IFH 775: Breaking Into Hollywood: The Power of Authentic Connections and Creative Vision with Jameson Parker

Alex Ferrari 0:07
Enjoy today's episode with guest host Dave Bullis.

Dave Bullis 0:33
So in this week's episode, the per the My guest is a producer of the summer of 84 and is currently producing the upcoming series Julie and the Phantoms, which is set to release in 2020 he's a development director at Bright Light pictures. Without further ado, with guest, Jameson Parker.

Jameson Parker 2:17
I started as an actor. I spent a lot of time as a kid wanting to be an actor, and was in theater through high school, and I went to school for it. I went to college for it, up here in Vancouver, did a big Conservatory Theater Program at the University of British Columbia. I worked for a long time in professional theater in Canada. Well, I guess, a couple of five, six years a long time, and then wanted to start making my own work and and thought, you know, if I'm going to do this, if I'm going to, like, produce my own work, I want to learn how to do it properly. So, you know, started putting a few things together. Met Sean Williamson, who runs bright light. And just to ask him, hey, look, how do you have you been doing it? You've been doing it for a long time. How do I get to where you are? And he took me under his wing and showed me how to produce properly, and gave me the the tools to go out and find material and start producing stuff for bright light, and the rest just kind of took off. And all of us, all of a sudden, I'm here, you know, with a couple movies under my belt and excited for more and a couple things on the horizon, and working on my first TV show now. So it's, it's been, it's been an incredible ride with bright light over the past. I've been with them now for five years.

Dave Bullis 3:41
So do you think that's still, you know, that still happens. It's almost like an apprenticeship. You know, when you were able to approach Sean, you know, you know, a lot of the the you know, when you the internships you hear about, they don't really kind of lead anywhere. Do you think you kind of, like, you know, what struck gold by, by forming that relationship, and you just kind of were in the right place at the right time?

Jameson Parker 4:00
I think so, man, I think that there. I think there's a lot of people who still believe in that kind of formation, the apprenticeship kind of formation, I think that they're few and farther between. And you know, there are a lot of internship opportunities out there, especially in LA that don't lead to anything. My the way that I came to bright light was a little unconventional, but I do think that I did luck out by meeting Sean and and and him taking me under his wing here. But then, you know, I saw the opportunity and jumped on it, and there's been a few people who have been given this same opportunity here at the company that I've seen falter and not make the most of it. So I think it's a little bit like I got lucky, but also really wanted to capitalize on what was given to me, and so I. Uh, yeah, it's tough. It's tough to form those relationships that are actually meaningful, and somebody who genuinely cares about bringing up young producers and writers and directors and has the ability to do so, you know, usually those people who can make a real difference in your life are so hard to get a hold of and so hard to pin down in their time, I was pretty relentless with Sean. So in the beginning, just kind of knocking on his door and knocking on his door, and eventually he had to, had to schedule a coffee with me.

Dave Bullis 5:38
Well, that's kind of like the catch 22 you know, usually the people you want to meet are too busy actually making things, and the reason you want to meet them is because they're actually making things.

Jameson Parker 5:48
Yeah, and I think, you know, you kind of have to look, I've been asked that question a lot, like, how do I, you know, how do I break in? How do I find those people? And it's like, well, look at your, look at your the people in your life, in your circle of influence, and see what the six degrees of separation are to somebody make it personal and try and work those roots. I met Sean because his son went to the same high school as I did, but years after me and one of my old teachers was like, Hey, I know you're doing this. Would you like to meet Sean? And I said, I would love to. And so I kind of lucked out that way, but it's been the same with other mentors in my life, a gentleman by the name of Todd black. Todd runs a company called escape artists, and they do, you know, they did the upside and the equalizer movies, and he's been an incredibly successful producer for many, many years. And I was introduced to Todd through a friend, and just kind of the same thing, you should meet this person, and Todd has been incredibly generous with his time, and it's been a very, very cool working relationship. So, yeah, I think it's there are opportunities out there. You just kind of have to really dig to seek them out sometimes,

Dave Bullis 7:15
Yeah, yeah, that's very true. And you know, you mentioned breaking in, which, you know, I was, which is in my notes to talk about, but, you know, since you actually brought it up, you know, what advice do you have for breaking in? Because you hear all these, you know, there's a lot of different theories or recommendations or advice that you hear out there about how to break in. Some people say, do it in the spec script. Some people say, do it with a making a short film. Some people say, maybe even start with an apprenticeship, as the old way was kind of like that. So, so what do you what do you feel on thatJameson?

