Join the award winning Debbie Perkins as she interviews TV, movie, models, paranormalists, and other celebrities. This is where variety and entertainment meet perfection with for more than just the cream of the crop. You won’t want to miss her and her guests.
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00:00:00The following program is intended for a mature listening audience.
00:00:04Graphic and explicit language may be heard at times.
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00:00:12do not necessarily express those of this station or sponsors.
00:00:16Listeners are advised that neither this station nor its owners and agents
00:00:20shall be held liable for the content of this program.
00:00:23Rebroadcast, redistributed or reused,
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00:00:51This is the Debbie Perkins Radio Show.
00:00:54And here's your host, Debbie Perkins.
00:01:00Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the Hollywood Red Copet Radio Show.
00:01:04I'm Debbie Perkins. I'm your host.
00:01:06And I have a great guest today, Aaron.
00:01:10Sorry, I lost your last name for a second.
00:01:15That's terrible.
00:01:16Carlson.
00:01:17Carlson.
00:01:18And you know what? I practiced that and practiced that.
00:01:20And even though it's an easy name to remember, I'm a little nervous right now.
00:01:24I don't know what's wrong with me.
00:01:26But anyway, you know.
00:01:27Debbie, why are you nervous?
00:01:28I don't know.
00:01:30I don't know.
00:01:31I'm losing my mind, maybe.
00:01:34But Aaron is a director, a producer, an actor.
00:01:38You have more than one.
00:01:40You wear more than one hat in the entertainment industry.
00:01:44So welcome to the show.
00:01:46And tell everybody a little bit about what you do.
00:01:51Absolutely.
00:01:52And thank you for having me, Debbie.
00:01:53Oh, my God.
00:01:54My pleasure.
00:01:57Ooh, I'm making you nervous.
00:01:58You did.
00:01:59So stop.
00:02:01Not at all.
00:02:02You're funny.
00:02:03Anyway, my name is Aaron Carlson.
00:02:05I'm, like Debbie said, a writer, director, filmmaker in general.
00:02:09Storyteller is like what I usually tell myself.
00:02:12That's what I like to do.
00:02:13I have many hats.
00:02:15I do a lot of things in the filmmaking business.
00:02:17And I just like to entertain everybody as best I can.
00:02:20I like to tell stories.
00:02:21We've done many different storytelling ventures and different platforms,
00:02:25from writing novels to audio series that we've done, podcasting we've done,
00:02:30and our indie filmmaking.
00:02:32And we've got films in distribution right now that you can find on Amazon Prime,
00:02:36Tubi TV, and we have a big series that we've been doing on YouTube for the last few years
00:02:41that's been really a lot of fun for supporting a lot of the talent that's in this indie level.
00:02:47And we're just having a blast doing this stuff, making movies.
00:02:50That's amazing.
00:02:52I'm really happy for you.
00:02:53That's so cool.
00:02:54And you're working with some really crazy genre.
00:02:57So, you know, where did you grow up?
00:03:00And when you were young, did you see yourself doing this?
00:03:04Or was this something that you evolved into?
00:03:08Okay.
00:03:08I'm from Tacoma, Washington.
00:03:10That's up here in the Pacific Northwest.
00:03:11It's near Seattle, about 30 minutes outside of Seattle.
00:03:14Kind of a, you know, middle-income kind of town.
00:03:17You know, we've – it's called Grit City because we're gritty up here.
00:03:22It's kind of fun.
00:03:24But as a kid, I grew up in this area, and I've always been attracted to films.
00:03:28My dad was a huge film buff.
00:03:31He got me into cinema when I was a little guy.
00:03:34You know, 19 – I was five years old when I saw King Kong, you know, with Jeff Bridges
00:03:39and Jennifer – not Jennifer, Jason Lee.
00:03:41What's her mom's name?
00:03:42You know who I'm talking about.
00:03:44Angela – no, what's her name?
00:03:45Lang.
00:03:46Lang, Lang, Lang.
00:03:47Jessica Lang.
00:03:49Jessica Lang.
00:03:50Yeah.
00:03:52You know, I mean, he took me to everything.
00:03:54Even if it was like, you know, an R-rated movie, I was there.
00:03:58I saw Star Wars when it first came out.
00:04:02I was five.
00:04:03I saw Sudden Impact with Clint Eastwood and Al Pacino Scarface in 1980 at seven years old.
00:04:11I mean, I literally grew up with movies with my dad.
00:04:14He got me really into them.
00:04:15And we just had a great time together, you know, sharing that time and talking about movies.
00:04:22So, as years went on, just to keep a long story as short as possible, you know, I was
00:04:27really into storytelling, and I decided to try writing novels.
00:04:31I was a pretty good writer in high school and in college.
00:04:33So, I just decided to try to tell some stories on paper, and I wrote a couple novels.
00:04:39They didn't go anywhere.
00:04:40I tried to get, you know, an agent and a publisher, but that didn't work out.
00:04:44But then I found out that, wow, you can make movies now.
00:04:47I think it was in the late 90s.
00:04:50Yeah, late 90s or so.
00:04:51I had a new laptop, and there was this thing, Windows Movie Maker was on it.
00:04:58And I'm like, what?
00:04:58You can make movies on a laptop computer?
00:05:00No, this is crazy.
00:05:01So, I went and bought this little DV camera tape thing.
00:05:04Like, I don't know how much it was back then, but I just started making movies with my family
00:05:08and my kids and, you know, a buddy of mine.
00:05:11His name was Chuck.
00:05:12And we just started making these little movies.
00:05:14And lo and behold, 20 some odd years later, we're actually in the industry now.
00:05:19So, self-taught.
00:05:20Now you're using cameras that are this big.
00:05:22Yeah.
00:05:23Yeah, exactly.
00:05:23And what I think is great about movie making, and even when people start out, it's not a
00:05:32cakewalk.
00:05:32You can vouch for that.
00:05:34It's really hard.
00:05:36Not just hard to get into the business, but it's hard to get.
00:05:42A lot of people think they can just do it.
00:05:45It's not one of those things.
00:05:47You have to actually educate yourself.
00:05:48Would you agree?
00:05:49Absolutely.
00:05:51And even like film courses and stuff, not so much acting.
00:05:56I think you can learn a lot from acting from behind the scenes type of stuff too.
00:06:01But I think that when it comes to directing, producing, managing, you've got to manage everybody.
00:06:09It's a lot of work.
00:06:10And it takes a special kind of person to do that.
00:06:14I agree with you 100%.
00:06:16And I think there's so many different ways to get into filmmaking.
00:06:21And if you're serious about it and you're passionate about it, there's a way.
00:06:25Let's say you're a filmmaker or want to be a filmmaker, but you don't have the money to go to film school.
00:06:31That's okay.
00:06:33It's completely okay.
00:06:34How many filmmakers do you know that are out there that have started making movies just because they've watched enough movies?
00:06:39You know, if you become a connoisseur of film and you watch enough movies, you will automatically start seeing how to do it.
00:06:48You know, now it's just how do you take, okay, I see what they're doing, so now how do I apply those skills?
00:06:54How do I learn those skills?
00:06:56There's a lot of ways to do it.
00:06:57My best advice to anybody is to actually just make some stuff.
00:07:02Just make something.
00:07:03If you've got an iPhone, if you've got a smartphone, if you've got a little camera, go make some stuff.
00:07:08Grab an editing device.
00:07:09See if you can put together a little one-minute short film or a two-minute short film.
00:07:13Just try.
00:07:14Practice.
00:07:15Hands on.
00:07:17You know, not everybody that's been successful in Hollywood went to film school.
00:07:22Quentin Tarantino did not go to film school.
00:07:25He just watched a shit ton of movies.
00:07:27He really did.
00:07:28And that's how he became the filmmaker he was.
00:07:30So it just depends on the individual.
00:07:33What way is your best way of learning?
00:07:36He's incredible, too, speaking of.
00:07:37Oh, yeah, he is.
00:07:38He's unbelievable.
00:07:39Oh, my God.
00:07:39I know.
