HOW TO: Start a Monthly Film Festival! (w/ Jared Corwin)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I just think the focus of LA right now is like, we are the ones who are struggling. We built up this city, but we are the ones struggling because of these lack of opportunities. I mean, I know Emmy award winners on food stamps. Like, I know people who are getting priced out. So it's just, I just feel like it is a very targeted amount of good we can do with this specific community of creatives. Foreign. [00:00:30] Speaker B: I'm Luke Steinfeld. [00:00:31] Speaker C: And I'm Wyatt Sarkisian. [00:00:33] Speaker B: We made the 5050 podcast to support you on your filmmaking journey. [00:00:36] Speaker C: 50% business, 50% creative. [00:00:39] Speaker B: Every Tuesday, a new how to. [00:00:41] Speaker C: This week we talk with Silver Lake Schwartz founder Jared Corwin. It's no secret that the business is struggling. And in this episode, Jared takes us through exactly how he's looking to solve this. Through festivals, foundations and community support, he sees a version of Hollywood that we can all participate in and celebrate. [00:01:01] Speaker B: Enjoy. How, how was the trip, man? [00:01:09] Speaker A: Really, really good. We got like 300 plus people that packed out oh my God. Plaza Theater in Atlanta for our first show. So feeling good about it. [00:01:18] Speaker C: Amazing. How do you. I mean, we have a lot to get into on this episode. Obviously about, about Silver Lake shorts, which I'm sure a lot of our listeners have have heard of or even been to. We're obviously in the, in the film festival world as well, so we love the sort of cross promotional moment. But yeah, Atlanta was it. How long were you there? [00:01:43] Speaker A: We were there from like Tuesday to late Sunday last Thursday. But you know, we really did just like a huge amount of outreach to, I mean we were doing it with Dave Hughes and Alan Stedman, producers had work who had worked on like the Smalls Incubator program. And like Dave runs like off the air, which is like kind of just different collections of different, you know, curated short blocks and stuff. So yeah, I mean, I, I worked with Dave and Alan when I made a small series called Mirrored Mochi that came out last year. So we had just, you know, remained in contact and stuff and, and you know, they were obviously familiar with the festival and you know, just with kind of the craziness happening all over, like, I, I just reached out about like, hey, like let's do a Silver Lake shorts in Atlanta. We had done a couple screens in New York about like what a London show would look like. So we're like having that conversation next week. [00:02:47] Speaker C: I mean, ultimately crazy. [00:02:48] Speaker A: Yeah, no, so we just did a lot of outreach for Atlanta and just connected with like a lot of like film collectives and like animation collectives, schools Scad women in animation with Videodrome, the really like ic Like Stories DVD and Blu Ray store that's just been there since like 96 or something. So yeah, they helped us a ton with promotion and yeah, honestly, we even got people to like put flyers all over. Like I think that does so much too that like just analog marketing. [00:03:25] Speaker C: Yeah, the old fashioned way. [00:03:27] Speaker A: We like tried to do like a targeted ad on Meta and it was just like. I don't know, I just like realized my like account got hacked from that. Like also it's, I don't know, it's like, I, I just think even with our experience with like building up silver like shorts or like when we do like a special thing or like just need to get the word out, like flyers are awesome. Like people respond to them, people see them. Like, I do. Like obviously social media promotion stuff helps a ton, but like flyers are great. Don't, don't, don't underestimate the power of a flyer. [00:04:00] Speaker C: Yes, yes. [00:04:01] Speaker B: I, I, I feel like we should pause for a second because I, I feel myself wanting to like start asking questions about multi city expansion and, and all this stuff and, and how Atlanta even came into picture and why Atlanta, but I feel like we should do a little intro. Wyatt, what do you think? [00:04:19] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, we, we, we originally got introduced to our guest here, Jared Corwin from Brandon Scott Wolfe, who's a friend of the POD and a previous guest, really talented writer, filmmaker, animator, everything. And Chris Rutledge was also a recent guest on the podcast. So I know you featured a couple of his projects in the most recent Silver Lake Shorts. And Silver Lake Shorts has basically ever since I grew up in la, but ever since I moved back to LA after college and really found myself more sort of ingrained in the LA arts. Seen Silver Lake Shorts has been a, I have just heard it. Are you going to Silver Lake Shorts? What's happening at Silver Lake Shorts? I heard they're sponsoring Silver Lake Shorts. Like everything revolves around this. Like, I mean just, it might just be per chance, but it's really crazy how many times I have heard of Silver Lake Shorts. So if you want to just, you know, introduce yourself and get into sort of how it started and everything, I'm curious just personally. [00:05:22] Speaker A: Totally. And I appreciate you saying that so much. I mean, so I, my background with the festival is as a filmmaker myself, more so in the writer side of things. I do produce as well, but I like moved out here in 2014, right out of college. I went to Ithaca College, got like My degree says TV in it, which I always think is funny now that, like, linear is essentially dead, but it also says radio. But yeah, so just, you know, I, I just felt like when you, like, especially, you know, the 24, like graduating in 2014, I feel like, you know, your teachers or whatever would like, try to be like, this is how you write for tv. And it's like, well, there's no real, like direct pathway to do that. It's like everyone has such a unique story and like everyone has like a million different pathways that got them there. But like, what they were kind of pushing on us was like, you become an agent's assistant, then you become a manager's assistant, then you get into the writer's room as writer's assistant, then you become a writer. And then like. Yeah, like, which worked probably like 1% of the time in like the heyday of it, but like now it's like, okay, I bet that works for like.001%. So, I don't know. I, like, I. I moved out here pretty much right after graduated. I got a couple jobs or I got a job. I got a job pretty, pretty immediately actually. Like working as an agent's assistant under this guy named Mitchell Gossett, whose claim to fame was discovering Miley Cyrus, which I know you could say, wait, didn't her very famous father discover Miley Cyrus? [00:07:00] Speaker C: Discover her? [00:07:01] Speaker A: Yeah, discover. But, you know, so it was like, wait, did. [00:07:03] Speaker B: Did he, did he, did he discover her as a, as a musician or [00:07:07] Speaker A: as a, as an actor? I just imagine it's like, I'm the agent who's gonna negotiate higher deals for you to get on the. [00:07:14] Speaker C: Sure. [00:07:15] Speaker A: But like, I don't know. So, you know, I was, yeah, just like 21, like an assistant at this, like mostly kids oriented talent agency. Like, I sent the wrong sides to like a little girl who came dressed like a cheerleader for like the wrong audition. Like, she thought she was like supposed to be dressed up like Bella from Bella and the Bulldogs or like dressed up to audition for Nickelodeon's Bella, Bella and the Bulldogs. And it was just like the wrong show. So like, yeah, totally. The wrath of the stage mom. Like, why did you have my daughter dress up a cheerleader for, like the wrong thing? And I was terrible. [00:07:51] Speaker C: Like, I know you kind of are getting double. It's like a double whammy, right? Because you're working for an agent. Typically, you know, they can be harsh people, but then you gotta deal with the stage parents. Oh my God, it's like a whole Other. [00:08:03] Speaker A: I mean, the whole agency thing, it's just like. I don't know, it's just like. I feel like you're, like, just hearing people scream their heads off about, like, they never cast the superhero in the same movie that they cast them in the TV show for. It's never the same part. Like, just people shouting at the top of their lungs about, like, truly inane bullshit. It's just like, I was just bad at it. Like, I just had no. Like, I'm not. Like, I do feel like there's so much organization that, like, has to happen with what we do. And, like. But it's all, like, chaos in my mind, and I just, like, make it work. It's like, like, scheduling someone else's schedule was just, like, not for me and, like, not my skill sets. And, like, I just. I did not like it and was not good at it, but I kept trying. What was there? [00:08:47] Speaker B: What was there? Like a. Like a learning from that, that you were able to apply? Because there. There are, I think, a lot of pros to working on the business side as a creative, like, as a filmmaker, to hear that conversation, to hear how folks at the highest level talk to one another on both sides. And, like, for you, was there any sort of learning of, like, coming out of that and pursuing the more creative side? Like, did you find yourself able to schedule your own calendar better? You know, like, what was there? Like? [00:09:17] Speaker A: I mean, I think I learned that, like, I needed something that would give me more time to just focus on, like, my creative aspirations. And. Yeah, so I, like, you know, I got laid off from that. And I, like, struggled with, like, okay, how do you make a living in LA and still, like, pursue? Like, I wanted to write. I wanted to make things. Like, actually, one of the first writing jobs I got, I was working as a craft service person for this, like, B horror movie, like, on the Sci Fi Channel type thing. And, like, the assistant director goes up to me and he's like, hey, you're, like, really bad at this. And I'm like, I don't. I don't. Sorry, I'm not, like, stacking coke fast enough. I don't really know what to tell you. And he's like, well, what are you good at? And I'm like, oh, I'm like, a writer. He's like, oh, like, send me stuff. So, like, I sent him some scripts and he was like, I'm trying to write this. I'm trying to pitch a girl in her horse movie to Lifetime. Like, I'm gonna pay you $500 to like, write this full feature, which is like, when you're like, 22, is like, awesome. So, yeah, I was stoked about that opportunity. And on that on the side, I like, ended up finding what was at one point a part time, like, social media position for like, a weed vape company. So I took that and I was like, my wife and I live in Los Feliz now, but, like, we were literally like, working. I was working out of this guy's house in Los Feliz. Like, like, putting all the pens. Like, testing the pens. Like, selling the pens. [00:10:36] Speaker