Jeremy Shinder: From Broadway Lights to Film Festivals

Broadway, filmmaking, acting, storytelling, and creative entrepreneurship take center stage in this exciting episode of Full STEAM Ahead. Gary and Judy Siegel welcome filmmaker, actor, entrepreneur, and storyteller Jeremy Shinder for a conversation about creativity, perseverance, and following artistic passion from childhood to adulthood.

A professional actor since the age of four, Jeremy has appeared on Broadway in A Christmas Story: The Musical, toured internationally with 
The Addams Family, and built an impressive career in film, television, and theater. Today, he is also making his mark behind the camera as the founder of Jere Bear Films and creator of the award-winning short film Theo's Tears, which has earned recognition at film festivals across the country.

Tune in as Jeremy shares his journey from child actor to filmmaker, the inspiration behind his work, the creation of Jere Bear Films, and what he hopes audiences take away from the stories he chooses to tell.


Learn More & Get Involved:

https://www.jerebearfilms.com
https://www.jerebearfilms.com/theos-tears
https://steamfund.org
https://steamfund.org/full-steam-ahead-the-podcast/
https://steamfund.org/#news
#FullSTEAMAhead #Filmmaking #Broadway #Storytelling #IndependentFilm #CreativeCommunity #PerformingArts #SupportTheArts #PodcastEpisode

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:08

Welcome to Full Steam Ahead. I'm your co-host Gary Siegel, and together with my wife Judy Siegel, we represent the S in Steam Fund, the Siegel Trust enriching arts and music. Our mission is to support musicians, artists, and the venues where they share their gifts. The Hudson Valley and beyond has long been a magnet for incredible musicians, artists, and venues, and through Full Steam Ahead, we get to share the stories behind those who inspire us. Today, we're very excited to welcome filmmaker, actor, entrepreneur, and storyteller Jeremy Schinder. Jeremy is the founder of Jarebaar Films and a Sumakum Laudi graduate of Syracuse University BFA Film Program. But Jeremy's journey began long before college. A professional actor since the age of four, he has appeared on Broadway in a Christmas story, the musical toured internationally with the Adams family, and built an impressive career in film, television, and theater. Today he's gaining recognition behind the camera as well with his award-winning thesis film, Theo's Tears, earning honors at film festivals across the country. In this episode, we'll explore Jeremy's remarkable journey from child actor to filmmaker, the creation of Jair Bear films, the stories that inspire his work, and what's next for the talented young artist. Most importantly, we'll discover what he hopes audiences take away from the stories he chooses to tell. So before we dive in, we'd love for you to join our community to learn more about Steam Fund. Please visit Steamfund.org, like our social media pages, follow us on Instagram, subscribe to your to our YouTube page, and share these episodes with your friends. It's the best way to keep the arts and the conversations moving full Steam ahead.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Oh, that was a good tag. That was really good. That was a good read.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

We're so glad to have you with us.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

And we've known you since you were like knee-high to a grasshopper. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Basically, I mean so my my grandfather was the rabbi at your temple for n almost 20 years, and I just turned 24. So basically, just about inspired you. For what? To turn twenty?

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Yeah and I can tell you that that Jeremy was playing drums at the age of four in our temple.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Yeah, yeah. That's um it's it's very funny the way I um just before we get into the conversation, like a little bit about my background. I come from a family of rabbis, um, but that's something that never was my calling, never uh like on the pulpit. I much I much prefer the stage to the Bima, but um one thing that I've always resonated with, um, and it and it kind of aligns exactly with your program, but like for me, worship music is the way that I find myself in the in the space. So it's really cool when I I meet a lot of different people around the world across the country um that have similar experiences. Um like I have like a a roster of like people I know who grew up like playing drums in church, uh and so it's nice to have that connection with people. Uh but for me it's been in synagogue.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

So and I'll just add to that, that's what that's one of the the passions I have about the Steam Fund is that music plays a role in so many different ways. It's in healing, physical healing, emotional healing, spirituality. There's so many ways that it touches your life, and we just want to make sure that everybody who could have the opportunity to reach it can do it through music is absolutely and that that's sort of uh part of the mission. So now that we got that aside, um what do you want people to know about Jeremy Schinder?

SPEAKER_00 4:16

I don't know. I uh I don't know what people should know about. I'm a nice person. Uh I I'm funny, I'm kind.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Professionally.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Oh, professionally. Uh okay. That's a good question. Um Well, yeah, I I grew up as a child actor. Um the legend has it that I was about like a year, a year and a half, and my family took me to a very fancy steak restaurant, and they were not paying attention to me, and I didn't like that. So I took my sippy cup and I threw it on the floor, and not only did my family pause to react, but like the entire seating room like turned their head over and looked at me and I was like, ooh, attention. And then I realized this is called an this is called an audience. Uh and I think ever since that realization of like um people's eyes can be fixed on me, uh, I I realized that I I kind of enjoy that. Um and my parents saw that there was an opportunity to um to see if it could happen professionally in terms of acting. And um there it's a much, much longer story, but in order to condense it, I I did this uh open talent search at the local JCC in northern New Jersey, and um I sang a song, I played my drum, uh ironically, songs that I learned in Temple um singing and playing them, and by some chance one of the top agencies in New York City uh took an interest in me, and I had a formal follow-up meeting directly one-on-one with their agent uh or with their children's representative for the children's division, and I was signed to uh that agency, and I've been with that agent ever since.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

And how old were you then?

SPEAKER_00 6:10

About three and a half, four.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

That's when you started the rally.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Like professionally doing it, yeah. Well, yeah, good for my parents, good my grandmother as well, who's uh who who was basically the the the nudge who said, you know, you you gotta give your kid a chance. You know, maybe this is or maybe this isn't the right thing, but give them an opportunity give him an opportunity and see if it sticks.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

And is she thrilled that that that she did that?

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Oh absolutely, yeah. I uh my my grandmother has been around the world traveling with me um for for different different programs and and and shows and film festivals now more recently, etcetera. But it's uh it's been a I I can only imagine it's been a great thrill. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

So other than your grandmother, um, who else may have encouraged or or influenced you at that age in your acting career?

