, I'd like to say thanks for having me. Second of all, I'm a part of an editing team for card track and car issues, just in case Tommy or the rest of the guys are listening to that.

I, no, man, you're doing it all, man. I don't want them to be like, yeah I'm the guy that edits card track it's like, no, I'm just a sometimes assistant, sometimes story, sometimes junior, depending on what the team needs, but it's a great team and it's been like a crazy experience as far as learning, and we'll get into that.

But the horror part [00:02:00] just so you know, Chris, I don't have like some weird dark side where I get off on like oh, look at the way that killer did that person. Or, I wanna see the brutality of somebody getting the, their limbs chopped off. It's really rooted in like the early 1980s being a poor as a black and Filipino person.

I was staying with my grandmother in the south, and a lot of my aunties and uncles raised me, but they were still in high. So Friday nights we would have these movie nights where we'd pour like hot sauce on popcorn cuz we were poor, we couldn't afford any other snacks. But in my head, those were some of the greatest times of my life.

The communal sense there wasn't this, label cinephile or, these, the like internet, fucking Rotten Tomatoes scores or anything like that. It was just a bunch of folks, a bunch of families sitting around that happened to like scary movies. All the Freddy's, all the Jason's the Boogeyman Exorcist.

And it was funny cuz you know it's a pretty Christian household, but as soon as the horror movies came on and kind of went out the [00:03:00] window, like, except for my grandma who go, you know how you're inviting the devil when you watch that? And it's like, everybody be like, all right.

And then grandma would go to sleep and we flip on the H B O and pop that popcorn. And that same experience kind of filtered through my youth, whether it was like a 16 year old kid hanging out with his friends and partying and watching and talking about films. And I like to often talk about this as like horror movies are a different story form of storytelling.

But some of my favorite storytelling is oral storytelling. And being from the income bracket I was as a kid it would be like five brothers would sit around, but only one of 'em could have got afford to go to the movie. Right? So, for two hours straight, that one brother that went on a date will come back and we'd sit there listening for two hours as they glossed over every detail of the movie, man. And like, those were good times as an adult now, like at being 45 and looking back, those were some of the happiest times of my youth man storytelling, and [00:04:00] horror just happens to be that medium that was like a common ground. It was that, and then gangster movies for my friends, right? But after a while I kind of got over that, but I never got over horror. So as I grew. . I always kept up with the scene and, what scares me, cause I guess what it was horror movies make you squeeze your loved one a little bit tighter.

It make you appreciate the mundane and like, man, I'm sure I'm glad I have a normal life. 

It's just funny cause we can attach these like tropes that are with our society to horror, right? And like this common ground. And then like we, me and you are both familiar with art house film. We go and see it. Our family's appreciate it. It's, what's cerebral in the conversation among all of us, right?

But I found that the largest spectrum of people that fit into one genre, for me at least, and then my interactions is horror. Like, I mean, you'll be surprised some of the people that enjoy scary movies and it's just like, wow, I didn't know you're into that. And, so I try to get past this automatically assuming that [00:05:00] everybody's a vampire, likes horror, and and I'm always pleasantly surprised at what I find about it.

So horror has been and then, let's not even get on the filmmaking side of it. I mean, how much fun is it to get a person that's versed and practical or special effects? 

You create a scenario that could make somebody cringe or or, grab their loved one tighter and be thankful for what they have, then mission accomplishment. I think. One of the great instances of that locally, on a local level is what you and Brian Young did.

Yeah. With that spec trailer man. I mean, you guys use supermarket crab. I was afraid when I saw that man. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. That ingenuity of making things work, manipulating shadows in light and using things like a Damn, what was that king crab? That was a king crab.

Like exactly red. I mean like, if you didn't know it was a king crab, you would totally think it was like an alien face hugger or something that you did not want touching you and like that's, what I like about Horror Man, is that you can create these [00:06:00] moments that end up being conversation pieces for people of different strokes, and that's, where I'm at with it, man. Right 

Chris: on, man. Tell, me a little bit about going back to, growing up poor in the South. What was your upbringing? I mean 

Gary: So I grew up, in a two-parent home. We were poor. My mother was an immigrant from the family. Where were you?

Seattle. I was born in Swedish Hospital, but my father was from Pensacola, Florida. And so he was out of the military on a GI bill and met my mom and unexpectedly I happened and so it was kind of a turbulent youth, so I was often sent to my grandmother's house in the south, and that was a tremendous sense of stability.

I, I have to thank my southern family for the fact that you're in the south. Yeah. Pensacola, Florida man. So Northern Florida, most rednecky place you can be really man like Yeah. It's like I had a family structure there [00:07:00] that was more traditional, I guess, as opposed to two working Paragon, an immigrant parent that had to work like 16 hours a day.

And my dad, who was kind of navigating being a tech African American tech person in the 80. , which was very frustrating. You know what I'm saying? There was a lot of intelligence and, talent that got looked over because of race and all of that kind of stuff. And it's a little bit better today, but you know, you still see shadows of that, right?

But I mean he was really dealing with this. So there was a lot of frustration and angry moments and stuff. And, like I said, when I went down south, I, there was a stability, there was this kind of sense of family between that. I was raised in the church, man, I was an altar boy, that's crazy. Right?

But anyways, all this upbringing, it allowed for more, I think, I guess it gave me a pretty solid moral compass on one side and, but also allowed me to explore creativity.

My grandmother was always supportive of what I did. The only time she would ever stop me for something is if what she had, the devil stuff like [00:08:00] One time I had a Choose your Own Adventure book and had some wizards in it, and it was in the middle of the 80 Satan Panic Boy, my gra I'll never forget that.

You, you invited demons and I seen you drawing Pentagrams on the Tandy remember Tandy computers? And I'm like, oh, hell yeah. Holy shape. I can make grandma but, so I had this great nurturing family, and then what I went back home, it was more like, you need to go play sports and do this traditional black guy stuff.

And I'm like, I'm not in a Tyler Perry movie, man. I'm a mixed race kid that likes comic books and you know what I'm saying? But I, did all that stuff. It just wasn't rewarding. And I mean, if I could go back, I would say that I would focus more on like photography and storytelling and all the stuff that was in my household at least while my father's side was looked on as not, manly things.

You know what I mean? And it. He got over it later. I just wish he got over it sooner so we could have had more support for this kind of stuff. Cuz I feel like I got a little bit later jump in the game than everybody else. But but yeah, so that was just my [00:09:00] childhood in a nutshell, man. Strong, background, great talented people all around me and and a really strong support network.

But we were just not rich. We were poor and we we rose our way up through the ranks. Like my mom was in a five people in a one bedroom apartment on Beacon Hill, and now she owns properties across Seattle in the Philippines and she did that bootstrapping it really, and it's like you hear.