B: Yeah, this works. [00:10:39] Speaker C: This one. Really? [00:10:40] Speaker A: You had to test, like, the, the technology was like, bullshit. So it's like you had to test it before you sold it. So I would like, like what? [00:10:47] Speaker B: Like, just making sure it was actually hitting. [00:10:50] Speaker A: Like, I had to, like, physically, but, like, you would hit every single one. [00:10:53] Speaker B: It's like hand, hand, like, his mouth touched. It was like, every single. [00:10:58] Speaker A: We had, like, tips or whatever. We had, like, you know, disposable tips. It's like, yeah, you're like, okay. [00:11:03] Speaker C: So it was like, yeah, yeah, it was safe. [00:11:05] Speaker A: I mean, probably not, but, like, this was like pre legalization days. So it was like, it was like, [00:11:09] Speaker C: I was gonna say, like, this is, I was like, is this the regulation process that, like, like, this is like the thing on the back of the package. [00:11:16] Speaker A: Like, it's really interesting because this is truly like, pr, pre regulation. So, like, like pre legalization. So this was when, you know, you just, like, walk into a weed, like a weed doctor and say that you're anxious. Why are you anxious? Because, like, you don't have any weed. Like, they'll, they'll give you, you know, they'll just write you up a prescription for marijuana. And so, and there was no, like, dude, people were like, selling like, brownies out of, like, plastic bags. And like, you know, it was just, it truly was the wild west. So, like, yeah, I mean, I, I, I would, like, sell all the pens. I would, like, test the pens. Like, I would bring on all the accounts. I would, like, do marketing stuff for him. I literally, like, put two buzzwords together for, like, development and coordinator and just made myself like, the development coordinator, which means nothing like, in the context of anything, but, you know. [00:12:06] Speaker B: Sounds great, though. [00:12:07] Speaker A: Yeah, it's really, like, yeah, sounds great for my, like, minimum wage job running an entire man's company out of his house. But honestly, like, the experience, like, it let me, like, focus on just writing a bunch. And like, me and a buddy, like, worked on A feature film. Like, we wrote this feature film. And well, well, even. [00:12:27] Speaker B: Sorry to jump in, but even with that in quotes, like, day job and you had this assignment writing wise, and this, I assume, was your first assignment and with any sort of monetary value associated to it, like, or at stake, even, like, was there pressure with that? Were you. Where did you have writer's block ever? Were you greened out all the time, like, wherever you. [00:12:50] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I think I was just excited for. I think I like, I just remember, like, treating it like, okay, I'm like, work, you know, eight hours today on this. Like, I think I really especially it being kind of one of the first paid writing gigs, being like, okay, like, writing is the job today. So like, like, like approach it from that mindset, which, like, I don't know. I think that's kind of extreme. Like, I, I. Even when I, like, get writing gigs now, it's like, I don't. I don't really approach it that way. I think that is kind of intense. But, but, but, yeah, no, at the time that was like, really helpful and. But yeah, so I'd say, like, the kind of journey overall was like, me and my buddy, like, wrote this feature and then we're like, wait, but before we have a feature, like, let's make a short film. So we made like. We made this short film, different plot than the feature, but it was called Time Enforcer. It was like kind of us doing, like, it was like us doing Time Cops, honestly. But it was like, very ethereal, shot on 16. Kind of like very like, Kubrick aesthetic and things. And they got into a bunch of festivals and like, Dust Dust acquired it on their service. And so I was like, cool, like, oh, whoa. Like, selling a short. I didn't even know that was like a thing. Thing you could do. But one of the best festivals I got into was Fantastic Fest in Austin. So me and my buddy Jimmy, who I made the film with, and then like a number of other friends, like, went out, like, just spent the week at the festival and like, had the most awesome time. Like, that. That's such a cool festival. Like a true filmmakers and film lovers festival, especially for genre film. And I remember we were just like in the Airbnb, like, pool, like, hanging out. We were just like, screw it. Like, we're filmmakers. Like, let's. Let's make our feature film. Let's quit our jobs. Let's make our feature film. So, yeah, I, like, I was working at a different weed company at this point. Like, honestly, getting paid better. And it Was like, more of, like, actually actual, like, company versus just, like, a dude's house. But, yeah, I, like, was like, all right, well, I'm leaving. And he was, like, managing yummy.com and Silver Lake at the time. So we just, like, yeah, we, like, quit our jobs. We, like, amassed a micro budget. We. We got a bunch of our friends to, like, come on board the project. We stole shots. We borrowed shots. Like, I remember driving out to, like, this guy who ran a used car dealership and being like, if you want to be in the film and your kids want to be in the film, like, can we use, like, your Dodge Challenger for, like, the bad guy's car? And he was like, sure, that's fine. So it was great. It was a really fun experience. And when we, like, we did all the production basically in, like, February of 2019, and then we did, like, a couple pickup pickup shots in, like, April or whatever, like one. One full weekend. And then, yeah, just kind of, like, put all the remaining time into. Into post. But it was a big, like, lengthy post process. A lot of original music, like, a lot of, you know, unique sound design and stuff. And, you know, also just like, how do you do post on a feature? Now, like, this feels like another hard, very, very long process here. But during that time, I had seen a poster for Silver Lake Shorts, which my partner, Ben Sharp, who I run the organization with, he was running it just on his own at the time. He founded it because he was actually working at El Cid as an events coordinator. So he had, like, a film background. He went to do Paul, and he just wasn't really doing much with his film background. After college, he was really more in the event space. So he kind of talked to his team and was just like, hey, can I do a monthly free screening? And they're like, sure. So that was running from July 2019 to January 2020, when I screened my short with them, and I loved it, and I really got along with Ben, and I was like, I'm going to come every single month. And at that time, it was like, maybe, like, 60 people came out. Like, it was really fun screening. And I was like, I'm gonna come every single month. And then the world shut down during COVID So during COVID it kind of felt like the post production on our feature film audio was kind of like that light at the end of the tunnel and that thing that just kind of kept me from going insane, quite frankly. And, you know, when things were kind of, like, loosely opening again and, like, summer 2021, it was kind of just like, alright, cool. Like, let's submit to all these festivals. But, like, all the festivals, like, were, like, remote. They were virtual still. I mean, the vaccines were kind of just rolling out, like, and we just, like, spent, like, all this money and all this time submitting. Like, I even, like, you know, got an IMDb account, like, got the emails, like, all these, like, distribution companies and, like, got on the phone with, like, someone in Sony Pictures Classics, like, someone who's involved with acquisitions, and got her to watch the film. And, like, she was like, it's a great film. It's the kind of film you want to, like, take an edible and, like, vibe out to. And I was like, great. And I was like, thinking, like, cool, they're gonna buy it. And then she was like, all right, well, let me know when you have a marketing and festival plan. And it's like, wait, why did I talk to you? What was the. What was the point of this? But, you know, it just. I feel like it just kind of highlighted. [00:17:56] Speaker C: It was a tough time, for sure. [00:17:58] Speaker A: Yeah. I kind of just felt like I spent five years of my life working on something with the expectation that, like, the next step was in front of me. Like, the next, like, pathway for my career was in front of me. And, you know, the reality is that, like, people can make five features or 10 features or 30 features and not get to that level. Like, it's. It's. So I just felt really, like, stuck. And I just felt really like there wasn't really a semblance of a film community. Obviously. Like, I had, you know, my film girlfriend at the time and all my, like, our group of friends. But, like, you know, it just. I was like, how do I connect with other filmmakers? Like, how do I get people to see my work? How do I see their work? Like, you know, some of these screenings that were happening at, like, Brain Dead, it was like, okay, well, I don't. I'm not friends with this person putting it together and I don't have clout, so why would you screen my film? You know, it's like, I just kind of felt that way. So I reached back out to Ben, who kind of happenstantially was like, he made like, a Facebook post like, hey, if I do Silver Lake shorts again, would, like, anyone want to join? And, like, no one responded. But I wasn't even, like, friends with him on Facebook. I just, like, DM'd him, was like, hey, would you be down to do Silver Lake shorts again? Like, I'd love to help out if you are. And yeah, we just, we connected and we really, really just got along. We hung out for like a few hours in like December of 2021 and like Adel Sid. And yeah, just. I definitely felt an instant sort of like, kinship with him. And we were like, cool, let's. Let's do Silver Lake Shorts again. So March of 2022, we put on a screening of Silver Lake Shorts. We did like a film freeway submission thing and I screened my film Time Enforcer again. Actually, Chris Rutledge screened his Adult Swim Smalls Man's Best Friend, which I love that short very much. Yeah, but it was at that screening and it was like, it's interesting because it was like 60 people out again. And it was at that screening that Chris was like, hey, this was so cool. I'm gonna tell all my animation friends about this. So soon our 60 person screening in like a couple months turned into like 100, then a 120, then a 200, and now it's like 250 every month. And I, I think it was really the animation side of things that really helped build us up. And I think we just hit the scene at a time in which the community, like, really, really needed it. And you know what I was getting into of just like, literally, I just, I want to have an avenue to screen my feature, which we did. We like did like a Silver Lake Shorts presents, like my feature film