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Or along the way.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Uh I think definitely early on with my grandfather a lot. Um I I grew up watching movies that perhaps a little child should not grow up watching. Uh so I remember like at three and a half, four seeing movies like Animal House, um The Dirty Dozen, uh a lot of three stooges. Uh that that's a little more appropriate for kids. Exactly. You know, I still do that. Like that's one of my like ticks or whatever. Um yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Um literally, yeah. It took a lot of time to like undo learning all those like weird uh sounds and and gags. But uh uh yeah, definitely my my grandfather, a lot of like physical comedy because it's ironic. My grandfather, and I didn't know this until like later on, but like he actually grew up doing like community theater. Uh he played at a summer stock in Pennsylvania. He actually started playing the drums there, that's which is where I I learned how to play the drums for my grandfather. But in that same season, I think something happened where like maybe one of the actors got sick or quit or something, and they said, All right, Freddie, you're on. And so he actually like went on as like a emergency understudy in one of the shows. And apparently, I mean, the the the audience didn't riot, so it must have been good enough for them to, you know, approve.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

And just for the record, your grandfather was Fred Palmer, so a well-known and well-respected rabbi throughout the country. Maybe I I don't know farther beyond that, but um also was the rabbi in Livingston Manor, New York, where we know each other from. And he's you know, he he passed recently, but he is a a legend in many different areas. Many circles, certainly. Many circles.

SPEAKER_03 8:50

Absolutely. So um, you know, growing up uh as a as a working actor, um while most kids, you know, were going to school, um, you know, how how and playing sports and doing all these things, um, how did you deal with all of that?

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Uh well, in case people are listening and not watching, I was not the sport-looking type. Uh I I I I've got 6'4 plans for the next. No, no, not even close. Um but um I it was actually ironically kind of a blessing in disguise. Uh I have it's like a little known fact because there's many things about me, but I have dyslexia and very bad ADHD. And schooling, particularly in elementary school, middle school, was very difficult for me. There was a lot of times I would act out and get sent to the principal's office. Uh, and it's not because I was like a quote-unquote bad kid, it's just that I didn't like being told what to do when I couldn't like conceptualize why I was being told what to do. Um, so I did things that by definition are like acting out. I remember uh getting a crayon like crayons and like being in music class and like like drawing on like the choir risers, which I then later found out was like a $600 replacement to like get just the one just one section of the choir risers, which is so silly because like that a music is like my safe haven. So uh there was another day where I like um got a pair of scissors and like cut holes in my shirt just for the sake of it. But the the the real one was uh in third grade, we were reading Charlotte's Webb, and we had instructions to annotate, you know, the book so you understand it. And I was like, okay, I I understand how to annotate because it's gonna be much easier for me to pay attention, focus, whatever. And I did it, but I did it in pen. And then I later found out that the copy I was given was my third grade teacher's like personal childhood copy of Charlotte's Web. And needless to say, I was I was like emotionally scarred from reading for a very long time. Like there was a solid there was a solid couple years where like I basically like didn't really read.

SPEAKER_03 11:09

Um Audible tapes, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Well, that's actually what happened. But but actually the the the the the saving grace is that uh the one thing I have been able to read was scripts, because uh the formatting of scripts uh there's a lot more uh blank space on the page. Um and it's a contract in a way, because uh the standard is for both theater and film that one page equals one minute of runtime, which uh when reading it, and if you're a slow reader, is like two two minutes roughly. So I can know that a 60 page script is gonna take me at most two hours. But a 310-page book could take me uh in one sitting, like 32 hours to read. Um so that's kind of how I I was able to and it was through being on tour and being on Broadway that I had um tutoring. Uh and so my fifth grade year, I was not in school a single day. Like not one day.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

So what was that like socially? What was that like when you're you're not a part of everybody's everyday experience? Now, then and now looking back, what what's it like?

SPEAKER_00 12:25

No, that's a very good question. I think I developed the the the friendships that I have now are mostly my professional friendships working with like other child actors at the time. Um I do have you know close friends from middle school, high school, uh that were in the music department, et cetera. But I I understand what you're saying. There there is a special bond that, you know, you have like the movie like The Sandlot. You know, the kids on uh you know 4th of July go play baseball, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:55

You didn't do that.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

I did not have that, no. Uh I like The Sandlot, though, it's okay. Uh it's a great movie. It's a fabulous movie. But um but it's it it I had a lot of friends that were a lot older than me, and that actually really helped like kind of force me to mature at a very early age, uh, especially when I was on the Adams Family, which is what's called a bus and truck tour, uh, which was a non-equity uh which is the musical theater actors union. Uh it was a non-equity show, meaning that rather than having like two to four week uh sit-downs in like major cities like you know, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, uh whatever, we had like a lot of one-nighters. So, you know, you one night in like middle of Kentucky, and then all of a sudden you're in Missouri, and then you're driving 18 hours to Philly, and then you're doing this, doing that. And it's a lot of like get up and go. And you do a show at night, you know, starts at 8, you're out of the theater at 11, you're in a hotel by 11:30, and then you're waking up by 5.30 a.m. for a 6 a.m. bus call. And then you're on the bus for 10 hours, you get to the city, sound check, do the show. But then the only difference is when you're a kid, you have to add in three hours of school a day in the middle of that. And so I had to do like tutoring on the bus and not to be graphic, but I also have motion sickness. So I uh there was a bit of a struggle there. And and sit in the front of the bus. No, they put me in the back of the bus. They put me in the back. Like you you the the amount of fumes I must have inhaled was astronomical because they was like you you know, uh the fan is like right behind you. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um but uh I I was fortunate. I've had two fabulous tutors that uh I it got to a point where I was working so frequently I could like request them and they were they they would accommodate. Yeah. Um so I'll shout them out, actually names Amy Wolk and Bernadette Jzinski. And they work for this awesome company called On Location Education that does both theater and film and touring. Uh and and they're they're a fabulous company. It's run by uh an incredible woman named Jody and um And where are they where are they located? New York primarily, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

So was that fun? Like was this all like you loved acting so much that it was worth giving? Were you sad also?

SPEAKER_00 15:24

No, it was it wasn't a sacrifice, it was um it was like it was like make believe, but like it's like Mr. Rogers, you know, it's like I took the little trolley and then went into like the world of you know make believe and then came back and be like, okay, you got math tests.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

So one more question and and I'll I will let you speak, I promise. But um you know, you you as uh as a layman, I watch all these, you know, the Judy Garland stories, the Britney Spears stories, these horrible stories of child actors, yeah. Uh Drew Barrymore, who really struggled as child actors. Was it your grandmother or your parents that kept you in intact or the or the studios? How'd that lay out?