00:07:40I think I didn't even know about him until dusk till dawn.
00:07:43And when I saw that movie with him in it.
00:07:46Yeah.
00:07:46And he was great.
00:07:47Oh, he's good at acting, too.
00:07:51Oh, yeah.
00:07:51But he's got a scary look, so he fit in.
00:07:54But like some of those scenes, it's just mind-blowing because the director, even though you have
00:08:01all the supplies on hand and you have the actors doing what they're supposed to do, you tweak
00:08:07their work so that it looks real, so that everything is executed almost perfectly, as much as you
00:08:17can.
00:08:17But I like that you gave advice to just make a small one.
00:08:22Just make a small film, documentary.
00:08:26See what you can do with your time.
00:08:28And if you still like it after that.
00:08:31Then you keep going.
00:08:33Yeah.
00:08:33You keep going.
00:08:34It's all about the craft, right?
00:08:37Yeah.
00:08:37And where you fit in that craft.
00:08:39When I started, I had no idea.
00:08:43As many movies as I've seen, I never really paid attention to the credit rule, you know,
00:08:46and all the people that it takes to make a movie.
00:08:47Yeah, fine.
00:08:48Let's get through it.
00:08:49I thought if I wanted to make a movie, I had to do it all, right?
00:08:53Yeah.
00:08:54So that meant, okay, I need some actors.
00:08:56If I have actors and I have a camera and I have a microphone, I can make a movie.
00:09:00That's literally what it was.
00:09:01So we would film some stuff and then I would have to go and go, okay, I got all this footage
00:09:06now.
00:09:06What do I do?
00:09:07And then I had to learn how to edit the thing, add sound effects to it, you know, make sure
00:09:11the dialogue was sounding okay, you know, color grade the film.
00:09:16How do I render a movie out?
00:09:17How do I get it on a DVD?
00:09:19How do I get it to all these steps that you've got to learn in the process?
00:09:22But here's the thing.
00:09:23All that information is out there for you now.
00:09:25And anybody can make a movie if they really want to.
00:09:28It comes down to how passionate you are about filmmaking.
00:09:31How much do you love it?
00:09:33How bad do you want to tell stories?
00:09:35And are you willing to work for it?
00:09:38Yeah.
00:09:39That's it.
00:09:39I believe that.
00:09:40I think that's it.
00:09:41It's really incredible.
00:09:42You have such knowledge on this.
00:09:45You educate yourself.
00:09:46Did you actually take some courses to help you kind of push through the directions that
00:09:53you're going in?
00:09:54Because I'm sure that there's more than one type of course for filmmakers.
00:09:58I'm pretty unique in that regard.
00:10:00No, I did not go to film school.
00:10:02And no, I did not take any courses in filmmaking.
00:10:05I learned how to do it because I love movies.
00:10:09But I also applied skill sets I've learned from working real jobs.
00:10:14If you want to look at the business side of filmmaking, you still have a product, right?
00:10:21And you have to sell your product to a consumer.
00:10:24Like an audience member is a consumer, right?
00:10:26They want to consume good content.
00:10:29My job is to sell our content.
00:10:33Like this is the product I'm putting out there for you guys to enjoy.
00:10:36So no different than a Snickers bar, right?
00:10:38So how do I get them excited about trying out ours when there's so many different films
00:10:44out there that they can choose from?
00:10:46So that's basic sales, you know?
00:10:50And I've been a car salesman.
00:10:51I've been a real estate agent.
00:10:53I've sold houses all across the board for 12 years of my life until I got out of it.
00:10:58And I just, you know, after a while you start really just piecing together your skill sets.
00:11:03And then if you apply them to filmmaking, you'll be surprised how it kind of all is the same.
00:11:10I think that's brilliant.
00:11:12It really is.
00:11:14And that's another thing that people need to know, that you've got to sell that product.
00:11:18Your product is your work.
00:11:19Your work is your product.
00:11:21If you can't sell your product, you're going to struggle.
00:11:23So unless you can find producers that are willing to take over and take that burden off you.
00:11:30But everything needs financing, period.
00:11:32Nowadays, everything needs financing because it costs money.
00:11:36The fake blood costs money, people.
00:11:39It does.
00:11:39It does.
00:11:40All of it costs money.
00:11:41And one thing for your high-end actors, you can get volunteers from the college.
00:11:46So I'm not saying that that's not an impossibility because it truly is.
00:11:50Some of the college kids will work just for the credit because they want that, you know, great.
00:11:57It's good for their wheels.
00:11:59It's good for them to get out there and start working.
00:12:02You know, it's networking.
00:12:03It's what it's all about.
00:12:06Like, you know, building teams of like-minded people, if that makes sense.
00:12:12And, you know, we've been lucky in that regard to be able to have some of the talent that we have in our area, you know, be a part of what we call our family, our film family.
00:12:22Where, you know, if I got a part for somebody, I know who I could ask who would do it.
00:12:27And they won't even bring up budget.
00:12:29It's about the story.
00:12:31Right.
00:12:31What are we making?
00:12:33And that's kind of cool.
00:12:34So, you know, it comes down to sometimes where, hey, we don't have a budget for this movie, but we really want to make it.
00:12:39Here's the movie.
00:12:41Do you want to do it?
00:12:41And you know what?
00:12:42More times than not, they were like, hell yeah, we're going to do it.
00:12:45No matter what.
00:12:46Let's just make it.
00:12:47So we get lucky in that way a lot.
00:12:49And I don't want anybody to put themselves down because or sell themselves short, I should say.
00:12:56If they're a filmmaker and they don't have a budget and don't have money, you know, don't be afraid to still talk to people, other actors.
00:13:03People in the community that you're in.
00:13:06There's people out there that if it's a good project and you're a good person and you're excited about your story, if you can get them as excited as you are, you'd be surprised for what they'd work for.
00:13:18Hey, I'll be there just for the gas money here.
00:13:20Can you come and get my gas money?
00:13:21I'll be there.
00:13:22Cool.
00:13:22You know, there's always a way.
00:13:25Never think there's not a way.
00:13:26No, I think that's great.
00:13:27And it's firstly, it will help new actors who want to get the experience, even though it's not a paid gig.
00:13:35It's still an opportunity to get in your feet wet.
00:13:39Yes.
00:13:40And you don't know what you like until you do it anyway.
00:13:43That's correct.
00:13:45That is exactly right.
00:13:46So I want to ask you, your first movie that you actually did and completed, talk about that with us for a minute.
00:13:55Okay.
00:13:57So I had been making movies, learning how to make movies for about 20, well, actually 18 years before we released our first public film.
00:14:08Now, I made a lot of them before that.
00:14:10They're all crap.
00:14:11But they're all fun.
00:14:12But we all made them for a reason, right?
00:14:14There were certain reasons why we made them.
00:14:16And, you know, every one you make, you kind of get better and better and better at it.
00:14:20In 2017, we released a movie called The Outrider.
00:14:24And it's a black and white sci-fi noir film.
00:14:30And I was so excited about this story that I wrote.
00:14:33I wrote this thing.
00:14:34I was like, this is the movie.
00:14:36This is the one.
00:14:36Like, our first movie is just going to blow up.
00:14:38You guys watch.
00:14:39Well, it didn't blow up.
00:14:41However, we finished it.
00:14:44And we did get distribution on it.
00:14:46It is on Amazon Prime.
00:14:47It's on 2E TV and a few other streaming platforms.
00:14:50And you know what?
00:14:51The first six months, we were actually in the top, in the popular category on Amazon Prime.
00:14:57Our reviews were really crappy.
00:15:00Everybody hated it that watched it.
00:15:02But you know what?
00:15:02It gave us our first sense of, okay, this is what it's like.
00:15:06We got a movie done.
00:15:07And we got it out there to the public.
00:15:09We got a response.
00:15:10There was a lot of people that liked it.
00:15:11There was a lot of people that disliked it.
00:15:13But you know what?
00:15:14We actually made money on a movie we made.
00:15:17It wasn't a lot.
00:15:18But it covered the cost of the film.
