Jared O'Flaherty: Philosophy, Production and Distribution Insights

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:00

Welcome back to more of Faith and Family Filmmaking Podcast.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:04

Today we're speaking with Jared O'Flaherty.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:07

And we're going to get into some things, but first we're going to talk a bit about, about the reputation that Vindication has gotten, and I know from speaking to my friends you know, fans, one of the things that fans love is the way that Jared approaches storytelling

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:23

We know that we're going to get into some difficult subjects, but we're not going to necessarily, watch too much, you know, so yeah, that's where we're going to start today.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:32

Jarod O'Flarherty: when I was like a sophomore in high school and it's before I came to know Jesus, there was a teacher, it was my debate teacher, that I, for whatever reason, I didn't like her.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:41

She was a first year lady, she was a little bit older, and man, those teenagers in that class were just so rough on her.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:47

And I, I participated in that as well, to the point of having a parent teacher conference get called.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:52

So I had to go in with the vice principal, my mom had to come up there, I was there, and the teacher was there.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:58

And she made a statement in that meeting.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:00:59

She said, I think she said, Jared can say the nicest things, but in the meanest way, you know, and I, it was first time I'd heard anybody say anything about it.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:01:08

So it was kind of like the fact that I would, I would poke her or I'd be a pain in the neck, but would do it in a way that wouldn't get me in trouble.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:01:15

and I did come to know Jesus about six, eight months after that.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:01:19

And I've always wished, man, I wish I could.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:01:20

Apologize to that lady for the way I was.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:01:23

But I think that same approach in the storytelling is like, Hey, I'm gonna deal with a very, very dark or, adult in nature topic, but I'm gonna do it in a way to not offend the Christians in the audience, you know, or without going over the line if Jesus was physically sitting on the couch next to me, I would be wanting to crawl under a blanket and hide, you know?

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:01:46

It's kind of that same approach of wanting to do that.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:01:51

And so to me, it's almost like a challenge.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:01:53

It's kind of like a puzzle.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:01:54

You got to figure out is how do I get the point across and I always say, I want people's, heartbeat to raise a little bit, like, uh, do I need to grab the remote and, like, where's about go, you know?

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:02:06

then smooth it out where they go, okay, I like how that was handled.

Jaclyn Whitt: 00:02:10

I feel like if the heartbeat doesn't speed up a little bit, then you're not doing enough to make it impactful.

Jaclyn: 00:02:15

Mm hmm.

Jarod: 00:02:16

And if they do have to grab for the remote, then you've done something that is probably

Jaclyn: 00:02:20

You've done too

Jarod: 00:02:20

inappropriate and over the line.

Jarod: 00:02:22

And, you know, one that doesn't get brought up much, but in Season 3 that I'm I'm very proud of and I'm like, wow, I'm so glad this worked.

Jarod: 00:02:31

For a Christian film in season three We talk about the fact that not everyone goes to heaven Which I don't know of a lot of christian shows that will do that.

Jarod: 00:02:40

They'll talk about forgiveness.

Jarod: 00:02:42

I'll talk about Jesus I'll talk about heaven But they don't talk about the fact that hell is a place that is mentioned in the bible that Jesus talked about a whole lot.

Jarod: 00:02:50

That he came to Earth not just to give everyone some feel good therapy sessions, but it was a rescue mission.

Jarod: 00:02:55

And so there's a scene where Travis and Chris are sitting on the couch, and she says something about, you know, we'll send Thomas into hell, you know, and he's like, If you really believe that it was a place and knew what it was like, you wouldn't be asking how to send people there.

Jarod: 00:03:09

You'd be wondering how to keep them from going, including yourself.

Jarod: 00:03:12

And I'm just like, how neat is this to have a Christian show that's actually talking about that?

Jarod: 00:03:17

Because I don't know that there are many others that do, other than maybe on the far out sci fi stuff, but there's just not any that talk about that.

Jarod: 00:03:24

So again, difficult topic, harsh thing, but being able to do it in a way that's real.

Jarod: 00:03:30

And I don't think anyone ever felt like that scene was fire and brimstone or preachy or whatever.

Jarod: 00:03:35

In fact, I think her response is like, Oh, thanks, Reverend, and he's like, no, no, no, we're just talking.