SPEAKER_00 16:04

No, it's a very good question. Um I I've been very fortunate that a lot of primarily all of my work uh up until about high school has been um like try stay area based. And I think there is a not throwing shade at any studios or or companies in Los Angeles, but I for me at least in New York there was a real sense of like responsibility, I think that a lot of uh the studios and production companies felt uh around young performers. And we always had like designated production assistants that were kind of like I joke and say, like it was like the Secret Service, like I had like a government handler on every set. Yeah, but but it wasn't like people around, it was like this is my guy. Like uh wherever I was, he was. Like if I was in my dressing room trailer, he was outside the dressing room trailer. Um and and e even up until like high school, like that was still a thing where it would be a a designated uh production assistant that was like my eyes and ears like like just being with me. Yeah, yeah. Um but uh I I never I was very fortunate, I never had any experience of mistreatment or um any any inappropriate conduct for work. But that's the thing too that I was quite aware of is that this is work. And you know, there is nothing ever, you know, I don't take anything personally because in what I do, it's it is a very high stressful environment. Uh and it's ironic because we're creating art, um, but it's also commerce, and time is money. So there are there are times where I've seen people, like particularly assistant directors who are basically running the set, like keeping everyone on track, like basically lose their cool to their crew and then walk over to me like, Do you need any water? Do you need any fruits? You know, cashews, whatever. And I'm like, Thank you. I'm great. Thanks. Uh and and that really um that that set a huge example to me too of like now as I direct and I AD, like understanding that uh there there's always been an emphasis on like you treat the casts with the, you know, like they're they're precious, right? But uh I have seen the crews not have that same level of respect. And so now as a filmmaker, it's equally responsible it's equally important to make sure everybody feels like they're they're taken care of, they're valued, they they recognize that I see their contributions and I I value them. So I think all that's to say that I I never had like a negative experience, and I think it's it's I'm very lucky because I don't know if I would be doing it now if I had had a very bad experience. I know a few people who have and have left the industry and are uh I know someone who like is now like a a a priest that like I I never would have expected this person to be a priest, but uh they are now.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

So you stopped reading when you had that negative experience. So, you know. Yeah, yeah, that's true. It didn't take much to have you go into maybe you would could have been a rabbi.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

I could have been a rabbi, but no thank you very much. I appreciate you.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

So you uh might why don't you talk a little bit about the parts that you played, like in the Adams family, the Christmas story. Sure, yes. And and how you got those parts and and talk a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

Yeah, so uh I I it's a crazy story. When I was eight, I went in for an open casting call for the Adams family on Broadway as the as the replacement for or technically it's called a vacation cover for Pugsley, which basically meant that the main actor playing the role had a scheduled vacation time, and in that time the understudy res you know assumed the role full time, and then they would cast a cover for that two-week period so that they had an understudy available should the the the one taking on the main bulk of the work be unavailable. And so my agents were like you know, he's too young, which is which they were absolutely right. Um and I I remember knowing that, and my voice coach, her name's Amelia DeMaio, um, and I'm still with her to this day actually, she said, just why not? Just you know, it's not like you have to pay to audition, you know. Um so I went into this open casting call, and there was there could have been two to three hundred people there. They all like look like me, short, chubby boys. Back to the steakhouse. Yeah, back to the steakhouse, exactly. And I somehow, over the course of like two, two to three weeks, kept getting callbacks and callbacks, and they would cut people, bring me back, get, you know, hear read this scene, learn this song, do it, you know, bring in uh they would bring in one of the actors who was in the show to do like chemistry reads, mix and match session, whatever. And um I basically ended up getting to like the final two. Um, and I was not, I ultimately was not hired because statistically I was like six inches too short and four years too young uh for the role. But it showed my agent, like, okay, we got a racehorse. Like he's not ready to win the Kentucky Derby yet, but he's not gonna be last. You know, he can at least not embarrass the owners, yeah. Um and so that showed my agent and it also showed the casting team. And that casting team was uh Bernie Telse, who's like a a giant in the uh entertainment casting world. Um he is he's like the guy um for a lot of film, a lot of TV, a lot of theater. Um and because of that, there were uh there were opportunities for him and his associates to like request me to be seen to my agents directly. Because a lot of the time a casting director, you know, communicates with an agent, these are the roles, the agent says these are you know the the people in my roster most suited for it, whatever. Uh but there was a couple instances in my career that I've been very fortunate that I've been requested by casting assistants. Yeah, yeah. So so that's what happened there. Um but cut to about two years later, I was doing um a Christmas story on Broadway, uh, which is a crazy audition story in and of itself. But I was auditioning for um before that actually for another musical uh on Broadway, like the same season, which was the for those keeping track, that was the 2012 to 2013 uh Broadway season. Um I was auditioning for another musical, but in the elevator somehow was like going back down after the audition, was the producer for the touring production of the Adams Family that was scheduled to go out later uh that that next year. And he like remembered me and he was like, I remember seeing your name in like you know, the your photo in like the the deck. Uh why aren't you auditioning for me? And I said, Well, I'm I'm I'm uh I have a a a show already. He said, But this is when's your when's your contract end? I said, you know, like December 30 something, 29, 30. He said, We start rehearsals the second. Send me your audition. Uh so I did, and they booked me. So uh when I was 10 10 years old, I was in a Broadway show from like the first of September to December 29th, and then I had three days off, and then in the new year on January 2nd, I started rehearsals for a tour. Wow. And I did that tour for nine months.

SPEAKER_03 24:15

And what was it like in the theater itself, like being in the theater on Broadway and and being on stage?

SPEAKER_00 24:21

I was mischievous. I was I I no, I seriously, I was a problem. Um there was um God love him, the uh production stage manager, uh his name is Peter Wolf. Um, he put up with my crap um like like like a champ. And I mean, I I looking back on it, I was like, man, I was just Dennis the Menace. Um because I was just, you know, it's very difficult to it's kind of like baseball in a sense, where you wait, wait, wait, and then you gotta be a superstar. And that's what like rehearsing is, and and especially tech rehearsal. Uh there's many times where you're like doing the scene and they say freeze, and then you just stay there in that position for like 15 minutes while someone gets up on a crane and adjusts the light or uh they're fixing a music cue or a sound effect, whatever. Um the ability to just stand there and do nothing, and I'm 10 years old, no ADD medication, just like it was like I was I was a lot, you know. Um but uh it it was like it was the most extraordinary thing that I've ever experienced, arguably to this day. Um because specifically, we our show was nominated for a couple Tony Awards, and we got to perform on the Tony Awards, and that whole week leading up to it was like absolute like heaven. Um getting to rehearse with like for the opening number with all these other uh actors from all these different shows, and it it was like a really fabulous uh time and getting to like be live at Radio City Music Hall, knowing that there's you know thousands of people watching at home, like that's that's something that like I I tear up thinking about it, like that I've had these opportunities in my life, and uh there's just it it's such an it's so rare for like a 10-year-old kid to like have that opportunity to you know play to the fourth balcony, like uh yeah. So it's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 26:22

That's the best part of these full Steam Ahead podcast uh episodes is that the you know, like who knew? Who knew all this? Like we've known you for 20 years, but we didn't know all of that.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

There's a lot, yeah. And well that's the thing, truthfully, about a resume too. You know, when you submit to auditions, uh there's the stuff on the paper, but then there's the stuff underneath the paper. And that's the thing that is so important about um like having interpersonal connections, especially with casting or during the casting process. During COVID, there's been a big shift to like self-tape, and it obviously has its benefits based on like location, because you can be anywhere in the world and still audition. Uh and and that's happened to me many times. Like I I remember I booked a movie when I was on vacation in Pittsburgh uh and just sending like randomly, like, oh, you have an audition. Here you go, film it, blah blah blah. And like I submitted a tape and you know, whatever. But I think that's you're you're absolutely right.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

You miss you miss talking with people.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Yeah, you miss the elevator experience because you never know who's in the elevator. That's so true. You never know who's in that elevator. You do not know who's in that elevator.