audio at one point, like early on. And you know, but like, I don't know, I feel like I just got into it with the idea of like, I just want to get my work out there. I need validation in my work. And it became very clear. It's like, oh, you know who else feels that way? Fucking everybody. Everybody who lives in la, works on stuff and makes films and, and seeks that validation. And you know, what really took to me was like, we were screening like films that got into Sundance or South by or any of these big name festivals, but, like, they were virtual at the time they screened. Like, so many people had, like, spent all this time working on shorts over Covid that only just lived online. So we just had this whole plethora of great films to like, that were submitted to us. And especially just no barriers of being free to submit, free to attend. It really started, like bringing out some awesome people and like, soon we were screening like, you know, bigger name people like Michael Cusack or Joe Cappa or like Mike Diva or we even screened like Craig Bartlett, like the hey Arnold creator. Like, you know, we were screening bigger name People who in many ways had, like, made full shows alongside high school filmmakers, college filmmakers, even studios devoted to people on the autism spectrum. So it really was like, some of the bigger name people might have gotten people in the door, but, like, the experience and the community, like, it lifted everybody up and the industry really did take notice. So, like, all of a sudden I was, like, building relationships with, like, development people like Paramount and Bento Box and Sony. And, like, all these people were coming out because they saw that, like, hey, this is where you can really, in a real tangible way, see the big name people that you want to see. And it's not just your assistant or coordinator sending you, like, a list of, like, watch this, watch this, watch this. And you just, like, look at it on the toilet. It's like, be with people, experience it, and, like, get the laughs, get the response, take it all in. It makes so much of a difference. And the thing that kind of shifted us just not to skip ahead, but, like, it also did help me with my writing career. Like, I started writing for Bento Box through their H Studio digital incubator program, making shorts with them and an animation friend of mine, Paul Smith. And, yeah, I made, like, an Adult Swim small series with my buddy Connor Reed. And, yeah, so it really helped me refine my voice, like, as a writer for animation. You know, met Brandon through that, and, like, our short was like, stop motion animation mixed with, like, live action that his wife Jackie directed. So, yeah, I was. I was meeting amazing collaborators, getting some writing work out there, feeling very creatively fulfilled, making so many great new friends. Like, but then the writers strike happened, and it was like, during the writers strike, I think this, like, general malaise kind of hit. And, like, I got laid off from, like, another one of my weed jobs because that's the nature of the industry. It's all, like, small businesses that eventually, like, they. They just run out of money. So then you get laid off, and [00:23:20] Speaker C: then you just get another interesting. [00:23:22] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, so. But I was, like, really frustrated. I was like, ugh, like, I don't want another weed job. Like, I love Silver Lake shorts. Like, how do I turn this into the job? Like, it's very successful. How do I, like, me and Ben, like, feel that just, like, stable success of, like, we put all this time and effort into it and volunteer all of our energy into it. Like, how do we, like, make this the career, essentially? And, you know, we knew we always wanted to do a grant program, so, yeah, we just. We became a nonprofit, and we've officially been a nonprofit since 2024. So it's just been a couple years now. But since then, I mean, we've brought on sponsors like Sony Pictures Animation and Paramount and Bandera Entertainment and Wacom Tablets and Titmouse and Star Burns and Shadow Machine and Dropout. Just all these different kind of awesome studios who see the value of what we're doing. They donate tax deductible donations, essentially, and we fund films that way. So last year we were able to fund five films for 5,000 each. Three animated, two live action. This year we were able to fund six. We're also doing an additional, like, incubator program with Bandera Entertainment in which, like, you know, we're gonna find like a short for them to work with on development and produce and. Yeah, I mean, I just, I really believe in what we're building as, like, a solve for the industry. A lot of the stagnation you feel, a lot of the uncertainty you feel. I mean, I just, I see all these people who built up the creative economy in LA and have, like, made all these studios successful and made all these shows really successful. But then you see all the outsourcing that happens and, you know, the existential threats of AI and like, the conglomeration that we see and like, how people get laid off in mass. So it's like, how do we respond to that? And I don't know, it's like, it's not. Let's just become another studio. It's like, no, we're not a studio, we're a foundation. Like, we're a charity. We're a charitable organization. And we're approaching film financing and championing filmmakers through these free screening events. But then also through this grant program in which, like, yes, it'll have a Silver Lake short, like, funded through the Silver Lake Shorts Fellowship program on it. But, like, we don't own it, nor do we want to, because we think that that's important to empower the creator to decide if they're like. In this case of Bandera, it's like part of that unique thing is that you're winning an opportunity to develop a project with them. That's a specific thing in that case. But in any other case, it's like, if you want to sell your show to a Netflix or whatever, that's kind of on you. We don't need an roi. Like, we don't need, like, percentages back. It's like, no, we just are stoked to have, like, been able to give you that, like, upstart to like, make your thing, like, like push your work out there. [00:26:18] Speaker C: We'll be right back. [00:26:21] Speaker B: Are you sick and tired of spending months on short films that get seen by just your uncle? Are you sad and bored of editing all the time and all that footage for just 10 views? Well, now's the time to change that. Submissions for the 5050 Comedy Fest are open now. Get your work seen by professionals who can actually advance your filmmaking career. Not your uncle, unless your uncle happens to be at a top tier talent agency like CAA UTA or wme. Check out the episode description for the submission link or head to filmfreeway.com and search for 5050 comedy. 5050 comedy is on May 3rd. Submitting a 5050 comedy may lead to money, fame, fast cars, boats, planes, helicopters, cybertrucks and lifelong friendships. 5050 comedy is on May 3rd. We look forward to seeing you there at 5050 comedy May 3rd. Your uncle is not invited unless he works at a top tier talent agency like CAA UTA. WME May 3rd. 5050 comedy May 3rd. 5050 Comedy May 3rd. We look forward to watching your comedic short film. And it's so, it's so artists first. You know, and I know we've spoken before, Jared and I remember kind of leaving with that feeling of like Silver Lake shorts really is such a champion of creativity and, and filmmakers just wanting to create without the pressure of industry or like that, that side of things, you know, which I think will lead to such beautiful projects, which I know it has with, with the fellowship program. Just to dig in for a sec. Is that like how, how programmed is that on your side? Like are you very involved or is it more of just like a bunch of people submit and like you pick a few folks, like, how does that. [00:27:57] Speaker A: We're very involved. I mean it's, it's one of our board members, Kat Ball, her kind of specialty and what she's putting in is like, I think very much like leading the charge on sort of being like doing check ins with all the filmmakers. Like, but we work. It was like me and Ben and Kat and like even my wife Carissa who's like a director with the program and like a couple other volunteers like assessed. But like we got like in the first year we got like 200. This last year we got like 300 submissions. So it's a lot to go through. And part of the submission process is like, you know, number one, like you can't be a student because you know, when you're enrolled in a college, like you're, you're, you're making films that way, so you can't be a student. You need to be 18 years or older. You had to have, you had to have had made shorts before. So like you like, you need to prove that you have been able to do it. And like, we're looking for like kind of mid career people who are like, you know, I think if the industry was a little bit more profitable for people or if there were more opportunities happen, like there would be like, oh, you get a development deal, you get your first show or something like that. But it's like, it just, it just feels like because there's so many, so many less opportunities. I feel like we're in that place where we're like finding those people who like have the experience, have the talent, but then need this like extra push to make something truly unique, truly their own. They have a year to make it. It's a one to five minute short, you know, and then people set like scripts or pitch decks or verbal pitches, you know, obviously examples of their previous work, these kinds of impact statements, like, how does it help you? You know, we're not trying to like, yeah, I feel like there are grant programs that like are like, you're gonna work on this for so long and you're gonna talk about just talent, just like you're gonna talk about like just how much you've struggled. And it's like, we don't, we don't need that. Like, we just, we just need you to like, you know, do, do a little extra work to like highlight like what you're trying to do here. And what's really cool is that like even of the films that we didn't select it, like, I know a lot of these people like made those shorts anyway or places. So like, it's a really good way to like get you to be like, what kind of short do I want to make next? And then like, yeah, even if we didn't give you the money to make it, like some, a lot of people just made those shorts on their own anyway and I think that's really special and I love that, you know, so it's like, so we pick the films, we do interview processes just to make sure, like, okay, like this is a good fit. It's LA focused. I mean, it's California open and like people can apply from other parts of the state and stuff. But like, you know, we've only really picked people that are more. They don't have to be super ingrained with our community. But I just, I just think the focus of LA right now is like, we are the ones who are