Jameson Parker 7:46
Umm I mean, look at, I think it's, it's a there's a lot of advice out there, because there's a million different ways that you can do it. And I think what really helps is self awareness and figuring out, okay, this is what I want to do. This is where I want to be. And these are the tools at my disposal. You know, some people won't be as lucky and won't have, you know, one or two degrees of separation from somebody who will give them the time. And then I think you need to work on your craft, hone your craft, go out and also go out and meet those people, but not in a, like, very obviously networky way. I'm so opposed to that word, I need to go and network, because it's not about networking. It's about forming real human relationships with people and finding things that you have in common. And that may be film, you know, it may be film, it may not, but creating real relationships with people and understanding what your point of view is like, the number one thing I think to break in. There's just a lot of white noise out there. And then I always go back to the Duplass brothers. Always go back to the Duplass brothers, Mark and Jay, who would always say, just keep making shit. Just keep making shit. The cavalry isn't coming. The cavalry isn't coming. And they they were like, the first short films that you make will be terrible, and then you'll make a few that are just a little less terrible, and then they get less and less terrible until it's something passable. So keep you know it's there's an element of perseverance that kind of permeates everybody's story. There's every success story. There is this, yeah, this element of perseverance and banging your head against the wall until the brick cracks. You know, it is, I feel that a lot too.

Dave Bullis 9:50
So Jameson, you know, you mentioned networking. You know, do you ever go to any of these networking events? Because I'm sure you get invited to, like, 10,000 events. You know, a month is there? Do you ever go to any of these events and you just kind of feel that, you know, maybe sometimes these aren't the best approach to this, you know what I mean?

Jameson Parker 10:20
Yeah, yeah, I get invited to a few. I mean, Vancouver's community is a lot smaller than Los Angeles when I when I'm in LA, like, I split my time between between Vancouver and Los Angeles when I'm in LA, there's a lot of invites, and there's a lot of these things, and I think it's about choosing the right ones. When you get to a certain point, like, there is a value there, for sure, to just to be around people and to meet people. But I actually, I actually have a great success story from from these networking events, where there's one in Los Angeles called the little black book event. And I think it's phenomenal. Lots of lots of junior executives, people at great companies who are doing cool things, who are, you know, really, really hungry and passionate. Go to this event. And I was taken to it by another producer at bright light, like three, maybe more years ago. And that is actually where I met, first met Matt Leslie, who wrote summer of 84 where he first pitched me summer was that one of these networking events, and so I have a really great relationship with them. And you know, have seen direct success come out of it. So I do believe in spending your time, your your which is your capital, spending your time on doing these things, going to South by Southwest, going to Cannes, going to Toronto, if you can, and going to these festivals and meeting people and swapping ideas and stories and, yeah, I think there's a great advantage to them, being a part of a community.

Dave Bullis 11:58
Well, you know, that's fantastic. You were able to actually meet the writer of summer of 84 there. So, you know, what are some of the, you know, kind of, like, what did he do that was actually, you know, right? Or just kind of, what did he do that didn't seem, you know, you know what I mean. When you go to a lot of these network events, some people just scream desperation. And then, yes, and then, if you're really unlucky, you meet somebody like me there, and you're like, Oh, God, I'm never going to these things again, but, but, but, you know, when you see all these people there, and some of these people just so, just like, I mean, they're, they're just ready to latch on to anybody for anything, you're like, Whoa. Well, you know what? I mean, it's so, so, yeah, what was the way that you were approached? You know that that was actually where you were, like, you know what? I actually want to hear this pitch.

Jameson Parker 12:44
Matt is real. Matt is a really down to earth guy. And we just spoke in a very human way. We just kind of in that's kind of what I love. Like it's not so focused. I get out of this interaction, you know, and it's less about having a real human connection than it is about what can i What kind of transactional piece can I pull from this person? And you know, Matt is, was and always will be a very engaging person who is super passionate about his work, but has a he does have a confidence to him that you go, this isn't off putting at all, which is great. And so that was, you know, we had a real, a real conversation. And you can kind of tell, okay, this is a guy that you know, not only do I want to read his script, but I also want to hang out with him more, and Matt and I have become great friends over the years. Am such a big, big fan of his. So it's, I don't know it was something very just normal about it, and less transactional, which is what really turns people off.