SPEAKER_03 27:38

You kind of want to go up and down a couple times in case just to see who's gonna come in.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

I mean, the things that these elevator operators must have experienced in their lifetimes, like all the crazy situations, all the fights, but all the, you know, re you know, whatever. It's it's it's a cool thing to think about.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

It has its ups and downs.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Yes, it does have its ups and downs, certainly.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

So how'd you go from I mean you're twenty-four, you're just twenty-four. You're used to like it's funny to me when you when you say and I still use and to this day because you've experienced so much in your very really short life still. Um, how'd you get from being an actor to you made a leap to being behind the camera?

SPEAKER_00 28:15

Yeah, yeah, as well, yeah. I uh the I think the the idea, the inspiration struck when I was in seventh grade and I uh did this film called Going in Style, uh, which was a reboot of a film from the 70s. And this film was directed by a a brilliant creative by the name of Zach Braff, who is an actor. He was on Scrubs, uh they actually Scrubs is now back on TV. They're they they themselves are doing a reboot, but um he is a brilliant comedic actor, but he's also a really talented director and like a thoughtful director as well. And it was really unique getting to see someone that usually is like on my side of the fence be on the other side of the fence, and it was like, wait a minute, I didn't know that that's an option. Like I didn't know that there's there you could do that, I didn't know you could switch sides. Um and then about a few months later, I did another film with uh uh that was directed by Fred Wolfe, who is a longtime writer for SNL. He did uh like uh the grown-ups movies, like with Adam Sandler. So he he's a comic, you know, he's he's also in that comedy scene. But the role that I went in for was not very much like myself, and he just kind of fell in love with me, like professionally speaking, professionally speaking, uh, and uh kind of wrote a part for me in this film. Um, and this film was starring uh Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek, and they themselves are both very talented comedic actors, and I think by like the second day of shooting they realized that like I also have a comedic improv background and I'm I can riff, like I'm good to like I can keep up with anyone really, and so they were like allowing me to bring my ideas to the table, and I'm like 13, like um, and so having that opportunity to be like, okay, what's go, what's your line? And we we there's this thing called wild lines in film, which is like um if you imagine like you know, they film a scene and then they just want to get like clean audio without you know the lights and the cameras, whatever. And I remember being in the basement of the house we were shooting in to do wild lines for uh one particular scene, and the director came in, you know, with the script supervisor and he's like, All right, I have like three written options, like these are the three three options. And we went one by one, rung one, great. And you know, the the boom guy's like, Great, all right, about to put the boom down. He says, Wait, wait, wait, keep going, keep rolling, keep rolling. And then he said, Jeremy, give me an alt. And I'm like, Okay. And uh like the joke was like the the the situation was two characters were like coming to stay over at uh their uncle's house, whatever. And uh and and my character did not want them staying, because they were kicking my character out of the room, like the bedroom, uh, and forcing us to like sleep on the floor basically. And so there was a funny line, but s I just like on the spot, I was like, Ever heard of a Motel Six? And out of context, not funny, but little to my surprise at the premiere of the film, and like that's what I hear, I'm like, Oh, like they went with me. Like they went with my version. Um and uh that I think I think it was that moment actually. Like the creation process is I love, and and I'm so used to that, I have been used to it. But seeing in the edit, like in the final cut, that one of my lines made it, like that was out of the ones that out of all the options, that's the one they took. And I think it was that saying, Well, if it's good enough for like the the big people in charge to say that's the one we want, then maybe there's something to be said about having good ideas and bringing them to the table.

unknown 32:28

Executing them.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Yeah, yeah. And then that was then further experience when I did um the late show with Stephen Colbert, uh, which I know you you have your story about that as well. But um I I was brought on to play uh like uh in a a sketch playing uh Timmy Jenkins, and this was during Trump's first election campaign, and the joke was that he was being very uh childish, quite frankly, to the his fellow uh you know, people run his running mates, whatever. Um and the gag was that the the the genius behind all these nicknames was like a middle school bully. And so that's what I was brought into play, this like middle school bully type. Uh and the first time we did it, I remember being given like, you know, many versions of the scene because it's it's you know, it's late night comedy. Things are changing so fast because the the news is just constantly shifting. Um and from the time I got to the theater to the time we filmed it, there was probably four or five different versions of like a 10-page scene. Uh, but I memorized it all because that's that's what I do. Like I'm a theater actor, like I'm used to that. That's easier for me than trying to read it. And when we finished it, Steven like whispered to me, he's like, I noticed you didn't look at the teleprompter once. And I said, Quite honestly, Stephen, if I looked at it, I would have effed up. And uh he he like gave me one of these, like, what? Uh but it was like I I think in that moment he saw, yeah, an epiphany happened. And like the next time I was called in, like about a month later or so, we did the rehearsal, another update, whatever. And then I hear a knock at my dressing room door from my what we talk about, my PA, my my government handler, uh, and he says, uh, please come with me. I'm like, uh-oh, I've been I've been fired. Like I'm done. Yeah. They they they have the uh the next kid outside. But I'm brought down to the basement of the Ed Sullivan Theater, and I'm going past like the costume room and uh, you know, seeing all the the the band, like their green room there, and I was like, hi John, right? Whatever. And then I'm brought like these like uh like barn doors open, and like I swe it didn't happen in my m in my brain though, it was like a light just came in and it was the writer's room. Uh and it was this room, like a desk, everybody sitting around it, and on the wall there was like 15 different TVs, you know, some with news, some with uh playback from rehearsal, some with uh from our first segment, whatever. And they're like writing, like they're actively rewriting. And Steven's like, Come here, sit next to me, let's go. And I'm like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he like hands me this piece of paper with like like you know, handwritten jokes, and we just start doing it back and forth, and people are laughing and they're like, No, no, let's try this, try this, blah, blah, blah. And another guy's like, No, try this. Great, try this. And then he goes, Okay, Jeremy, what do you think? And I'm like, what do what do I think? Yeah, well, what do you mean, what do I think? He's like, No, you think this works? Do you think this like can we land this? Like, because it's uh it was a funny gag. Um basically, if you haven't watched it, there's this bit on the second one where I basically convinced Steven to write pen 15 on his hand, which is like uh uh basically when he reveals it to the audience, it spells penis. Uh so that was a gag that we like had to time write because this was during like the opening monologue and like because commercial breaks are like so it was like can we get this in this amount of time?

