Jaik Andino - Interview

How did your family react?

My parents have always worried. They are very conservative. They really just want me to get married :) 

Do you have a Muse or a Role Model?

Good Will Hunting. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck grew up together and wrote this beautiful script and they acted in the movie. Given I’m attempting to do the same thing with 2nd Date, they are my biggest idols.

Who's your biggest fan?

My good friend Karen.

What brings you inspiration the most?

Growing up as a minority, I had a unique vantage point in being an American and an Indian. My parents migrated to the US in the late 70's. My dad is a walking comedy machine to say the least. He doesn't even realize it but his unique perspective coupled with how I was viewed with having dark skin and watching Star Trek growing up shaped a unique view on us all. I never truly saw color but then was forced too growing up in the US which has a long heritage of viewing differences in people. My inspiration was to create a story to have this discussion on race, friendship, love through comedy. I'm hoping viewers will laugh, cry and be forced to go get pancakes after the movie and have a discussion about life :)

Which actor or director would you like to work with?

Olivia Wilde! Did you know she lived on a bus! If she directed my movie 2nd Date, I actually might need to be convinced that I’m not dead and this isn’t heaven!

Have you ever seen a film that was better than the book?

Only one time. The Time Traveler’s Wife. There were two scene in the book that I did not like and ironically, those exact scenes were not in the movie. But in most cases, I always like the book better.

What's the movie that taught you the most?

Contact with Jodie Foster. There is a line in that movie, “They should have sent a poet” - still remember crying in the theatre.

About your artistic career, have you ever had the desire to quit everything?

Not yet! And hopefully not soon!

On set what excites you the most?

Being skited (scared and excited)

And what scares you the most?

Not being able to pursue my passion and dream of writing, producing and acting in my film 2nd Date.

What's your next project?

I have started working on a character study story on Alexander the Great. I've also been continuing to focus on acting and pursuing a career in the field.

You can steal the career of an artist you really admire, who do you choose?

I really could never do that. (I know, I know. I’m no fun)

An actor/a screenplayer is made of....

Vision. Passion. Empathy. Perseverance. Luck. A Smile.

For you Cinema is....

Cinema has the power to connect us through emotions. To take us away from our daily lives and into an imaginary world where we can learn and grow together. This story says that two people, from different cultures, different skin colors can be the best of friends. We (humans) tend to view each other's differences rather than our similarities and it typically leads to conflict. As Wyatt says in the story, you can choose hate as racism will exist or you can choose love, my friendship. The choice is always ours to make and that simple dialogue, even if it can touch one person, can spread like wildfire across the world!

Do you think Black and white movies have a powerful impact?

Yes! If you haven’t seen Rita Moreno - you are really missing out on life!

Have you ever dreamed of winning an Oscar?

Yes!

Do you think you're gonna win it?

No! lol

 For you a Film is...

 Everything..... No matter the Genre, the Subject, the People behind it, the Country it’s from. I love and adore Cinema. To visually showcase all sorts of feelings and emotions on screen that if done with love and affection and honesty view points can have the most inspirational affection on people. This is the only profession that allows that component to be presented. It’s nothing like it. Film is the ultimate teaching tool into the human psyche and time capsule into the past that doesn’t exist but can still be seen. It’s everything that you want wrapped in one. For me it’s Life. 

 What do you feel when you're directing/writing?

It’s a few different emotions when it comes to Writing/Directing but there one and the same. I feel Alive.... The ability to hold the story in the palm of your hands and give life to a experience that you want to showcase and discuss is a rare opportunity. But a opportunity I welcome and will do the absolute most that I can to bring to life truthfully, honestly, with emotional depth and details no matter the subject I’ll give my all to the story Writing those characters and bringing a heartbeat to them on the screen that won’t ever come off as phony weather anybody wants it to or not. 

You can go to the Movies with an actor/director/screenplayer that you love. What kind of movie do you choose and with who you're gonna whatch it?

Well a lot of the Filmmakers I would to watch Movies with are long gone lol hopefully when that day comes and I hopefully make it through those Purely Gates I’ll be able to arrange a few Movie Nights with the greats lol that’s something I’ll be looking forward too. 

But while I’m alive lol if I were to watch Movies in a Theater(which I highly prefer) I would ask them beforehand what there favorite type of Genre’s are and start making a list of films to see around what I know about them. Especially Younger Filmmakers who I know haven’t seen a lot of Movies and pick stories I know would hold their attention but most importantly motivate them to further their careers and develop there storytelling perspective.  

 Audrey Hepburn used to say “Nothing is Impossible”, what do you think about it?