Jarod: 00:03:39

So anyway, that dealing with difficult topics can be more than just, you know, stuff that maybe seem more grown up in nature.

Jarod: 00:03:47

It can also be hard to talk about things.

Jaclyn: 00:03:50

Yeah, absolutely.

Jaclyn: 00:03:51

And I think that that's one of the things that people love about vindication.

Jaclyn: 00:03:55

And thinking like an actor, I love that I would be able to trust the script like going to set because I know as a, as a viewer, when I watch it, like you said, there's moments where I wonder, do I need to grab the remote, except that I know I don't, and so like, I've come to trust the series that I know it's not going to go too far.

Jaclyn: 00:04:13

And so I think there's that degree of responsibility as a creator that, we also answer to our creator with what we do with our talents and our time while we're on this earth.

Jaclyn: 00:04:25

Um, so yeah, we really appreciate that.

Jaclyn: 00:04:28

Both viewers and I'm sure the actors and the crew, as well.

Jarod: 00:04:32

Yeah, further to that comment, I will say, though, that everyone has a different line of what they believe should or shouldn't be in a Christian show.

Jarod: 00:04:41

I have learned that over three, now going on four seasons, that everyone has a different line.

Jarod: 00:04:46

And you know what?

Jarod: 00:04:47

Everyone also believes that their line is the correct one,

Jaclyn: 00:04:50

It's true.

Jarod: 00:04:51

And we, you know, season for season, there will always be a couple comments come in.

Jarod: 00:04:55

What always I guess stands out to me is they're never about the same thing though.

Jarod: 00:04:59

It's never like this scene this moment.

Jarod: 00:05:01

you shouldn't have done this shouldn't have done, you know It's always this or that or this and i'm like, okay If everyone was pointing at the same thing, I would be like, uh oh

Jaclyn: 00:05:09

Mm hmm.

Jaclyn: 00:05:10

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:05:10

Pay attention.

Jarod: 00:05:11

I might But the fact that they're all pointing at different and one thing that one person is like I just I love your show.

Jarod: 00:05:15

I really wish you hadn't done this but then another person That was fine.

Jarod: 00:05:21

That didn't bother them one bit.

Jarod: 00:05:22

They're fine with it.

Jarod: 00:05:23

But, oh, this thing over here you shouldn't do.

Jarod: 00:05:25

And I will say, that's a minority.

Jarod: 00:05:26

If there's 20 people, 19 of them are like, man, this was handled great.

Jarod: 00:05:29

There will be one, I don't want to call it a pet sin, but maybe they just have something that they're a little more sensitive to that they don't appreciate, it being there.

Jarod: 00:05:38

some people, uh, saying gosh.

Jarod: 00:05:40

They don't like that.

Jarod: 00:05:42

You're using the Lord's name in vain just with a substitute, you know?

Jarod: 00:05:45

Other people are like, oh, I'm so thankful that you just used the word gosh, because that's the way people talk, but at least I don't have to hear the Lord's name in vain, right?

Jarod: 00:05:52

And so I say that to say that everyone has a different line.

Jarod: 00:05:56

And I just ultimately have the, whatever Jared's line is, it's the one that ends up on the show.

Jarod: 00:06:01

And if someone disagrees, I just hope they would see that my heart's not to have shock value and try to, you know, throw sludge out there for attention, It's just, we have different views on some things.

Jarod: 00:06:12

Going on to the point, you know, here's another , kissing scenes, right?

Jarod: 00:06:16

Uh, there's some people, man, that are, romantic kiss, that's, uh, uh, that can't be there.

Jarod: 00:06:20

I don't need to see that, you know?

Jarod: 00:06:22

I've gone and looked at it biblically, and I'm like, there's nothing in the Bible that says ...kissing is a cultural thing that in our American culture is a thing of romance, but you have other countries where men will go up and kiss each other on the lips, right?

Jarod: 00:06:34

And it's not a problem.

Jarod: 00:06:35

It's a cultural thing as opposed to a sin -not sin thing, you know?

Jarod: 00:06:40

So that's a tricky one as well, that some people have it, and I think in their mind, they just, because of the culture, That is romance that's reserved for a certain thing that shouldn't be here.

Jarod: 00:06:50

But then you're like, do you have a scripture to back that up?