00:15:22And to this day, we're still making a little residual income off of that little $3,000 movie.
00:15:28That's awesome.
00:15:29That we made, right?
00:15:31That got us out there and got us started.
00:15:35And we learned a lot about how the whole process kind of works.
00:15:38We had one camera.
00:15:39It was a $300 DSLR.
00:15:42We had a shotgun mic that we hooked to our camera.
00:15:45We didn't even have a field recording device.
00:15:47The audio is crap in the movie.
00:15:49We did it black and white because I wasn't sure how to color grade at that point of film.
00:15:56And we had our friends that we knew.
00:15:58They weren't even really trained actors.
00:16:00And we just worked with them to make this movie.
00:16:02But you know what?
00:16:03There's some people that actually love it and dig it.
00:16:05And there's a lot of people that don't.
00:16:07But however, for us, it was the first step into creating an opportunity for our production company to make films for a living.
00:16:16And we didn't lose anything.
00:16:18We gained off of that experience.
00:16:20So that was the first film we made.
00:16:22And I still watch it.
00:16:23And I'm still very proud of it, even though I watch it and cringe sometimes.
00:16:26I'm still like, but I love this movie.
00:16:28It got us going.
00:16:30It got us going.
00:16:32That's so cool.
00:16:33And what's the name of that movie?
00:16:34It's called The Outrider.
00:16:36So anybody who wants to watch that, he doesn't mind you critiquing it.
00:16:40He doesn't mind if you love it or hate it.
00:16:43Leave an opinion, though, because that counts.
00:16:46It does count.
00:16:47It really does.
00:16:48Yeah, and it helps you to understand what you do next.
00:16:52That's different.
00:16:53That's right.
00:16:54That's right.
00:16:56And so now on to the next film that you did.
00:17:01Okay.
00:17:03I'm looking.
00:17:04Okay.
00:17:05We hopped into documentaries that we made.
00:17:09Oh, wow.
00:17:10Yeah, we went full steam ahead on a few documentaries.
00:17:14The first one that we released was called The Giant Pacific Octopus, and that's a story that is based up here in the Pacific Northwest about the giant octopus that supposedly is in the Puget Sound waters up here that actually brought down the Narrows Bridge.
00:17:31We have this bridge between Gig Harbor and Tacoma, and it's kind of like a big bridge.
00:17:37It's not as big as the San Francisco Bridge, but it's big.
00:17:41Right.
00:17:41And back in the 1940s.
00:17:43Is it made out of steel?
00:17:45Yes, steel bridge.
00:17:45Okay.
00:17:46This bridge, they called it Galloping Girding.
00:17:49It actually crumbled back in, I think it was the 40s or 50s.
00:17:51It fell.
00:17:52And there was a myth that this giant octopus took it down.
00:17:57Okay.
00:17:58So this area has been shrouded with artwork, t-shirts, sweatshirts, murals.
00:18:07People love the octopus up here in the Tacoma, Seattle area.
00:18:10So we followed this mythical story of this animal, and we talk about the octopus quite a bit and its nature's habitats keeping the species alive.
00:18:22And it's a very well-received documentary we created for, you know, people who are really into, you know, protecting the environment and animals.
00:18:33So we made that movie on a minimal budget, and we've got some of the best talented divers in this thing that got us underwater footage.
00:18:43Wow.
00:18:43We went and talked to some people that have been scientists at Serena, oceanographers.
00:18:49Who else did we got?
00:18:50Some other guys that were really on historic implements of what the octopus means.
00:18:56Anyway, long story short, this film, you know, took off when we released this movie, and we got distribution on that, too.
00:19:04That has been our biggest success as a film to this day.
00:19:07We released that in, I think, 2019, 2020, and that movie absolutely exploded.
00:19:14We were amazed by the amount of people that watched this documentary.
00:19:17So that's got us really excited, because then we were like, oh, yeah, we make more documentaries.
00:19:22So we made another one.
00:19:24So we've got two, and the other one's called A Will and the Way.
00:19:27It's about a ranch up here in the state of Washington.
00:19:32The ranch owner's name is Kathy McKay.
00:19:34She has this family legacy she's been trying to uphold from her father who built this ranch.
00:19:41It's a dude ranch, so people can come from all over the world and visit this place, and they can be hands-on on the ranch, you know, kind of like you do with your chickens and all that kind of stuff.
00:19:49And, you know, it's her life story about the loss that she's faced, the challenges she's faced.
00:19:56And this biography is a wonderful story about hope and heart and resilience.
00:20:01And we really wanted to capture that family's life and the things they've dealt with and how they've dealt with it.
00:20:08And, again, this movie was a big hit, and it's our best cinematic film that we've made.
00:20:13It's absolutely gorgeous.
00:20:14We actually had a budget for that movie, and it turned out very well.
00:20:18So we're proud of that one, too.
00:20:20That's awesome.
00:20:21Yeah.
00:20:22The documentaries, it just sounds like you did a lot of scientific study in order to get the correct people for each one of those.
00:20:32That in itself is a lot of work.
00:20:35I don't know if you had to do that personally yourself or you had a team, but there's a lot behind what you did.
00:20:41And even before you got to, say, roll them.
00:20:45Yeah, you're right.
00:20:46You're right.
00:20:46And I was lucky there because Samantha, my better half, she really is a documentarian.
00:20:53She loves watching documentaries.
00:20:55So after I finished The Outrider, my narrative film, she was like, hey, Aaron, would you want to help me make a documentary?
00:21:01I'm like, of course.
00:21:02If you want to make a movie, let's go make a movie.
00:21:05She did all the research on that.
00:21:06She gathered all the people.
00:21:08All the interviews were set up by her.
00:21:09This was her baby.
00:21:11So I followed my wife on this journey, and we made this film, and she just killed it.
00:21:16She absolutely killed it.
00:21:17All I had to do was film it and then edit the thing and put it together.
00:21:22She did all the odd body in and the hard work behind it.
00:21:26Yes, she did that.
00:21:28That was teamwork.
00:21:30Yes, it was.
00:21:31And you said it was successful, so it really hit the hearts of people.
00:21:36And I wonder, people, you're getting noticed for your work, and that's what it sounds like.
00:21:45You're getting a fan base for the work that you're doing.
00:21:48And I think that people that are where you're at understand the depths that you have to go to in order to accomplish even one movie, let alone a few, you know, in a row.
00:22:02So now, did you stay with documentaries?
00:22:05Because it sounds like you're really good at that.
00:22:08Well, that is something that we feel like we can do any time.
00:22:12If the right story hits us, we can make one.
00:22:15Now, we have two right now that are in pre-production that we have not jumped on board completely yet.
00:22:22And the biggest thing that we've been doing the last three years was our YouTube series.
00:22:31And it was important to me as a filmmaker watching the industry.
00:22:36And, you know, I think if you're an indie filmmaker, if you're thinking about getting into indie filmmaking, you have to understand how this model changes quite a bit where nothing really stays the same.
00:22:48And, like, one minute, you know, everybody thinks that film festivals are the way to go.
00:22:52And then that's not going to work.
00:22:54And then somebody says, oh, I just got to get my movie on Amazon Prime.
00:22:57If I get it on that, I'm going to do great.
00:22:58Because they pay a lot.
00:22:59And then all of a sudden, they don't pay indie filmmakers very well.
00:23:01Right.
00:23:02It's just like this all the time.
00:23:04Yeah.
00:23:05I wanted to find every avenue that we could possibly do, like we talked about.
00:23:09The more things pre-show, we talked about it, the more platforms you have available for yourself as an indie artist, the better.
00:23:17Because everybody has the one that they want to go to.
00:23:19Right.
00:23:20So in my brain, I'm like, well, what's the one platform that everybody knows and everybody goes to worldwide without needing distribution?
00:23:28That's YouTube.
00:23:29So and there's a way to make money off of YouTube with your with your films.
00:23:33Because you make a film, if your channel is monetized, you can go ahead and put it up there.
00:23:40And if people watch it, if you get people to your channel, you will make money on your movie on your own through YouTube.
