interview we did we spoke about everything from film making in NYC, who he is inspired by to licensing films. Checkout the interview we did with Jace Below. Photos taken by @shotbyjust_
So tell me about yourself. State your full name and everything; full name, age.
Jeremy Jace Wallace., New York based writer/ director, founder of Ninety-nine years. Age, currently twenty-nine. I’m about to be thirty in a couple of days.
Oh, well happy belated birthday. So what kind of film making do you do?
I guess I could tell you more about what I’m inspired by if that helps. I guess drama with like Sci-Fi elements to it. I really focus on like human connection in my films and it is deep rooted in drama, but it always has like those deep elements of Sci-FI that helps push the story along.
So when you say your films, how many films have you produced? What are some of the names of the films that you have produced?
I won a Hall of Film festival for one of my films; Hello Malcolm, in 2017. It’s on Amazon Prime right now. It’s about a teddy bear on a quest to find his voice. This little girl picks up the teddy bear. At first he’s wishing he could speak to her to tell her that he’s not lost and he was there waiting on his owner to return. As the movie moves along, he’s wishing he could speak to her to tell her how much he loves her and appreciates her.
How long is that movie?
It’s like fifteen minutes.
When it comes to short films, it feels like there is an art to it. So what is your art in short film making to make it standout?
The first thing I do is I always drop people in the middle of the action. That’s the first thing. I hadn’t thought about that, but I think what makes my stuff stand out is just the ability to really just convey emotions concisely within a quick given amount of time because that’s the thing, I’m really huge on like surrealism and juxtaposition so I love to like create content that really deals heavily with that. Like I said, it’s grounded in drama but it really has a Sci-Fi element that helps push them along. So, I hope that answers your question.
What age are you up to now?
Right now, we’re at forty-four.
Are these real people or actresses?
Real people. We go to parks, like Central Park, Times Square, stuff like that and just shoot people as well. So public places, but it’s easier in the summer. So that’s why we’re about to start up now again. It’s going to get warmer and people are going to be outside.
When did you start?
My first son, Ocean, was four when we filmed it, but I started that in November 2017.
So, what is the goal of this series? Would you call it a series or what would you call it?
It started off as a series. Now it’s a platform. I’m really in the process now of doing spinoff shows and podcasts and really just trying to grow it beyond its current state of what I thought it could be, you know, so it’s growing. We have the series aspect of it, the podcast aspect of it and then we have like the events and organizational aspects of it as well to really hone in the idea of collaboration and connectivity.
Are you doing it by yourself or do you have a team you’re working with?
I just picked up a partner, Michael Tenant. He’s doing Curiosity Live. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with that. What they’re doing; they have these cards called actually curious as a game and where you ask your partner or whoever, it could be a group of however many people, you’d ask them questions and you guys go around the table talking about it and it gets more intense and more intense as you move along. He created it; him and his girlfriend, they created it and it’s really interesting. That’s one thing he focused on too as well; creativity and stuff like that so I knew it would be great to have him join me and help me put it where I want it to be. I’m inspired by that and like Ted Talks and stuff like that so curated events, curated connectivity that connects us all. I really want to get from behind the screen and really in the communities.
How long is each episode that you feature in the Ninety-nine series?
it’s about fifteen minutes. It’s really quick; no more than thirty. So every season is a different thing. This year is happiness. Next year it’s going to be fear. So what’s your biggest fear?
So, how many shows are in each season?
Ninety-nine so there’s micro clips for every age.
You started in 2017, what years have you covered so far?
This is the first season that we started in September. It released in September of last year. So we started production in November 2017. It started off just being a series and now that we’re trying to diversify it and really turn it into this platform, we’re taking a break to really figure out what it can be. That’s the thing that I didn’t realize. At first, I’m just a filmmaker so for me, it was just a cool project. As I put it out, I started to realize that it can be a lot bigger and like people are really connecting with it. I want to do it justice and the people who are a part of it and people who love it and allow them to see a little bit more.
What kind of production did you work on in Indianapolis? Was it more so for yourself working as a contractor for other films, how exactly was it?
So I have my own production company. The name is A Million Other Things, and now I’m starting a new one with a friend of mine called Artistry Pictures. So I do a lot of client based work and then in my spare time, I do content for myself.
how would you describe where you are in your entrepreneurial journey right now?
I’m transitioning into more of the entrepreneurial mind set, before, I guess, it was more of a hustler’s mind set where it’s just like, okay, cool, I’ve got this, how do I keep it? How do I sustain it? At the end of the day, I’ve been a businessman really since I was like twelve years old.
What was your first business?