Dave Bullis 14:04
So did some of the advice that like Sean gave you help to kind of, like, did you know, kind of decipher some of that meaning, you know, when you're listening to a pitch, you know, is this idea fully realized? Can you envision this in your head? You know, can you see the poster? You know, would this be even marketable, you know, and not only here in America, but, you know, overseas and stuff like that, is that some of the things that went through your head when you're hearing the pitch,

Jameson Parker 14:35
Honestly, it was just a movie that I wanted to see. I wanted to see a lot of those things. Like, you know, can you see the poster? Can you see the trailer? Is it going to do well overseas? Like that is, those are notes from studio execs and and it's, it's tough because we don't, you know, we don't have a marketing department here. We don't have a. A distribution arm. We don't have a foreign sales arm here. So yes, we have an understanding of the market and kind of hope that we fit within that. But I mean, my philosophy has always been more about what movies I want to make, rather than what movies the market wants to see. I kind of feel like, if you chase that, if you chase what's doing well in the marketplace, you're always going to be behind the eight ball, you know what I mean, like, and you get things like Gemini man, and you get things like, what was the big ball? Terminator, dark fate that bombs at the box office. And you know you're you're responding more to a market than to a great story or a really cool piece of acting and casting in something. And when he pitched me summer it was I could see the movie, I understood what it was, and I grew up loving those films that he referenced, the Goonies stand by me, Disturbia rear window was a big one. Was a big influence for us and for them on the script like but it was really when he sent me the look book that I was like, oh shit, this. I have to, I have to read the script immediately. That was, that was a big one for that movie that I was like, this is really cool.

Dave Bullis 16:28
You know, when you see these movies that come out, like Gemini Man, you mentioned Terminator, you know, it seems to be, that's what the studios are always chasing. It's either the big superhero movie or it's a reboot, remake of, you know, a piece of the series. You know what I mean, like our series, you know what? Can't come out. That's why, you know, I've always been trying to gravitate towards seeing original films now, because, you know, it's, it's, it's weird to say this Jameson, but, and sometimes it's harder to actually get to see those movies because they don't, maybe don't have a release on, like Netflix or something like that, and they're certainly not going to be in the theater because they're, you know, there's superhero movies and reboots in there. So it's you have to really start to kind of be on the look for those types of things.

Jameson Parker 17:13
You really do. And I just feel like people are starting to get tired of the reboot, of the reboot. I mean, I know that I am. I'm also like you and I are a different class of filmmaker, different not class, I guess is the wrong word, but a different type of film watcher, like we spend our lives talking about movies and seeking things out. It is too bad that all that is out there now are franchises and reboots, and you know, something based on IP that there's a you have to really, really seek out cinema that is original and interesting. And then there's things that break through, like JoJo rabbit and, I mean, even some of the Tarantino stuff is, is auteur cinema is like really great original cinema, but it is drawn, it is driven, sorry by a star, it is driven by some kind of narrative. So, yeah, I wish that there was more of an appetite for some of those original stories. TV is where it's at, though, right now, that's where people are putting all of those stories

Dave Bullis 18:33
Right, right and you know, that's where you see stuff like Breaking Bad, and you get to see all the Game of Thrones and all. Well, even though that's an existing property. Maybe that's a bad example, but, yeah, but you, I mean, it's still

Jameson Parker 18:45
But like, succession, I'm watching succession right now, or see on Apple TV, or what else I mean. Like you said, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, all the great examples of television, right? Like, yeah, there's a TV is where original stories are being told right now.

Dave Bullis 19:09
So what are some of your favorite TV shows in the past couple of years have you seen?