Jarod: 00:06:54

there are certainly things within scripture that we know, That's reserved for the confines of...

Jarod: 00:06:58

So anyway, so that's tricky.

Jarod: 00:06:59

one, you know?

Jarod: 00:07:00

and I don't claim to know the right answer.

Jarod: 00:07:02

It's just, there are things like that there are tricky gray areas that you have to tiptoe around as telling the story, so

Jaclyn: 00:07:10

Yeah, and I guess in some regards also, communicating with your actors as far as, you know, where their boundaries are because, again, every actor has their own boundary as far as what they are willing to do or not willing to do,

Jarod: 00:07:23

yeah, and I've always done that.

Jarod: 00:07:25

Obviously, people have a script ahead of time, so I would always appreciate if they would come, you know, not 10 minutes before the scene, which I have had that happen a couple times.

Jarod: 00:07:34

before a scene.

Jarod: 00:07:34

Hey, are we actually going to do what's sin the script?

Jarod: 00:07:36

And I'm like, We were planning on it, But I always tell them we're not going to do anything that you're not comfortable with.

Jarod: 00:07:43

So I can always find another way to tweak it, to change it, whatever it may be.

Jarod: 00:07:49

and that to me is a priority.

Jarod: 00:07:50

If we have a scene that looks great, but I remember for the rest of my life that that actor didn't want to do that, they were uncomfortable with it.

Jarod: 00:07:57

I don't want, I don't want to have that, you know, I want it to be that everybody was good with what went on.

Jarod: 00:08:02

So, uh, definitely something I prefer to talk about before five minutes before you shoot a scene.

Jarod: 00:08:07

but, there's always ways around it, you know?

Jarod: 00:08:10

We had one where there was a scene where a character was eating something, and the person who was playing the role, because of their dietary restrictions, preferences, whatever, like, Oh, by the way, I'm not going to eat that, I need something else.

Jarod: 00:08:23

You know, and it's like, Goodness, I wish we would have known this a week ago, not five minutes before shooting, but guess what, we can work around it, we can figure it out, I want to make sure that it fits your needs, and that sort of stuff, so

Jaclyn: 00:08:36

The moral of the story is if there's something in your script that you need to have changed, you want to address it right away, not on the day of shooting.

Jarod: 00:08:44

yes, yeah, it's very helpful that way.

Jarod: 00:08:47

Or, even before accepting the role, if perhaps you that it may be a deal breaker sort of sort of thing.

Jaclyn: 00:08:53

If it's a deal breaker, yeah, yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:08:55

Okay, so let's get into distribution.

Jaclyn: 00:08:57

We talked about, getting into that, cause as you mentioned before we started this show, things have changed, So can you explain what you mean by that and, and where things are at now?

Jarod: 00:09:08

Sure.

Jarod: 00:09:09

I think that 10 to 15 years ago for a filmmaker or, you know, director, writer, whatever, the idea of we got a distribution deal or we got distribution is almost like this stamp that you have arrived, that your product was good enough, that a company was willing to come on board and get behind it and get it out there to the masses.

Jarod: 00:09:31

And that was like this thing to go after.

Jarod: 00:09:33

And then what, you know, was the thought 10, 15 years ago, I think that it has remained that people see that as though getting distribution means you have a quality product, you know?

Jarod: 00:09:44

And I would say in my experiences, not necessarily for myself, but maybe others around me, is that that's not always the case, you know?

Jarod: 00:09:52

If you've made something that is borderline watchable, right?

Jarod: 00:09:57

There are certainly companies that are willing to come pick it up, put it in their catalog, and then they'll package it with 50 other products to go and try to sell to someone for potentially pennies on the dollar, you know?

Jarod: 00:10:11

For them it's okay because they're getting 20, 30, 50 percent off of all of these, but you put it out there and then the filmmaker may or may not see anything back from it.

Jarod: 00:10:21

So, you're getting distribution, but if that's your deal, have you really done anything when you yourself could go put it on Vimeo, on Amazon Prime, on YouTube and start making money back that way as opposed to being packaged with 50 or 100 other films...

Jarod: 00:10:38

to be sold for $10, 000 and you're seeing back a little bit, but the distributor, they get back five grand of it, but you as a package of 50 are getting 10 dollars.

