Dear film panels (or whoever reads this),

I wanted to share some reflections about Jake, why he was so special, and why this film is so special. There's no way to encapsulate everything about him (and trust me I'm not going to try), but I hope this provides a small glimpse into the man behind the film.

Jake and I met in high school. At the time, he had dreams of being a rapper and I had dreams of being a producer, so it was a match made in heaven. Quickly, I saw how he and all his favorite artists had a story to tell — painting rich worlds that brought the listener in to new worlds and built empathy across people of different backgrounds.

While his dream to be the new eminem faded, the desire to story-tell and follow his passions never did. Fast forward to post-college, and Jake told me he was moving to LA to start working on a movie script. Had Jake studied film in school and did he have countless connections in LA setting him up for success? Nope! Not at all. For pretty much anyone else making this decision, it would have seemed completely abnormal. With Jake though, it seemed obvious — he loved storytelling, he loved connecting with people, and he loved to diligently follow his passions. Once he made this decision, nothing was going to stop him from learning and making an impact.

Going forward, Jake and I probably talked on the phone for 2+ hours monthly as his journey in LA evolved. With every call, Jake would dive in with so much energy about all the exciting things he was learning about film — the new scripts he'd read, the classics he'd studied, the films I just had to see. It felt like he was consuming material, learning, and improving at an extremely voracious pace, and yet he never lost his growth and beginner's mindset. For him, it was always about being able to convey stories in compelling and human ways, and he was open to any feedback/learning/work that would help him master the art and science of doing just that.

Jump to Redline, Jake's first short-film and the one you're reviewing here. Jake put everything into this film, and I really mean everything. He'd always tell me "Everyone keeps telling me my first film is going to be terrible, that's just how it's going to be. I believe everything they're saying about how hard it is, and that's why I'm going to do literally anything I can (and surround myself with whomever I can) to overcome the odds, tell this story, and make something impactful."

He put all his time into this film — every time we chatted he was iterating on the script, hiring incredible actors or other partners to bring this to life, seeking out advice from people who had done this before, and more.

He put all his money into this film — he couldn't afford car payments because he was putting everything into this film. He went out of his way to find odd jobs, fundraise, etc so he wouldn't have to cut the budget and compromise the quality of the story.

He put his name on the line for the integrity and storytelling of the film — he gave acting opportunities to people with no experience, who actually lived the backgrounds of some of the characters in the script.

He literally put himself into this film — the protagonist (or maybe antagonist?) is a reflection of Jake and arguably of his own self-disappoint and shame from his own experience. The vulnerability and self-exposure was never a question, he was telling a story that needed to be told and sugar-coating his own actions or self-image was never a goal.

Anyway, I think you probably get it at this point — Jake cared deeply about storytelling and cared deeply about telling this story through film in a high quality way.

I want to leave you with one final thought: a few weeks ago I saw someone homeless (I recognized him from my neighborhood) struggling to get help at a bank branch. Like most of the people there, my initial reaction was to look away and continue focusing on my own place in line. However, something stopped me and caused me to look up, join the conversation, and spend the rest of the day helping him out. At the end of the day, this man was just trying to improve his position in a system and society that's constantly ignoring him or actively challenging him. I don't tell this story to say anything about me. Instead, I tell this story because something tells me that this film and Jake are the reason I made that decision to look up and get involved. Jake was never afraid of confronting challenges in society, and when he felt he "failed" → he felt no other option than to make a short film about it. That ethos and that film, this film, still stick with me and impact me every day — I hope Jake gets the chance to open dialogue with more of the world through this festival.

Wishing you all the best,

Parker