Jameson Parker 19:14
I spent a lot of my time watching movies because we typically develop films, but this stuff that I have watched, that I have loved, like I am in the middle of succession now, and really, really love it. Mad Men is, actually, is probably one of my all time favorites. There is just something I love about those kind of corporate dramas. And I've always been fascinated by advertising. I've realized that Mad Men is a very stylized, fictionalized version of of the ad agency world, but it's still endlessly fascinating to me. And then we got to work with rich summer on summer of 84 which is really cool and really fun. And I was for once that I've loved, like, oh, actually, both of Phoebe Waller bridges shows crashing and, oh, my God, what I'm blanking right now.

Dave Bullis 20:35
Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm not even familiar with it, so I don't

Jameson Parker 20:38
It'll come to me. It's just one. I'm just having a brain fart right now, the last Sherlock I love, like, there is, there's just a lot of great TV.

Dave Bullis 20:49
So when you know, you mentioned that, you know, you do a lot of work with movies, primarily, you know, and we were talking about original, you know, stories and, you know, finding those original screenplays. So Jameson kind of take me through, like, how you find, like, a piece of material, and then how you go about, you know, kind of developing that piece of material,

Jameson Parker 21:09
Fleabag. Fleabag is the name of the show. Thank you.

Dave Bullis 21:14
I thought that was your answer. I was like, I don't know what he's talking about.

Jameson Parker 21:17
Like, I don't know what he's talking about. How do I find a piece? I mean, look, it's tough. It is like, it's like gold mining. Really, it's like gold mining, except the version of gold that you're looking for changes for each person who's looking for it. It's, it's very weird, like you have to sift through a lot of rock and mud and dirt to get to something that you want to spend time with. And it's about, you know, it's about finding a germ of an idea in something. It's about finding something worth spending time on and something that is really engaging, at least, that's what it is for me, because you then you're going to end up spending so much time with it on rewrites and having to pitch the thing to a million different people, first to bring directors on, or maybe another writer to come and do a rewrite, and then it's actors and financiers, and you're always talking to agents and managers, and you have to have this passion for that project that is unrelenting, or it's going to become such a slog because you spend so much time with these pieces of material. So, yeah, it's about finding something you love, and then also, I mean, on top of that, it's about finding people that you like working with. I mentioned how much I liked working with Matt and Steve on summer of 84 but RK, ss, too. Who directed the film are just such great I mean, they're fun filmmakers. They put a lot of their really phenomenal energy up on screen, and they are just so so great to work with that. I've got two more projects with them because I enjoy what they enjoy. We have a great kind of back and forth and understanding of each other as filmmakers, and I want to help develop their voice and and take it out into the marketplace.

Dave Bullis 23:27
So, you know, just, you know, with knowing all of that, you know, when you do, like, actually go out there and to find materials. I mean, do you get materials like, you know, maybe submit it to you like, hey, the script was on the blacklist. Or, hey, this script was, you know, rated by script shark, or this script was on the on the was a finalist for the Nicole fellowship. Is that one of the other ways you find screenplays? Yeah,

Jameson Parker 23:51
I mean, there are agents and managers who I, who I appreciate their taste and have a good relationship with. I get stuff from them. I get stuff from actors and writers and directors that that I know, or that, you know, bright light knows that we work with. I'm also going out and kind of mining some of the things that I love whether it's books or plays or articles that I think would make great films, and finding you know something that we can start to build out. So it really comes in a lot of different forms. Sometimes we get things Sean gets things sent to him by directors that he's worked with in the past, or writers that he's worked with in the past and wants to to work with them, or see if there's something in a script that they've sent to him. So it comes to us in a lot of different forms, for sure, but there is always a. Some kind of vetting process before it gets to before it gets to me or Sean, or anybody else at Bright light for sure.

Dave Bullis 25:11
Yeah. And you know, you again, like we were talking about with the networking, you always have to have some kind of vetting process for a whole number of reasons. But you know, you know, you always want to make sure that relationship again, like you said, it's not going to be like a transaction, or, you know, what are you doing for me right now?

Jameson Parker 25:27
Yeah, yeah, it's always going to be, hopefully, a genuine interaction,

Dave Bullis 25:36
Right, right! And then, you know, and you want to be able to build on that, and you want to be able to keep going, you know, and make like, you know, 23456, movies, you know, and just keep growing and building together, right?

Jameson Parker 25:46
That is that would be the ideal, for sure. Doesn't always work out that way. I mean, not everybody works well together, but that is the ideal, you know, to be able to work with the same people that you enjoy working with time and time again.