 When someone walks on the Sun and Survive I’ll believe that lol. There are a lot of things that are impossible to accomplish. But in terms of making a dream come true especially in Filmmaking anything truly is possible and can be accomplished. But it’s like I said earlier it’s about your commitment. Because like anything worth having in life it’s gonna take hard work and dedication and your gonna have a lot of disappointments along the way and unfortunately some folks can’t weather that storm. But if you can, Nothing is impossible in the Film Business.  

Can you live just of your passion?

If I didn’t have to pay bills Hell Yeah I could lmfao that would be greatly appreciated. But realistically no you can’t. We live in Reality for a reason. Now that shouldn’t kill your Passion, you should always be passionate no matter what level or stage your at in this business. But for someone who has tried to do it lol and still trying to it’s not capable. But always remain passionate, sometimes it’s the only thing you have to rely on especially when things get ruff. 

 What's more important talent or luck?

 Luck without question important and is very much needed but even someone who’s not the best at bringing a story to life can get lucky and get exposed for there lack of preparation. Talent will always be at least in my eyes the most important skill in this profession. It’s what truly separates the Great from the Good, the Good from the Bad etc. Especially as a Film Director who oversees all aspects of the project they have to be talented.

You must go to a desert island but you can bring with you just one movie...

It would be either Chinatown or The Hustler or Yojimbo. I can watch those on repeat all day long and never get bored lol.  

 Have you ever accepted  a movie to direct/ a script to write even if you didn't like the project?

I have not and never will. I don’t care how much money would be involved. If my heart isn’t in it it’s a absolute waste to me as a Artist. I’m someone who needs to make something from the heart & soul not for the sake of the Popcorn Eaters. No disrespect but if you know who you are and what you want to present to the world there’s nothing wrong with staying in your lane, just don’t crash and burn lol.  

 What's the best compliment you have received about your Job?

I got one compliment that will stick with me till my dying day and it came this year from Charles Burnett who saw my Concept Short Mickey Hardaway. He thought it was phenomenal and that I have a extremely bright future as a Filmmaker. That was the greatest feeling in the world and it let me know that I belong. I really was meant to be a Writer/Director and I’ll never get it. 

 Are you satisfied about your career?

Around 2019 I would have told you Hell Naw lol but I’m at great place because I felt I’ve found myself and my voice as a Artist. And now that I’m gearing up to shoot my first Feature Mickey Hardaway I know I’m at a point in life where I’m psychically and mentally more prepared to not only make a great piece of Art and tell a important story but I know I’m gonna have a career as a Writer/Director.   

 Do you have a good luck charm?

I believe my Good Luck Charm before I do anything let alone Movie related and watching a Movie. I watch at least 1 Movie per day and I’m always looking for something that I’ve either never seen before or something to catch up on. Watching Movies is a good luck charm for me because it just puts me In a confident place and space and when that occurs every good happens to me. 

 Which is the worst moment on set ? 

So far for me it’s when someone quits a job when we’re about to begin shooting and then you have to work around that while trying to focus on the vision of the story. The worst for me was in 2017 shooting my short Rolling In The Deep. Even with the issues the film did alright, screening in over 130 Festivals, winning 25 International Awards and lots of television airings lol. But that by far was the worst moments on set. 

That’s something that just makes me sick to my stomach, especially because I go out of my way to never have a toxic film set at all. And I’ve seen some toxic film sets especially this year along.  

 How do you feel when a job you've been part of it's ending?

 I can feel sad especially if it’s a great cast & crew that I’m working with, those moments are ending and you’ll probably never get to relive those moments again. But I also get excited as well because I get to focus on my favorite aspect of filmmaking, Post Production. I love cutting the film and bringing the vision to life. There’s no feeling like it. Especially if you’ve got the shots you need lol.  

 Have you ever lied to get a part/job?

No, and I’m not about to start lol. One of the reasons why I don’t get offered jobs because I’m to honest to a producer. Especially if there script isn’t any good.  

 If you should win an Oscar your first taught would go to....

Going back to the set the next day working on the current film or back to the laptop to finish up the current script. I would be grateful to win like anyone but my focus will always be on the next film lol 

Who is your biggest influence?

I try to be equally influenced by as many artists as possible from the worlds of cinema, music and fashion in order to form my very own vocabulary. If I’d have to pinpoint a few names from the world of film however, it would have to be Alejandro Jodorowsky for his otherworldly vision, Ridley Scott for his subtle sense of spacious cinematics and Ash Thorp for showing me that it’s possible to excel in various roles.

 What were some of the challenges you had to face in making your films?