00:23:45So, you know, it was my goal about three years ago to have a monetized YouTube channel that we would be able to utilize for our films, as well as still put them up on other platforms like Amazon Prime and Tubi TV.
00:24:00But how do you get a channel monetized?
00:24:02That's true.
00:24:03So you've got to get subscribers.
00:24:05You need at least a thousand on that platform.
00:24:07Yeah.
00:24:07How do you get a thousand people to subscribe to your channel?
00:24:10Well, you've got to put in the work.
00:24:13So I decided to focus on a horror series to see if we could draw an audience to our channel by using these iconic characters that we all know.
00:24:23You know, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, these monsters that everybody knows.
00:24:28And would that draw a crowd of people?
00:24:31And sure as hell, it did.
00:24:33It did.
00:24:34We went from 150 subscribers.
00:24:36And I think as of today, we're at 11,600 subscribers to our channel.
00:24:40And that's two and a half years.
00:24:42That's crazy.
00:24:43Yeah.
00:24:44But awesome, too.
00:24:45Oh, my God.
00:24:46It worked.
00:24:46That's awesome.
00:24:48So now I can take our documentaries and other older films that we've made, put them on our YouTube channel, and we're making more money now off of those films.
00:24:55I see.
00:24:56Does that make sense?
00:24:56Yeah.
00:24:57So that's kind of what we try to do.
00:24:58How do you market yourself in every way you can and put out the best quality content you can make where people can go, wow, they didn't have a lot of money.
00:25:09But that actually was a good movie.
00:25:11That's kind of what we want to do.
00:25:13And we pride ourselves on that because I think it's important to put out a piece of the art that you're proud of.
00:25:20And then that way, if you do get good remarks, you're like, yeah.
00:25:23And if you do get bad remarks, you're like, ah, screw you.
00:25:26I don't care because I didn't make it for you anyway.
00:25:28If that makes sense.
00:25:29Yeah.
00:25:30Right.
00:25:31I mean, I've even watched movies that even though the acting wasn't great, the story was awesome.
00:25:36The story was good, right?
00:25:37And I would still watch it because of the story.
00:25:39Yeah.
00:25:40Yeah.
00:25:40You can forgive some stuff as a viewer, especially when you understand what you're watching and what level it's on.
00:25:45Yeah.
00:25:45This is a studio stuff we're making.
00:25:47We don't got millions of dollars.
00:25:49However, how can you make the best movie?
00:25:52Yeah.
00:25:53You're hitting all the marks moving up.
00:25:57Yes.
00:25:58You know?
00:25:59And now where you're from, is there a lot of people doing what you do or are you kind of like not as many?
00:26:07You're talking about California, so I always wonder like what states are on California because everybody always dreams of Hollywood.
00:26:15Right.
00:26:15But not everybody gets there.
00:26:17But you can do the quality of Hollywood from wherever you are.
00:26:23You can.
00:26:24You really can.
00:26:25It's doable.
00:26:25And I know a lot of filmmakers across the country that do it that aren't in Hollywood that like great movies.
00:26:30Yeah.
00:26:30That you'd be surprised when you see them where you're like, wow, that's not a real Hollywood movie.
00:26:33That was an indie movie?
00:26:34That was great.
00:26:34It happens all the time.
00:26:37Where I'm from up here in the Pacific Northwest, I think we're a hidden gem.
00:26:41There's a lot.
00:26:42I mean, a lot of talented people up here across the board from cast to crew members.
00:26:48If you need something, you'd find the person up here where you're like, wow, I can't believe that they're not, you know, in Hollywood doing stuff as good as they are.
00:26:56And then there's a lot of people who are learning that are good.
00:26:58And there's a lot of people in the middle who even use it just as a hobby but are fantastic.
00:27:03If they took it serious and wanted to take that step, they probably could make it in whatever way they wanted to.
00:27:09So we're kind of lucky up here because we're overlooked in the Pacific Northwest.
00:27:13Everybody goes to Canada to make movies or California to make movies.
00:27:16We're right in the middle of them, right?
00:27:18Yeah.
00:27:19We've got them on both sides here of us, and we can go south or north and be good.
00:27:24And I recently heard that last few years that people were making a lot more movies in Canada.
00:27:31And I thought, well, that's weird.
00:27:33But then again, we get a lot of actors from Canada to come down here and act in some of these films.
00:27:39So I guess it's a win-win.
00:27:41I mean, we collaborate, and that makes for a great work.
00:27:45It does.
00:27:46So now you're working on a film you're pretty excited about.
00:27:50Yes.
00:27:51Mentioning all our happy favorite monsters in the world.
00:27:56Yeah.
00:27:57I know.
00:27:58Look at you smile.
00:28:00You can tell it's, yeah.
00:28:03It's so fun.
00:28:05You're in the process of that.
00:28:07Yes, we are.
00:28:09Right now, we are in pre-production on our final Horrorverse film called Jason Voorhees' Nightmares.
00:28:16And it will conclude the fan films that we've been creating for the YouTube audience that we've managed to get over the last couple years.
00:28:24And this series has gotten over a million views, which has been crazy for us.
00:28:28It's so good.
00:28:30But the coolest thing is people have watched it all.
00:28:33The rating, it's like 90-some percent positive rating on this thing.
00:28:37And the audience retention is what I always look at.
00:28:40I'm like, did a million people just click on it, and then after five minutes, they cut it off?
00:28:45No, they didn't.
00:28:46There's like 70% of them that watched the whole thing.
00:28:49And that's ridiculous to me.
00:28:50That's like, I'm like, holy shit, seven out of ten people watched the whole thing?
00:28:53That's crazy.
00:28:54They have.
00:28:55And I'm like, wow.
00:28:57Wow.
00:28:57And these are no budget, low, low, low budget microfilms.
00:29:00But everybody likes the story.
00:29:03Like you said, people like the story.
00:29:05If it's done well.
00:29:06What I want to know is like, and I watched some of those clips.
00:29:11Some of you are really good.
00:29:13Really good.
00:29:15I like the monster.
00:29:17Oh, good.
00:29:18Thank you so much.
00:29:19Yeah.
00:29:19I like that you didn't carbon copy.
00:29:22You kind of made him your own.
00:29:27Yes.
00:29:27And then you changed the story to the point where it went from mom to dad, which I really
00:29:32am glad that there's another side of him.
00:29:36Yes.
00:29:37Thank you for saying that.
00:29:37That's why he's kind of mental.
00:29:39Like both parents alike.
00:29:41Right.
00:29:42Right.
00:29:42Yeah.
00:29:43And that was the journey we wanted to take.
00:29:45We wanted to stay true to those original, the source material, but tweak it just enough
00:29:50to give everybody a fresh take on, you know, a different Jason Voorhees or a different Michael
00:29:56Myers or even a different Freddy Krueger when it's coming.
00:29:59And that's kind of been our goal.
00:30:01And then, and then also just throw in all the fun little moments from all the movies that
00:30:05we grew up with, you know, from the eighties and nineties, you know, from, you know, my
00:30:09character bullseye is, is pretty much snake Plissken from escape from New York.
00:30:13You know, I'm wearing a patch.
00:30:13I've got long dreads.
00:30:15Oh, wow.
00:30:16Yeah.
00:30:16We've got characters in there that will remind you of, you know, Predator from Arnold Schwarzenegger
00:30:22to, you know, just all that stuff from back in that era.
00:30:26Yeah.
00:30:26Just nostalgia.
00:30:27Just fun.
00:30:29Well, that, that, that got us hooked onto horror.
00:30:33Yeah.
00:30:34It really did.
00:30:35I think all of the, all those monsters you talk about, everybody knows about them.
00:30:39Yes.
00:30:40They, they could be your next to a neighbor though.
00:30:42So, yes, they could be, they really could be.
00:30:46Camp Crystal Lake, which is, we have a Camp Crystal Lake where I live.
00:30:51So, uh, yeah, I don't dare to go there.
00:30:54No, I wouldn't go there.
00:30:55No, no.
00:30:56I'm just saying, you know, some bobbing heads in the water might turn me off.
