Jayson Johnson earned an MA in film production from Eastern Illinois University and then took a by-chance interview which led him to work for legendary film director Francis Ford Coppola. Jayson took Coppola’s advice to ‘go out and become famous’ by trying his hat as an independent film producer. He’s on an upward trajectory, with several awards to his credit. We had the opportunity to talk with him about his career and current projects.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Congratulations on your career to date. For readers unfamiliar with you and your background, have you always had an interest in the arts?
Thanks for having me. For those not familiar with me, I plan on making a name for myself so get used to hearing the name Jayson Johnson! I’m originally from the west subs of Chicagoland but now call the Bay Area my home. I grew up with a bunch of rambunctious kids that spent our days riding bikes, playing sports, and getting in trouble here and there. This all came to a head when I was fourteen, got stoned, and forgot I was banned from going to the local Mcdonald’s for a month. My mom was heartbroken so I promised to go on the straight and narrow and instead of being in the streets, I started to stay at home and draw a lot. This woke up my passion for the arts. I entered a few local drawing contests and won here and there, but never thought drawing was my calling. So, when it came time to attend college, I chose my major based on a counselor who wore a red bowtie when everyone else wore suits with neckties. That major ended up being speech communication and in the department, they had a concentration in Radio, TV, and Film which I happily signed up for because I wasn’t really into anything else.
You attended Eastern Illinois University and studied radio, tv and film. Please tell us more about your experience at this institute, and how it prepared you for working in the industry.
I’m thankful I attended Eastern Illinois because it provided a hands-on opportunity to try all types of media before I settled on film. Before I got into film, I drew editorial comics for the Daily Eastern News, which turned out to be a disaster because the editor always censored my comics. I remember I did a cartoon with Mr. T complaining about the long-distance service Eastern provided and the communications director of the school chimed in to discredit the claim that 1-800-collect was a superior buy in comparison. I wanted to push the envelope but week after week my comics would get censored or pulled completely so I made the switch to WEIU radio. After I learned the controls, the administrator gave me a spirited talk to… “Keep up with calls and playlists, but most importantly – don’t fall asleep!” That lasted about two shifts before I tried to do my shift after a long night of partying and fell asleep to Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain. After radio, I tried out announcing women’s softball. I thought a lot of the players were hot so I thought why not? When I announced the players I poked fun at them, giving them nicknames that they didn’t appreciate. I ended up getting fired for this too. So that’s when I finally got into film. I figured I could be as controversial or funny as I wanted to be as long as the characters I wrote said it. So I tried it. The first project I was in was a vampire flick my buddy was directing and I was the black dude determined not to be the first one who died in the movie. We screened the movie at the auditorium and got a good reception from the audience. It was at this moment I knew I wanted to work in this industry and I was prepared to do whatever it took to be successful at it.
You landed a job working for Francis Ford Coppola. Please share with us your experience working for him, and the impact it had on your early career.
This was really an accident, to be honest. I followed my then-Russian girlfriend to Napa, California, and didn’t have a job. After applying for what seemed like a million jobs ,I forgot the companies I applied for. So one day this company calls me in for an interview and they won’t stop asking me questions about wine. What do you know about wine? Who in your family drinks wine? Do you like wine? I told them what they wanted to hear and before I knew it I was hired at Mr. Coppola’s winery. I didn’t even know he had a winery until he came in and everyone said Francis is here. My head was spinning. I don’t even know how I got this job let alone being a wine steward. Over the next few months, I poured wine telling customers the wine had notes of whatever the wine educator told me. I still had the Chicagoland in me and preferred forty ounces over wine bottles any day of the week. So yeah, I was terrible at pouring wine but they gave me other opportunities where I eventually landed on Coppola’s creative marketing team. It was there I got a chance to work with the man himself and soaked up every moment of what he taught. Coppola is all about craft, creativity & consistency and I took this to heart when I was there and still to this day. Francis is probably one of the most creative people I’ve ever had a chance to work with and I’ll always be thankful for the opportunity I had working for Don Coppola, one of the greatest to ever do it.
You have featured in over eighty film festivals and won several festival awards. To date, what is your proudest achievement, and why?
I think I’m just proud I made it this far. This is my sixth year since deciding to go it alone as an indie filmmaker, despite everyone telling me I was sure to fail. I’ve always been a confident person but when there’s a lot of people telling you it’s not going to work out you’ll surely question yourself at times. Also, getting into the festivals has been pretty cool. I heard that less than 3% of films get selected to festivals so having the opportunity to be selected more than eighty times over has been a great blessing. It just feels good having success in something where everyone wrote you off, but while regional success is cool I know I’ve got work to do. I see Strike Five going global and we’re going to have to work our asses off to get to that point.
You’ve had success and you’re on an upward trajectory with your career. However, you’ve shared the fact you’ve faced very hard times, including a period of homelessness. Please tell us more about your adversities and, most importantly, how you overcame them.