Dave Bullis 26:05
So, you know, just to kind of continue with that question, Jameson, you know, have you ever seen like some someone's like YouTube, short film and, and, and become interested in, you know, maybe like working with that person. The reason I ask is because, you know, you kind of, if you look at like, what was that movie, Kung Fury that came out? Or even the guy who did too many cooks, I mean, he was able to get, you know, some traction on that, then you see, like, the other the, I forget what his name is. I think it's if it's the guy who do the evil, dead remake. Is it Alvarez? I think his name is, Oh, yes. Fetty Alvarez, yes. And then so he did panic attack, and then he was able to make, you know, Evil Dead. Do you see, you know? Do you ever, actually, you know, maybe go on YouTube, or anybody you know, at bright light, ever, you know, look at what anyone's doing in that sort of realm, you know, on like YouTube, or, you know, Vimeo, or anything like that.

Jameson Parker 27:04
I'm sent stuff. For sure, there's I'm sent stuff. It's tough, because YouTube is such has such a glut of material on there that it's if I if I spent any amount of time on it. If I spent any amount of time, that would actually yield results, I would be only doing that, like, there's just not enough hours in the day. So. But I am sent stuff like, people like, hey, what do you think about this director? What do you think about this short film? And there was like, I can point to one in particular. There's a filmmaker by the name of Brian petsos, and Brian's made a couple of short films. One was called ticky tacky. One was called lightning face. And my friend Greg, Laura Tano, another producer, sent me his material and was like, Hey, I'm trying to put together this guy's feature. Would you be interested in helping? And immediately you could see that this guy had a style, he had a point of view. He was an incredibly deft filmmaker, and so it was definitely something that I wanted to be involved in. It didn't end up being on the feature with them, but I did. I was, you know, really, really excited about this filmmaker, and it ended up getting made, which was great. So I'm excited to see the film and still talk to Brian and Greg about the movie regularly, which is awesome.

Dave Bullis 28:30
The reason I brought that up was just because that's kind of the medium kind of lends itself towards filmmakers. As more and more people have gotten, have gotten on there. But, like you pointed out, you know, there's a gluttony on there. And two, you know, things can't be, you know, monetized anymore if they're, if they're, you know, YouTube is, you know, censorship has gotten, like, really, really out of hand. I mean, hell, I'm even demonetized. So, like, I, I, you know, so basically it's, it's like, you have to be very, you know, super squeaky clean and no violence. So it's kind of hard if they're, if they're hoping to get any, you know, monetization from views on that side of it. But on the flip side it, you know, it can gain some exposure of people like David F Sandberg is another example. He actually started on on YouTube, and then he made lights out.

Jameson Parker 29:22
Yeah. I mean, look, it is, it's, it's more about, I think it's less about YouTube, more about people who are just making material like that. Is the that is the kind of thread between all of these people is that they're just, they're making shit right there. They're out there and they're actually getting their hands dirty and doing things and that, you know, whether they shot shone through on YouTube or because they just sent a private link to somebody, They they're out there making things and refining what they like and figuring out what they want to do behind the camera. It's, I think that's the common thread, rather than YouTube or Vimeo, or whatever the hosting platform is,

Dave Bullis 30:24
Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. You're trying to, actually, you know, you know, build a channel out of that stuff. And, you know, it's kind of ties in, because, you know, your, your first project was white ninja, and that was, so that was based off a web comic, you know. But again, it's, it's kind of like the similar idea, you know, they went out, they put something out there, and they were finally, you know, they were able to develop it, and, you know, then all of a sudden, now it's a, it's a web series or a TV show I mean,

Jameson Parker 30:24
Yeah, yeah, white ninja, it was such a cool project. I mean, that web comic was web 1.0 it was so, so early on. And it was an idea that a friend of mine had to turn it into a digital series. When that was kind of everybody was chasing digital and they were chasing you any kind of platform, Snapchat series. We were we were working with vine, and before that was defunct, and just thought that that platform lent itself so beautifully took this resurgence of the of the comic strip. You know, what does a comic strip looks like? Look like outside of the Sunday papers and in this digital world, and thought that these six second kind of loops were the perfect place to, I guess, rebirth the the comic strip. So it was cool for a minute, and then as soon as we finished season one, Vine shut down, and we were like, oh shit. Okay. Well, where we could have put this now,

Dave Bullis 31:57
Yeah, I remember vine, but I know what you mean. Like, there's always, you know, and all those social media channels, there's always seems to be something that's kind of almost like intuitive to that, you know what I mean, like, a piece of content that's intuitive to that type of channel, like, like, Vine wants to that.