Rich Republicans or a, certain degree of privilege brackets, say things like that, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. And a lot of immigrants take that conservative to heart. And my mom was smart, did her money right. And it was a great example of where I want to be. So now I'm a homeowner here in Bellingham and it's like we think about our futures and stuff and we try to create a lifestyle that makes space for us to do the creative things we want to do.

You know what I mean? 

Chris: Yeah, man. I think that's, creating the space is a real challenge. Especially if you're don't have the money, which equals [00:10:00] time. Right. And, so to, figure that model out and to do the type of work that you're doing to make that happen, I think is, really admirable.

Tell what was the first film that just sort of blew your mind? That you just were like, holy man, I gotta do this? 

Gary: Aliens. 

Cause it was the first film that like, I had nightmares about and just couldn't get it outta my head, man. I mean, like, it was. It was just so next level at the time, you go back and watch it now and it's like, look at these guys with their GoPros and their CCTVs and their M 60 attached to a steady cam army.

You know what I mean? Like there's a lot of stuff that you look at inconsistencies like it's a, it's also a highly problematic film because Jeanette Goldstein was a Jewish woman who was painted essentially brown face to play. Vazquez and it's just Cameron being Cameron, right? Because I mean, like 30 years later, it's avatar and it's blue face with I'm gonna borrow from all the indigenous people, cultures that I like and create a new one and not have to give anybody credit, but beyond that, [00:11:00] so you said aliens? 

Chris: Aliens, not 

Gary: alien, not aliens. I actually caught alien afterwards, you know what I'm saying? Uhhuh . I was too young. Apparently. I was in the theater for Alien, but I was too young to remember it. The first, yeah. Yeah. The Theater of the Roxy and Rent when I was little. The first movie I remember was Star Trek, the movie.

And then after that, flash Gordon. Right. Remember that rocking soundtrack, the Flash? Oh, the University . That was Jam Man. So the movies have always been a part of my life in a weird sort of way. My mom is a huge consumer of media and it's been a delight. Kind of watch what she consumes as media over the years.

Like as now as a 62 year old woman, she has this infatuation with period peace Chinese romances. And I'm like, mom, you're Filipino. She's like, no, don't matter romance. It's love. I'm like, yeah, but they're all just wearing flowy white sheets. And I don't know man. But I it's, cool cuz it's like that my mom like horror too, or she still likes horror, so now like when she comes up, we go and find like a [00:12:00] Filipino horror movie or something that is palatable, to her. And there's a lot of mythos or myth mythic stuff that happens in the Philippines. A lot of monsters we don't have here in America. So I always try to impress her by finding movies with stuff in that and it, and then we try to impress her by sitting down and watching some of those romances, which is.

A 

Chris: hard sell for me. That's the trade off. Right, right. 

Gary: It's 

a pretty hard sell man. But but yeah, aliens. But when did, so 

Chris: when did you say, so you, sort of were watching these horror films aliens and I'm sure you went down the Terminator path and all that stuff, but Oh yeah.

When did you say, you know what? I want to do this. This is something that, that I want to 

Gary: do. That didn't come till years later, man. I I always liked art. I drew comic books for a long time, just doing little, comic books on my own. And then I had this phase where I thought I was a musician. I'm gonna have to send you this.

I actually unearthed the CD that we recorded at the studio. My punk band when I was a kid, said 19 years old. Totally thought we were gonna make it, you know what I mean? It's so much [00:13:00]harder. What was the name of the band? Whole life. It's terrible, man. But so I go along in life, spending my twenties playing stupid gigs in Seattle and working shit jobs, right?

And I realize at some point, maybe around 25, I'm like, Yo, if I don't go to school, I'm just gonna be working these jobs for the rest of my life, man. Like retail, food service, construction, and so I decided to go back to college, right? Because I, kind of went to started in 19, I mean, I was 19 when I went to community college and I kind of flunked out cause I was partying.

And when I went back, I took Web track, visual communications under Jeanie Baard and I forgot the other people's name, but Jeanie Baard is retiring this year, and she's like a welcome icon if you're into like any kind of older, medium visual communications, Photoshop and all that stuff.

But digital intro to digital video 180 6 was when I decided right on the spot, this is what I need to do. I go in [00:14:00] and it's a, it's an intro to filmmaking class. And the first thing is they loaned me a $1,500 camera. At the time, nobody had ever loaned me nothing in my life, man. So I'm like, I could take this off campus.

They're like, yeah. , do what you want, just bring it back when you're done. And I'm like, thank you for trusting me with this. I will not let you down. And I didn't. I went out and I shot walk-in Zombies, man, . So I'll keep it 100 with you, man. I was paying my way through community college by working at Kentucky Fried Chicken, right?

And so I'm with the workforce. There's some of the kids and I'm like, yo, I'm in this film class, man, I'm trying to make this movie, right? So when we closed they're like, yeah, you could I asked the manager, they were like, yeah, go ahead. You can film now I think about it now, it's like that manager had no right to say that , you know what I mean?

Like, the way we have to go through like the mission for this stuff is like producing like this man. Hell yeah. Yeah, man, boom. I don't care. And it was gross. Chris, like one of the guys was so gung-ho that [00:15:00] the walk-in freezer where we keep all the chicken, there was blood and leaked out.

This dude laid in the blood and he was like, and he comes out like a zombie. And I played at school and I watched people's reaction and I'm like whoa, this is for me. And yeah. So I continued to make films. I tried it, I tried something again, and I called it I, realized early and I went too hard on some stuff, you know what I mean?

Because like, you know what? Going for horror, you see all this extreme stuff, right? So the second thing I did in that class was something called Perverts in the Woods. It was not received well, I'm not gonna get too much into it, but like the teachers and everybody were just kinda like, Okay. Yeah.

Like, I mean, like, I literally, cause I didn't know how to do practical effects, so I was taking raw meat and saran wrapping it to young ladies and like having, it was, it didn't look anything like gore, but I was like, it's meat look dead. Like it was ridiculous, man. But but after that I decided Jeanie Baard did hit me up and she said [00:16:00] you got a good vibe.

And I'm like, what do you mean? She's like, I think you should continue your education. And I was like, man, I'm about to go start me a graphic design company or, whatever. And I was all excited. And she goes, I think that a little bit more refinement would serve you well, and so I'm gonna recommend you for Fairhaven.

So I'm like, what is that? And I start asking around, and the most I hear about Fairhaven is that there's people dancing in the moon, like neck like beating drums, like hippies while eating. 

Chris: So for, those who don't know, explain what Fairhaven is. 