Jarod: 00:10:50

You see what I'm saying?

Jarod: 00:10:51

I do think if you have a distributor that says they want your project.

Jarod: 00:10:56

If they have to put money on the line for it, that's kind of the, the heads up of, okay, this may be a real deal, because if they put money in, they now have a reason to get it out there and to get a good deal for you.

Jaclyn: 00:11:09

So, yeah, I think in the past, you would pay for them to take your project, correct?

Jarod: 00:11:15

I don't know that that was ever the case.

Jarod: 00:11:17

It was that the distributors were the only people that had the connections to get your product out to the masses

Jaclyn: 00:11:24

Okay.

Jaclyn: 00:11:24

OK.

Jaclyn: 00:11:24

I had thought that you would get like a deal where you would pay a certain amount and then they would go take it and then still you would split it.

Jaclyn: 00:11:32

So maybe I'm misunderstanding.

Jaclyn: 00:11:33

So this is a good conversation.

Jarod: 00:11:35

Yeah, you're talking about something that's taken place in the last five years or so.

Jarod: 00:11:38

There are those services that you can pay and they'll get you on the Apple Store.

Jarod: 00:11:44

They'll get you on Amazon.

Jarod: 00:11:46

They'll get you on all these different platforms.

Jarod: 00:11:48

Sometimes it's a hundred different places.

Jarod: 00:11:50

And then the money that comes in from it, you'll share with them.

Jarod: 00:11:53

But that's, you know, that's almost anybody that pays, you can get in on this, whether your product's garbage or not even finished or wonderful, you can get in for those types of things.

Jarod: 00:12:02

I'm thinking more of the traditional distribution in the past where you go to a festival or an event and they see your film and then they want to sign you to a distribution deal.

Jarod: 00:12:12

So you were tied in with them.

Jarod: 00:12:14

That's the one I'm thinking of.

Jarod: 00:12:15

that are still out there, but it just doesn't maybe have the benefits now that technology gives everyone direct access to their audience.

Geoff: 00:12:26

So Jared,, sounds like with regards to vindication, if I'm correct, you've, gone the route of self distribution?

Geoff: 00:12:33

But as far as your relationship with platforms that it is or has been on, you mentioned in the first part of the, of the interview, Redeem TV.

Geoff: 00:12:41

Tell us your experience, With, vindication , platforms, and RedeemTV . What they're all about, and how each of them has worked for you.

Jarod: 00:12:49

Yeah, well, everything that I just said about distribution is more from, others that I have interacted with or have seen their stories or experienced those.

Jarod: 00:12:58

We, on the other hand, with Vindication, have had a very unique experience.

Jarod: 00:13:01

So, RedeemTV is the, streaming service of Vision Video, which is the distributor.

Jarod: 00:13:07

And they, came along early on and saw Vindication and said, Hey, it was the first episode, they said, Hey, do you have plans for this?

Jarod: 00:13:15

Our plans were just to put it on YouTube, that it was a ministry, and move on to whatever God has next.

Jarod: 00:13:20

And they said, well, if you let us come in as a distributor, we think we could get this out to a broader audience.

Jarod: 00:13:25

And our standpoint was, well, you know, you put on YouTube, people are going to watch it for a weekend, and then it's going to get buried in the noise, at least this distribution company is going to be, you know, putting it in catalogs and talking to other services internationally, and just trying to get it out there . we think as a ministry it would have a chance of reaching more audience members more eyeballs if we went the distribution route instead of just dropping it on YouTube.

Jarod: 00:13:49

And so what happened was, we signed the agreement, they didn't have any money on the line, they didn't pay us a lump sum up front, it was just, we will be your distributor.

Jarod: 00:13:57

But what happened is they started getting very positive responses from streaming services, from DVD sales, from all the different channels.

Jarod: 00:14:06

It was doing really well, it was performing very well.

Jarod: 00:14:09

And from that they said, Hey, if you ever wanted to make another one of these.

Jarod: 00:14:14

We think that there's opportunities out there to recoup budget because this one has done so well.

Jarod: 00:14:19

The people who are buying the first one, you know, small deals, maybe $500 or, you know, a thousand - small deals.

Jarod: 00:14:27

But the people who are doing it, they're saying, Hey, this is doing well on our service.