Jameson Parker 32:15
Yeah, I think it was, I think it was a cool experiment. After season one I had already, I had been that, I guess, deep in with bright light. And that was, that was when I kind of left that show and went on to do just bright light things. So this, the first season, was really cool and and it was interesting to develop for a completely different platform. I mean, we're doing it now for Jeffrey Katzenberg quibi, we're making a series. And it is, it's very interesting these new distribution models and these new ways that you can connect and get your product out to consumers,

Dave Bullis 33:01
Right, right! And then, you know, because you actually have another TV show you're actually making right now, which is, you know, Julian the Phantoms. Yeah, you actually want to do, actually want to talk about that. I mean, because I actually, I, I haven't informed me, but I'm actually interested to hear your, your kind of, your, your, your take on it.

Jameson Parker 33:19
Yeah, I will. I can talk about it as much as I can talk about it. It is based on a Brazilian television show. It is a Netflix Original with music and dance and drama and comedy, and it's really fun and gorgeous show, executive produced in some of the episodes, directed by a gentleman by the name of Kenny Ortega. Kenny is like Mr. Song and dance. He's the dude when it comes to filmed musical theater and musical on film. You know somebody who worked with Gene Kelly and Donna Summer and Michael Jackson and directed Newsies and hocus pocus and all the high school musicals and descendants franchises, and so he is an incredible creative leader. And this project for me, is more of a, you know, all the stuff that I've done to this point has been very independent and DIY. You know, even though summer of 84 was, I mean, technically, a studio movie with gunpowder and sky acting as the studio, it was still very much a small movie it was. We had a lot of creative control over it, and we had a lot of fun making the film that we wanted to see. But this, for me, is a big learning experience.

Dave Bullis 34:58
So when. So you finally, so I mentioned Netflix, and I was like, so I didn't even know this was going to be on Netflix. So that's a huge congrats. Man,

Jameson Parker 35:07
Oh, thanks. Man, yeah. I mean, it's a very crazy time to be working with the company, you know, just seeing how they react to seeing how they react to all of these other streamers and distribution platforms coming in, it's been very cool to talk with our colleagues at Netflix so and interesting to work for a company that is so on the cutting edge, you know, treats their creatives with such such reverence. It's, it's awesome. Yeah, it's a really great company.

Dave Bullis 35:42
Yes. I mean, every creative, I mean, right now, that's the that's the goal, is a Netflix series.

Jameson Parker 35:49
Yeah, yeah, it is. It's good, and it was something that we are. I mean, Sean has done a couple of them, but I'd always wanted to work with them, and we'd done a two seasons of a series called haters back off and a couple of movies for Netflix. But to actually get to do this, it's some it's cool. They're putting a lot of a lot of weight behind it, because they see a lot of potential in Kenny's work. Obviously, he's created hits and made a lot of money for Disney, and Netflix wants a little bit of that, I think.

Dave Bullis 36:21
And haters back off. That was from Miranda Sings, right?

Jameson Parker 36:24
That was, yeah. Now I wasn't, I didn't work on that, but it was a, it was a bright light show, yeah,

Dave Bullis 36:30
Okay, you know, I actually enjoyed that. I actually thought that that was because a friend of mine was a big fan of Miranda Sings the YouTube series. And then he I started watching the Netflix show of and I actually think they hit the groove pretty well with that.

Jameson Parker 36:47
It was very offbeat, for sure. I thought it was, but, you know, she has a super specific type of comedy, and that really clicks with with a lot of people. And so I think she was, it was a really fun series, but, and we got to make two seasons of it, yeah, okay,

Dave Bullis 37:08
I think the uncle and I forget what the actors name is, but he was kind of like the the more traditional comedy sense. That's why, you know, I think that's why, when Miranda had her quirky sense of comedy, I think that's why, that's why it compound each other well, particularly that the pilot episode, I thought was really well done too. You know, just shooting a commercial in a pet store, like shooting that pilot, yeah, I just thought that was really funny.