Gary: Fairhaven is an interdisciplinary college that is one of the schools that comprise Western Washington University.

If you are familiar or you're a Western student, you probably generally, and not everyone probably looks at it like that weird school on the edge of campus where they power buildings with little, with treadmills or something. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so it was actually a wonderful and conducive learning environment.

I was able to pick and choose from the digital media stuff, take photography from the [00:17:00] art department, take writing from the literature, pe department and stuff. And so I basically built a degree around visual communications with a focus on social justice. But it was, it my, my, concentration was focused heavily on everything I could find for filmmaker, cuz Western still doesn't have a filmmaking degree.

I heard that they have a minor now that they just kind of established, but like, they were trying to You designed your own degree. Yeah, I basically took every class there was to teach myself how to how to shoot, how to edit, and how to tell a story and then for practice, , I would, and I'm sorry if you're hearing this ais, but for practice I would go and rent out a camera for independent studies class and, so I have permission from the ais, which is the associated technology union of students or something like that.

And then I would go downtown to the bars and film bands in exchange for like their drink tickets, man, their drink tickets and 50 bucks. And, so I did that and that helped me get over my fear of shooting in [00:18:00] front of other people. Cuz being a returning student and a person of color and a town full of white people, you come and a little older too.

And a little bit older. That's right. So you're like you're kind of self-conscious about the way you are in a crowd, you know what I mean? But a few drinks and a five D later, man, I don't care so I'm really while that sounds like it was lackadaisical and it was this comfortable exploration of my boundaries and what I'm willing to do for film, and I, got a strong establishment of that and the coupled with the events like trailer wars and other community events you're kind of challenging yourself to tell a story.

The 48 hour film challenges, all that kind of stuff. And you just start kind of forging yourself, it's like, yeah, I can do web design, I can do graphic design, but man, my passion is film and it's really fun for me. So once I graduated, I just picked up a black magic cinema camera, and I started a, nonprofit called, or not a nonprofit, but a LLC called Northwest Creative Collective.

And I've been running Northwest Creative Collective [00:19:00] since college Man. It's like a, that's what I primarily invoice my clients through. And then that's also what we run bleeding ham through and so it kind of serves as a great foundation. The festival served as a great foundation. However, as time has gone by, I have accrued a client list that's pretty decent that where I can get decent work and I just never really look back, man.

I just keep, pushing and trying to build and create. 

Chris: Before we explore, that, tell me a little bit about your dad and how you said that he really wasn't, or maybe you at the time, maybe you didn't even know that you said that you just sort of had the epiphany that you wanted to jump into filmmaking a little bit later.

But obviously you at, a very young age, you sort of had this artistic be you knew you loved movies. Did your, was your dad on board with that or how did you sort of, how did that, how did you transition that relationship into one that was accepting of, what you wanted 

Gary: to, 

do? My father was kind [00:20:00] of a rolling stone kind of dude.

You know what I mean? And he also was a black male who didn't know it, but suffered a lot of intergenerational trauma. Man from his upbringing. Like the whole thing about my grandmother was that the big scandal was, that she married a white dude in the fifties and they had kids, but nobody on the black side wanted to know that he was white.

So they lied and said he was Creole. But I was always wondering why do my aunties and uncles look like white people with black hair? This is weird. You know what I'm saying? But then you find this out, I found this out later through a DNA test acting like 2004, man, you know what I'm saying? But like my father dealt with a lot of racism growing up in the south, in the army just like in the job place.

And he was a very intelligent and outgoing guy. But he was also kind of, what I wanna say, constrained by the Tyler Perry syndrome, is what I like to call it, which is this, there is this traditional view of what a black male is [00:21:00] supposed to be. You know what I mean? And it's like, it just wasn't a very fun view, man,

And he was like, you're gonna go this, you're gonna get a job, you're gonna be miserable, and then you're gonna have some kids, and then you're gonna die, and it's like, whoa. Now when my parents got divorced, my dad kind of lightened up and met another woman and moved to Canada and his disposition changed.

And so when I saw that he could change I learned to forgive him. and tell him or help him on his path to forgive himself. All of that's really come in handy, man. It's like some weird Mr. Miyagi karate kid kind of thing

Chris: so one of the things you said earlier, which really struck me, you said whatever the team needs. Yeah. And I think that's such an interesting. That's such an interesting thing to say because it speaks to collaborating.

It speaks to being accountable for the work that you do. It speaks to other people really depending on you to get things done. [00:22:00] Tell me about how that attitude has helped you sort of navigate the creative economy and, sustain a livelihood in, filmmaking. 

Gary: Well, I mean it's basically Hank Hill Rules man.

Are you familiar with the show? King of the Hill? 

Where the dad tells the son, he goes, son, you gotta go in there and do the job that nobody wants to do and do it better than anybody. And so I, kind of applied that when I did my college return. Like, okay, cool. You just gotta be willing to do anything it takes. To get it done. But yeah, so, so, so I guess I don't, I can't speak for others in our local film game and stuff, but like, I've always been one that's like, if we can't find somebody to do it, I'll teach myself how to do it myself.

There's a few exceptions compositing glider heavy, cgi, , you know what I mean? Yeah, But if it's editing camera, storytelling are, crewing up personnel kind [00:23:00] of stuff. Those are things that you can learn. There's, tons of information out there. We live in a, place, we live in a, interesting time where information is not as held as it was by gatekeepers back in the past.

You know what I mean? And so, , there's the ability, I mean, there's kids out here making millions of dollars off of tutorials they learned on YouTube. You know what I mean? Right. So it's a, it's like kind of a no-brainer man. You just wanna be able to make yourself present to the needs of the team. But it's also important that you find people that you jive with.

First of all, you don't wanna just, I'm gonna throw myself into something that you're not feeling, or in a crew that won't appreciate it. You know what I mean? Right. For instance, I go really hard. We do 12 hour days when we go for Bri Bay with car track and car issues. But everybody's checking in, man.

Everybody's checking in on everybody else's mental health, you know what I'm saying? And, when the problem comes, there's not a, we fight each other kind of thing. There's a, how do we solve it? Kind of, kind of notion among, the team. And I, that's something that I can really appreciate, man.

That's a, it's [00:24:00] a degree of professionalism that I see in Bellingham, but this has just been on a more intense, larger scale, I guess. You're dealing with like post-production team of seven or eight as opposed to like one or two people working on like a commercial or a short film. Right. So there's a lot of communication there and there's a lot of moving parts and, to be honest, there's a lot of variables for things to go wrong but Sure.