00:31:00I wouldn't even dare to get in a boat because of that last scene in the movie.
00:31:06Coming out of the water.
00:31:06Oh yeah.
00:31:07Oh yeah.
00:31:07There goes Debbie.
00:31:08That, that gave me, not nightmares, but like, it made me really afraid because then I was
00:31:17addicted to watch another, another movie.
00:31:20I wanted to watch number two.
00:31:22Just, and, and then they, they screwed it up with Halloween because when they made the
00:31:27first movie with Jason, um, no, Michael Myers, sorry.
00:31:31And then they, they came out with another Halloween, which was Killer Pumpkins.
00:31:38Oh yeah.
00:31:39I was, I was, I was devastated because I was thinking there was going to be another Michael
00:31:44Myers and it was going to go off over here like they did with the third one.
00:31:48Yeah.
00:31:49But it wasn't.
00:31:50And I went to the movies and watched that and I was so bummed out when I left.
00:31:53I was like, that was nothing the way I thought it was going to be.
00:31:56Yeah.
00:31:57A lot of people were.
00:31:57I'm glad you're staying by.
00:31:59You're, you're, you're, you're keeping it real.
00:32:02Yeah.
00:32:03Yeah.
00:32:03We wanted to pay tribute to those, those films and those filmmakers and to say thank you to
00:32:10all of them because it's those films that have created, you know, today's filmmakers,
00:32:14you know, the people who love these movies so much are because of those guys making those
00:32:19movies and gals.
00:32:19And it was important for us to, to, to not squash that and make fun of it, but to have fun
00:32:25with it instead, if that makes sense.
00:32:27And really just pay tribute to that stuff.
00:32:29Cause it's, to me, it's magic.
00:32:31I mean, those are the movies I watched from my dad growing up.
00:32:34You know, we'd love that stuff.
00:32:35I've got a really fond feeling of those films.
00:32:38You know, they're not even that great.
00:32:39If you go back and watch them today, you're like, why did I like this so much?
00:32:42This is just awful.
00:32:43The acting is terrible, but you know what?
00:32:46They, they're right here.
00:32:47They stay with you.
00:32:48They're great.
00:32:49You, you, you're running a fundraising campaign.
00:32:52Am I correct?
00:32:54Yes.
00:32:54Yes.
00:32:55For Jason Voorhees nightmares, we are right now.
00:32:58Now where can people go to, um, help you with that?
00:33:02If, if you are able to.
00:33:05I'm sorry.
00:33:06Um, and you had like perks as well.
00:33:09Yes, we do.
00:33:10And I, and I love that you're doing that because I think it gives the public, I'm not on only
00:33:15an opportunity to be part of production and, and donate money for the project, but also
00:33:21become somebody in the film or whether it's a, well, you know, the perks.
00:33:29Yeah.
00:33:29Yeah.
00:33:30Um, basically what we're, we're doing is, um, you know, we wanted to make this film a big
00:33:35part of the community.
00:33:36We want, and when I say community, I mean film community, you know, across the board, anybody
00:33:40in indie filmmaking or anybody who's ever wanted to be in an indie film should have an opportunity
00:33:45to be a part of something fun.
00:33:47And since this film is the biggest one we're doing and the last, we wanted to reach out
00:33:53to an audience to not only give them a chance to, to help us make the movie financially,
00:33:58but also, you know, get something for your money where you, you know, maybe, maybe you
00:34:04can just get your name in the credits, or maybe you can act in the movie with us, or, you
00:34:09know, maybe you just want to buy that record soundtrack in a, in a vinyl format.
00:34:13So you have all the music on a, on an LP, you know, that'd be kind of cool.
00:34:17Or, you know, do you want to get the Blu-ray?
00:34:19I mean, there's so many things that we're offering for your contributions and, um, and
00:34:25that actually, you know, you can be very proud to know that that money will be used to help
00:34:30fund the film, you know, pay the actors, feed the actors, pay for locations, you know, help
00:34:35us on set, uh, all kinds of different things that we need to do in order to, to make the
00:34:39movie the best it can be.
00:34:40And all the technology behind what you're doing, the scoring.
00:34:45Oh yeah.
00:34:46Uh, like you said, the editing, a lot of people don't understand.
00:34:49There's a lot to a film, a lot of time, it's a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot
00:34:53of talent that's involved in it.
00:34:55And, um, and, and people's time is valuable and this is our way of giving back to them
00:35:00to help them perform in an environment that gives them that freedom and, and, and they
00:35:06can breathe and just relax and know that, you know, they're working, they're working.
00:35:10This is their job.
00:35:11This is what they do.
00:35:12So, yeah.
00:35:15So much fun.
00:35:16What's your favorite scene?
00:35:17What's one of your favorite scenes without giving a lot away?
00:35:21Um, in the upcoming movie that we're going to make?
00:35:25Yeah.
00:35:26Sure.
00:35:26Or in any of them.
00:35:27Whatever.
00:35:28What's your favorite scene?
00:35:29Um, our last film we did, um, we had a moment with two actors of, of high caliber that I
00:35:39got to shoot and film.
00:35:41Um, one of them, his name is Ira Katz.
00:35:43He plays the sheriff in our story.
00:35:44He's a local actor here, but he's brilliant.
00:35:46He's my Al Pacino.
00:35:47Okay.
00:35:48He is, he reminds me of Al Pacino.
00:35:50He's from the East coast.
00:35:51I think he's from Jersey.
00:35:52Um, and he's just got this Al Pacino vibe.
00:35:55He's great.
00:35:56He's great.
00:35:58I love him to death.
00:35:59Um, he's mine.
00:36:00I don't want, I don't want anybody to take it off.
00:36:03Um, yeah.
00:36:05And then we got the luxury to have, uh, a mainstream actor, someone who's been in mainstream movies
00:36:11like, uh, the mule with Clint Eastwood and death race back in the day.
00:36:14Uh, Mr. Robert Lozardo joined us.
00:36:17Oh, we like Robert.
00:36:18Okay.
00:36:19Yes.
00:36:20Robert Lozardo.
00:36:21Oh my gosh.
00:36:23He's fantastic.
00:36:25He's a, he's a rated as far as I'm concerned.
00:36:28He's extremely professional.
00:36:30Yeah, he is.
00:36:32And he's a great, he's a great person.
00:36:33I have a great time working with him and talking with him.
00:36:35And, uh, we're actually pretty tight friends now because of our, uh, working relationship
00:36:39that we built.
00:36:41Yeah.
00:36:41It's a, it's all about networking.
00:36:43I got to film these two doing a one-on-one and in a sequence in a, in one of the films we
00:36:49made in the horror verse.
00:36:50And I couldn't have had a better time watching these two.
00:36:53These, these guys are Titans.
00:36:55Okay.
00:36:55Both of those actors can act their asses off and they had, they did a great job.
00:37:00And I was just like, that's how you do it guys.
00:37:02That, that's your film school right there.
00:37:04Watching these two guys do this.
00:37:06Oh yeah.
00:37:07Yeah.
00:37:07That was it.
00:37:08That was probably my favorite moment.
00:37:11I love that.
00:37:12They're so cool.
00:37:14You got the best.
00:37:15Yeah.
00:37:15And that's one thing about the quality is if you got Robert Lozardo and the other, the
00:37:21other gentleman, I don't know of him, but I'm a woman, if you think he's great, I'm not
00:37:28going to tell you, you're wrong.
00:37:30Yeah.
00:37:31And he held his own with Robert.
00:37:33Make me watch the movie more.
00:37:35Oh, good.
00:37:36Good.
00:37:36Well, I hope you do.
00:37:37I think you'd like it.
00:37:38Oh, I will.
00:37:39I will.
00:37:39And I'll give you good reviews too.
00:37:41So I'm not, yeah, I'm not one of those people that go, I didn't like it.
00:37:46No, I like it.
00:37:48I just didn't know if I don't understand something, I'll say, Hey, I don't understand, but, but
00:37:53I like it.