struggling. We built up this city, but we are the ones struggling because of these lack of opportunities. I mean, I know Emmy award winners on food stamps. Like, I know people who are getting priced out. So it's just, I just feel like it is a very targeted amount of good we can do with this specific community of creatives here in the city. [00:31:11] Speaker C: Absolutely. I have so many thoughts and you've obviously gone through so much. And just to say, the elephant in the room, I feel like every time I've been like, oh, I should interrupt him and ask a question, you then go on to answer that question right after. So good on you for just being a great podcast guest. [00:31:28] Speaker A: Oh, I appreciate that right away. Listen, I pitch all the time. This is part of the job. Yeah, Talking to, you know, I've done a couple podcasts and stuff too, but just like, you know, talk. When you're talking to a new person who runs a studio or a network cat or someone who's trying to learn what this is all about, it's like, I. I do think it's important to kind of highlight my own history with it and like, what my overall mission is. And, you know, we're looking to really kind of like, raise our thoughts about these mediums, especially creator driven work. And like, shorts, like, shorts are a very special medium of like, art and like, they deserve to be treated at that same level. And like, we're arguing that, like, they deserve to be funded and appreciated at that same level. And also, like, when you look when you go to Annecy or when you go to Ottawa, when you go to like any of these, like, especially animation [00:32:18] Speaker C: festivals, but like animation specific festivals. [00:32:21] Speaker A: Yeah, but also like, you know, film festivals in general. Like, a lot of these, A lot of shorts are made with film grants. Film funds. Animation especially. But like, a lot of these shorts are made with film funds. I mean, you know, even look at. Why am I blanking on the flow? Even look at flow. You know that won best animated feature last year. Like, you look at like that, that film starts and it's like the Latvian grant and the Eastern European grant. And the European grant. [00:32:49] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. With government support. Of the government support. [00:32:52] Speaker B: Yeah, we don't have that. [00:32:54] Speaker A: We don't have that in America. Not at all. So I really want Silver Lake shorts to kind of be that thing. But obviously, like, we're like, there's so much value of anyone's artistic voice. Like, I think our unique approach to, like, what we fund, what we program is it's like you know, like I. There are people who are making that, like, very heart wrenching, true, impactful story about like the immigrant experience. Like, we need those films to be told. I think what makes Silver Lake shorts unique is like a good version of that film is like, if that film is told through like puppets, you know what I mean? It's like, what is like the creator driven, unique, cool tinge that like, feels like I'm the only one who can tell the story in this exact way, in this exact context, through this very like, niche medium or like aesthetic or something. [00:33:45] Speaker C: You know, when I. When I went to see all the films, the first thing that I told Luke after I watched all the films was like, they were all so unique. Like, there was such a clear creator voice in all of the films. That was absolutely the first thing that I noticed. And I also just. I wanna applaud you for just. There is something, you're so right about how, like there are grants and government funded stuff is so common in sort of those high arts and, you know, ballet and opera putting them together now. It's a sort of buzz term that we want to, you know, walk the tightrope on seemingly. But you mentioned that because it is kind of like, as in these sort of mainstream art forms that we witness all the time, like film and animation, it's hard to be like, we need help, you know, And I feel like you in a way are declaring like, we do need help because we're living in this city that no productions are really happening yet. It's where it all started. And this is where everybody moves. So there's a disconnect there. And I do see Silver Lake shorts kind of living in the area of that disconnect. [00:34:57] Speaker A: I appreciate that a lot. And it's interesting, like you've been saying, I feel like there is that perception. I remember just like that discourse during the writers strikes. And most of it's like trolls or whatever, but you'll see it's like, what are these wealthy riders? Want another yacht? It's like, do you realize that most of these people are living paycheck to paycheck, just like any other job? And like, mostly now, like not working, period, and haven't been. It's like, you know, it's. It's. There is such a false perception of what LA is from the outside world. And it's like Beverly Hills is so different than what's going down in Silver Lake. You know what I mean? It's like, it's like. I think, I think that is where Like a lot of the differences lie and like we're not the industry event. We're not like the hoity toity networking event. Like we're a party, we're a festival. We're a collective. We're a collective. I mean when you go to our screenings, like we have the inside screening and then outside screening out of the patio and people come out to like hang and crouch and just like try to get a seat that's like, they're kind of packed in there like sardines. But like you also like, but you could also sit down and you know, get there early and stuff. Like, you know, but there are a lot of people who just like come and like hang out and like catch up with a friend. You can like watch a film, you can walk out and then like go have a cigarette or like have a joint, like catch up with a friend, grab a beer. It's like we kind of want to treat a film festival experience like a punk show or any other music venue where it's like no one's gonna think you're rude for like okay, well I really like this song but like I gotta, I'm walk out for this other song. Like I need. [00:36:30] Speaker C: Yeah. Almost like it's a concert or something and it's like it's, it's a social event. That was when I went in March. It's still March, but you know, early March. Yeah, I was like, I walked in and I'm like I'm at a party right now. Like and it's like I feel like I don't know the exact timeline of the event but like the first hour is kind of just like you go grab a drink, you meet people, you're hanging out at those like picnic table. Like it's all very sort of casual and it feels like I think El Cid being such like a legendary, you know, historical land. [00:37:06] Speaker B: Perfect. [00:37:07] Speaker C: It's like it's a no brainer to host it there and like make it feel like it's kind of that sort of, you know, indie concert type venue. [00:37:16] Speaker B: I, I have a question based on that of like you've, you guys have El Cid is home, right? Like that's, that's HQ for Silver Lake Shorts. As you start to venture outside of LA and do these, these multi city or this multi city expansion and specifically I guess with Atlanta most recently, like how was that experience for you on like a, a branding side of things and I guess just, I guess speaking here too of like okay. Or just thinking out loud of your community, very LA Based, I assume those LA folks were not traveling with the festival, so perhaps this is the first time. So if you did. But the majority, but the majority are first time goers to Silver Lake shorts. How. How was, how was that like transferring? Like, was it still a party? Was it, was it. [00:38:10] Speaker A: It translated really well. I mean, honestly, it translated super well. I mean, I think here's, here's our thing. Like when we go to a different city, we, we keep that same ethos and aesthetic and like intention behind how we have. We do la and like this is what we pitched to colleges. We've done colleges. It's like we want to showcase your community's film. So in Atlanta, it was like Atlanta based filmmakers, you know, people in the wider Atlanta region. I mean, one of the shorts, one of the shorts we featured was this comedian who made a film. Like, what if the metro went to these other like, kind of more out there, like areas of the city that like, that doesn't go to. It's like it was so regionally, it was very funny. [00:38:53] Speaker C: Very, very Atlanta, super Atlanta specific. [00:38:55] Speaker A: But like, anybod could watch that, be like, oh, I like, I get it. Like, I get the bit. But it's like that just. That was like actually a really perfect film for us, like, because it's like cool. Like, this is gonna play so well with this audience, you know, so. But people came from Michigan, people came from Kentucky, people came from Florida. [00:39:10] Speaker B: Amazing, man. [00:39:11] Speaker A: People came from California for that. It was really cool. We like screened. I mean like, was awesome for me is like we screened Dave Willis, who co created Squid Billies and Aqua Teenager, which is like, I mean, I grew up on that. [00:39:24] Speaker C: So cool. [00:39:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:39:26] Speaker C: What was the biggest challenge to expand to Atlanta? [00:39:30] Speaker A: Oh, I'd say just the biggest challenge was definitely like getting the right. Getting the words out. Getting the word out was the biggest challenge. I mean, in New York we've done it a couple times. Atlanta, this was our first time. But there's just, I think we really did a great job of like just outreach in general, spreading the word, getting it known out. Obviously, like our contacts at Adult Swim really, really helped a ton. And I think being like, oh, we're doing this with Dave Hughes of the Adult Swim Smalls and Off the Air program. Definitely, like help people, like not ignore our email, you know, but like, you know, I think we just say like, this is a free event. We're trying to build community. We, you know, like come. We just want you to come out to the plaza. Like, we got like four. I mean, we got like 460 RSVPs and then all of a sudden it turned into the same like kind of fears we have in LA where we're like, oh no, we're gonna like have to turn people away. But like, if there's a drop off at any event, that 460 turned into like 300 plus, which was awesome. For our first event, like, holy shit. [00:40:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:28] Speaker A: Like, you know what was cool? We did like, we had this guy, Adam Fuchs, who's like a longtime like director, art person, Adult Swim. Like he did this like really bespoke like pre show where it was like a MIDI keyboard connected to different like layers of on his like animation. And so he was like kind of live animating like as he was like playing on the projector. [00:40:48] Speaker C: Cool. [00:40:50] Speaker A: We actually had three different films running in each theater of the Plaza. So like we had like the main room, which