SPEAKER_03 36:01

So where where where do people find this? Uh where will our viewers find this if they want to watch it?

SPEAKER_00 36:07

Yeah, it's like kind of all over the place. But that that particular thing is on YouTube. If you go to uh YouTube and search like the late show Timmy Jenkins, uh there's three segments that come up. No, it's Timmy, Timmy.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Is it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:20

Because it's even funnier. Timmy Jenkins. Yeah. Like that little shit. Yeah. Timmy Jenkins. Yeah. Um so so that experience of getting to be like in the room of creation. Like this is it, like I imagine this is what it felt like to be like watching God, like, you know. And then there was light, you know, like how how how it must feel like if you were just there, like witnessing it. And then God said, Do you like the light? Should it be a little warmer? You want a little cooler, whatever?

SPEAKER_02 36:47

So like that's a rabbi's concept. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:50

Well, I'm just, you know, I'm thinking about it. Like, you know, um how would the rabbis how's the water? Is it cold, too warm? What are you thinking? So so that's kind of what it was for me. But then uh you know, having the opportunity to um be included in the in the art of creation and not being uh you know, as an actor, you're given lines, you're given dialogue that's not your own, and your job is to basically convince everyone else that what I'm saying is happening in real time, it's natural, it's justified, it fits the situation, and if it works, it's funny. But getting the opportunity to say out of my mouth my own words, you know, contributing my own creative thoughts to the to the collective.

SPEAKER_03 37:34

At 14 years old.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

At 14 years old, yeah. That's when I was like, okay, this is actually real. And so um when it's a weird pivot, but when COVID happened and the world shut down, that was like a moment where you know, all the products I had been auditioning for as an actor were stalled. Uh like right before that, I was in an off-brawly show called Runaways that we did it in 2016, and then it was really successful. That was at City Center, and then we did it again in 2017 at the public theater and then again in Manhattan? Yeah, in in Manhattan, and then again in 2018, where we did it at uh the Delacourt Theater, which was Shakespeare in the Park. Um, and so there was this there was this thought of like, could this go to Broadway? Like, is this gonna transfer? Because it was building up, you know, a a big audience. And then COVID happened. And then it was like, okay, well, this is not happening anytime soon, so what can I do sitting home alone? Like, how can I still be creative? And then I realized maybe this could be a good pivot, and I decided to um go and apply to film school, and um amazingly they they accepted me. Um because Where? I I went to Syracuse and and what's go orange. Yeah, go orange. Uh what's beautiful about this is you know, there are many very talented filmmakers that have been making at-home movies in their basement with like little Legos and stuff like that since they were six years old. And that was never me. I I I never picked up a camera, like a movie camera, until my like junior year of high school, like very late. Um but they saw something in me as a as a creative and not just as a actor. And uh I'm incredibly grateful, honestly, to to them um for allowing me to to mature and come into my own in real time versus having a foundation and then you know expanding upon it. Um so I really was a late bloomer to filmmaking. Um and At 18. At 18, yeah. I mean it sounds funny. I mean, I I I I recognize there are people that get into it much later in life, but you know, I m some of my classmates have had like some of my classmates have already made feature films.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

I think that when you get to be our age, you're gonna look back and say that maybe you weren't a late bloomer.

SPEAKER_02 40:01

Well, maybe no, I'm thinking that I want to do this podcast again in ten years. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, maybe when when when you look back then and say, Wow, this is where I was and look where I've come. It's which is do you have sort of um like is there any part of you that thinks you'll do anything other than film? You know, uh like it is is another career ever on your radar other than acting film um.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

That's a very good question. Um Well, it's a it's a it's a weird answer, but I will say that one thing that I do, which is like a side hustle, but it it's actually something mean of meaningful that I really do enjoy, is and we mentioned briefly, but I've played the drums my whole life. I've been playing the drums longer than I've been acting and singing. Uh but uh the world's over saturated.

SPEAKER_02 40:51

What are you doing since you're four, just but the world is oversaturated with drummers.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Um uh like the joke is like what do you call a uh a working drummer? A bass player. Like, because that's you know, there's there's too many drummers. But um one thing that I've done that I've been really grateful for is uh I I I played in my high school marching band, and then when I went to Syracuse, I got to play in the marching band there, and in the basketball pep band and volleyball pep band, and I got to travel, go to you know, bowl games, got to go to the March Madness tournaments.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

You like being on the bus, so yeah, I like being on the bus, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

Very much. Yeah, but at that point, at that point it was a little easier for me. No more tutoring. Um But uh I my first job actually out of college while I was editing my thesis film, um, or still editing my thesis film, was I was hired to um work on the staff of a local high school in New Jersey teaching the drumline there. Um and I was somehow it was I I I don't think conspiracy is the correct word, but I had very little to do with that decision. Someone basically said, I need someone to take on this role, and someone who I'd done like a community band with who is the director of that band said, This is the kid you want. Um, and so I did that. I did it for two years, and then my ironically, the high school I went to also hired me then to come back and teach in their marching band. So I don't think I say like a different trajectory of a career or a different industry rather, because I consider that all the same. Like it's the same home base. Um the other thing though that I'm interested in is that one of the things that I do uh in addition to directing and and acting is I fall I have fallen in love with light. Um and so I work as a gaffer in film, which is it it gaffer is actually a a a shipping like uh a sailing term that basically means like the most senior member of the crew. Um but in in film that that's the that's like the colloquial word, but the other option is chief lighting technician or CLT. Um so I will work on projects of friends of mine um like here and there just to keep me like creatively fulfilled, especially when I'm now working on a big documentary project that um is a very long-term project. So getting to work like for three days here, a weekend, you know, two weeks here, and just not it's not my baby, but it's like I get to be like the babysitter and you know, come in and and make sure they look good, uh that's a great thing for me too. But the other thing I'm interested in now too is translating that back into theater. Because I've been doing film lighting for about four years now. But one thing I'm interested in possibly doing is taking that to the stage and finding opportunities to bring like both of my passions uh together. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:51