Jameson Parker 37:31
Yeah, it's very cool. Man. She was awesome. And it's actually crazy. Doing that show was apparently the hardest show to control from a security standpoint, like her fans were crazier than Sean and the company had ever seen worked with, you know, everybody Anne Hathaway and Robert Redford and Shia LaBeouf and Nicolas Cage and Samuel L Jack, like he's worked with so many people. And the heart the, you know, the craziest fans that they'd ever seen was for her. It was kind of kind of funny.

Dave Bullis 38:14
So, so basically, they would just like, find out where they were filming, and just kind of like, they didn't want to leave until they met her, or something like that, yeah,

Jameson Parker 38:20
Oh yeah, sneaking her in and out of places and, oh yeah, it was, it was crazy.

Dave Bullis 38:29
So, you know, just speaking of, if you know, crazy, you know, Jameson what is the hardest producing obstacle we've ever had to overcome? You know, as a question, I always make sure to ask producers, you know, what is that? That biggest challenge that you've either had to to kind of figure out on set or, or what have you, you know, what was that? What was your biggest challenge?

Jameson Parker 38:52
Hmm, um, it's a good question. Actually, I'm trying to think, if I can point to anything. I mean, look, none of these problems that you have on set are life or death for the most part. They really shouldn't be like, we're not out here making we're not out here saving lives. We're making filmed entertainment for television and the movie theaters and the some of the streamers, I guess, now, but so we don't have people's lives in our hands. So anytime that there's a big quote, unquote crisis, it's always, we always try and remind ourselves, at least here at bright light, that it's not life or death to just take a minute, take a breath, and we can figure it out. And if it can be solved with money, it's not really a problem. So trying to pinpoint a chat like a huge challenge, I think it's mostly just people and making sure that that everybody is as happy as they can be.

You know, you're working with 150 200 people on set. There's always going to be problems and egos and you know, things to solve. But I think it is really just navigating how you how you deal with people and how you deal with ego. That's it. That's a daily challenge for sure, to just kind of keep it as mellow and, I guess, calm as possible, you know, and that's why, that's why we do this. We want to make, want to make movies, and want to be on set and create something rather than being in the boardroom. So those long hours and the tough challenges are a fine trade off

Dave Bullis 41:02
So that. So, you know, a lot of this does come down to, you know, communication and, you know, kind of diffusing bad situations and stuff like that. You know, just having the different producers on here, that's kind of what I've been I've, you know, Inferred from just interviewing and, you know, different producers like yourself is one you have to be able to communicate to everybody. And most of the producers that I've had on here, and most of the producers that I've met, everybody from you know, you know, producing stuff you see in the theater to producing, you know, indie films, to producing whatever that seems to be. The big thing is also they want to be able to a lot of them are more approachable, meaning, on set, they're approachable, like, if you want to come talk to them about something, they're pretty approachable. But in that, in that way, that's, that's sort of, what I found is that it's communication, you know, being a people person. I've only worked with a with maybe two producers who don't want to talk to anybody ever, for whatever reason. I don't know why, but, but they're just like, Hey, everyone, stay away from me unless you're the director or or whatever. So you know what? I mean, it's most of them are, pretty much have those two things in common.

Jameson Parker 42:11
Yeah! I mean, that's it. I think that that's, that's a lot of this industry is communication and people skills, right? It doesn't matter if you are on set talking to a grip or if you are in development talking to a writer, you're always trying to get people on the same page, and you as the producer are kind of the meeting spot for everything that the you're watching over the entire project from A 30,000 foot perspective, and so you are always trying to bring people into that same vision and keep them on track. Like I said, whether you are on set or whether you are in development, like it is always just dealing with people. And how do you couch certain things, you know, how do you how do you deal with one person versus the next? Because not everybody responds to certain tactics. Well, yeah, it's, it's, it's a, it's a people business, for sure, it's, and that's why, you know, that's why kind of to come full circle. It's, it's a trust business, and it's hard to break into people hire the same people again and again and again because they have great working relationships with them, and they speak a common language, and they know, you know, in high stress scenarios, they can count on this person, and they can count on them time and time again. So we, you know,