was more for like shorter work. We had another room, one of the rooms upstairs which was like kind of from like longer work. And then like another room was like a collection of like off the air episodes that were some of Dave's favorite episodes. So it kind of like had this like sort of like it's a one night festival kind of feel and it was really cool. And. And in terms of the party, like people were like hanging out in the Plaza lobby, but there was a bar right nearby that we like. I gave them a heads up, like, hey, I'm gonna bring out a crowd. And like they were super. They were like, we're gonna keep the kitchen open later. And then like, I think they like closed at like midnight. I got like a text from manager, like next time like just like we will like keep it open later. Thanks so much for bringing all these people. I mean, I don't know. Like our after party for Civil Shorts is at Drugstore Cowboy. And like those guys are awesome. It's like, I don't know, it's like places go away if you don't support them. So it's really nice. Like we love like working directly with these places, being like, hey, like all we want to do is bring out a cool crowd to your like bar on a Friday night, you know? [00:41:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:57] Speaker B: Geez, man. There. I feel like there's so many, so many questions and, and so many layers here. [00:42:04] Speaker C: Yeah, you mentioned, you know, that you, you didn't start Silver Lake Shorts. It was kind of going on a couple times before you. Ben, your business partner works. Works at Elsid or worked at Else. Okay. [00:42:20] Speaker A: He managed ELSID for six Years. He's still like, you know, now it's taken three years, but like this is our part time job for more than like full time work. So it's like we're just kept trying it, we're just. [00:42:33] Speaker C: That's like, it's very industry of you. Yeah, I mean, believe me, I get it. [00:42:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean you just, you just gotta like hustle. But it's, it's, it's. Sorry, I got feel like I got distracted from other questions. [00:42:43] Speaker C: No, no, no, no worries. I'm curious just about that partnership with Ben. Because I'm sure, you know, you met him and you, you guys vibe, but it's probably evolved so much and I'm curious how you guys work together as a team and as a unit and kind of, you know, put the same foot forward. [00:43:01] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. I mean, he's become one of my best friends. I mean, it's funny, like he was like, just thinking of these people in your life. Like I got married. So our first screening was March 2022. My wife and I got married in July of 2022. And it was like, you know, a couple months. Like the invitations were like long sent out, but I was just like, oh shit, I gotta invite Ben to my wedding. You know what I like is, you know, so he like, he like flew out all the way to New York for it. Even though we were like new friends, new partners. But like, I mean, he's one of my best friends. I love him. And he's just, I think our personalities and our skill sets are so different in a lot of ways. Like I, he's. He got us the nonprofit. Like he does, he does all that paperwork. He's the admin guy, he's the accounting guy, he's the events organizational guy. Like, he's, he's awesome what he does. I'm more like filmmaker, relationships, sponsor relationships, kind of outreach, like big picture stuff. And I. It's like cool. It's, it's. [00:44:00] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a great partnership. It seems a great sort of mix and match situation. It's really helpful you take some tasks. [00:44:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I couldn't do what, like, if I had to, like we're gonna, if I literally, if I had to like do our taxes, I would like be like, I give up, I can't do this anymore. Like, I just, I don't know what to do. So. No, I. He's. He's amazing at what he does and I mean, but there's so many people who really devote so much of their time into it. I mean, you know, we have, you know, like, marketing directors who, like, have helped us, like, revamp our, like, social media world. And like, you know, we have like, a technical director, Colton, who, like, revitalized our website. And, like, my wife Carissa, like, she just actually started Warner Bros. Animation on a new show. But, like, you know, she was just like, so many people. Like, she was unemployed for like a year and a half in between, like, animation jobs. So, like, this past year especially, she was like, just choose treating like a silver. Like, treating Silver Lake Shorts like a job and just helping with so much. Like, she did so much the outreach for Atlanta. Like, you know, she helps so much with kind of more just like, organizational stuff. I mean, but there are so many people who volunteer their time and devote themselves to this and. And volunteer at every screening. And it's like, I think what I love about Silver Lake Shorts is, like, it's just become a thing where, like, people can really put themselves into it, find their place to help out. I mean, my buddy Mike Manor is, like, doing our podcast. Like, you know, my friend Craze Freud is, like, hosting our fundraiser comedy show on Tuesday. And we got, like, great names. Like, we got like, John Daly, we got Jamie Loftus. Yeah, we got awesome people. Like, it's exciting because it's like, I think people see what we're building and, like, feel included in it. And some of the best feedback I get, there are, like, so many people in our community who are just like, on the autism spectrum. And I hear firsthand from them that, like, you know, mostly at events like this, I get uncomfortable and nervous and overstimulated, which is so understandable, but, like, here I do not. And the reason is, is because our community is so wonderful. I mean, like, you have like, you know, development executives and industry heads, like, at these events, but it's like, no one's lording over everybody. Like, it just feels like a real organic community. [00:46:10] Speaker B: It's amazing. So then with. With further expansion coming, like, on the horizon, I guess pulling it back now for. For a sec of. Of looking at. At where you're at and like, I. I almost want to ask you personally of, like, where your head's at. Like, as Silver Lake Shorts continues to grow and evolve, how do you see yourself growing with it? [00:46:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, look, I gotta boost these salaries up for me and Ben to be able to, like, just afford cost of living more, for sure. But, you know, we were funding. We funded six films last year, seven films this year. We want to fund. I think 10, 10 per year is like, a pretty manageable, doable goal. Start that as a foundation, but then, like, expand. I mean, we're jumping into, like, independent donations. Actually. Very fortunate to have gotten our first, like, kind of bigger tier independent donation from the actor Jack Quaid. Like, he went to our screening and was just, like, so on board and, like, so generously, like, donated to it. It's amazing because, you know, you look at Sundance or Vidiots or all these places, like, you see the name of these donors, and, like, that's definitely a next step for us. And yeah, I mean, it's. It's. I think, in terms of where we want to expand, like, you know, I want to get to this to a point. Obviously, we're doing this every month. We want to do additional events. Like, we've started doing that already. You know, community events, comic. We do comic events. We do, you know, different fundraiser comedy shows. Definitely expand to the different cities. I mean, it would be amazing to, like, almost like, set up the infrastructure where, like, you could do Siberlink shorts monthly in Atlanta or New York or London or Boston or whatever. [00:47:56] Speaker B: Yeah, man. [00:47:56] Speaker A: Also in college, like, you know, I don't think you need to live in a big city, a big filmmaking city to, like, be a filmmaker. Like, everything's democratized. You should be able to make films anywhere. You know, I love that. [00:48:10] Speaker C: And it's from the ground up, right? Like, these are the people who are gonna go on, and if given the opportunity to practice the craft at a young age, they'll be the next big directors and things like that. [00:48:20] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, look, you look at people like Matt crating or Seth MacFarlane or Mike Judge, Craig McCracken, any of these people, like, they started at film festivals, they started at animation festivals. But at the time, there was mtv, there was Comedy Central, there was Adult Swim, there was Cartoon Network. There was like, there were places that were like, this new thing called cable exists. Aw, shit. We really need shows. Like, let's hire. Let's hire a bunch of freaks to make a bunch of cool stuff. And, like, that became like, the biggest IPs in the world. Like, the most profitable institutions. Like, they made giant billion dollar industries from it, but it's like. But now, because of just the capitalistic hellhole we're living in, it's like all the people who built up that those industries are getting removed from the process. So it's like, you know, like, do I think there's going to be this, like, magical, utopian. Capitalism's dead. This Is the pure alternative to how films are made? Like, no, I want that to be the case, but it's like, I do think that this can be a really strong avenue in which we can work alongside that system and work can be highlighted within that system. And, you know, we're even seeing it directly, like with this partnership with Pantera. And, you know, we're announcing a Dropout as a new official sponsor at the next screening on April 3rd. And like, they're showcasing a couple shorts they made through their new Tune out program. So, you know, I think a lot of studios and companies are trying to figure out, like, how do we tap into that, like the new voices, how do we empower new voices? And I applaud them for that. And by integrating with us, like, they have avenues to showcase that to the greater industry, build fan bases around it organically. And I always pitch this to different studios. I'm like, treat us as a tax deductible, research and development spend. Treat us as a. And I've just been kind of thinking about this mindset a lot, especially in the situation with like, Jack, you know, donating and being such a huge supporter of ours. Like, you know, if you're somebody who's found success in the industry and you want to keep the ladder down for the other person to rise up rather than pull the ladder up. Like, we're a ladder company. Like, we're a company that makes ladders. And by ladders, like, we have the infrastructure through our grant program, through our free screening opportunities, like where we are platforming people and we are building communities and we are getting people's work out there in a really organic way. And so by supporting