And let me knock on wood we're pretty good about staying on track and staying dedicated to that. So I guess when you do like pandemic, it really worked man. Cause everybody didn't wanna work, kind of, it seemed like, and it was like, wait, I can get paid and not even leave my house.

That's like a no-brainer man. Like, I mean, how can even as a filmmaker that's out want want to be out there. Like, I mean, for instance Northwest Grip or, DP drones they get good, pay, but they're out there all the time. Yeah. As an overweight person with Covid, I'm like, well, post-production is the place for me for now and like

So I just really like [00:25:00] kind of leaned into it and. and it's definitely provided me like it, like we were talking about this, it's created a space for me to allow me to create spaces. You feel what I'm saying? Right? Yeah. So, and I don't mean to get all weird and inception about it, but when you break that down, it's like, okay, financially it's there.

I've learned more than being, than the four years I was at, Western. And yeah, two or three seasons of car issues, you know what I mean, as far as post-production, the real world to do that to you, right? Insane levels of just real world life experience. And and that's, kind of, that has allowed me to create a space, pick up some gear and have a post-production area that can serve other people, like for.

I just helped two kids complete a short film that they wanted. I, it wasn't my bag, but you know, it's cool man. I get to test out my new equipment, plus I get to teach my man how to edit, and like, it's really great because like there's kids and they're like, Gary, you're mentoring the youth mentoring is like, the kid comes over, they see me [00:26:00] playing video games.

I'm like, now go upstairs, fire this up. And there's a list of laundry list of stuff. I tell them, come back and get me when you're done. I'm gonna check your work. And then I go upstairs and I show 'em what they did wrong or, yell at them for opening the Hellrazor Cube. But the kids walk away happy with it.

I'm like, and I ask them, I check in afterwards. I'm like, Hey man, are you learning something or do you feel like I'm just pawning this off on you cuz I'm not pawning it off on you. I'm got Karate kid Miyagi in you here. It's like, yeah, I had to do it myself. And the same thing that it took you two hours to do.

I could probably do it 15 minutes, but you need to learn to make mistakes first that see what you don't want to do. You know what I mean? So that's kind of worked out for me, man. And And when you mentor cats in your community, man, I'm I don't expect it, but it's the, what is it? The Repco, how do I say it?

The reciprocal 

Chris: Rep, Oh my God. No. Now it's tongue ta . 

Gary: Anyways, it comes back to you, man. It comes back to you. Like, and [00:27:00] royal flushes, man, I've, I it's like there's so many people that I can call on to help with my own stupid little projects now because I gave a little bit of time or shared some knowledge with 'em, man.

And it's like, what was nothing to me? People were like, Hey man, that was great. I was stuck I was stuck at this. You help me get over that hump. And I'm like, cool. I need you to act in my next short film . I'm saying like, it's that kind of thing. And I know, you know how the Bellingham there's, the paid work side and then there's the passion project side.

You know what I mean? Totally. Passion project side is just fully funded by life dollars, man. So that's, and that's, a very valuable experience. I wish a lot of other communities. . I don't see that same kind of vibe when you, I leave town. I definitely, eh, I don't know if I would get in trouble for saying this.

I, the LA Cats seem a little more, whoa, . There's like, there's not the same community man. There's like, right, what can I get for me? You know what I'm saying? I like, I feel like I'm in, in good company with the fellows I'm with. But as I see [00:28:00] more and I put myself out there, it's like, and then I've seen a couple of people get weird about me being nice.

What, are you trying to get? What do you mean what I trying to get? You know what I'm saying? Where do they all tear your motives? What do you want? I just want us to get this done so, so I see how people are guarded in this like, creative world and I'm like living in Bellingham, you'll have blinders on and rose colored glasses that you could shoot anywhere and do anything.

And I still think that you shouldn't lose sight of that. You just have to realize that when you leave this community that there are parameters set forth in other places. parameters and variables that you have to be aware from or, is the kids that play Call of Duty say those corners, you gotta check.

So, yeah, I guess, I guess that's how I'd answer that. 

Chris: What pisses you off the most? 

Gary: Lazy people that think they deserve a lot of credit for some shit. They like everybody else did the work, but nobody gets the acknowledgement. This one person, oh, thank you. Now that I've taken all your work, it was all on me.

You know what I'm saying? It's like, has that [00:29:00] happened to you? I hasn't happened to me so much as I've seen it happen to other people. I kind of from previous lifestyles and stuff, I've kind of learned how to pick and choose who I think is full of shit and not, and who's gonna actually cut a check for work and, who's trying to get you on their startup project for whatever they need.

You know what I mean? Yeah. So I've learned quick to, to discern from the bullshit, but I definitely hear all the time from fellow creators, commiserating. They did all this work and then they were just kind of shunned to the side. And at some points I'm like, did you get paid? All right.

Well, they bought that work. You know what I mean? But like other points, when it's a creative thing, I feel like it doesn't hurt to acknowledge the people in cancer. So people that are like Spread the love. Yeah, spread the love. People that try to just use people to get where they want to be with their storytelling without acknowledging all of the effort from the crew and and the feedback and all the other people that made that possible is pretty frustrating, man.

And then well, 

Chris: it comes it all comes back to what you said [00:30:00] earlier, what the team needs, right? Yeah. Really, not losing sight of that. When was the first or perhaps most painful, what was the most painful experience you had with racism? How, is it being a black person in the quote unquote biz

Gary: I think nobody takes me serious until we get to talk and shop. And I still kind of have that insecurity at times here and there like like being a little bit older being, a poc, being from a nineties hip hop background and stuff it's like, I think I look a lot rougher than the work that I do.

I think that maybe I don't like look at the expectation of that, and I'm very outgoing, so you wouldn't think that I really get off on assist and editing and, story producing and doing all this behind the scenes stuff but like, it's really my jam and I it's like a, that's what I went to college for, so there's no turning back it's like I'm still paying off those student loans, but I always wonder like if I'm getting Passover for [00:31:00] jobs and stuff like that, but 

Chris: how do you, 

compensate for that?

Or what, I mean you, said earlier, I do the jobs that no one else wants to do and do it really well. Yeah. Is that, I know that's one approach, but how, talk to 

Gary: me about that. I try to surround myself with people that. Will take me for the value of my character rather than the novelty of my race.

Yeah. Like for instance, I'm not gonna name the production company, but in town when all of the Black Lives Matter stuff started happening and there was like a lot of injustice and protesting going on, and there still is, don't get me wrong, but I mean, at the beginning of it, almost every production company in town is trying to find a black person to interview about the struggle, right?

And I'm like, Hey, look, I can shoot it with you. We can do this together. But they're like, no, we want to interview you. So like, you want me to be your window dressing for this cause that your company cares about, but you ain't trying to give [00:32:00] no brothers or sisters a job, right? Or, provide an opportunity so like you see these signs that say Black Lives Matter and window stores and stuff, and you wonder how many black employees they got, you know what I'm saying?