I started working as a freelance filmmaker in 2014 after spending three years making bad content for Discovery ID, like the shows, “Wives with Knives” and “I (Almost) Got Away with It”. Freelance work can be great when you’re hitting on all cylinders. I was working as a location scout/manager and the dollars were rolling in. I was making like ten racks a month. I was balling! The money was coming in and as quickly as it came in I was buying designer this and that not realizing the gig industry can be feast or famine. So one day the gigs just dried up and I couldn’t get hired for anything. I was too prideful to get a ‘get me by job’ so I just worked on producing short films and kept charging my credit card thinking one day I’d get hired for a gig that balances everything out. Well, that day never came and I found myself three months behind on rent and thirty thousand in debt with my credit card. Shortly after, I got evicted from my apartment and my bank sued me. I was devastated. A few friends let me couch surf for a while but after they started dating they kicked me out and I was forced to live in my car for three years working to pay off my debts, restoring my credit to the point where it was at least somewhat respectable. Looking back on this, those were some of the best times of my life. During this time, I made the transition from being just a producer/director to adding the skill of writing to the mix. When you’re homeless with no money there isn’t much to do besides work, read, and write so, for the first time in my life, I was able to completely slow down, pick up a book and learn how to become better at my chosen craft. I used to be self-conscious about being homeless but looking back I wouldn’t have changed this at all. It’s part of my origin story and, hopefully, those reading this can take away that when life knocks you down (and it will) you have two choices: you can lay there and give up or you can get up! Certainly, if I can do it, so can you.
We know the industry is tough and very competitive. What is your advice to budding filmmakers?
I feel like everyone says the same shit so when asked this question I’m going to try to say something different. I feel no one really knows what the next big trend is in Hollywood so my advice to budding filmmakers is to do the exact opposite of what you see your peers doing. Don’t be afraid to present that idea that’s completely fucking nuts. I remember when I first started taking speech classes in college and the assignment was to give a speech demonstrating a talent. I watched student after student get up in front of the class demonstrating serious things like how to balance a checkbook, or how to de-escalate conflict in the workplace. Important shit. Then my name was called and I went up with my backpack and took out a gallon of water, a wooden spoon, a bag of sugar, and a couple of kool-aid packets. My speech was about how to make hood kool-aid and the teacher loved it. I left that experience knowing it doesn’t pay to be like the pack. If you want to pave your own route you gotta do new stuff. I think that’s why Hollywood is in decline now. Everything is a rehash of everything else. Filmmakers have got to get back to making original content again and stop being so worried about offending everyone. Once that happens we’ll have the film renaissance we deserve.
Can you tell us more about your current project, titled “Counterfeit Cabernets”.
Counterfeit Cabernets is the micro-budget heist feature I think I can realistically do for about fifty thousand dollars. I’ve written other features, but it would take more money to pull those off. With Cabernets, I’ve reverse-engineered this project with things I already knew I had access to like locations, talent, camera equipment, and lighting so it’s all possible. I originally got this idea after reading a story about two bumbling thieves in Seattle who attempted to rob a winery. The news article was hilarious so I began thinking about my own experiences as a wine steward and the ridiculous shit I used to say to just make conversation. I also took a lot of inspiration from the people I grew up with back in Chicagoland. Back when I was sixteen a few of my older friends robbed a bank but got caught the next day. One of my black friends took the time to paint his face white; wore gloves and even spoke in a ‘white accent’ but while he took a great deal to cover all of those detail bases, he wore a V neck which showed he was a black dude masquerading as a white guy. Hilarious! So yeah, I have a lot of experiences like that I’m putting into this story. I think it’ll either be really funny or piss a lot of people off. Personally, I’m hoping for a little bit of both. As a filmmaker my job is to create the most original and creative content I can without worrying if it’ll offend anyone, but if it does I’m down for whatever.
What other projects are you currently working on?
I’m spending a lot of time working on myself these days. It’s a big project and a lot of work. I traded in my degenerate ways of smoking and drinking for meditation and exercise and have been spending a lot of time working towards my goals in life. It’s weird… my work/life balance is all out of whack now. All I do is work these days and partying isn’t something I think about anymore. I guess I’m over it now. I’m excited to see where the current version of myself takes me. This is cliche, but I truly believe the sky’s the limit.
Where can our readers find out more about you?
I have a habit of saying wild shit on social media so I’ve basically deleted all of my social media at this time. However, I do play nice on LinkedIn so we can connect there. I also have a Weebly page but I’m too cheap to pay for the domain name so it’s a long URL with Weebly at the end. Get at me!! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaysonjohnson1/ Website: https://jaysonjohnsonproducer.weebly.com
Article image: Jayson Johnson with Nathan Ray (colorist), Mimi Vazquez (Director of hair/makeup), and her husband Michael Vazquez
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