us, it's such a direct way. It's not just kind of like throwing your money out at like an established festival that's just gonna like, just another, like pot, like another piece of the pot for them and for their, you know, admins to get, like giant salaries. It's like, this is for us to like, directly put into work, directly to be able to hire people to do more things like posters or more comedy shows or, you know, more special. Like, oh, we need someone to film the event. Oh, we need someone to like take pictures of the event. Like, like, we always try to pay people when we can, but we're also like, you know, a small business, we're a non profit, so sometimes people are just volunteering that time. But like, we, we want to be able to like, be more of an avenue to actually directly hire people within the community for various Things. [00:51:44] Speaker C: What has been. Because you're sort of mentioning that you kind of exist tangential to the studios, yet they also, you know, Sony Animation is a sponsor of yours and you have all these like sponsorships and you, you kind of mentioned the way that you pitch a donation to them is by, you know, it's a marketing spend or it's a, you know, it can be a bunch of things and it's tax deductible and there's obviously benefits there. I'm curious, like, what, what do those conversations actually look like with the studio system? And have there been moments where it hasn't gone your way? And like, I'm curious. Yeah, just digging into that. [00:52:27] Speaker A: I mean, look, I mean in a lot of these cases it took about a year of building relationships to get the. Yes. And then sometimes it takes to get from like, you know, now we're in the process of like, oh, you're giving us 5k. Well, here's why you should give us 10k. Oh, you're giving us 10k. Oh, here's why you should giveus 20k. And we've had places drop like because they change, not because of anything we did, but because like they can't justify tax donations from the higher ups anymore. But what's so cool is that like new initiatives start up like drop out with their tune out program or this company, Super 7073 TV that's literally like an electric bike company that's like trying to kind of do like a Red Bull tv like platforming creators. [00:53:05] Speaker C: I mean, yeah, with, with the rise of branded, you know, branded content. Content. Like I'm sure you're finding various different avenues as, as the studio system continues to evolve and change and have different priorities. [00:53:20] Speaker A: So you know, it takes, it looks different ways for different, different places, how we work with them. We're pretty flexible. Like we're very like open. Like we want to showcase your studio, we want to highlight your work. We think it's important, you know, we have avenues where, oh, you're a studio and you're like pitching this, you have a trailer for this cool feature. You're trying to make screen the trailer with us. Like, oh, you made the short screen the short with us. You know, it's like we never want it to feel pay to play. And I don't think it ever will though because we'll always be integrating like the professional studio stuff with the student work, the organic work, the emerging creators. And I think that is what people really flock to. But look, rejection happens constantly. I mean I get so many no's, and they used to hit really hard. And, you know, just like, if you're a writer or filmmaker or whatever, like, you're always gonna get rejections. But, like, I think what we have going for us is, like, we're just gonna do this every month. Like, we're not talking about a theoretical thing we want to do, and we're looking for your money, and we hope it goes well. We know it's gonna. Like, obviously, when we do different things, that's the guarantee. Yeah, exactly. It's like you're not just paying. Like, if you're paying for 12 months of sponsorship, you're not just paying for, oh, we're gonna highlight your brand a week before, and then people can look at it and like, the, you know, the packet of, like, what's screening this festival? It's like you're on our website the whole year. You're on our social media the whole year. You're at every screening. I'm reading off the names. It's almost getting kind of too long where I keep reading off the names because we are getting so many sponsors, and I'm so thankful for that. But, yeah, so I just think we have a lot to offer. I just think we have a lot more to offer than a lot of some of these more prestige, big name festivals. In terms of what you're actually getting from sponsoring us. [00:55:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:09] Speaker C: How do you curate a seamless lineup? [00:55:12] Speaker A: Oh, it's fun. I mean, there's so many things that we're thinking about. I mean, we just programmed April. We have a good lead into May. I think you always want to think about a blend. Obviously, we're very animation focused, but you always want to think about a blend of comedy with some sometimes darker genre stuff, using interstitials to kind of pepper in between. You want to think of a variety of different styles. We've really been showcasing some more like, experimental, kind of like experimenter interstitials. Like, I love experimental film and I love experimental animation. I think sometimes when you're just watching a block of it for an hour and a half, it, like, kind of becomes hard to, like, take in, you know, so. And there are people who love it, and there are people who can watch it for hours, and I think that's awesome. I know sometimes my eyes gloss over in those situations a little bit after a while, but, like, if we have like, oh, cool. This was just like a genre sci fi short. Okay. This was a stop motion short. This was a straight comedy. Okay. Here's like, A one minute, like, pretty trippy experimental short that then we can pepper into like another one. So it's like we usually just have about. Yeah, I'm trying to think of it. Everything's so different. We usually don't go past 15 to 17 minutes for shorts. If it is, it's usually like pretty exceptional, quite frankly. I think we're usually like, in every given screening, we'll usually have. I mean, just to give you an example, like in this next screening, we have an 11 minute short. We have 11 minute short and we have 8 minute short. We have a 9 minute short. And those are probably the longer shorts. The other shorts kind of go between sometimes 30 seconds, sometimes 10 seconds into like, you know, a minute to like three minutes. Yeah, I want to say four minutes. Feels those are. [00:57:08] Speaker C: Those are sort of. To me, just watching those shorts, those are. They. They do two things, right? They're standalone shorts that are great, obviously, but they also sort of act as like transitional pieces to some extent. [00:57:21] Speaker A: And sometimes it's nice, like themes. I'm sometimes thinking of themes, but then sometimes the themes kind of just materialize. The bathroom is a theme that's gonna come up in this next one in April. [00:57:36] Speaker C: The bathroom. [00:57:37] Speaker A: The general concept of bathroom. Yeah. [00:57:41] Speaker B: I'm curious what part of the process of any of this is the most rewarding to you? [00:57:49] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. So the most rewarding thing is when you get this feedback that was so inspiring. I gotta make a short. I gotta work on my shit that, like, is like music to my ears. Like, that is everything, honestly. And we say it all the time before every screening. It's like, you know, I feel like I've kind of exhausted me saying this, but it's like, you know, look, the world's. The country's fucked up, the world's fucked up, the industry's fucked up. None of that matters here. Like, you got to support each other, you got to collaborate with each other, be there for each other and keep making stuff. You have to. Otherwise, what's the point of this all, you know, well said. I think people are trying to justify. If you're trying to justify your creative output with whether or not you're getting a paycheck for it, you're going to be miserable for the rest of your life. Like, you hear this all the time. I mean, I know, like, showrunners who have made full shows, show creators who are just like, yo, I'm fucked. Like, this is crazy. It's never been like this. But I just think it's about how you approach it and, like, about, like, what you're trying to gain from it. And I think the community, grassroots approach to, like, what we put out, it's like, yeah, this is. This is what it's about. This is, like, about being together, watching these films, experiencing it together. Like, these things aren't meant to live on this or on a streaming service. Like, you're meant to experience them all together. Yeah. [00:59:16] Speaker B: Beautiful. [00:59:17] Speaker C: I love that. I mean, that's the whole reason you, on a Friday night, go out to an event like that and you go and see stuff so that you can arrive back home more inspired than you were and be like, oh, like, I'm going to think of an idea right now. Like, I'm going to do it like that. There's no better feeling than that. And from your perspective, there's no better feeling than hearing someone say that to you. [00:59:39] Speaker A: Totally. I think about, like, you know, I've thought about this a lot recently. Like, I'm a. Like, yes, I'm a writer. Like, I'm. The show I made for Adult Swim Small is like, we're developing it now with Star Burns Industries, trying to make it a show. Trying to do the big. The big impossible. Really fun. Hope you can get there. Dream you're rolling everyone. Like, we're all rolling the boulder up a hill. And those things, like, I've always loved doing those things. Those are my passions. That's what brought me out into la. And, like, you know, if you have a writer's room right now, like, yeah, hire me on. I'm down. I'm there for it. Like, that's the goal. Like, I love those experiences and I love doing that. But, like, I've just been thinking of it more of. It's like, you know, that's my passion and this is my purpose. Like the things with Silver Lake shorts of building an organization that's not just for me. And, like, what I want, that's like, is for kind of everybody or for us to rethink how we even think about the purpose of making things. It's like, you know, if we're debating whether or not something was made with AI, it's like, how do we guarantee that, like, a human made this, you know, and give value to that human who did make it and, like, you know, give encouragement and, like, give opportunity to that person who made it. [01:00:56] Speaker C: Yeah, the live event space is. Is always going to be protected by that. But, you know, it's. It's AI it has a shield, you know, like, it. [01:01:05] Speaker A: It. [01:01:06] Speaker C: There's no AI in Going to a bar and meeting people and watching amazing stuff. You know, Uhoh. [01:01:11] Speaker B: Wyatt and AI don't. Don't mix well. Well. [01:01:14] Speaker A: Oh my God, I'll see