Like what, what like, do my, do black customers feel safe walking in there? That kind of stuff, man. And then like, we are not here, it's not our duty to explain. Why like the, current state of racial dynamics in America where are other people that have dreams just like that?

Like for instance, as a black filmmaker, white filmmaker, have you ever just thought, I have to tell the story of my people? No. Have you ever I have to tell the story of white people, . It's like, I'm not serious. Black Empire POC creatives are burdened with this man. Like we have. Yeah. Right. I'm not saying that the story should be told.

It should totally be told. Right? Oh, hold on for just a second. It should totally be told. What is this? 

Chris: Lemme turn this off. Oh it's just [00:33:00] Spielberg dropping you a text, yeah. 

Gary: Shut up . But what I'm trying to say is like I just, I want a future, I guess why I work and they're, I actually have end goal man.

I want, I have friends, I have younger, friends that are people of color. That are just coming up in this gang, you know what I mean? And they see me like, oh, well, Gary's been in it for a second. He, and he does, he may not be the greatest guy, but he stays employed and and, has made some cool stuff here and there, and it's like, cool.

I want them to be able to create whatever they want without having, like, I don't want them to be seen like, well, since that historical burden on top, you have to tell this you have to put out freedom's path or some shit, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. You have to and, Freedom's Path is a great movie, don't get me wrong, you know what I'm saying?

But what I'm saying is I want to see. A brother that makes the next aliens or sister that makes the next aliens or the next predator or, some fantastic tale. The the, lady that writes the next Harry Potter series [00:34:00] not as transphobic, but so like a person of color it's like we deserve to tell stories that, or same thing cuz white people ain't sitting around like, yeah man, we need to talk about when we were oppressed and stuff like that.

And it's like, dude, these stories, I don't know why they do so well. It is like, is it like white guilt? People watch this shit? Oh man, it was so hard for, it's like, but how quick are you to like Jordan Peel? Man, it's super celebrated. Like and the material is, it's okay. It's cool. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

But like, it's like, it's so refreshing to see that it's like I put elements of my upbringing and themes of my stuff inside of my stuff and I make but it's not central. I could tell a larger story overall now. I mean Get Out was pretty focused on crazy white people, which is actually pretty funny.

But yeah. Like for instance a great African American horror movie is Tales From the Hood. Have you ever seen that? Nope. Tales From the Hood is a classic film, and I actually had the privilege of disseminating, or not disseminating, but deconstructing the [00:35:00] film with a group of black cinema files that are a part of a black film club over in the central district of Seattle at the Langston Hughes Community Center.

I was on a panel, right. And what we, one of the things that we had was they were like these kids were like, Jordan Peel is the new face of horror, some of the younger cats, right? And I was like, he's not the new face of horror man. He's just, there's a brother doing something and it's awesome.

So like all of us are taking notice, but I didn't wanna discourage this kid nor discourage another black creator. But 

Chris: luckily Now, why don't you say Jordan Mc Keel is the new face 

Gary: of horror because he is more like Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock man. He, it's more like thriller, thriller, macab.

You know what I'm saying? It's not, yeah. I mean, I think of things, I think horror. I think the thing terrible things happening to people that like here it's like, Oh, look at that. It's, mysterious and vague and it's like, yeah, that's true and that's cool. But, I mean, I'm talking like all out Horror man, and like, yeah, okay.

Girls from the Hood was a very bloody film. And but it was also there, and this is what I was getting at is one of the ladies stood up, one of the [00:36:00] patrons or the, attendees said, I don't care what y'all think, Jordan Peel makes black movies for white people. You know what I'm saying? And that just, oh man, it just tickled me pink.

Because like what was great about Tales from the Hood was Spike Lee funded a project for this brother. I forgot the director's name, to make a movie about our society at the time and at the time, in the early, in the mid nineties, I think there was a problem with gang banging that was going on, right?

Yeah. So they told this particular story and put a hip hop soundtrack to it, and it was not made for white people, man. It was, I mean, like, it was it, is not that it wasn't made for white people, it just didn't care if White saw or not, right? And in that, I don't care what you think, I wanna make, what we're gonna make, , that's where the magic was found.

You see what I'm saying? So there's, a lot of weird stuff when you're a person of color these, like unwritten, like perceived rules of the way things are that you have to just destroy, totally destroy and realize that [00:37:00] you're creative and you don't need, none of that stuff actually affects the story you're trying to tell.

Unless you let it, now there will be people that disagree with me and I wanna say I'm not speaking for all black folks. I'm talking about me as a black Filipino creator. You know what I'm saying? Well, 

Chris: I think it's true. I mean, I think all creators get hung up on that we should be creating, at least I do.

I'll speak for myself. You said I, want to create what I create. I don't care what other people think. To be a creative with that level of confidence, Is something I think we're all searching for, no matter no matter. No matter who. 

Gary: You're right. So, so yeah, let's take it a step further and I, kind of retract a little bit of what I said and it's like we all face these outside forces and perceptions that shape our view of what we are supposed to create.

How about that? Right? That's, definitely a thing, man. 

Chris: And I'm not saying it's not more amplified for you cuz you have that other [00:38:00] layer on top. You, these are the types of stories you should be talking about. Gary, 

Gary: I get that. I get that relatable to an extent for all 

Chris: creatives. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

How did you get the gig with how did you start doing car track and card issues? How did that 

Gary: transpire? Oh man, let me tell you let me tell you about this guy . So, as being with the Pifer, we facilitate a lot of events for our local filmmaking community, right? Yeah. One of those events is the storyteller seasonal, and then there's bleeding him.

And basically I've always. been a huge advocate for DIY film. I don't even think they use that term anymore. Right? It's just filming. But I mean when the five Ds first hit the market with the 24 frames and interchangeable lenses. Yeah. It was a DIY film, man, we all baby. And c my film at the Pickford always gave me the confidence to continue in videography.

Like, oh my gosh, look at this. And it's on the big screen, right? And [00:39:00] I, trust me, and it's, like a thing that we use these days to get a kid like from Elena with make a scene using young kids and they see their stuff, audience reactions all the way to students with Darren's 48 hour film, kids coming out when they see themselves.

And, it's not just seeing it on the big screen, it's seeing the way the audience reacts to your story. That is like this super invaluable thing. But I digress. Thomas Durant showed up to to a bleeding him and a storytelling citizen. What was great about this was. Tommy told me, and he is, he told me that he's a demonologist and a ghost hunter, a paranormal investigator.