Dave Bullis 43:44
Yeah, that I found that out too, you know, just, just working with the same people over and over again. There's a reason why directors, producers, etcetera, do that stuff. It's just because, you know, they've built a relationship. It's trust, you know. Just, you know, when I do different things. It's like, you know, sometimes you want to work with a different director of cinematography, and then all of a sudden you realize this wasn't such a good idea. So, you know, it just happens. I mean, I've been on a set before where, you know, the director of cinematography is just not cooperative and just wants to be off on his own and doesn't want to talk to anybody. And you're like, oh, okay, I don't know how this is going to work, but, but, you know, it's stuff like that. That's why you know about the biggest obstacle that that that question, I always say, again, I just reiterate, I always ask that to producers, just because you see the gamut of, you know, you show up to a location and it's not, you know, maybe it's not ready, or something's different. You know, your director of cinematography doesn't want to show up. Or you have somebody show up and they want to, you know, they want to ask for more money the day of. By the way, all those things I mentioned have happened to me in one way or another.

Jameson Parker 44:50
It's, it's a very challenging role to be in, and you're juggling so many different things, and there's so much going. On that there are bound to be crazy problems.

Dave Bullis 45:02
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, you know, you know, Jameson, we've been talking for, you know, just about 45 minutes, you know, just to, just to kind of put a period at the end of all this, you know, is there anything that we can get a chance to discuss that you wanted to discuss right now? Or anything, anything at all.

Jameson Parker 45:21
Um, no, nothing that comes to mind. I mean, it's so great. It's so fun to talk to people about the nuts and bolts of making independent cinema. And it is a, it is an incredible passion of mine. I do love working in TV, and I'm having an a phenomenal experience with this show, but there is something so satisfying about kind of knuckling down and and making independent film that I love. So I'm excited. I've got one in the in the pipe for June, July next year that we'll shoot here in Vancouver. It looks like, and I'm excited to kind of get back to those independent routes while I'm in between some of these more studio gigs.

Dave Bullis 46:16
You know, that's really cool. And whenever, if you ever want to come back on Jameson, you know when any of these projects come out, please let me know, and I'd be glad to have you come back on.

Jameson Parker 46:26
I appreciate it, man, this has actually been a really great experience. You were right at the top when you're like, I haven't had a bad time yet. Yeah, this is, this is great kind of no holds barred conversation,

Dave Bullis 46:38
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, I'm glad you had a great time. And where do people find you out? Online? Do you have any social media channels or any websites you want to give out?

Jameson Parker 46:46
Yeah, I mean, I'm brightlightpictures.com is where we're putting up everything that we do. I'm on Twitter. I'm on Instagram, but I keep Instagram kind of just for me. So Twitter and and bright light pictures is where I usually am, like you did before this. My IMDb is where it has all the stuff that we're currently, I'm currently working on, and stuff that's coming up, and that's a great place to to find out what's what we have at bright light and what I got going on here, too.

Dave Bullis 47:21
And everyone I'm gonna link to all that in the show notes at Dave bulls podcast.com you know, it's kind of funny. I got deal. I got in trouble with YouTube, and I got in trouble with like apple. You know, I am this close Jamison just being a race for me. Internet completely. I just, I just keep pissing off these giant internet corporations, and I don't even, I'm not even trying to do I got in trouble with Facebook over over posting this podcast, and I'm like, alright, well, I'm batting 1000 so I'm telling you, it's like, it's like, I've done the I've I'm just, I'm this close away from just pissing off every internet giant, and now, then I won't be able to do anything.

Jameson Parker 48:06
Gatekeepers, yeah?

Dave Bullis 48:08
So seriously, my God, I haven't pissed off riser Comcast yet, so I need to work on that. So,

Jameson Parker 48:28
But still, the beginning of the week, you got time.

Dave Bullis 48:18
yeah? Yeah, right. Yes, I can do this week. But everyone, it's, it's Dave Bullis podcast. I have all my social media channels on there. I have every episode of the podcast on there as well. And again, thank you for everyone who always keeps sharing this podcast. And Jameson, I want to say thank you so much for coming on. And this has been a blast.

Jameson Parker 48:37
Thank you so much for having me. Man, really excited to listen. Keep listening to your podcast and hopefully be on it again in the future.