that. And then you'll see like the AI, the most please AI film festival. And I'll be like, this is a scion. No, no. Yeah. [01:01:21] Speaker B: I love your enemy. [01:01:22] Speaker C: I love that. [01:01:23] Speaker B: So that's awesome. We Seeing the time. We. We like to ask our guests this at the end of each episode. I feel like we've. We've gone through. We heard a bit about your career, the abridged, you know, of like getting two Silver Lake shorts, your first feature, the first short that. That process and. And building out Silver Lake shorts to this awesome behemoth that it is now and continues to grow and evolve into this amazing, beautiful thing. And. And I. I can so confidently say, at least from like the. The event, throwing perspective and having experienced it myself, of like, what you guys are doing is working and the fact that like, you're able to get almost 300 people out there each month is like unheard of and ridiculous and amazing and such an ode to what you've built and the community that you've put together and fostered. And just like you said too, of like, it's a safe space for creatives to go and show their work and to meet one another and to talk and to just have a good time, like to have fun. Which at the basis of all this stuff is. And as you mentioned too, like the more prestigious festivals, I think fun is something that gets lost in translation, you know. [01:02:33] Speaker A: Yes. [01:02:34] Speaker B: But all that being said, would love to ask you, Jared, what the dream is. [01:02:42] Speaker A: Oh, geez. I mean, look, you know, I would love, quite frankly, like, we'd love a space. We'd love like, I don't even know. It's like, I want us to call it a theater, but it's like almost if it could be this like, kind of outdoor indoor spot where like, you could like, you got the big screen that we could watch. But like, you have the hangouts in the back back. You have people tabling their, like, comics and their art and stuff. Stuff and you know, a bar set up and you know, and I'd love to fit in, like, just to like get past the 250. It's like if we could get it to that more like 350 max space where it's like still big but like, just not as insanely overwhelming, like you could still foster community, that would be such a dream, you know, set up like an Office in there, you know, branch out to these different cities. I mean, I'd love this to be a thing where it's like, you know, I can hire somebody. Me and Ben can, like, hire people who do our job, and then we can, like, you know, I could, like, fuck off and go, like, make a show or something, or join a writer's room or make a film I want to make or something, or, like, just keep pursuing the passions of what brought me out here, knowing that, like, Silver Lake shorts is, like, set and locked in, and we're. We're just. We're, like, doing it. Yeah. I feel like that would be the dream. And then, like, did, like, you know, funds, like. God, I mean, funding even, like, 100 shorts a year or something. It feels, like, kind of impossible, but it's like. It's crazy. Yeah. I mean, that's. [01:04:05] Speaker B: You'll figure it out. [01:04:06] Speaker C: But. But it's. But by the way, it. Talking to you, I'm like, oh, it's doable. [01:04:10] Speaker A: Oh, dude, that's awesome. That's awesome to hear. I really appreciate that a lot. Yeah. But it's like. But then when you think about it, it's like, all right, you want to fund 100 shorts a year? It's, like, cool. That's like 500k, which is obviously, like, a lot of money, but, like, if we have systems in which we're like. [01:04:23] Speaker C: But it's a marketing spend for a studio, you know, like, it's. [01:04:26] Speaker B: There you go. [01:04:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:04:27] Speaker B: Research and development. [01:04:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:04:29] Speaker B: As you said it yourself. [01:04:30] Speaker A: So, you know, I think I'm just trying to, like, think about, like. I think, you know, Ben, the other day we were talking, he was like, you know, just kind of looking at our current finances, and he was like, you know, where we're currently at, where we're good for the year with our personal salaries, and we can fund the next round of fellowship films that we pay out next year, and we'd be fine. And I'm like, oh, shit, that's amazing. And so anything else we bring in is just only going to expand it, only going to allow us to do more, only going to keep us secure for years to come. I mean, is it a little, like. I mean, I think that's just any business, right? It's like, you're kind of like, you're constantly paying. [01:05:07] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:05:08] Speaker A: You're constantly chasing your tail and constantly trying to, like, just keep it afloat. But, you know, I think you have sustainability, which we're at now. And then it's like, okay, how do we have expansion. I think we've done a really good job of like, giving very, like, targeted, intentional goals and then, like, getting to them step by step. [01:05:27] Speaker B: Super important, man. Super important. Building a business, you know, Got to have those intentional targeted goals that are achievable. You know, you gotta have the lofty ones and also the achievable ones. But that's. That's awesome to hear, man. It's been really awesome to talk and hear more about Silver Lake shorts. I'm very much looking Forward to coming April 3rd. [01:05:49] Speaker A: Come out to the next show. It's already April 3rd. [01:05:52] Speaker B: Go. [01:05:52] Speaker A: And. [01:05:53] Speaker B: And regarding the grants, too, how can. How can folks find. Is it just on the Instagram? [01:05:57] Speaker A: So. So we announced them. They come up in the summer, so look out around July. Ish. And then. [01:06:05] Speaker B: Cool. [01:06:06] Speaker A: You'll have like. We don't. We don't. It's like, September is when the cutoff is kind of the end of September. Then we usually announce by, like, November. We announced by December this past year. But yeah, so we're. We're kind of like. We're kind of sticking to that. I mean, we have two years in a row, but as of the last two years, we've stuck to that cadence, so we're gonna. We're gonna keep that up. [01:06:24] Speaker B: Cool. Yeah, dude. I'll. I'll touch base around then, too. And we'll make sure to push it on our end. 50 50, folks. [01:06:32] Speaker A: I think you guys are doing great stuff. [01:06:33] Speaker C: Absolutely. [01:06:34] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm excited to learn more about what you guys are all up to as well. And. Yeah. Yeah, it's. This is such a cool opportunity. I'll definitely rack my brain and think about some other people. I can introduce you to the interview as well. [01:06:55] Speaker C: And now it's 5050 after hours. [01:07:01] Speaker A: I. [01:07:01] Speaker C: Let's just say every single episode as the editor, I am saving your ass. [01:07:05] Speaker B: You didn't. You didn't like the. The AI Bit when you were starting to say, you know, AI. You know, and you've actually. [01:07:13] Speaker A: You've been. [01:07:14] Speaker C: Put this on me. I'm actually as far as, like, my day job. I'm one of the most progressive people as far as AI. [01:07:21] Speaker B: It's just fun because you don't. You don't seem like a guy. [01:07:25] Speaker C: I don't what? Seem like a guy who would, like, be open. [01:07:28] Speaker B: You don't seem like an AI guy. You seem like one of those guys that's like, oh, man. Like, I got it. Yeah. [01:07:33] Speaker C: Like, I don't. Computers, really. I mostly do notepad stuff at this Point. [01:07:39] Speaker B: But seriously, like, it seems like you're that guy. And I remember conversations with you like, you never were pro AI until, I think, recently. And all a sudden, you're like, the AI guy. [01:07:48] Speaker C: Yeah. Like, I text you. I'll, like. I'll ask. Chat GPT. Like, what should I say to Luke? [01:07:52] Speaker B: Dude, you use the double dash in texts. The chat GPT ellipse. [01:07:58] Speaker C: What's it called? Signature. [01:08:01] Speaker B: Yeah, the dash. What's it. Is it a. No. [01:08:04] Speaker C: What's the dash? I swear to God, I'm not. I'm not chatting it up with you. It's just me. It's organic. [01:08:12] Speaker B: How do. What is it? Ellipses? I don't know. [01:08:14] Speaker C: How do you tell. [01:08:16] Speaker B: No, that's three people. [01:08:17] Speaker C: But actually, how do you tell AI in a short? Have you ever been submitted a short through 50 50? That's. [01:08:24] Speaker B: That you can tell, dude, a million. First, like, they're. [01:08:30] Speaker C: Even these college kids are. They're using it in their shorts, like, not for, like a. Like a technical purpose. You know what I mean? [01:08:38] Speaker B: You know, like, visually, you're saying, like, visually images created through a. Yeah, because [01:08:42] Speaker C: that guy's walking and he has, like, three legs. [01:08:45] Speaker B: Literally, again, it's like, this isn't real or like, the background's not moving pro. Like, it's. There's a. I mean, as. Do you see on Instagram or something? [01:08:52] Speaker C: Well, you can tell. You can tell right away. Yeah, but people. Why would someone submit it to 50 50? They think they can, like, slip by it. [01:08:59] Speaker B: Yeah. They think it's funny. I'm not. We're not anti AI films at 50 50. Like, we. We. A lot of people submit who've made stuff with AI. [01:09:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:09:10] Speaker B: But I think, you know, sometimes it's a little clear where it's like, this just isn't good. [01:09:17] Speaker C: Right. I guess it's just about looking at it holistically and being like, is this a good film? Is this a filmmaker I want to be working with? And I want to. Because the thing with 5050 is, like, you're bringing industry people there too. Right. So is this a person who I think I can present in front of a bunch of people who are on the business side and not have them look like a fool because they used AI for the whole film, you know? [01:09:44] Speaker B: Yeah. And a great film is a great film, you know, no matter what. Like, if something's great, it's great. [01:09:50] Speaker C: Right. [01:09:51] Speaker B: And I assume the business side would feel the same, you know? [01:09:55] Speaker C: I think so. I mean, people are so resistant still. [01:09:58] Speaker B: Yeah. But that doesn't by the way, like, the kid could be using AI because it's like I'm alone in my bedroom and I don't have a crew or bunch of cash to go shoot this thing. And so AI becomes a tool where it's like now all of a sudden I can like create this crazy establishing job. [01:10:14] Speaker C: And they're, and they're creating it, you know, they're like. Because obviously with filmmaking perspective is such a huge thing. Like, is this. I think AI will never be able to have like a personal perspective, you know? [01:10:27] Speaker B: Yeah. I've been, I don't know what we're talking about right