So so you you went to Syracuse University. Uh you did eight you directed eighteen films in Syracuse University. Is that is that is that That is first of all, that 18 number is.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

So so yeah, so I I was in a BFA program, which is uh Bachelor of Fine Arts. Most BFA programs are conservatory style programs. In other words, rather than if I was taking like, you know, physics, where I may have class in college three times a week for an hour and a half, I would have one class for four hours uh every week, um, which would be different studio classes. And it comes from the model primarily of uh portrait work and paint, because the theory is, you know, you have a model there, you have a subject, you paint, and the paint has to dry, and then you critique your paint, right? Uh so there was a lot of four hour, you know, three and a half, four-hour classes. Um, and the reason why that number of films I directed is so high is because you would meet once a week for these classes, and then the other days that you don't have class would be then the the time in which you are creating these projects for class. And some people make better projects than others, and it has nothing to do with talent, it just has to do with understanding that at the end of the day it's like it's a it's a homework assignment. But I came into it with the understanding of like, yes, it's a homework assignment, it's classwork, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be treating it with the same level of respect and discipline and heart that you know something that's gonna be distributed in every movie theater in the country should have. And so after my soft after my freshman year, my sophomore year, I came in and I was like, each year I'm gonna make at least one film that I'm going to release, that I'm gonna submit to festivals. Um and so of that 18 that I directed, about five or six of them have have shown at festivals around the world. Um and yeah, by the time I was a sophomore, um the university kind of recognized that and started to like feature me on their um promotions and stuff. And a very funny story is that when I was in in New York City for our bowl game, we played the pinstripe bowl my junior year. I get off the bus with the band, I put my drum on, and we're heading into like stadium control. And as I'm walking there, I see this like bus, like this LED, a truck that actually has like an LED board on it. And I'm like, oh, that's really cool. I've never seen one of these before. Like an advertisement. And then I keep walking closer, I'm like, wait a minute. And then I realize that's me. Like that's a picture of me on that truck with uh with like in front of you know in front of the camera. Um that like I was part of their campaign. Um uh and yeah, I mean, I was very grateful for that opportunity because they featured me in uh entrepreneur magazine, business magazine, because I got involved with the uh business school there because Syracuse has also one of the best business schools, Whitman School of Management. Uh so I got involved there and that's when I found my production company, my junior year, Jared Bear Films.

SPEAKER_02 47:09

So that that actually is a good segue to the question of how how do you balance your art with business and and make sure that somebody's paying attention to your money, you must make money on these things. You you have to be able to eat. How does that play out?

SPEAKER_00 47:24

Um it's a very good question. Um, it's a very good question. Um the model I've found that works for me is that I when I'm developing bigger projects like Theo's Tears. Theo's Tears was about a two and a half year development process between like first draft to like premiere.

SPEAKER_02 47:46

Um second. So Theo's Tears is something that people could now go on YouTube and look at because we watched it and it was it's a wonderful story. It's on your website, right? It is on my website, yeah. It's really worth worth taking uh uh twenty minutes or so to uh to to experience.

SPEAKER_00 48:02

It's a nice little film, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:03

Sharebearfilms.com.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

Yeah. Yes. Um but I I basically I the way that I'm able to like be successful at running a business um is that I while I develop larger projects that I'm directing and producing myself, I will work on other projects in the meantime, like in the meanwhile. So in like 2025, I was hired by a uh regional um community arts program in New Jersey to create a short film out of a play that they were producing. Um and that was about a three-month project. And basically the the the funds that I would like my salary for that project, I basically put into the budget for my next film. Um so it's all about like reinvesting. And there's many schools of thoughts on, you know, is that wise? Because there's a very important line in Mel Brooks is the producer. He says, the number one rule of being a producer is never put your own money in the show. And the number two rule of being a producer is never put your own money in the show. So I learned that very early on, and I I was very successful at applying for grants through my university. I was in the honors program as well, and they were incredibly generous and like beyond supportive of me uh as a creative arts major in a academic research-based uh fellowship. Um, that there were people there that I couldn't beyond like I couldn't even begin to describe how smart these people were. Like someone was trying to like get rid of like fat cells and lipids, and another person and he explained it to me like pasta and spaghetti. I don't remember that really. But another person was like trying to like clean water in Peru, and another person was trying to uh create or fix like the uh there there's a big uh problem in Syracuse with the highway that kind of goes through the middle of the the the city, so they were trying to create like signage that basically basically directed people the right way to like safely go across, right? Uh and then there was me who was like, hi, I'm making a movie. Hi, nice to meet you. Um so I always say I'm sell yourself shit. I'm very lucky when I can be the dumbest person in the room. Like that I love being because then it means I'm in a good room. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:19

But there must be you must have you must have people, right? Like you can't be doing all your marketing, all your creating, all no, no. You must have people that are helping you with where that money's going and such so that you access to it.

SPEAKER_00 50:32

Absolutely, absolutely. So so from for Theo's Tears, uh I've got to shout this guy out. I have a brilliant friend who was my line producer. His name is John Moses. Um and he right now actually uh he he works as a legislative aide for a congressman in DC. Um it's very funny that he was able to balance my budget correctly, but not the government. So for me, I'd rather have them do their saying.

SPEAKER_03 50:59

And in fact, we were at the little bit smaller. I know, I know. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

So so so he came in and um But yes, to answer your question, like that is a big problem with newer filmmakers of just not understanding, you know, not setting a budget. And it's one thing to say this movie costs X amount of money, and it's another thing to say you have X amount of money, make your movie. Right. Because there is a mindset shift, like there is no unlimited cash flow because I'm not unless anybody wants to give me one, that's fine. But uh that's not how the world works. No, no. And and even when people think they do, even movies that have two, three million, three hundred million dollar budgets, they're still like, man, we need an extra $700,000. Like we really needed it. Um so I but limitations are very good. Um but in terms of managing budget, we we we set the budget like two to three months before we even start shooting. So that way we know exactly how much we need, how much we have, how much we need to raise before we can like green light, because the worst, in my humble opinion, the worst thing you can do is begin to film something and you don't have enough money to Yeah. And unfortunately that happens. Like there are there are success stories where that is the case, and you know, when you believe in yourself and you think I need to put something in the can to show to someone, that's absolutely valid, legitimate. That's like that's the concept of of proof of concept, like when you create like a short five-minute segment of a film. But not when you're like, we're in week three out of a 10-week shoot and we just realize we don't have enough money for lunch, right? So to pay the people. Yeah, that's yeah. Um so so I do not do that. But uh in terms of but my film that I'm currently working on, this documentary, uh, I have a great co-producer named Ben Sampson. Uh he actually is someone I went to college with, um, and he he's great. I mean, he's a really talented producer. He he's a great storyteller, but he understands how to communicate with um with authority, but also like kindness, which is something that you really need, especially for this project that is a my first international uh film that I've worked on. We filmed projects, uh not projects, sorry, we filmed portions of this film in uh Dominican Republic. And so figuring out how to get travel insurance and how to get um, you know, equipment protection fee, general liability, let alone the travel and cost expense and you know the conversions and all that stuff, that's when you know I have brilliant people like Ben to take over and be like, you got it, buddy. Like we're doing it and you're gonna help me.