Jarod: 00:14:30

We'd like to see another one.

Jarod: 00:14:31

So if you could do a second one, we think there would be an opportunity for it.

Jarod: 00:14:35

And that just kind of had the snowball effect that we did that and they said, well, can you do two more episodes, and that turned in...

Jarod: 00:14:41

when we were doing our first season, we never knew which episode was going to be the last one.

Jarod: 00:14:45

I had the target in mind of maybe let's try to do 10 of these.

Jarod: 00:14:48

Um, but after five, that may have been the end, because if those other companies and other outlets ever decided, eh, it's not doing as well, or, eh, we don't like this as much, then, then that's the end of it.

Jarod: 00:15:00

And so season one, we, we kind of just snowball effect.

Jarod: 00:15:03

That we were able to continue doing these until we had a full season and then it went out there and once you have a full season instead of just a single episode, you kind of have some bigger players want to step in.

Jarod: 00:15:13

You know, a full season is worth more money to them than...

Jarod: 00:15:16

'cause that's the equivalent runtime of about three feature films.

Jarod: 00:15:19

That has more value to them.

Jarod: 00:15:21

So, it's not any secret that Pure Flix, they licensed season one of Vindication right at the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic when lots of people were home, streaming lots of stuff, and it did really, really well on their service.

Jarod: 00:15:35

I've never heard the numbers.

Jarod: 00:15:36

All I know is they were on the phone pretty quickly saying, we need a second season of this.

Jarod: 00:15:41

And so they came on as a...

Jarod: 00:15:43

I think they call it a pre sell.

Jarod: 00:15:45

It was basically like, hey, you go make this, we will license it for X number of dollars, that helped cover a significant portion of the production budget.

Jarod: 00:15:54

And it was signed ahead of time, so we knew, we make the product, they are licensing it, it's already signed, and so It's a little different than the other story I was sharing at the beginning.

Jarod: 00:16:04

If you have a feature film or something like that, you know, it grew and then season two came out.

Jarod: 00:16:08

Let's go ahead and do a season three.

Jarod: 00:16:10

Same thing with Pure Flicks.

Jarod: 00:16:11

And then there's other international places that are also licensing.

Jarod: 00:16:14

It's in Australia.

Jarod: 00:16:15

It's in Germany.

Jarod: 00:16:17

It's in South America.

Jarod: 00:16:18

It's in these other places as well.

Jarod: 00:16:21

So that just kind of helped it all come together so that we have The funding on these pre sells for the most part to produce new seasons.

Geoffrey Whitt: 00:16:29

So the PureFlix funding, so to speak, or pre sales, was non exclusive.

Jarod: 00:16:34

No, it was exclusive.

Jarod: 00:16:35

We could still sell it on DVD.

Jarod: 00:16:37

We could still go to other countries.

Jarod: 00:16:39

We could sell it, like, if you go on Amazon and you buy the video, but they were the exclusive streaming service.

Jarod: 00:16:47

It couldn't go on Tubi, it couldn't go on YouTube or any of those types of things.

Jarod: 00:16:51

So, you know, it was a branded a PureFlix original series for the first three seasons and still is, uh, they in particular have had some, some ownership, leadership changes over the last couple of years I mean, if you go on their service, they're going a different direction than what they were doing in 2020 to 2022.

Jarod: 00:17:09

So, vindication isn't so much of a solid fit for them anymore.

Jarod: 00:17:14

but, luckily we have a fan base and audience who says, No, we need more of this, and that's opening doors for us to continue.

Jaclyn: 00:17:21

Mm-hmm.

Jaclyn: 00:17:22

And for people that do want to help move the series forward and continue filming, they can go to RedeemTV and do the paid donor.

Jaclyn: 00:17:32

Is that correct?

Jarod: 00:17:34

Yeah, theres several ways.

Jarod: 00:17:35

Basically, Redem TV is all donor suported.

Jarod: 00:17:38

That's , how how work.

Jarod: 00:17:40

You can watch most anything on their service.

Jarod: 00:17:42

They have a few things that are perks for their donors.

Jarod: 00:17:45

They said, hey, if you're a supporter of this service, here's a few extra things that we'll let you get.

Jarod: 00:17:50

And that's where Vindication Has been hanging out there.

