Interview by Andrew Bard
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Jono Freedrix, a former high school photography and drama teacher turn successful writer, director and producer creating entertaining and award winning films.
AB: I read that you were a theater and photography teacher before moving to Brooklyn? Have you always been interested in pursuing this career path on some level?
I was totally computer illiterate until I got a Macbook in 2007. I made my first stop motion movie using Photobooth. Then I made a few more and realized I was a decent editor. Those rough films actually helped get me my film teaching job.
AB: Oh wow! That’s actually pretty amazing! So you’re self taught?
Self taught. No film school. I was teaching my students how to make films and learning a ton myself. Outside of teaching, I aligned myself with some experienced people in Vancouver and started making live action films with them.
AB: I love that! I know quite a few years ago that the stigma was you “HAD” to go to school to be a filmmaker but now if you have the passion and willingness to learn that are so many avenues to take and learn without being thousands in debt.
You said you made films in Vancouver with other people. So was Bloody Mary your first stand alone film?
I co-produced and co-wrote several films in Vancouver. And I shot A LOT of zero budget films with friends just for kicks. And I “produced” about 100 films a year with students so all that experience added up. Bloody Mary was the first time I went to that next level in filmmaking.
AB: Well it looks amazing! The atmosphere, video quality one would expect from an ARRI and the entire film was tight!
Thanks! Got to give credit to the Director of Photography Yusuke Sato. He is a wiz with the camera.
AB: If we could now, let’s talk about Bloody Mary for a moment. What was the process that went into that film? From the casting, finding the crew and location and the ever troublesome acquiring the budget how did you tackle it?
It started out small like the other things I’ve done. I was going to cast friends, shoot on a Canon 5D and operate it myself… then it just took on a life of its own and kept growing. And everything fell in to place perfectly which almost never happens. The only near disaster was one of the leads called in sick on the day of the shoot. And she’d flown in from LA just for the movie! So I scrambled and was saved by Trace Lysette who came in at the very last minute– and she killed it.
AB: Oh wow! That’s both amazing and horrifying!
So in the vein of near disasters what would you say was your most insane moment on set and to round it out your best moment?
Maybe my best moment was at the very end when Ed Delia who was the senior actor in his 70s said some very kind things in a little impromptu speech. The most insane moment was looking around at a room full of about 40 people all working on a 6 minute perverted comedy and thinking “what the hell have I done?!”
Hahaha
AB: Ed was the guy who looked eerily like the Dos Equis guy?
Yes! Exactly.
AB: That’s awesome! He was great!
He said when he’s cast in something it’s usually as a grandpa. So I gave him a little touch of the “most interesting man in the world”. The parrot on his shoulder helped.
AB: Haha it was so absurd that it worked!
Absurdist comedy is a great genre if it’s done right and its so hard to do right which is amazing when it is.
AB: Comedy itself is a very hard genre to nail and you have two now under your belt. Bloody Mary and Sucklepump. Do you feel that you’re going to stick with comedy or will you be branching out more on future projects?
I’ve got another dark comedy short in the works so that’s my focus right now. But I used to mostly do stop motion. I’ve also done documentary-style films. And my original passion was for wildlife films. So I guess you could say either I’m versatile or lacking focus. Depends which lens you’re looking through, haha.
AB: Hahaha no I would lean towards diverse. I love when writers/directors find their pocket and excel in a genre so long as they are willing to try other things as well. There are a lot of filmmakers in both the indie and Hollywood level that only do the same type of film and it can be tiring regardless of the quality. It’s the same as actors who are type cast as “Funny friend” or “bad guy”.
Pigeon holed (that sounds like a good title for an absurdist R-rated comedy actually)
AB: Bloody Mary has gotten into 19 festivals? There is a pretty large divide with filmmakers who either support or are completely against film festivals. Do you find that festivals help get your films more recognition? Also how do you decide on which festivals to submit to?
I learned a lot about the festival world this year. But it can be a bit hit-or-miss. Some of the festivals were amazing. Big screen in a proper theater, packed house, lots of other great films. A couple of festivals were small potatoes operations. As for submitting, I did it strategically and gravitated towards comedy, underground or edgy festivals. I wasn’t going to submit Bloody Mary to something like Sundance…
AB: Do you have any advice for up and coming filmmakers or anyone who wants to break into the industry who haven’t gone to film school?
Just make as many films as you can. Even zero budget films teach you something valuable which you can apply to your next film. Eventually all the pieces will come together and you can create something you’re proud to show off!
AB:Awesome! Now its time for some shameless self promoting! Where can people find your work and learn more about you?
Bloody Mary and Sucklepump are on: www.supertwistedshorts.com. Some of my other earlier stuff is on jonofreedrix.com
AB: Great! Well I want to say thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me! I’m very much looking forward to seeing more of your work in the near future!