Record labeling. I had my own record label around my neighborhood. I got all my friends together, we started producing content and we went to Toys R Us and got the Playstation two. We got like Magic’s Music Maker and we’d make beats on my Playstation two.
What did you call yourselves?
Auburn Records. That was the street, Auburn Road. I’ve always had that entrepreneurial mindset and stuff like that. I’ve always been doing things that I love. So like me doing that was enough for me but now I’m starting to realize okay, there’s more than just doing what you love. How do you expand on it? How do you make it more sustainable and create more passive income for yourself to do that? So that’s why I’m in the process of learning and really understanding and really putting forth, moving forward.
What has been the biggest challenge for you so far?
I would say the biggest challenge, I would say distractions, if that makes sense. Personally, I would say distractions. I get distracted quickly, like I’m always bouncing from one idea to the next. As I listen to some of my favorite directors, that’s just what happens. I think that is what happens as a director. You’re not pumping out new content all day, all day, all day. It took Jordan Peele eight years to do Get Out. It takes years and time to do that but because I’m not where I necessarily want to be, I feel like I have to always be creating content in order to get there. I don’t know if that’s a really good answer.It’s weird to answer this question cause I don’t want to look at it from a point of like external sources to tell me where it is I want to be but I want to be in a position where I’m able to take on those bigger projects. That’s where I want to be cause I have the content, I just don’t have the eyes on it yet, you know, to where I can create those bigger content; I’m able to go to networks and like getting different things being lit for this network or being able to work with certain production companies to create content for a larger audience. That’s what I want. I guess that’s what want. I’m looking for that larger audience.
What is success for you at this point?
I feel like I’m already successful; me being able to live my dreams full time, it makes me happy but I think beyond that, I would say success for me is the ability to have that larger audience and that larger platform and really create passive income throughout the things I create. Like Ninety-nine years, I’m looking at that now moving forward as like a passive income for myself. It’s a huge platform that I can end up moving on from and having other people come in and really structure it. That’s the thing too, when it comes to my content, people hire me because of the idea, but really because of my eyes. I was like, how do you pass that off to somebody else? I wasn’t trained in this, I just woke up and I was good at it and I feel like that’s just how it is.
Did you go to school for production?
I just picked it up one day, literally picked it up one day. I’ve never worked for anybody, ever. I had a clothing company before this.
How was the clothing brand?
It was really good. I had a skate team and everything. I did really good.
It seems like every time you get into it, you think long-term and then it goes away that fast.
I agree but I get bored quick. I get really bored really quickly so that’s why I get nervous. That’s what scares me the most about me. I just get bored. I’m not saying I’m bored with Ninety-nine years, but it’s been three months since we put out anything and it’s kind of like, okay, now I’m writing a new series. I just finished up a drama I just wrote and now I’m writing this and that’s just like, alright man, focus, come back. That’s really what I’m trying to focus on now; really just sticking to one thing for a long time. That’s the death of me and my career, the ability to stick to one thing.
You said you have a fiance and you have a child, How do you balance it when you have to focus on making money to maintain your family? How do you balance it all?
I think what makes it great is the fact that they’re gone majority of the day, it frees me up and gives me the ability to work within that time and then even at night, I’m always doing something so it’s always a constant conversation about put your phone down now or do this now because that is my mindset. I wish it could be as comfortable as me knowing every day that whether I work at night, I’m going to get paid. I mean you can really stand around and go to a job and stand around for eight hours and still getting paid now. How long was that going to last? That’s up to the management, but as far as me, I can’t do that. If I’m not working, if I’m not networking, if I’m not doing those things for myself, then nothing. She understands. There’s a balance between us. It’s beautiful that I don’t work as much a month. I actually film maybe two days a month, you know? So it’s great. It gives me time to really focus more on my writing. So I only really pick up a camera three or four days a month and everything else is just writing. So I guess it’s a great thing. I mean, it’s a great thing from a financial sense. It’s not once they went off, but yeah, it’s a great thing like I create for myself. I don’t think that balance is going to last forever, especially when it’s time for these writings to now be produced so we’ll see.
Who are you inspired by?
I’m inspired by Stanley Kubrick.The shining 2001 space odyssey, Eyes Wide Shut film inspired by him. Just his ability to work through different genres of film and his eyes are just amazing. Christopher Nolan, the Dark Knight series, Batman. Christopher Nolan did that. Hillman and Spike Jones who did Where the Wild Things Are and Barry Jenkins.
For some reason, I thought that you would have said Ryan Coogler because he’s now like the go to guy for Marvel films and those extra Sci-Fi films
Not necessarily. I like poetry. All the people I mentioned have some poetry to them. He’s very like Hollywood and blockbustery too much for me. I didn’t really care for Black Panther. It is just so typical. It’s just a typical superhero. It didn’t have the substance of the the dark knight in it, you know, stuff like that. The dark night is like the magnum opus of like superhero films. That’s how you make a superhero film. Those are some of my favorites. Jordan Peele is actually inspiring me to get into horror.