00:37:55So if you could be a superhero and you can have any power that you want, which superhero
00:38:05doesn't matter.
00:38:06DC, whatever comics you like comic.
00:38:09Yeah.
00:38:09Which superhero would you be?
00:38:11And what would you be your superpower?
00:38:14Okay.
00:38:16Um, I'm, I'm a Superman guy.
00:38:18Even though Batman's my favorite, Superman would be who I'd want to be.
00:38:22Um, I, I love, I love his hope.
00:38:26I love his, uh, determination to be good.
00:38:30I, I love that he can fly.
00:38:33I've had dreams since I was a kid of flying.
00:38:36I've, I've even had dreams of feeling like I was flying after waking up.
00:38:40Like I thought I was really flying.
00:38:42And I think, I think I can do it.
00:38:44Like many times in my life I've felt that way.
00:38:47Like I could actually feel gliding through the air.
00:38:49I can see you being a hand glider.
00:38:52I can, I don't know if I could do it though.
00:38:53I'd be so scared.
00:38:54But if I could just jump.
00:38:55I think when you're up there.
00:38:57I would love to do it.
00:38:59Because you're already going.
00:39:01I know, right?
00:39:01But maybe you'd have to piggyback with somebody.
00:39:04Just like, um, skydiving.
00:39:06Maybe.
00:39:07Yeah.
00:39:07Maybe if you piggyback did it a few times like that.
00:39:10Now you're flying.
00:39:12Right, right.
00:39:13There's your next documentary.
00:39:14How to be a, how to be a human bird.
00:39:17How to be a human bird.
00:39:20Because people have been trying to fly forever now.
00:39:24Yes, they have.
00:39:25Yes, they have.
00:39:26But without a motor.
00:39:28Without a motor.
00:39:30Just gliding.
00:39:31Just quietly.
00:39:32Just soaring through the air.
00:39:34That's so cool.
00:39:35I think that would be an awesome video.
00:39:38Really.
00:39:39That would be.
00:39:40Strap the GoPro.
00:39:42Right.
00:39:43Get it on.
00:39:44Yeah.
00:39:45Because, you know.
00:39:46If you land somewhere.
00:39:48You want people to find you.
00:39:50That's right.
00:39:51Definitely.
00:39:51Yeah.
00:39:52Just don't go to no desert islands.
00:39:55No, no.
00:39:56No.
00:39:57No.
00:39:58Stay.
00:39:58Yeah.
00:39:59Stay up by the canyons or something.
00:40:01Yeah.
00:40:02That's cool.
00:40:03Zip through.
00:40:04I don't know.
00:40:05Soar through it all.
00:40:06Yeah.
00:40:06See, you can fly.
00:40:08Maybe that's your dream.
00:40:09Maybe your dream is to actually.
00:40:11Maybe.
00:40:13Maybe.
00:40:13I mean.
00:40:14Skydiving, you're just falling.
00:40:16Yeah.
00:40:17Yeah.
00:40:17You're not flying.
00:40:19You're falling.
00:40:20You're falling.
00:40:21Yeah.
00:40:22That's what happens when you make a mistake.
00:40:24Like, I don't want to fall.
00:40:25I want to fly.
00:40:27Yeah.
00:40:28So what happened to you?
00:40:29Well, I was falling.
00:40:30Yeah.
00:40:31I was flying in the beginning.
00:40:32Then I was falling.
00:40:34Then I was falling.
00:40:34That's why we swim.
00:40:37So we don't drown.
00:40:38Remember?
00:40:40Well, I float.
00:40:41No, I.
00:40:43If I have to, I can float.
00:40:46So now you're, now you're working still on the series.
00:40:51Now you're going to work on another one after this.
00:40:53Once you complete this project, are you going to continue to go with all the different types of serial killers?
00:41:02I was like, yeah, I have to say serial killers, but, but they're more, they're, they're fictional.
00:41:06So they're not like, you're not like Ted Bundy and.
00:41:09Right.
00:41:10And then, but then again, they've opened up a whole nother door.
00:41:16The, the, uh, the internet, uh, serial killers have opened up a whole new door for filmmakers to make serial killers.
00:41:25They really have.
00:41:26Uh, you know, um, our, our horror verse will end after this film.
00:41:30This is the last one we'll be doing of this series.
00:41:33Um, we're going to be moving back to our original IPs, which means there will be no more fan films.
00:41:40Um, we're going to be working towards, uh, right now, um, halfway through a script on a new Western I'm writing.
00:41:47I want to make a Western.
00:41:48So I'm a huge Western fan.
00:41:50Um, I have to make one.
00:41:51I have to make one.
00:41:52And I have a really cool story, um, that no one's ever seen before in a Western.
00:41:56It's, it's a really cool vibe for this way to do it.
00:42:02Um, so that's going to be in 2026.
00:42:04Hopefully we can get that one started filming then.
00:42:06And by a producer, his name is Steve Eaton.
00:42:09He's got an animated film that he's currently in pre-production on now that we're going to start working on next year as well.
00:42:16And this is going to give back that, that animated vibe that you saw back kind of like in the eighties when they did, um, fire and ice.
00:42:24I don't know if you know what that is, but there was, they used to take actors, real actors and film them and then animate over them.
00:42:31Um, so their body movements looks more realistic.
00:42:34They used to do that in the eighties quite a bit.
00:42:36We're making a movie about that and it's a really sci-fi thing and we're going to be making that.
00:42:41Hopefully start making it by the beginning of next year.
00:42:44So that sounds interesting.
00:42:46It's really cool too.
00:42:47It's really cool.
00:42:49Sounds really cool.
00:42:50I saw his test stuff.
00:42:51He's, he's, he's brilliant as visual effects.
00:42:54So he and I are going to be working on that one together too.
00:42:57So I like that you're doing different things.
00:42:59Yeah.
00:43:00Because there's so many people just kind of following the copying.
00:43:04And to me, that's not original, you know?
00:43:07Yeah.
00:43:08And, and what other people become successful at Game Talk, what other people's success is not always your success.
00:43:16Mm-hmm.
00:43:16I agree.
00:43:17All right.
00:43:17So here's another question.
00:43:19Sure.
00:43:19If you, if you could film anywhere in the world and just say the expenses were all paid, wherever you could go, your wife says, yep, you can go film.
00:43:30Where would you go to do your movie?
00:43:35Any movie in the world, like any movie you want to do, any, any place in the world?
00:43:41Okay.
00:43:42Um, I've got two spots thinking, but right now, since I'm in Western mode, I would say somewhere either in Texas or Arizona or maybe even Nevada, somewhere where I know one of these locations is that I want really bad.
00:44:00Like the town of Tombstone.
00:44:01Can I have that?
00:44:02Can I use that plane, please?
00:44:04Um, something like that would be a lot of fun.
00:44:06Um, that's a tourist trap.
00:44:09Be careful.
00:44:10I know.
00:44:11I know.
00:44:11You know, maybe a hidden gem that's out there somewhere.
00:44:13I can just find it.
00:44:14I could tell you everything about the state.
00:44:17I would love it.
00:44:19I would love it.
00:44:20Um, there was one other location too.
00:44:22I'm, I'm such a buff of New York city.
00:44:24Um, even though I've never been there, I would love to make a movie there.
00:44:27I would make the best action movie I possibly could running around in the streets.
00:44:31I would in a heartbeat.
00:44:33In a heartbeat.
00:44:34In a heartbeat.
00:44:36They'd shut the streets off for you to do the scene.
00:44:38Oh yeah, and shut it down.
00:44:39Let's go.
00:44:40We could film right there.
00:44:41Let's go.
00:44:42Yeah, we got to.
00:44:43Don't worry about the money.
00:44:43We can still make it because Debbie said.
00:44:45Oh yeah, you never know.
00:44:48It might very well happen.
00:44:49I mean, I know they film Blue Bloods in, um, New York a lot.
00:44:54So my friend, uh, Alex Zuek, um, he's been on the show a few times.
00:44:59He's an actor in that Blue Bloods and he talks about how they actually are out on the
00:45:06street sometimes.