now. We're talking about AI now. [01:10:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:10:32] Speaker B: Are we? Do I agree. I, I think at some point, Luke, this is 50. [01:10:36] Speaker C: 50 after hours. [01:10:37] Speaker B: It's, it's 50. Honestly, it feels completely different. [01:10:41] Speaker A: I know. [01:10:42] Speaker B: No, I. [01:10:43] Speaker C: Smells weird. [01:10:44] Speaker B: It smells a little different in here, for sure. But I, I, I'm not sure AI will ever have its own unique voice. But I think you can train it to like, you could probably say you could, you could probably define its tastes. Like, you could probably feed it, you know, five Wes Anderson movies and 10 Kubrick films and like, whatever, and like give it a, some like almost like a taste profile as like you would an alien or something. [01:11:12] Speaker C: Or like a human. Right? [01:11:14] Speaker B: Yeah, like, right. [01:11:17] Speaker C: Like when you, like when you're training aliens on film. Like, this is typically a baby. [01:11:21] Speaker B: It'd be, I guess a baby that's never consumed media, you know, and you're, [01:11:26] Speaker C: right away, you're just showing them. [01:11:28] Speaker B: It's like, okay, here's Eyes Wide Shut. [01:11:31] Speaker C: I'm going to try. I'm going to only train my baby on Wes Anderson. [01:11:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Hey, here's the Apocalypse now director's cut. [01:11:38] Speaker C: Yeah, I love that. [01:11:41] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know. I think, I think it'll probably get to a spooky place, but it's super cool that Jared and co are doing what they're doing over there. [01:11:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:11:51] Speaker B: It sounds really special. And it is, clearly. [01:11:54] Speaker C: And it's, it's such a party. Like, it was like if you walked in to, I mean, there was like, it, it, you knew it was a film festival because they were like, there was like a list out front. [01:12:04] Speaker A: Right. [01:12:04] Speaker C: Like, your name has to be on the list, but besides that, you walk in, well, you're like, this is, you're [01:12:10] Speaker B: saying to make a film festival you just need it just. [01:12:14] Speaker C: No, I'm saying, you know, if you were, if you, you're like, okay, Saturday [01:12:18] Speaker B: night I was walking in and yeah, well, okay, there's a list. [01:12:23] Speaker C: You kind of know it's an event. [01:12:25] Speaker B: It's a film festival. [01:12:26] Speaker C: Right. You get. So we've gotten past the list. [01:12:31] Speaker B: So what happened? What happened? [01:12:35] Speaker C: If you didn't see that there was a list and you somehow walked in without, you know, them checking that your name was on the list and you walked in, you would not be like, this is a film festival. [01:12:43] Speaker B: I see. [01:12:43] Speaker C: You would be like, this is an average night at this, like, bar, restaurant, club Average. Have you been to El Cid? [01:12:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I. I've been for crazy. [01:12:54] Speaker C: It's like the most. All the trees and everything. [01:12:58] Speaker B: Beautiful, beautiful space. Is that you walk down, right? [01:13:02] Speaker C: Yeah, you walk down. Everything's brick. [01:13:05] Speaker B: Dude. That's like easily one of the sickest venues around town. [01:13:10] Speaker C: Absolutely. [01:13:10] Speaker B: Like, and it sounds like. [01:13:12] Speaker C: Because it's also been there for like, you know. [01:13:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:13:15] Speaker C: 100 years or whatever. [01:13:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:13:17] Speaker C: You know, like, there's. There's some sort of Silver Lake history. [01:13:21] Speaker B: I mean, dude, it's. It's been there for 100, 150, probably two, 300 years. Two, 300 years, at least. [01:13:30] Speaker C: I mean, I remember because there's stuff in the, like the olden days, like with, you know, conquistadors and everything, there was like. I mean, it was a huge. The lineup at El Cid was crazy back then. [01:13:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:13:42] Speaker C: It was like. [01:13:43] Speaker B: Well, what it was. It was the Conquistadors. It was. [01:13:48] Speaker C: Yeah, the Conquistadors played. And then it was. I think, well, Christopher Columbus stopped by and he did like a 10 minute set. Right, okay. [01:13:57] Speaker B: That was stand up, wasn't it? [01:13:58] Speaker C: Like a stand up early? It was before he was in all the movies and everything. It was. [01:14:02] Speaker B: And the Boats. Yeah, okay. [01:14:04] Speaker C: The Boats all of was a long time ago. [01:14:07] Speaker B: Okay. Right, right, right, right. [01:14:09] Speaker C: Yeah. And then, dude, Sacagawea or which one? [01:14:13] Speaker B: I would just say. Did you ever see Plymouth Rock? Dude, because they came. They were sick. [01:14:19] Speaker C: Well, when they went all disco and everything, it was a huge right turn. [01:14:23] Speaker B: That was like mid-70s. Like 17. [01:14:26] Speaker C: Yeah, yes. Yeah, 1770s. I'm more of like a 1600s guy as far as pop. Pop was like such an era back then. [01:14:34] Speaker B: Wait, that was like Mozart, Beethoven. [01:14:36] Speaker C: Beethoven, yeah. Lady Gaga. Prince [01:14:43] Speaker B: Prince was around and. Oh, that's right. He was. [01:14:46] Speaker C: Yeah. The Prince of. The Prince of. I think it was the elsit of [01:14:52] Speaker B: the Prince of Else. [01:14:53] Speaker C: The Prince of. Yeah, yeah. Because Prussia. Prussia had already sort of gone off on their own and. And they were. They were touring, I think, at that point. [01:15:02] Speaker B: That's right. Well, they played so they. I actually have a funny story. Prussia played at El Cid in March of 17. I think it was the 70s again. I. I'm forgetting. It must have been 72. [01:15:16] Speaker C: That actually. It's so funny that fully lined up because my mom was actually there, believe it or not. [01:15:20] Speaker B: Okay, that's what I'm getting my. That's when my mom was there. [01:15:24] Speaker C: When she was in college. Right. [01:15:25] Speaker B: When she was in college. Exactly. Because it was a Semester at Sea thing and they all went for. [01:15:30] Speaker C: Yeah, they went to Prussia, performed at El. Said it was like a huge. [01:15:33] Speaker B: Yeah, it was kind of like a precho. Was a sick band. I miss those bands. Like. Like I still listen to them on Spotify and stuff. [01:15:40] Speaker C: I know, I know. [01:15:42] Speaker B: Like the Prussia playlist and everything. [01:15:44] Speaker C: The Prussia playlist. There are so many other. I mean, sort of. What would you call them? Like before. I mean before the whole Continental Divide thing. Like, it was like. I mean, the dinosaurs. Have you heard the dinosaurs? Like actually without auto tune. Like they're crazy. [01:16:00] Speaker B: Yes. Only because my brother sent it to me. It was like they did the tiny coffee house, whatever it's called. [01:16:07] Speaker C: Totally. It was like. And that was when. I mean Jesus was two, 300 years after that. But it was like a huge. I mean Jesus was obviously Jesus, you know, British guy, totally huge presence back in the early. Early. It was like one or two. Like year one, year two. That was like a huge deal. [01:16:28] Speaker B: Totally. I. I think the. The music coming out of the Stone Age was one of, if not like the most foundational formative to like Travis Scott or a Lady Gaga. [01:16:39] Speaker C: Absolutely. And you can tell because Travis uses a. [01:16:43] Speaker B: It's a snake. It's a snare. It was a snare. [01:16:45] Speaker C: Well, the. The Neanderthal beat was like. [01:16:47] Speaker B: Yeah, he. [01:16:48] Speaker C: He's continued that sort of. Yeah, get a little 808. Because the Neanderthals were huge. I mean Stonehenge was like the biggest concert venue back in the day, bro. [01:16:59] Speaker A: That. [01:16:59] Speaker B: That's the one. I know. I was talking about Plymouth rock in the 70s. I wish like my dad talking about Stonehenge was like. [01:17:08] Speaker C: I know. [01:17:08] Speaker B: That's because that's the. The modern day equivalent is like. [01:17:11] Speaker C: It's like. [01:17:12] Speaker B: It's like the French Revolutionary War. Like, that's equivalent. [01:17:16] Speaker C: Totally, totally. [01:17:18] Speaker B: You know, it's like we could do that for two hours. [01:17:26] Speaker C: That was a good seven minutes. [01:17:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it actually was there. Were there. There's some stuff in there. We should wrap it up though and be like. You know how smart list does it where they're like, buying. [01:17:36] Speaker C: Do they do it? [01:17:36] Speaker B: We're not gonna do that. But they talk after. [01:17:39] Speaker C: Like, I can't do one of the buys. I mean, I. [01:17:41] Speaker A: We're not. [01:17:41] Speaker B: I'm saying we're not doing that. But they always. [01:17:44] Speaker C: When they're doing, like, yeah, totally. [01:17:47] Speaker B: And, like, what are you doing this weekend? It's like, I don't know, like. Oh, like, Sean, you're so weird. Like Star Wars. [01:17:52] Speaker C: Stop eating Sean. Yeah, you're always eating. [01:17:55] Speaker B: Sean. You're in the whole time. And, like, imagine. [01:17:57] Speaker C: Yeah, those jokes never get old, too, about Sean eating. [01:18:00] Speaker B: So. [01:18:01] Speaker C: They never get old. Yeah. And then Jason not eating. That's also a funny joke. [01:18:04] Speaker B: Yeah. He's like, well. Well, I. Yeah. [01:18:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:18:08] Speaker B: You know. And then the music is coming. [01:18:10] Speaker C: Sean. That's. That's Will. He's kind of the only impression I can do of the three guys. [01:18:15] Speaker B: Do that again, [01:18:18] Speaker C: Sean. That's it. [01:18:20] Speaker B: That's. [01:18:20] Speaker A: All right. [01:18:21] Speaker B: Well, I gotta hear it. It's like. I gotta hear it. I gotta. [01:18:26] Speaker C: Give me, like, a sentence to say, though. [01:18:28] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like a BoJack line, you know? [01:18:30] Speaker A: Or. [01:18:31] Speaker B: Or it's because he says JB. It says JB, right? He calls baby JB. [01:18:38] Speaker A: JB. [01:18:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [01:18:39] Speaker C: You see? Is this thing on? [01:18:41] Speaker B: I haven't. I have to. [01:18:42] Speaker C: It was pretty good. [01:18:45] Speaker B: I heard it was. We didn't even talk about the Oscars on here. We were just talking about Silver Lake shorts. Did you learn something? I'm like your mom. Did you learn something in this episode? I hope so. Or not. That's okay. Thanks for hanging. Make sure you follow us at the 5050 Fest on Instagram and give us five stars, because we're. Why not? Why not subscribe? Why not? Why not? Okay, bye.