Surrendering control! I originally studied Art Direction for advertising and one of the things that’s special about that is that you get a crash course in everything: Concepting, graphic design, 3D art, photography - you name it. This multi-faceted skillset has served me really well as a one-man show freelancer. Now that I’m taking on increasingly bigger productions though, needing my fingerprint in every step of the process is something I’m learning to unlearn.

Do you have a favorite genre to work in? Why is it your favorite?

I am just getting into it, but lately I am very excited about all things Virtual Production. I realize that’s more a technology than a genre, but it’s making a lot of new  things possible in the world of cinema. 

Personally, I am looking to create vast sci-fi fantasy scenes as well as hyper-stylized arthouse films with it. I just love it when you can stop a film at any given frame and there’s enough thought there to dissect it for the rest of the night.

 What’s your all-time favorite movie and why?

If you had asked me last week, I would have said The Holy Mountain, Kooyanisqatsi or the original Bladerunner. Gregory Colbert’s ‘Ashes and Snow’ is pretty high up on the list too.

Since watching it over the weekend however, I am more than infatuated with the masterful craftsmanship behind the show ‘Arcane’ brought to life by French production house Fortiche. The hand-painted textures and brilliant composition work had me binge it twice in a row.

 If you could work with anyone in the world, who would that person be?

As a director, I would love to work with Japanese musician Miyavi. I admire his courage to push the boundaries of what is futuristic in his music&videos, always utilizing the cutting-edge technology to make it happen. No stranger to volumetric capture in game engines or 360 degrees live streams, he’d sure be open for whatever shenanigans I could think of. 

As a musician being directed, I’d love to work with Andrew Thomas Huang. 

The subtle poetry and powerful energy in every single one of his works is something I’d love to learn to embody.

The one person who has truly believed in you throughout your career.

Who really helped me snap out of it was my partner actually. I was definitely experiencing the filmmaker’s equivalent of social media induced body dysmorphia for the longest time - I always felt I didn’t have the skills necessary to make it yet and that I was overall not doing well because the online fame wasn’t coming along as I had envisioned.

As my partner was close to me and saw how tirelessly I work across all the disciplines of film and music, she made me realize that I had become the artist I’ve been wanting to be long ago.

 What was the most important lesson you had to learn as filmmaker?

That it’s vital to not only learn about one craft, but about many. Especially when you’re feeling stuck.

The nature of this fractal universe is laid out in a way that patterns repeat themselves in every discipline: Composition, rhythm, medium, the active and the passive, style and flavor; these are only some of the concepts that can be applied across the board.  I think that you can learn almost as much about making films by learning about music as you can by actually making films. Hell, I believe you can even learn about filmmaking through cooking.

Is it harder to get started or to keep going? What was the particular

thing that you had to conquer to do either?

To me personally, it was the hardest thing to commit to this path in the first place. I wasn’t born into it so it took a great deal of reflection and determination to go ‘this is me’. There is so much stigma and existential fear around more alternative paths of life when really it’s like jumping into a pool: You feel it with your finger and shudder from the cold. But once you jump in, it gets warm pretty quick. And god is life more fun inside the pool.

What keeps you motivated?

There’s a interview of Japanese American artist Shing02 that I hold dear to my heart and that I can only echo here. I can’t find it anymore but when asked what keeps him going after all these years, he said something along the lines of ‘it’s the idea of turning an idea into reality that still excites me’. Raw creation. To make something from nothing. I think that idea will always have me fascinated.

How has your style evolved?

I am still early in my career but I’d like to already think of my style as ever-evolving, piece by piece. Maybe it’s an advertising thing but I believe the vision and concept have number one priority while the style should follow. I don’t believe on imprinting a signature technique on a piece if it doesn’t serve to make it stronger - on the contrary, we can gain so much by letting the piece imprint itself on us.

In my current collection of works, I’m learning to be comfortable with the darkness. To be more subtle. And to be less ominous and instead more relatable.

On set, the most important thing is:

Vision.

The project(s) you’re most proud of:

That’s like asking which one is your favorite child while they’re all listening! I love them all equally;) Really, I think of projects similarly to tattoos - while we might grow out of some of them a few years down the line, they are a an important testament of who we were at the time. And if you’ve always been giving them your all, that alone is enough for them to be cherished.

The most challenging project you worked on. And why?

Probably last year’s project for ‘Say Say - Stories’ which happened during the height of the pandemic across the globe. I was creative directing the piece from Berlin with the video being shot in Tokyo and some of the VFX done in the US. That alone would have been enough for trouble, but of course we needed to make a concept that required the video to be shot from the point of view of a hovering evil spirit that has its own emotions and ultimately takes over the protagonists body in order to protect them - try to explain that when you’re not in the room! So I ended up drawing the storyboard with every spirit camera move built-in, directed wardrobe and makeup over Facetime and tried organizing last minute replacements after our original art directress caught COVID a few days before the shoot.