Jarod: 00:17:53

So, when people do sign up, they can select Vindication, kind of as their preferred donation destination, so when they put in that donation, it goes towards keeping the show going.

Jarod: 00:18:04

It's almost like a vote saying, hey, this is a show that we would like to keep going.

Jarod: 00:18:09

And for those, I mean, it's not cheap making shows, especially at high quality.

Jarod: 00:18:14

so, so those that just like, Man, this, this show has touched me.

Jarod: 00:18:17

This show has, is breaking boundaries , doing things that haven't been done before.

Jarod: 00:18:21

You know, don't just have to do the minimum donation.

Jarod: 00:18:24

There's opportunities to do more.

Jarod: 00:18:27

And that certainly helps us because you know, if everybody, if everybody does the minimum donation, the show's going to end up going away.

Jarod: 00:18:32

So it does need people who, who just feel like, Hey, we'd like to see more of this.

Jarod: 00:18:38

I'll also say nobody's getting rich off of vindication, from our cast or our crew to myself.

Jarod: 00:18:42

You know, a lot of our money we give to entertainment is just going to make really, really rich people a little bit richer.

Jarod: 00:18:48

And for me personally, it's like shopping local.

Jarod: 00:18:51

It's being able to give to hard working people like myself so that they can continue to live.

Jarod: 00:18:58

I can do that a whole lot easier than, helping an executive get his, sixth bonus for the year that, buys a yacht or whatever else.

Jaclyn: 00:19:07

So are you considered to be like, uh, an independent filmmaker?

Jaclyn: 00:19:12

You're your own production company, correct?

Jarod: 00:19:15

I think so.

Jarod: 00:19:16

I'm not Somebody would have to tell me what I am.

Jaclyn: 00:19:19

I'm just, I'm thinking because you have the opportunity to produce according to your vision rather than like, anytime you work for Hollywood or certain networks or whatever, they have their own thing that they would want to see and therefore, producers for those kinds of projects would have to cater to those demands.

Jaclyn: 00:19:38

So I think, like, just going along the lines of what you're saying, is recognizing that as people are contributing to getting these things made, they're also contributing to you being allowed to work from your own space of integrity where you have your vision and you have the way that you want to approach things, and you have the freedom to do that because you don't have a network or, Hollywood or something breathing down your neck saying, we need skin on the screen or you know what I mean?

Jarod: 00:20:05

right, right, yeah.

Jarod: 00:20:06

So the scripts that I do and the episodes I do, they still have to get approval.

Jarod: 00:20:11

I'm not funding these out of my own personal bank account.

Jarod: 00:20:14

There are companies and organizations and donors and other things involved that do, have to give the green light.

Jarod: 00:20:21

but to your point, and I try to not ever lose sight of this, the fact that I've been able to sit down and say, hey, here's the story I want to tell and here's the actress I want to work with and I'm going to direct it and I'm going to edit it and I get to Pick what type of music goes, you know, those sorts of things.

Jarod: 00:20:38

That doesn't happen a lot out in the Hollywood studio system.

Jaclyn: 00:20:41

Yeah.

Jarod: 00:20:41

It's here's the script that we want to do, you come in and direct it, here's the actors we want you to have, we'll decide this, and oh, you're going to say these words, you're going to do this, and I've had the luxury of really from the beginning to the end of the process to be able to control for the most part, but, like I said, there are people that have to approve it and look at it.

Jarod: 00:21:00

You know, when we're working with PureFlix, when we turn in episodes, they had content review people that would go in and say, Hey, we want to change this scene.

Jarod: 00:21:08

We don't like this.

Jarod: 00:21:09

We want to change that.

Jarod: 00:21:10

So it seems like you're always working with somebody, unless you're funding it out of your own bank account and, self distributing, then there's usually someone that you're reporting to at some level of it.

Jarod: 00:21:20

But comparatively speaking, yeah, I've had the opportunity to do a lot that, uh, that others just don't, and really fortunate and thankful.

Jarod: 00:21:30

You know, example, season 2 of Vindication, when there was the flag football game, the fundraiser, if you remember that one, right?

Jarod: 00:21:37

I'm a football guy, I've spent...