The TV thing he didn't really talk about, you know what I mean? So like, just with that alone, me and him, I'm like, oh, it's you a ghost hunter, huh? We need to make a horror ghost hunter. I'm like, yo, so let's, do a horror movie about what a ghost hunter went wrong. Let's do this. Right. And so we start hanging out and Tommy's just a hell of cool guy.

And then he knew that I did some editing, but it always kind of threw me off that whenever I showed him a short film that I worked on a lot, he would be like, oh, that's really fun. And I'm like, [00:40:00] dude, this is supposed to be scary. It's supposed to rivet you. You're over fun. But then he goes one day he goes, Hey like winter was, I was having a slow year.

Like I was doing set work. I was getting by, but it was wintertime and most of the stuff we were doing was outside shooting and stuff. So like, it kind of closed up. There was a few gigs here and there. Probably just enough to make the mortgage, right. Yeah. And and Tommy was just like, Hey man.

You wanna help me with the project I've been working on? And I'm like, yeah. He goes, come to my house. And I'm like, okay, cool man. I get to Tommy's house, man, and I go into his office. First of all, I've never seen such a complex timeline before for editing. Like, I'm thinking like, literally, man, we, you live in a small town, everybody's patting themselves on the back for like a three track shoot with some dialogue and music effects.

So this is 

Chris: layered upon layer. 

Gary: Upon layer. Yeah. And this is like 45 minute episodes with sound cues that are mixed sound effects dialogue on separated tracks, designated. I mean, [00:41:00] it's just uber organized, man. Like, and it was definitely, to be honest with you, man I, thought I was a great editor and then I met this guy and I was like, oh, I'm a stoner with Final cut 10

Like, like this guy is doing. So, so this guy's a pro. The project that ended up being was he needed an assistant editor for Car Trek season three. We just did season 10. Just came out last Christmas. Right. Or this Christmas is just packed. 

Chris: So you've been locked in eight seasons? Yes. Yes.

Gary: Now they do generally two seasons a year though, so it's like, but it's hardcore work. And so the first thing he was like, Hey, man, nobody's gonna, nobody ever really hires people to just do Final Cut Pro, and you need to step out of that box. So I'm like, oh, no man, I was stuck with this since college and I don't wanna pay a monthly subscription fee and blah, blah, blah.

And he is like, well, if you want to get at this then that's, we'll have to do that. So I was like, okay, this seems like a really cool opportunity. And if I, felt 

Chris: like, so you're talking about the [00:42:00] transition over to Premiere? 

Gary: Right? Right. And so I, I did that and basically I realized that I should have did that years ago because it's basically the same thing, right. It's all the same thing. Right. It's all just non-linear editing. Yeah. And I found I, still find Premier very rewarding and before you know it, we're like four seasons in and I've learned, so 

Chris: let's just take a step back. So, Did he tell you like, Hey, I want to see you work on this little piece for me.

I wanna see how you do. Or did he just say, here it is, you go and come back when 

Gary: you're done? It was pretty straightforward. Like Tommy had already been out with me like shooting, bleeding hand promos, and me and him and me and him and Michael will go out and we still go out and we'll go out to like places around Mount Baker logging roads and stuff and yeah, different places to fly drones.

And he happens to be a birder, but we always just go get landscape scenery and stuff, and so like we had these like little outings [00:43:00] that we've always had since college, me and Michael where we just go and play with our gear man, you know what I mean? And just capture stuff.

So we were good for that. What I didn't know is I started looking around Tommy's room and all of a sudden I see Emmy's for Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Catch and what's the other one? Axman and all these other big name reality shows. And I'm like, I thought you were a ghost hunter man.

And he's like, I am. He was like, but you don't get paid ghost hunting like that. I mean, he's like, man I, work, I have to work a day job. And come to find out Tommy's from the Rhode Island School of Design and has been in TV for 15 years, you know what I'm saying? Which is like, whoa.

Like, it was like, whoa, like direct line. And here 

Chris: he is in Bellingham. 

Gary: Yeah. And cuz he wanted like LA is pretty crowded and I mean if you ever interviewed him, I'm sure he could tell you his perspective on it, you know what I mean? But Sure. I know that he loves it up here. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. And like, yeah. So once we started getting the hangover, it was kind of like an [00:44:00]addiction. Cuz you're kind of just like, man, I'm so he knew I'm 

Chris: working. I'm, looking at someone who can get the 

Gary: job done. Yeah. And so he called, he brought me on and like it was, he had to definitely mentor me a lot the first couple of seasons.

And he still mentors me a lot too. You know what I mean? Like as far. , there is a lot of technical shit that goes into a TV show, man. Like, that's so much more than our, regular commercials and our short films. And these little projects that we do that hit the hit like the more of a web medium.

Yeah. Like once you start making stuff for tv, everything has to be like colored just right and the right format. The sound has to meet a certain criteria. And so and, like, there's so many files because reality shows they shoot almost nonstop man for like three weeks straight. So you have to find you have to find solutions where you can basically catalog and understand where all the footage is at for the story without burnings yourself out and watching every clip.

But in the end, you always end up seeming to watch every clip, you know what I mean? Cause it's like, [00:45:00] and so we are working through generally about 12 terabytes of footage at a time. You work through a few 12 terabyte seasons, man. And you get to where you need to be. As far as editing, man I've, gone back and I've edited and I've done other projects.

Like I freelance still when I'm in between seasons and stuff. And all of the stuff has come back and like served me well, including how I talk to clients, right. By being in this ecosystem for Bright Bay and the way they have executive producers the head of shop or the owner of the two companies multiple story editors, multiple finishing editors, and a team of assistant editors.

It's like you kind of learn how to communicate with people to get the job done, and you also kind of learn how to fill out how everything's going. You know what I mean? So like, it's a, yeah, it's a really, I guess organic kind of, you gotta be there to do it kind of thing. But once you're in there, man you start noticing differences between how we get down as like creatives in a small [00:46:00] town versus how they produce these large format shows.

And I mean, I don't want to get too far in the weeds. But something that has blown my mind that I'm still infatuated is, the concept of episodic storytelling versus storytelling in 15 minutes. Like, we stuff so much shit into short films, man, trying to get these parts and these cool ass shots, and yet here goes this stuff that's not shot anywhere near cinematic.

Right. As a as, I mean, well I'm not gonna lie, car tricks has been get pretty good on their production stuff, so but but it's not the same level of shot planning as a shot list from a short film or a movie. Right. Or a narrative piece. Right. Yeah. But that doesn't mean that there's not the same a lot degree of storytelling, if not more, because these characters have a chance to breathe.