SPEAKER_03 53:43

So so before we talk about the international project. Sure. Let's go back to Theor Theo's uh Theo's Tears. Sure, yeah. And and maybe give a synopsis of the story of that so so that our viewers, our listeners uh you know have an idea of what what that's about and maybe a teaser so that so that they'll want to go and watch it too. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 54:05

So Theo's Tears um is actually loosely based off a cousin of mine and an experience that I saw posted on Facebook uh by his parents. But Theo's Tears is about the relationship between a father and son who have two very different perceptions of what it is to be a man, and it takes place the week leading up to Halloween when the father does not approve of his son's costume. So that's basically the drama of uh Theo's tears.

SPEAKER_03 54:41

Yeah, that's a very good description of it. Yeah, and so you need to watch it.

SPEAKER_00 54:44

It's good, yeah. It's it's it's it's funny, it's um it's heartfelt. It's funny. It's it it always at festivals is always put in the drama category, and I'm like, man, it's it's a comedy. Like it's funny. Like it's it's a it's serious, but it's funny. Um but I guess I think for me I'll go with drama. Yeah, I know I understand drama. I understand drama. And I think that's the irony though. It's I I realize that um a lot of the roles acting-wise that I've had have been the comedic relief inside dramas, um, which I think is a very difficult like it's a it's a difficult ingredient to get right. Um because there are instances where it's just like so out of left field that it's like, whoa, where where's this coming from? But everything I do, both as an actor and as a filmmaker, it needs to be grounded, it needs to be justified. And so with Theo's tears, there are elements that crack me up still, even when I watch them like that that's really funny. But the the world in which it's set in, where it's contained, is is dark. It's it's not, you know, it's not a very happy portrait of the uh uh of of of of a successful familial relationship. Um and and and so I think that's that's one of the things for me that's important in the work I create, which is trying to show the hard truths through the guise of uh levity. Um and and I think that's sort of my um if one was to ask me like what is my uh your style my inst yeah, my style, my my my intention, my direction as a filmmaker, it's it's definitely that. I think it's making people like laugh through the tears.

SPEAKER_02 56:33

What do you hope people take away from that that that film? What would that goal be?

SPEAKER_00 56:40

I think um it's actually funny, it's going back to what you initially asked about doing sports for me. Uh you know, I I never was an athlete. And and that that is a very big component for a lot of uh young men, particularly men, um uh in terms of fathers specifically, like that sort of generational um knowledge, wisdom passed down generation to generation. And uh it's funny, my dad, my father, he was actually very good at street hockey and ice hockey, and he he has a trophy that he has on his desk that he doesn't let people forget that he he is an athlete. Uh but for me, that didn't translate. Like the most athletic thing I do is like tap dancing, which no doubt, dance is a sport. It's a sport. Same thing with marching band, marching band, that's that's a lot of you know, conditioning, endurance, it's it's difficult, especially when you have a heavy drum on. Like that's that's a sport, no doubt. But there is the expectation that um that unfortunately some people will try to force their children to fit in the mold that they themselves have been forced into when they were a child. So I guess my takeaway is that it's not to say that you need to uh you know completely let your kids do whatever they want and do uh how however they want to. Um you don't have to have free reign to just Yeah, but but I think there is some truth to allow your children to to be who they are and to listen to who they are and not try to not try to restrict them from being who they are. Yeah. And and kids are beautiful. Like kids are like really funny. Like it is particularly the children, the the the I you know, I don't like when people call it child actors. It's I always say they're young actors because they they're not children, you know, they're they're they're little adults, like they're fully they're they have brains and they can function and they they're they have empathy and they have talent. And so the the main the the two lead young actors in my film are are truly incredible. I mean, they are what make this movie. Um and the the father who's uh who's who actually is a acting professor at Syracuse and he he's actually in the movie that we were in a film together, actually, that we filmed um over the course of the summer leading into my senior year. So I had that rapport with him already of like getting to be scene partners with someone in front of the camera, and then now I'm directing him and I'm behind the camera. So that was a really cool relationship too. But um, I guess it's a very long-winded way of saying like my takeaway is like listen to your kids and love your kids. Like period, the end.

SPEAKER_03 59:35

It's a great, it's a great takeaway. So let's go to the international film now and and some of the things that you're working on now. Um I know that you had mentioned that Theo's Tears uh was sort of open open some doors or for you uh to to move on to these other projects that you're doing. So why don't you talk a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_00 59:56

Yeah, yeah. So um I'm currently uh I'm about six months in to production for this feature documentary film uh in which I am following a young female boxer attempting to win a world championship belt before retiring and having a family of her own, all the while she's converting to Orthodox Judaism. This is not a setup. This is legit what's happening. It it's so funny, it's so outlandish. People are like, Where'd you come up with this idea? I'm like, uh, this is a real human being. Like this is an actual human being.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:37

Um like reality TV, or is it It's a good question.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:41

Um it's it's well that that will come out in the edit. There are there will definitely be some like uncanny, you know, unhinged kind of moments. Um but it's a very um I think this film is shaping up to be very truthful. And I think it's shaping up to be very revealing of a lot of things that people may not think about. It's ironic. This is the second film I made about a sport. Uh and I'm not an athlete.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:06

Um I was thinking that when you were Yeah, no, I just realized that now.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:10

Um but um it I I never was into sp uh boxing or or mixed martial arts of any kind. Like I did like, you know, most young Jewish boys in the Tri-C area, you do like taekwondo because they want to make sure you don't get beat up on the playground. You know, uh it's the truth. Uh so I did that.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:27

I didn't know that was a thing. I thought that was just my thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:29

No, no, it's still, yeah. Kia! I remember everything. Yeah. Um so I did that for a bit. But um it it's so with with with any professional like combat sport, there's a lot of there's so much inner work that people have no idea about the relationships between like the different coaches you have. You have coaches that are one's a strength and conditioning coach, one's like focuses on your diet, one focuses on um your cuts, like in the ring, like your cut person. Like, you know, everybody remembers in Rocky, you know, when he has the thing on his eye and someone takes out the credit card and goes, ugh, and there goes everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:06

