Film Courage: Do you think you would be as
effective in Atlanta now had you not spent those 15 years in Los Angeles?
Jason Park, Director, Producer, Writer, Actor, and Cinematographer: No, I think that pain
which is just your memories and feelings that you attached to those memories.
If you're able to conquer that and let that go, you're able to to grow into a better version of
yourself. Those struggles of being in Los Angeles those wins of being in Los Angeles getting
into those casting rooms, seeing the casting directors, booking jobs, missing out on jobs,
in hindsight it was such a life lesson in school of Hey you want to make it in this industry that's
what you're going to go through. You're going to go through 10 no's to get that yes you're going to
go through 50 no’s to get that yes. Then you're gonna go through another 60 no’s to get a yes.
It's so important because you're able to adjust and calibrate your mental and your mental is so
important because if you can be grateful for getting the opportunity to say some words to
somebody that can say yes or no to you and you change that perspective so the perspective I
used to have was I already did commercials. I already did movies, here's my pictures. They
know what I sound like and look like, they should just hire me right. That was my perspective at the
time and I felt like I was too good like yeah they should hire me like you know I can do this
but there's a thousand other people that have done work more, work than you look, just as
attractive or whatever they're looking for as you. That's why they're having you come in to read.
When you change that perspective from “I’m too good” or maybe a negative like “Oh I didn't
book that but why her not me?” I used to feel that a lot. “Why them, not me?” and you changed
that too “Man, I'm just so grateful. I am so thankful to just be here. I'm so thankful that
you're giving me your time to let me read for you or you're giving me your time to see me
I'm so thankful that that person got it because they were the best person for
that role at that time. I'm so thankful and then you change everything to being thankful.
The process is so much easier. Now I don't worry if someone says yes or no I'm just thankful for
the opportunity I don't I'm not concerned with if I read for 100 casting directors or I read for one
I don't worry if someone likes my films or they hate my film because I only can control what I
can control so when I make something and I put it out into the world that's for the world to judge
and whether you like it or hate it doesn't bother me if you like it I'm so glad because then I made
the film for you if you don't like it it doesn't bother me you still watched it to come out with
the conclusion that that you don't like it but that negative opinion on it doesn't affect me at
all in the least bit so when you think about is it easier now in Atlanta or California it's like
California needed to happen
because it taught me what I had to do in Atlanta if I wanted to make it in this industry
you talked about earlier flying into Los Angeles I don't know if it was Burbank or LAX [airport] okay
LAX so you said you kind of saw like the hustle and bustle and how everybody's rushing around and
I think that the attitude that you talked about not to beat yourself up but of how come them and
not me I think that permeates that's just part of what happens here unfortunately that's the dark
side of human nature we all have it in us yeah and so I think it just energy is infectious,
we feel it and this is what happens here yeah and I you know so the funny thing is when I came
to Los Angeles at 18 and I flew in LAX when I took that first breath and stepped out of the
airport I was like I am home this is it I loved it I was like yes like like you could feel the
energy differently now is a a veteran coming back it's like oh man I I love it but I can't
wait to go home at the same time um foreign that thought of why then and not me is very dangerous
and the reason why it's so dangerous is because we as creators as human beings as friends we have to
take responsibility for where we are in life at any given moment it's no one's fault it's
not your mom's fault it's not your Pat your past right your past and all those pains are
literally just memories and feelings that you associate to those memories that is it the past
is done so that means every day you wake up you have the opportunity to create a new version a
better version of yourself you also have that same opportunity to create a worse version of yourself
so that thought the reason why it's so dangerous of why them and not me is because if you took the
responsibility to say let me get better let me just get better let me just read more let me just
go over scripts more let me just kind of see what a landscape is let me write more let me let me
get a camera and just kind of practice auditioning let me set up this lighting let me give this line
you're already moving those muscles to become better where be happy that they got it because
they were in the same room as you so that means that it's possible for you to get in
and when you just start doing these little minute changes and you put in the effort
and you take responsibility for your life for your career for who you are as a person
you can blossom into whatever flower you want to be was there a book that you read or some
conversation with someone that helped you kind of look at taking responsibility for where you're at
NLP treatment Tony Robbins as far as taking responsibility that would come from my wife
my wife has given me so many lessons and I'm so thankful for it um so my wife is 10 years older
than I am and it's a fantastic dynamic because I'm the creative and she's the one that dots the eyes
and T's right I couldn't have done any of this without my wife but she's the one that holds me
to realism right if I complain you know oh why isn't this film doing this good
or why is this person you know she was like well get better do better
right right better do more what are you complaining about complaining doesn't do
anything and then my rebuttal is I'm just letting go of steam right I'm just letting go of steam but
there's been no book that's that I can say has changed my life there I'm not a heavy reader
um I watched channels like this while I'm making films right there's so much information for
filmmakers that if you come across this video go to the library of Film Courage and you'll
find whatever it is that you're looking for that can help change your life this
field that we're in if you can find someone to hold you accountable and to
throw those excuses right in your face and tell you that you're making excuses like the way my
wife does to me you'll leap frog who you were and I know your wife she's kind of self-made as well
yeah so my wife is from Puerto Rico and she was in the IT field for like 20 years and that's why
she knew to have me go into I.T and then she started I'm gonna say she even though it's a
unity but in reality it's really she runs it a med spa in Georgia and then we created a reality show
for The Med Spa very cool yeah and you can see that so yeah so that we actually did independent
distribution through Filmhub. We created three episodes, three 20-minute episodes for the spa and
it's in Roswell, it's called Park Ave Cosmetic Center and we went through Filmhub and the reason
why we went through Filmhub is because this is a local show right a local space we're able to
do all of the advertisements for it locally so it's not an international thing where it's like
hey let's try and procure a distributor even though there's a bunch of horror stories with
distribution but the truth is they have certain channels that you as a filmmaker just don't have
access to so I said hey you know let's go through Filmhub because we'll have control over it 100
and then we can do all of the marketing locally ourself so it's past quality control and then now
it'll probably be up on Amazon Prime and like to be here soon okay so we're just waiting on that.