Right. And, realize they're arcs. Whereas like you're trying to stuff in and nothing has chance to breathe, it happens so fast that it's negligible to the viewer. Right. Right. Whereas like over three episodes two guys you're building relationships. Right. Like, [00:47:00] like one of the, best best ways I could put it is, oh, there is one season where the gentleman from Car track.

Two of them kept ripping each other, right. Through the whole thing about each other's cars and how one does the last season happens organically, but perfect for the storytelling. One of the guys goes off on the other dude tells him he's a shitty track track driver. He's an okay mechanic, but he has a bunch of unfinished projects and like, said a lot of hurtful things and it just exploded.

And you, see it coming in the previous episodes, but then the payoff is like, whoa. And then you look. And another great thing about these shows is since they're public and they're on like YouTube and stuff, you see what moments work for the viewers and what they're talking about. You see what I'm saying?

So you see a lot of payoff in that episodic content, man. And I really wish, I guess my biggest thing is I really wish we could get our little town together to do something similar where we can generate that kind of storytelling and bring that kind of money to the town. You know [00:48:00] what I'm saying?

Because I mean, it's like there's that's. I would keep at least 10 to 20 people employed and without more work with all the people we interact with but it's just like, well we need to meet, 

Chris: we meet, we need to meet about coffee for that one for sure. 

Gary: Right. So, but absolutely content thing, Chris is just amazing, man.

Blows my mind and it really makes me wanna just be a fly on the wall and writers' rooms of like my favorite shows, you know what I mean? Like how do they, build, like if I've seen it grow organically in reality tv, how is the writer's room building that with characters that are scripted? You know what I mean?

Chris: Yeah. So, no, it's good stuff, man. Really good stuff. Hey, you talked a little bit about something that I think is really interesting and cre obviously the creative piece is, so important and, understanding story and all that stuff, but being in a room and learning how to talk to people especially people who come from a completely different environment.

They're they're probably one or two levels above us. [00:49:00] How, what was sort of your approach around that? To learn, how to one, one of the things you said earlier was, people make assumptions about me before they've even talked to me. So how do you sort of break for, a content creator or, a filmmaker or a storyteller out there who's looking for ways to sort of, not necessarily make an impression, but act professional within a working environment.

What, was your approach around that? 

Gary: Well, I'm gonna start a very simplified and the words of wisdom that my grandmother gave me at a young age. You attract more flies with honey than shit baby. You know what I'm saying? It's very simple. There's a, spit on the golden rule. Yeah. It's like others.

You what you wanna be treated. Yeah. Another thing is you have to realize that when you're in a room full of people, . It's not a monologue. It's not about you. It's not about your achievements, what you can [00:50:00] bring to the team, how you feel about what's being said. It's a dialogue. So it takes active listening, and I think that a lot of people actually lack that skill.

I listen to audible books that I don't enjoy for hours just to practice active listening, man. So once you understand active listening and then you see what's being put on the table. For instance, a great example for Chris is our board meetings at Pickford Film Center. We're there's, a lot of talented minds in the room, but everybody is pretty good about not being like the story of me, right.

To keep our focus on the organization and the task at hand. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, I think that what will help a lot of people is one, realizing the fact that it is not a monologue, it's a dialogue. Two, actively listening. And identifying parts that they feel either concerns or they have solutions or wanna offer a solution to the team when it's appropriate.

Right. [00:51:00] And three, respect the hierarchy. If there is one man like if there's if you got a executive producer in the room and you're like one of the editors or something, you're one of the editors, listen to what they have to say. Take down what they have and if you have questions, bring that on and bring the concerns.

I now, on the same token, if you see something that you don't agree with and all that, there's a different way of bringing that. But you still need the courage to bring that forward. You just have to be tactful about how you bring it forward. It's just like, yeah, maybe posing in the frame of a question or a, concern that, well, if we do this if we do X, what if Y occurs?

How are we prepared to deal with that? That kind of thing. So you just have to be more organized in your thinking and, another thing, I think this is the part that a lot of people don't get past is the intimidation of the first one. Like of other people in the room. It's like all of these people poop.

That's all think all of these people poop half to bathe, half to eat, half daily lives, man. They're just humans, and you are in the same room with them, and that's all you [00:52:00] have to do. There's no gods or diaries that you're answering to there. You're just being in a room with other people and trying to find out a solution or work towards a common goal.

And like if you go in with a few deep breaths and like, okay, I have this allotted amount of time, I know that I'm an outgoing person. You take a few deep breaths, calm down, be ready to listen, but also be observant enough to offer input if it affects where my talent set lays or where I the, or my skillset or, and what needs to be done and the priorities.

That's what I would say 

Chris: as far as that. Yeah, it's nice. I was interested, I was listening to an interview with Steve Jobs and he was talking about how he sort of got started and he said, one of the things that really separated me from everyone else is I was not afraid to ask. For things. Right? And so he literally called Hewlett Packard up or Hewlett, whoever he was one of the founders of the first big tech companies in Silicon Valley and said, Hey, do you have any transistors, leftover transistors that I can play with?

And that led to then [00:53:00] Steve Jobs getting a j little, job when he was 13 years old on the assembly line. And he said, and I just continued asking for things and and, a lot of people don't ask. Yeah. And but, you, but back to your point, you've gotta do it in a way that's actually respectful and provides value back to the person that you're asking it from.

Important. Yeah. It's so it's, building that sort of balance between that that, I think a lot of 

Gary: people miss. Yeah. And I think that people need to realize that when they're in a room full of people, that's a lot more variables and memories that have to contend within the type of actions that you put forth.

Right. So, so keep that in mind too like, . It's not like a one-on-one conversation. There's people that you don't know that are there, and it's like, don't be intimidated by that, but don't just make the monologue again and make it about you. You know what I mean? Especially in the team, so, yeah.

Chris: Well, one of the best pieces of advice I ever got was be, interesting and be interested and, really that comes back to [00:54:00] really listening and, hearing what other people's perspectives are as 

Gary: well. Yeah, I really like that, man. I could see, that in you actually, Chris, when you execute.

You're an interesting guy and you've remained committed and interested in our interactions 

Chris: that we do when we do stuff together so well, I appreciate that, man. Pretty awesome. Hey you, back to your grandmother and you can, you attract 

Gary: more, people with, honey. You do.

You attract more flies with honey than shit. There you go. 

Chris: So I was gonna ask you, what's your favorite 

Gary: quote? Is that it? Oh, my grandma had a lot of cool clothes, but that's definitely one of the top ones, man. She was a, yeah, she was a fiery woman and she, had a, very sharp tongue, but her love and righteousness.