That's kind of cut.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:07

Yeah, like there's a literal there's a literal person that their job is like patch you up. Like because you have you know a limited time between each round, and you go ding ding ding, and then you go sit down on the stool, get water, and your coach is talking to you like, listen to me, this is what you need to do. And all the while you're being told what to do, another person is coming in, is like scraping your, you know, doing doing like basically like plastic surgery on your face, essentially.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:29

You have to have a lot of desire to do that.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:31

Yeah, yeah. Yes, and and that to me is the the heart of my film, is the is is the why. Like why why would someone put themselves through this um physical harm to to to win something that is at the end of the day, uh it's it's a physical representation of a lifetime of work, right? But I think many people can recognize and sympathize and empathize with that desire, whether it be you want to be a C-suite executive, whether you want to have a really nice sports car, whether you want to uh buy a house, like everybody has big like aspirational dreams that are like a little bit, quite frankly, like not the most like I don't want to say the best decision possible, but definitely not the easiest decision possible. And people in the combat sports are like actually doing something about it. Uh it's difficult. People get like head trauma, uh, but they are chasing something. And for my subject, um her name is Brooklyn Barwick. She is a four foot eleven featherweight, uh, boxing at fluctuating between 122 and 126. Um, and she is attempting to become the first female Israeli to win a major championship. Now my film has nothing to do with politics. It doesn't take place in Israel at all. But it's important to recognize that in a sport where there currently are out of about twenty-two professional athletes, five of them are from a very small country. And by definition, that's minority. My film is trying to show how someone who a country that has no, you know, sports commission, uh no athletic boxing association of their own is attempting to do something that's never been done before. And she's trying to do this while simultaneously converting to orthodox Judaism.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:44

Is that spirituality that she's tapping into a part of the whole thing? That's it's yes. How do you connect to that spirituality with I mean you have a a brother who's a cantor, a mother who's a rabbi, a grandpa who's a rabbi? It's it surrounds your entire being. How does that influence how you connect to that? Or doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:05

No, I I I think it definitely does. And I think um I think there's something truly remarkable in seeing someone do something that a lot of people want to see them fail at and being comfortable with that and acknowledging it and in spite of it still attempting to do it anyway. And it has nothing to do with it it actually has nothing to do with religion in that sense of it. Um or or politics for or it actually has nothing to do with politics. But it has to do with the fact that when you're an underdog and people want you to fail, like it's not it'd be funny if she failed. Like people like are people have tried to like sabotage her. They're expecting it. Yeah, like people have like jumped her like on the street, like peep yeah, like the d people do not like what she represents. And the fact that despite At all, she is still attempting to do something, not on her own behalf, but on behalf of like there are a lot of little girls that look up to this fighter, and that is what that's sort of the reason why I wanted to do this. I made a film about a young boy who wanted to express himself to his father and didn't have an audience or support system. And then I meet right after that, I meet this young woman who is in a similar situation where there's not a parental figure that's supporting what she's doing. But despite that, she is inspiring many young girls from all over the world. I think that's an impactful story that should be told. That resilience is it's worth sometimes putting your putting yourself on the line for what you stand up for.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:53

So to be continued.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:54

Yeah, to be continued.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:56

So there's also uh the the film that you are acting in. Yeah. I think we should touch a little bit on that and then we'll have to Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:05

So so there's a film coming out soon called The Mermaid that I'm acting in. Uh this film was made in 2023 during uh the SAG actors strike. So we were very fortunate that we were one of the few productions that were um given a waiver to continue, uh, which we were very, very fortunate to be. Um this film is directed by a brilliant director named Sudababy. Uh she's a professor at Syracuse University. Um it's it's it's a dark psychological horror film. It's not it's like it it's a scary movie. I will admit, there were a few times watching the movie myself, and I acted it. I know what's happening next, or I'm in the theater. Oh, geez. Like it's scary. Um it it's but it's a beautiful film. It's it's it's it's it's um it's a great example of um like Iranian cinema, um, which was you know, I love learning about different cultures. I love learning about how art is created for different audiences and the different um structures in place. So if anyone's interested in uh seeing the the the the the art of a different country, particularly Iran, this is definitely a great film to to watch.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:18

And when will they can they watch it now?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:21

Not yet. Not yet. To be continued. I can't say. I can't say.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:25

Well, for your other films, where do they go? Remind us.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:28

They can go to my website. It's jerbearfilms.com. But it's spelt wrong. It's actually spelt J E R E. Like Jeremy. Yes, exactly without the me, exactly. It's Jera, no me. It's just Jair Bear Films. B-E-A-R-F-I-L-M-S dot com. Jarbearfilms.com.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:47

Well, Jeremy. Oh my gosh.

unknown 1:08:49

Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:49

Thank you. Thank you very much. This is awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:52

And and I just want to say also, like, it's so incredible what you guys have here. I don't know if you're on home, but we're recording this in Liberty, New York, and uh my my grandparents used to have a uh a home here as well. And uh it it's beautiful coming back and seeing you know the the beauty of the cat skills. So I'm not paid by Sullivan County, but come on, check it out. It's so beautiful here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:17

We agree. That's why we live here.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:19

Yeah, it's a great place to live, truthfully. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:22

So uh tell us again where where we can well where our listeners, our viewers can find me.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:27

Well they can they can find me on the street. You know, I'm in New York City. I I always get stuffed, basically. Yeah. Uh I wish that was the ch I was at Tribeca actually last week and uh someone recognized me from a movie I acted in, and I was like, I haven't seen this person in like twelve years. But uh people always tend to find me. I'm a larger than life character. You know, if people people probably know this by now, but uh I I I kind of stick out in the room. Uh and you like attention. I don't I don't mind attention. I won't I won't stop it. But uh I think you did say in the very beginning.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:02

There was a lot at stake at that steakhouse.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:03

There was a lot of stake at that steakhouse. Absolutely. But uh yeah, just uh and you can also follow my social medias, which is uh my Instagram is Jeremy Todd Shinder, uh and Facebook is also Jeremy Shinder. Um but yeah, just stop me on the street if you see me. Yeah. Great.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:21

Can we give autographs?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:22

I'll give autographs, sure. Why not? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:25

Well, thanks again. And uh just just uh a wow of of Who Knew. Yeah. Probably one of those Who Knew episodes.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:34

So once again, for our listeners and viewers, we encourage you to check out JarBear Films at jerbearfilms.com where you can access Jeremy's Films Projects, his team, up-to-date information and contact information. To learn more about the Steam Fund, please visit our website at steamfund.org, like our social media page, follow us on Instagram, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and share these episodes with your friends. It's the best way to keep the arts and the conversations moving full steam ahead. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on Full Steam Ahead.