Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Land.
Hi Jason, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been a creative, particularly focused on music, but I took a more conservative route through college and found myself in a non-creative career on the periphery of the television industry. After marriage and once my two kids were born, the expenses of life required predictable income, so I was never able to transition into that creative role. I can’t complain too much because it was through my job that I met my wife, and my career of managing satellite transmissions for live television shows has taken me all over the world.
But there has always been a burning desire to create. I started making a lot of videos of my kids and editing them into little vignettes. Those became hotly anticipated within our family, and a few years ago, at the strong encouragement of my wife, I registered for a part-time filmmaking program at a local film school. That decision changed my life.
I was networking with fellow filmmakers and working with industry-level equipment. Within weeks I was co-writing and directing my first short film, managing all of the pre- and post-production and editing. I can’t say that first film was amazing, but it was more than a learning experience. It gave me the opportunity to self-examine myself by experiencing unbridled joy.
After completing the filmmaking program, I continued to collaborate with both my fellow students and also some of the professors who were actively working in the film industry. I put together a team to compete in the annual 48-hour film project and participated in it for several years, earning accolades and awards.
In 2018, I wrote and directed a suspense short titled “:Ghost in the Woods,” and it was selected and screened by several film festivals, earning a few awards. The success of that film was the wind in my sails to conceive of a more ambitious project. I subsequently wrote, produced and directed the short comedy “Mr. Theme Music”. It’s about a struggling musician who builds a business following you around playing theme music for everything you do. But when he gets hired by a drug-dealing mobster, he finds out how consequential the wrong theme music can be.
Even through Covid, “Mr. Theme Music” has screened at over 25 film festivals all over the world, and it has won numerous awards, including best comedy and best of fest. The final festival screening of “Mr. Theme Music” will be at the Central Florida Film Festival in Mount Dora in January 2022.
So this is where I currently sit in my journey. I still have my full-time job. My daughter is in college and my son is about to be, so the predictable income is needed right now. But there is a near future where I dedicate the majority of my time to filmmaking. Filmmaking is so collaborative, so I’m lucky to have a close group of friends and mentors who have helped guide this journey. And now, with a couple of successful projects under my belt, the list of willing actors and collaborators continues to grow.
I’m about to produce another comedy short I wrote entitled “Method Actor,” with my eyes on making a feature film in the near future. I can’t say I’m a solid success story, but I’m getting there.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There are many ways to answer this question. But, in general, filmmaking is rarely a smooth road. Mosquitos, airplanes, refrigerators, actors who accidentally shaved – these are just some of the challenges I’ve faced. And those are just the on set challenges. Off set, finding the time, the people, the money, the flexibility – it’s daunting. I get humble accepting congratulations for merely making a film, but from a more distant perspective, it’s an effort indeed.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I always endeavor to be as accommodating and as collaborative as possible. When I conceptualize a scene, I watch it in my head a million times. There’s a comfort on set to know that we’re all contributing to the goal of that vision. That being said, I’m not closed off to the idea that someone else’s input may impact the scene/situation/story in a different or better way. Everyone should have a voice. It’s just that mine is the loudest…
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
With the prevalence of social media, it’s hard to keep secrets. I generally like to keep my regular job life and my filmmaking life mutually exclusive. So, many who I work with on a day-to-day basis have no idea that I make films.
Otherwise, I don’t really have any savant-level secrets or skills. I’m just moderately good at a whole lot of things.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.transientfilms.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasonland108/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/transientfilms.net
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasonaland
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmHnpwXwQ5y4IPlpKLVG6qQ