It was a blast.

 What are your short term and long term career goals?

The other day I scored a documentary piece and had a concepting session for a narrative, all while my computer was rendering my own music video in the background. I finished that day with a jam session with good people and that night it struck me: I have already become the artist I have always wanted to be - multi-faceted and dancing between disciplines.

Long-term, I want the same. Just a whole lot bigger.

Your next projects?

This new year, I’m looking to release my own music album which is going to be accompanied by its own cinematic universe. Spaceships, distant alien planets and heaps of virtual production involved that will hopefully be mind-bending in its outcome.

Please share with us where people can find you on social media, so our

readers could keep track of your career

Thanks for the great interview!

You can find me at @sage_morei everywhere and my production company Horizon Lab as @horizonlab.vision on Instagram. I am also growing a Youtube as Sage Morei where I’ll be posting the album visuals mentioned above. Thanks for stopping by!

Which movie was the most inspiring for you?

 I would say I don't truly know a single movie as my favorite. I've seen so many it's more like tiers at this point; however, Sanctuary Dream is basically a PG-13 1980s Don Bluth film that happens to simulate Autism. 'An American Tail' if Fievel wanted to escape his family, rather than find it, with the intensity of 'The Original Land Before Time." 

 What was the biggest challenge you faced in making your films?

 Coordinating Actors/Actresses who may or may not understand the material, yet not be a horrible boss because you get what you paid for.

 Do you have a favorite genre to work in? Why is it your favorite?

 My favorite genre as an Audience Member would be Science Fiction(the history of the genre); for sociological and philosophical reasons.

 What’s your all-time favorite movie and why?

 Any film that has to do with characters fighting for the psychological freedom of themselves/their community and winning(The Rocky Franchise or Early Dreamworks Animation is a great example); though losing can be very interesting cautionary tales(Darren Aronofsky Anyone???).

If you could work with anyone in the world, who would that person be?

List in Order: Jim Cameron, James Horner, Ridley Scott, John Willams, Hans Zimmer, Edgar Wright,  Basil Poledouris, Paul Verhoeven, Robert Rodriguez, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Peter Jackson, Matt Reeves, Steven "Stan" Speilberg, Martin "Marty" Scorsese, David Lynch, Francis Ford Coppola, Spike Jonze, Tetsuya Nomura, Shigeru Miyamoto. Pick One (I wish Kubrick and Hitchcock weren't dead - own all 13 of Kubrick's Movies and have yet to start the Hitchcock Collection).

P.S. Traven Thomas, Faisal Ost's Actor, really wants to be in a Wes Anderson Movie.

Tell us a secret that nobody knows about you.

 I like my buttered pasta microwaved.

The one person who has truly believed in you.

 Through everything? No one but my true friends.

What was the most important lesson you had to learn as

filmmaker/actor/screenwriter?

Always plan what you are going to say when you lead a film set. That way, when threads of personalities go awry, you know where your footing should be.

Is it harder to get started or to keep going?

Keep going. When you start, you're grateful that the two mountains of Development and Prep have paid off. When you keep going; all you want to do is let the pain/suffering of the childhood self to end, and it does while you keep your efforts afloat; including when you have to debate with the actors on why multiple decisions are correct; balancing with what the actors believe is a better idea, only submitting to one or more, if the idea(s) is/are better and adds to the overall story. I end up enjoying Post-Production the most for concentrative, manipulative, and thematic strengthening reasons - in other words, making the movie 3x a stronger film than its script, its planning, and its filming. Selling/Distributing the picture needs work.

On set, the most important thing is:

Multiple Plans on how we're going to get the shots completed.

The project(s) you’re most proud of:

Sanctuary Dream, The Meritocratic Failure, Grade Camp, Emotion.

The most challenging project you worked on. And why?

Grade Camp - my short film which won an honorary Sundance Award in 2015. The Two Leads were the most difficult to work with at the time; less difficult and more mature(it was two years later) when they played supporting characters in Sanctuary Dream.

What are your short-term and long-term career goals?

Short Term: Create Shorts that will help in fine-tuning the Sanctuary Sequels Necessary Special Effects + The Sanctuary Sequels (Plan to have this all done by 2025).

Long Term: after that, I have 5 Original Feature Ideas and 7 IPs I'd be willing to work for; one of which is a Sony Property that could potentially become a 5 Film + TV-Series-In-The-Middle Franchise. 

Your next projects?

After The Sanctuary Sequels? I'm not saying a word,...

Please share with us where people can find you on social media.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008294452777

https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-carsten-7a7862149/

https://www.instagram.com/sanctuarydream9/