Jarod: 00:21:39

many of the videos I've made early in my pre filmmaking career were like, pick up football games out in, you know, parks and stuff, and I'd make it like it's a highlight reel.

Jarod: 00:21:50

I enjoyed that.

Jarod: 00:21:51

So guess what?

Jarod: 00:21:51

I got to sit down on an episode and say, Hey, guess what?

Jarod: 00:21:53

We're gonna have a football game in the middle of a crime drama series, and it's gonna make sense and fit in, so...

Jarod: 00:22:00

or I could imagine in other capacities, you don't get to pick your own favorite things and drop them in.

Jarod: 00:22:05

You can see behind me the Back to the Future poster of...

Jarod: 00:22:07

like many young men of the 80s and early 90s.

Jarod: 00:22:10

You know, the DeLorean car was just like this amazing one.

Jarod: 00:22:13

Well, we have one of those in season two of Vindication.

Jarod: 00:22:16

There's a DeLorean that shows up in one of the episodes.

Jarod: 00:22:18

So again, that's getting to have that luxury to do really neat things start to finish that isn't, I would say, the norm for the industry.

Jaclyn: 00:22:27

What would you say for a producer who, is working on developing their own series and they're thinking like, okay, so self distribution sounds like something interesting I want to look into.

Jaclyn: 00:22:38

where would you tell them to start?

Jarod: 00:22:42

I would say before signing up with any particular place or destination, you have to figure out what the next step is.

Jarod: 00:22:50

Okay, I'm self distributing.

Jarod: 00:22:52

How are people going to hear about this show?

Jarod: 00:22:55

You know?

Jarod: 00:22:56

If you have a, a social media account that has half a million followers?

Jarod: 00:23:01

Well, then you have your answer to it.

Jarod: 00:23:02

That's how I'm going to make people aware of this.

Jarod: 00:23:05

But thinking that someone else is going to do that hard work for you just because you sign up for a service, you need to have an answer to that.

Jarod: 00:23:13

So, before you go anywhere, the bigger question is how are people going to hear about this?

Jarod: 00:23:17

Whether you have it on YouTube or Prime or Vimeo or some other service.

Jarod: 00:23:22

Okay, that's great you have it there.

Jarod: 00:23:24

How are people going to hear about it?

Jarod: 00:23:26

And what's going to cause them to come and watch it there?

Jarod: 00:23:29

Where, where's your audience going to come from?

Jarod: 00:23:32

The next step , is answering that question.

Jarod: 00:23:34

And it can be different for everybody.

Jarod: 00:23:35

There's no easy answer.

Jarod: 00:23:37

It could be, you know, grassroots campaign, going to churches, asking them if they would tell their members about the show.

Jarod: 00:23:44

Maybe it's through social media influencers, There's so many different options.

Jarod: 00:23:47

But having a solid answer to that is the next step.

Jaclyn: 00:23:51

Great.

Jaclyn: 00:23:52

Thank you so much, this has been very insightful and, uh, it's been a pleasure speaking with you today.

Geoff: 00:23:58

I think there's been some really, really helpful information there for our, listeners on so many levels.

Geoff: 00:24:02

Thank you.

Jarod: 00:24:04

Yeah, absolutely.

Jarod: 00:24:05

It's, you know, I've never really considered myself like a filmmaker.

Jarod: 00:24:09

This wasn't something I set out to do when I was younger...

Jarod: 00:24:12

sometimes I say It wasn't even really a dream?

Jarod: 00:24:14

It's almost something that fell on me.

Jarod: 00:24:15

And yet you have thousands of people all over the country going to film school right now, just with the dream of being able to do what I'm doing.

Jarod: 00:24:24

And like, that's not going to happen for all of them.

Jarod: 00:24:27

And yet here I have the opportunity.

Jarod: 00:24:29

Four seasons, you know, and to, to do all of this stuff.

Jarod: 00:24:33

So I guess it just gives me a unique perspective on being able to share with people about my journey or what I've experienced.

Jarod: 00:24:39

Cause again, it's not that I've been in this world and this is my dream and passion.

Jarod: 00:24:44

I'm just kind of like a regular dude that happened to fall into making a series that, that has done reasonably well.

Jarod: 00:24:51

So, glad to know that some of the insight is helpful.

Jaclyn: 00:24:55

Absolutely.