00:45:07Shutting it down.
00:45:09Oh yeah.
00:45:09Oh yeah.
00:45:10So if you could meet any actor in the world, living or dead, who would it be?
00:45:18Um, any actor in the world, living or dead?
00:45:22Living or dead?
00:45:24Um, it probably would be Al Pacino.
00:45:27Oh my gosh.
00:45:27I'm a huge Al Pacino fan.
00:45:29Yeah, I always have been.
00:45:30I think he'd like you.
00:45:32I would like him.
00:45:33I know that for a fact.
00:45:34He's, he's, he's that guy.
00:45:36Yeah.
00:45:36He's one of those actors that screams on the screen.
00:45:40Like he, you can't miss him.
00:45:42You know, he can, he's the only actor I know that can, and can take a five minute monologue
00:45:46in the movie and your eyes are glued to the screen.
00:45:48Like you won't stop watching him do this.
00:45:50He's just amazing to me.
00:45:52I would love to meet that guy.
00:45:54He's, he's just got that seriousness.
00:45:57Yes.
00:45:58But professional.
00:46:00Yes.
00:46:01Just, and just beyond talented, like man, he's such a presence in everything he's in.
00:46:07So yeah, we got lucky and had his, um, step mom on the show once.
00:46:14Oh wow.
00:46:15Oh yeah.
00:46:16She passed away recently.
00:46:17Um, which is very sad, but it's still nice to hear like useful stories, you know?
00:46:25So, but I think that's fabulous.
00:46:28I think that's so cool.
00:46:30Now, what would you like to do moving forward?
00:46:33What, what, what does your, I know that you've got like, you want that movie.
00:46:37What are some other things that you'd like to do with yourself?
00:46:40As far as filmmaking goes, or just in general, um, in general, I would, I would like to be
00:46:47able to know that the steps that we've made, you know, have, have, will are rewarded later
00:46:58with not only ourselves benefiting from the success of the films, but for our company to
00:47:04be able to, you know, provide to all these talented artists that deserve not only the
00:47:11spotlight for a minute, but actually to get, you know, make a living at what they love doing.
00:47:15I mean, that is like my focus on this.
00:47:19It's like everybody that I know in my life has worked their asses off at some job somewhere
00:47:25doing something that they had to do and not really wanted to do.
00:47:29And I'm of the old school mentality.
00:47:32You know, my dad was that way.
00:47:33My mom was that way where, you know, you work for your money and do your thing.
00:47:36I get it.
00:47:36But you know, now I'm looking at the, the, the way this, all this stuff is that we made
00:47:41up in this world.
00:47:43I just can't help but go, you know, we got one time here, one time to live this life that
00:47:48we get to, to pass up your dream or anything that you really want to do and not have an opportunity
00:47:54to pursue it.
00:47:55At least try to pursue it is, is a damn shame.
00:47:58So I don't want to not have that opportunity.
00:48:01If that makes sense.
00:48:02I want to go out knowing I gave it everything I had and what I wanted to do.
00:48:08And if I made it great.
00:48:10And if I didn't, I, I, I won't look back on my life and go, shit, I wasted my time.
00:48:14I'm not wasting my time.
00:48:16And that's all I want is to not waste my time.
00:48:18That's it.
00:48:19I don't think you're wasting your time when you're doing what you love.
00:48:21Exactly.
00:48:22Yeah.
00:48:23And it's not work either.
00:48:24It doesn't feel like work when you do it.
00:48:26No, it's fun.
00:48:27And it's, and I'm sure you laughed the whole time because
00:48:31sometimes, sometimes things just happen, but you've got to do like blooper reel.
00:48:38Even though, even though you're doing the horror movie, do some blooper reels on the very end.
00:48:43So where people screw up and just, and catch it and then add it to the end.
00:48:49Because I think that when you watch the scary actor screwing up and, you know, whether he's tripping over his own shoelaces or he's, he messed up his lines.
00:49:04Yeah.
00:49:05We love that inhumanity of that human side of people that inhumanity.
00:49:10What am I saying?
00:49:11The side that makes them like us.
00:49:14Yeah, exactly.
00:49:16Exactly.
00:49:16And it just humanizes them, brings them back down to earth where you go, oh man, okay, he's not as bad as I thought or she's not as bad as I thought.
00:49:22And it's always so funny.
00:49:24Now, what about a comedy?
00:49:25I can see you being passionate about a comedy because I think you have a lot of comedy in you.
00:49:31Oh yeah, I do.
00:49:33I love, I love all the genres.
00:49:35There isn't a genre I don't want to try, if that makes sense.
00:49:37So in time, we had a few ideas for comedies.
00:49:40They're a lot harder to sell on an indie level without like named actors in them.
00:49:45But there's definitely some, there's room for that in our future to do a comedy as well.
00:49:50So I'm going across the board with our films.
00:49:53That was our whole goal as our company got bigger was to create, you know, we're not just horror.
00:49:59We're not just documentaries.
00:50:00We're not just action movies.
00:50:01We do dramas.
00:50:02We do faith-based films.
00:50:04We do, you know, comedies.
00:50:05We can do, we can do all of them.
00:50:08And it's just a matter of what story hits when it hits.
00:50:11And are we ready to make it at that time?
00:50:14That's it.
00:50:14Right.
00:50:15Well, you're going to do a period film so that the Western is going to be period-based.
00:50:20Yep, it sure is.
00:50:21Now, would you go any further back in time?
00:50:24It's a possibility.
00:50:25Yes.
00:50:25There's some other stories that I have in my head that I'd like to see if we could pull off one day.
00:50:29They definitely need budget.
00:50:30So we kind of stay away from those at the moment.
00:50:33But if something hits and we get the right connections and the right people behind us, there's nothing we can't do.
00:50:38Oh, absolutely.
00:50:39I honestly believe that.
00:50:40I honestly believe it.
00:50:42I think you're on the way all the way straight to the top.
00:50:45I mean, there's only one way, and that's up.
00:50:48You know, so it sounds to me like you're going to have a great time.
00:50:52Now, you do have a podcast, you said.
00:50:54Yes.
00:50:55Yes, we do.
00:50:56We sure do.
00:50:56We have a – it's called Around the Real, and you can find that podcast on – we have it up on YouTube.
00:51:03We have it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play.
00:51:07There's a few others.
00:51:08It's on iTunes, I believe it's on, and iHeartRadio.
00:51:12So that show has been our staple for the past five and a half years, I want to say.
00:51:18We're in season five right now.
00:51:19Yeah.
00:51:20We've got to interview like you, you know, just, you know, creatives all across the board, whether they're just starting out in the industry or if they've been in Hollywood.
00:51:28We've had, you know, Tom Skerritt, Robert Lozardo, Alex Proyas, the director of The Crow and iRobot.
00:51:35We've talked to many different actors that were on Walking Dead and people that are just in the industry making great films or at least learning how to make films.
00:51:45There's struggle.
00:51:45There are triumphs, you know, talking about serious events that have happened that have pushed them into this realm.
00:51:52So – and we joke around a lot.
00:51:54We just – there's no script.
00:51:56There's no real questions.
00:51:57It's just a conversation between –
00:51:59Kind of like what we're doing right now, you know.
00:52:01And it's – I think people really enjoy the raw, real conversations as opposed to something that's scripted in interviews.
00:52:09So that's our show.
00:52:10We do a lot of comedy on it.
00:52:12There's a lot of music and sound effects on it.
00:52:13It's just a fun Howard Stern type show.
00:52:15So that's what we do.
00:52:16Oh, really?
00:52:17Oh, that's cool.
00:52:18Yeah, yeah.
00:52:19That sounds fun.
00:52:20Now, when do you have your show?
00:52:24When do you start your show back up?
00:52:25We will get – yeah, right now I think we have like 270-some episodes up on those platforms.
00:52:32You can always go back and find them on the platforms now.
00:52:35But we're going to be starting new shows at the end of May.
00:52:38We're going to be back on the air at that time.
00:52:40Yeah, you get missing it.
00:52:42Yeah, we do.