Was always present and very, strong. And that was one of her guiding rules is just try to be nice to people until you know that you can't be nice anymore. I'm not saying that people walk all over you for sure don't get that. Oh, for sure. Yeah. I don't wanna, I don't wanna misconstrue what I'm saying here.

mean, Like, if somebody's walking all over you and you see it, you need to stop that. [00:55:00]Separate yourself from the situation or verbally let them know that's not the path that you want but lead with kindness. Yes, But lead with kindness always man. Like it's tough love and all that kind of stuff.

So like, just be cool about, and I, you don't have to be saccharin sweet, but it doesn't, I mean, kindness, it doesn't cost anything. It's not like it's gonna kill you to just say hi or listen to what the person has first before you start monologuing about what you're gonna do as a part of that project or whatever.

It's. Silence and, attentiveness is free to do. And it's one of the greatest things you can give people, man being present. You hear that in all the zen stuff being present to everybody. It's free. You're giving out presence to everyone. You're like Oprah, man it's great.

And, it's like, take advantage of that, live with that, and people will reciprocate man. And like, it's, I don't know maybe, they won't, maybe you're in a situation where everybody's an asshole, but most of the creative situations I've been in, thankfully, by being pleasant and, not being [00:56:00]argumentative unless it really, dictated it.

And the issue depended on like a stat voice when it was time. A lot of people are ready to work with you again, are ready to build. We like to call it building when you work with somebody. So it's like you always want somebody, you want to come back and build with you whenever you're done with a project, 

Chris: Yeah. So it's interesting you mentioned la I actually had a, I actually had a really good experience in Los Angeles. I, worked there for about, nine years in. For me, it was a lot of people who did just want to build. And I think we do have our stereotypes, of course, of the people in LA who you know, and those people 

Gary: do exist.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not gonna call 'em stereotypes. I'm gonna say anecdotal, yeah, exactly. 

Chris: Exactly. And so I think that we've also on, a much smaller scale, I think we, you especially, you've done a really good job. What I'm, what about, what I love about you is just your willingness to give to the film community is just [00:57:00] unparalleled.

And so I, just give you major props and accolades for that. One last question. The martini shot. And maybe you gave it already in, in, in your last answer, but for someone who's just coming up and says, you know what, I want to be a filmmaker, I want to be a writer, I want to be a painter. I want to be a sculptor.

What advice would you give that person? 

Gary: Ooh. I guess I would say figure your lane, figure out your lane first. Like, do you want to shoot, do you want to edit? Do you want to produce? What aspect do you want to do it? And if you wanna do it all, then you're about to begin the arduous process of starting smaller projects where you test it out low risk stuff.

Like even if it's just, there's a lot of, I, I generally call stuff exercises. So gimme just a second to kind of explain this. So bleeding hand for instance, right? Everybody. Oh, you're so nice. You're doing so much for the film community. Hell [00:58:00] nah man. I'm building up a, great network of friends where when I wanna make something, we could just call upon anybody and I get to stay sharp by making four or five promos a year by shooting what I want to and editing.

It's a privilege for me to do that kind of thing because I take what I've learned from the last year and I take it in. So what I tell people that are just starting out, I'm like, Hey man, look. , you got editing software on your phone it's like iMovie comes with an iPhone. Practice framing, man. You know what I'm saying?

Get your Instagram game up, use the rule of thirds just to frame, and then with a little bit of research go look up some stuff on YouTube. Like what, shots are, what like what's a wide shot? What's a medium shot? That kind of thing. And so, like I said, figure out your lane, do low risk stuff or and it's not, and you're gonna have to start for free.

I'm sorry. It's not like you're just gonna get paid. I Chris. It's really weird, but I get this question a lot and it's usually from people who expect to be paid full rates jumping into the market. [00:59:00]Yep. I want to do sound, I wanna write. Okay. What have you written that people have already identified with nothing.

But I figure well, well how do you get paid? Well I, bust my ass lot and spend like a lot of my life in front of a computer doing a skill that I learned. It's a particular skill and it's like, well, I don't wanna learn how to edit, but I want to edit. Then you're a director or producer that wants an editor or something.

Like it's just like you gotta figure out that one thing you can grab onto. Because not only is it gonna be the thing that you want to explore, it's gonna be the thing that you can offer to other quote unquote DIY filmmakers and small organizations that are willing to take that chance on you.

You know what I mean? Yeah. So I would say attack that with gusto and definitely start researching that particular whatever your lane is, whether it's shooting, editing, producing, or directing, researching based like, like for instance, I like the way really Scott does films as a person. I don't think he's that great, but I think he does a great job directing Samuel [01:00:00] James Cameron, honestly but I look at their stuff and I'm like, what makes me, what resounds with me?

And at first there'll just be a bunch of ripoff stuff. Oh, that wide angle shot with that Solly . As time goes, you start. Kind of figuring out, this is what I like, this is what, this was, what has the moston, and you'll find what 

Chris: Picasso said. Picasso said, good art, good artists borrow great artists Steele.

Yeah. 

Gary: And so I'm just it's, Pirate City out here, man. You define your own style, cause there's, there is, there will be a time where you're gonna figure out what you want and then you have to define that style, yeah. So like, I think for instance, somebody who has developed the great aesthetic from Fairhaven till now is Chris Koser.

Yeah. Wow. Just amazing cinematographer. You know what I'm saying? I've seen some of his early stuff and you can tell that he's learned over the years and now he has this like untouchable, just beautiful style man. And it's like cool. And when you see people like [01:01:00] that, these like local small town hometown heroes, you're like, I can do this too.

Yeah. And so I guess another good piece of advice would be to round surround yourselves with peers that are getting it We'll respond and, then it's circling back one more time to what you were saying, don't forget to ask people for stuff and at that point in the game it's asked for advice so 

Chris: that's, yeah.

Well, and also what can I do for you? How can I help? Right. So those are some great questions. Well, Gary, thank you so much for taking the time today to, have this chat, man. I really, appreciate it. Lots of pure gold in there and we'll, definitely get together and sort of think about how we can do exactly what you're talking about.

Make, the community stronger. We all, we both need to be creating stuff and launching stuff more with, bravery and fearlessness. And I think your words around that are, really prescient and meaningful. So I really appreciate it. 

Gary: [01:02:00] Well, thank you Chris, and thank you for having me.

I'm gonna go now and I have that storyboarding thing up from final draft the beat board. Yeah. Trying to get something done in 30 days before the next season starts so, so I'm just trying to beat board some stuff out right now, man. And it's best. Go break that story, 

Chris: man.

I love it. I'll talk to you soon, Gary. Thanks for having me, man. Yeah. Later man. 

And so ends this episode of Creative States. Come back next week for more creative goodness.