Hearing the film makers you mention that you’re inspired by, I’am also surprised you didn’t say horror because you did say you like Sci-Fi.
I’m not really huge on horror. Horror films don’t really give me the substance that I want. It’s like comedy, I really care for comedy either because comedy, that balance is really either to scare you or make you laugh and everything in between is just thriller. So that’s why I like drama and Sci-Fi because it’s always leaving you with something at the end. What Jordan Peele is doing with like Get Out and Us is really allowing us to get that substance and that depth within his themes. So that’s what I like.
How long do you want it to go? You’re at age forty-four, you’ve been filming since 2017 so how long do you plan to film before you release it?
They’ll just be released episodically. No, episodic. That’s the way it is every season. We’ve got ninety-nine episodes a season.
When are you going to release the second season?
This September
So by September, you’re going to have all ninety-nine episodes for the first season.
And season two. I guess what I would say lastly is I need people to come on board and help. I can’t do it myself.
Other than Ninety-nine years, is there anything else you want to have done before 2019 ends?
The new series on writing and directing. That’s something. Also, I’m working on a number of other short films. I’m working on a short film called Adam about. Pastors always talk about God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, and all of a sudden we’re curious like, what if God did create Adam and Steve, but they couldn’t reproduce so he had to kill Steve.
So is that like a comedy? Is the film based on the societal views of the LGBT community?
It’s not a comedy, it’s very drama driven. I hadn’t thought about until you said it, but it’s very dark, very dark. That’s what I’m into. I’m into people dying at the end of every movie or at some point, somebody has to die. I think for me it was interesting because I had been working on this idea for five, about five years now, but it wasn’t till I saw moonlight, a heterosexual male, that I could really tell the story. When I saw moonlight, I’m like, okay, I can do it.
What about Moonlight inspired you?
It’s just beautiful. It’s a good movie, very poetic. It almost felt like a book because it gave a lot of internal dialogue without giving it, you know, like you really were able to get into this guy’s head and really like understand who he is inside and who we has to be outside. I thought that was really interesting and really compelling, the way you really see the three stages of this guy. It was really interesting.
With your film career, hopefully you don’t get bored because clearly you are very talented
That’s the one thing I can’t get bored of. I did music, I did fashion and then I found film.
What about the music industry bored you? Most people love it so what about it bored you?
When it came to music and when it came to fashion, I felt like I was always being somebody else. When it came to fashion and music, I never felt like I had my own voice. When I was doing music, around 2004, I was selling Kanye West and I was like who am I within that? My music sounded like them. I was always trying to like emulate them or imitate them and then with fashion, I had my favorite designers and stuff that I was trying to imitate as well. When it came to film, I feel like there was no imitation, it allowed me the ability to always be myself. That’s why I truly found my voice in film and storytelling.
Were you like producing or were you on a talent?
I was a little bit of both. But, I’m getting back into music now so I do music on my iPad.
Are you trying to get back to the producer end or talent end?
I’m getting back into music now so I do music on my iPad. I’m really inspired by electronic music. I’ve always been inspired by that. I tried to start a band years ago.
You don’t really hear too many people of color in that. That’s why I said it’s interesting.
Especially Americans, that’s more of like a UK based thing. That’s where I’ve got a lot of my inspiration from. James Blake, that’s one of my favorite artists of all time. Okay, he’s one of my favorites. Sampha, he worked with Drake on the Take Care album. That’s when I was introduced to him. So I’m working on music like that. I want to do a three track EP.
Well technically, it benefits you because as a film maker when it comes to licensing music, it gets really expensive so if you put your own music in your films, all profit is solely yours.
I found a player on Alaskan tapes who was a Canadian based producer, but he usually scores all my films. He did the music for Ninety-nine years and all my films so I’m happy to have a partnership with him. I either take a track from him that he already has preexisting and he’ll allow me to have that or he’ll create a track. It just depends on what.
You just got into real details. When it comes to film making, people don’t understand, when it comes to the music part, how that itself is a whole other challenge.
I remember that same movie, they paid so many millions for music. It was a couple millions for music on that. I was just listening to a track of mine the other day and I’m like I could use it for something. I do a shot daily.
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Thank you for taking time out to interview. I know you’re super busy and have a lot going on. This is Andrea signing off with Jeremy Jace Wallace. You can. connect with Jace on instragram @directedbyjace, and see his Ninety-Nine series project.