00:52:42You can't be there for too long.
00:52:45And you're really great at talking.
00:52:46But on your page, Facebook, your social media, you do these little videos.
00:52:52And those are basically just information content.
00:52:56Yes.
00:52:57Yes.
00:52:57And it kind of supplements my lack for doing the podcast right now when I do those.
00:53:03I start talking.
00:53:04I'm like, oh, wow, I went 20 minutes.
00:53:06All right, I didn't even mean to go 20 minutes.
00:53:07It wasn't my goal.
00:53:08But I'll start yapping and I can't stop talking.
00:53:10You get things that you want out there and you want people to know about.
00:53:16And I get that.
00:53:18A lot of people text everything.
00:53:21But I like the fact that you're real and you talk about things and you invite people to come to you to discuss.
00:53:30I think that's important.
00:53:33Yeah, it's absolutely important to do that.
00:53:35And I think that people respond to, you know, people like you, Debbie, that are very open and raw and real.
00:53:43There is no, I know, Debbie.
00:53:45I've not met you in person, but I know you already just because of your delivery, your smile, your eye contact, the way you sound when you say things, your inflection in your voice.
00:53:56Those things matter.
00:53:58You know, it's not staged.
00:54:00And I think people are tired of staged.
00:54:02They want to see real stuff.
00:54:04And reality TV showed us that a long time ago, right?
00:54:08People like real shit, real shit.
00:54:09And I think that's where, you know, I do my best to try to give them that where I'm not hiding who I am.
00:54:16You either like me or you won't.
00:54:17And that's OK.
00:54:19That's it.
00:54:20Exactly.
00:54:21Exactly.
00:54:22Yeah.
00:54:22And that's why we're doing this.
00:54:25This year was the first year we did a video.
00:54:27For like 10 years, I've only ever been on radio behind a blank wall.
00:54:34Yeah.
00:54:34So to be live in front of all you folks, I'm nervous.
00:54:40But I'm still myself.
00:54:43Yeah.
00:54:43And I hope that shows.
00:54:46And I'm glad that you're sharing such a wonderful story with us.
00:54:51You're a great guest.
00:54:53You're like what everybody wants to have on for a guest because you've got content.
00:54:59You're personable.
00:55:01You're real.
00:55:01And you're doing stuff.
00:55:05You're busy.
00:55:07My audience loves that.
00:55:09I know that for sure because I love it.
00:55:12Thank you, Debbie.
00:55:12Very much.
00:55:14Now, is there anything that we didn't discuss that you would like to bring up?
00:55:20We have an audio series that's out that we released a couple months ago.
00:55:25And that's on the podcast platforms as well.
00:55:26You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, some of the other ones as well.
00:55:31It's called Blackout.
00:55:32It was a film that I wanted to make, but we weren't able to get a budget for that one
00:55:38because it's this big sci-fi kind of thing.
00:55:41So I got some people together and we did voice acting for it.
00:55:45And we made this sci-fi audio series.
00:55:47There's about 10 episodes up right now called Blackout that you can listen to.
00:55:51And it follows the story of a character named Ryan and his unawareness of who he is
00:55:58and why the world is the way it is.
00:56:00And you can follow the story right now on those platforms.
00:56:04And it's a lot of fun.
00:56:05It's about two hours, two hours and 11 minutes of an audio series,
00:56:09but it's broken up into 10 pieces.
00:56:10So if you've got like a 15-minute drive to the store or to work,
00:56:15throw it on and listen to it and you'd have a lot of fun.
00:56:17It's got special effects in it, sound effects.
00:56:19You've got voice actors doing all the characters, great music in it.
00:56:23It's really cool.
00:56:24It's a movie that you just listen to, so.
00:56:27I like that.
00:56:29Yeah, it's fun.
00:56:30I like that.
00:56:30I still like my producer, Mark, at one time,
00:56:34we were going to do something similar to that.
00:56:37It was like a radio show, but it would have been like a story.
00:56:40Yeah.
00:56:41I think that's cool.
00:56:43Remember back when they did that and they scared people with the aliens?
00:56:47War of the Worlds kind of thing.
00:56:49Yeah.
00:56:49That's exactly it.
00:56:50That's what we made.
00:56:52Yeah.
00:56:52I think that's so cool.
00:56:54Yeah.
00:56:54I wanted to bring that serial style radio show back.
00:56:58That's what we made.
00:56:59Oh, my gosh.
00:57:00Yeah, it's fun.
00:57:01Like actors in the background doing like their lines,
00:57:06but also sound effects to make it feel like it's really happening.
00:57:12Like you're there.
00:57:13Yep.
00:57:14Like you're there.
00:57:15Yeah, it's great.
00:57:16You guys would like it.
00:57:17Yeah, check that out on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
00:57:20That's so cool.
00:57:22Oh, Amazon Music as well.
00:57:23It's on there as well.
00:57:24Yeah.
00:57:24Now, before I forget, let's re-say the link for the people to help donate with your film.
00:57:37Yes.
00:57:38It's Jason Voorhees' Nightmares, and you can find that on Indiegogo.
00:57:42That's Indiegogo, I-N-D-I-E-G-O-G-O dot com.
00:57:46If you head over there and type in Jason Voorhees' Nightmares, you'll find it pop up,
00:57:51and you can find the perks there.
00:57:52And if you find it in you to contribute, we'd love to have your help.
00:57:58Yes, and anything they contribute, they can actually check out all those perks.
00:58:02Correct.
00:58:03Which makes it, it's like a gift.
00:58:07It's like you're buying yourself a gift.
00:58:09You're buying yourself a gift.
00:58:10So, yeah, if the perk's your thing, you can buy that.
00:58:12If you just want to contribute a few bucks, let's say you only have a $5 that you could spare,
00:58:16you can go and just contribute that, and we'll still give you a shout-out and put you a thank you out there on the planet.
00:58:22So, it all matters.
00:58:23Every dollar matters.
00:58:25Where can people get in touch with you, Aaron?
00:58:28Oh, you can find me on Facebook.
00:58:29I'm usually live on Facebook.
00:58:31Instagram, you can find me there, too.
00:58:33That's Aaron 777, Aaron Carlson 777.
00:58:38And on Facebook, just type in my name.
00:58:40You can find me.
00:58:42I want to thank you so much for coming on today.
00:58:44It was a lot of fun.
00:58:45It was great.
00:58:46I enjoyed it, too.
00:58:47I enjoyed it, too.
00:58:48Thank you so much for having me.
00:58:50Oh, my gosh.
00:58:51And I'd love to have you back when the film airs.
00:58:53Love to be back.
00:58:55Awesome.
00:58:56Cool.
00:58:56All right, great.
00:58:57Well, thank you, everybody, for enjoying us today, and we'll see you in a couple weeks.
00:59:03And I guess that's it for today.
00:59:07So, thank you.
00:59:08Thank you, everybody.
00:59:09Thank you, everybody.
00:59:21Thank you, everybody.
00:59:52Thank you, everybody.
00:59:53Thank you, everybody.
00:59:53Thank you, everybody.
00:59:53Thank you, everybody.
00:59:54Thank you, everybody.
00:59:54Thank you, everybody.
00:59:55Thank you, everybody.
00:59:56Thank you, everybody.
00:59:56Thank you, everybody.
00:59:57Thank you, everybody.
00:59:58Thank you, everybody.
00:59:59Thank you, everybody.
01:00:00Thank you, everybody.
01:00:00Thank you, everybody.
01:00:00Thank you, everybody.
01:00:01Thank you, everybody.
01:00:01Thank you, everybody.
01:00:01Thank you, everybody.
01:00:02Thank you, everybody.
01:00:02Thank you, everybody.
01:00:03Thank you, everybody.
01:00:04Thank you, everybody.
01:00:05Thank you, everybody.
01:00:06Thank you, everybody.
01:00:07Thank you, everybody.
01:00:08Thank you, everybody.
01:00:09Thank you, everybody.
01:00:10Thank you, everybody.
01:00:11Thank you, everybody.
01:00:12Thank you, everybody.