Jacob All Trades #312
Sinema, squirrels, Sherlock, Office Space, Harry Potter, something to believe, Rachel Bloom and more.
Hello, and happy first night of Channukah! The last two months have been overwhelmingly busy with work, finishing up a music video (see below) and an Oscar campaign for our short documentary, Full Picture (also see below). I’m honestly shocked it’s been a month since my last newsletter. I think there will likely be another before the end of 2022. What else is going on? My wife, Heather, finished her first semester of graduate school for Organizational Psychology. Our daughter is WALKING already, and we took* these unbelievably cute family photos:
*Mandee Johnson took them, not us. She’s the best.
Jacob
HERE’S AN IDEA: BILLIONAIRE BEAR FIGHT
Once a year, every billionaire should have to fight a bear without any weapons. If they die, their entire net worth is donated to charity. If they don’t want to fight the bear, all they have to do is make sure they’re worth $999,999,999 or less before National Billionaire Fights A Bear Day.
The only thing I haven’t cracked yet is how to make this less hurtful to the bear who honestly shouldn’t have to deal with any of this. By my calculations, though, the Billionaire Bear Fight initiative would redistribute nearly a trillion dollars from billionaires to charities in the first year. There would probably not be a second year.
CONSUMPTION JUNCTION
Dan Pfeiffer is my favorite of the ‘pod save boys’ and I’m a loyal reader of his substack The Message Box. His take on why Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic party put things in perspective for me. The TL;DR is that her polling suggests she’d lose a Democratic primary, but if she runs as an Independent in 2024 she’d bypass that primary and put the DNC in the tough position of running someone against her (and splitting the vote, likely handing the seat to a Republican) or backing her as an independent who nobody likes, but will caucus with the party.
My Duduś is a simple and beautiful short doc by Tom Crawczyk about his mother raising an orphaned baby squirrel. I met Tom at Salute Your Shorts Film Festival when My Duduś screened alongside my comedic short, Gum. If you, like me, are a sucker for cute animals and beautiful cinematography, you will love this film.
Los Angeles’ most famous bachelor, the mountain lion known as P-22, passed away this week. P-22 meant so much to so many and the eulogy written for him by National Wildlife Federation’s Beth Pratt, who studied and advocated for P-22, really hit me. Read it here.
A GOOD LONG READ
I really enjoyed the ‘oral history of Office Space’ as reported by The Ringer (who apparently credit their authors but not their illustrators). It’s one of my favorite films and the behind-the-scenes stories are delightful.
GATHER ‘ROUND THE TABLE, I’LL GIVE YOU A TREAT
I love mysteries. I love board games. I love Harry Potter. As things slow down toward the end of the year and many of us look forward to spending time with friends and family, I wanted to share one of my favorite games: Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. (SHCD)
If you click through on that link, you’ll quickly note that this is neither a board game nor does it have anything to do with Harry Potter. Fair point. This is all background.
In SHCD you play as one of the Baker Street Irregulars. Each case has a map of London, a copy of the days Times newspaper, and a directory. You read the case and then it’s up to you to decide where to investigate. It unfolds somewhat like a choose-your-own-adventure book but in game form. It’s very challenging, and a great activity to play by yourself, or with a group of people. It’s widely considered to be one of the best (board) games of all time – but it can be extremely challenging.
Here’s where Harry Potter comes in. The original SHCD was made in the 1980s and since then fans have made their own stand-alone mysteries. Most exist in the Sherlock Holmes universe, but I stumbled upon one that is a bit simpler, exists in the Harry Potter Universe, and is web-based. My dad and brother and I did it together over Thanksgiving and it was super fun. Here’s a link if you’re interested in playing.
The writing is note-perfect and you can play while supporting the fandom, and not giving any money to (anti-trans activist) J.K. Rowling.
AND WHILE WE’RE AT IT…
Have you played the party game Wavelength? It is a damn near-perfect party or family game that I’d highly recommend. The physical version is a beautifully designed blast.
But, there’s also an app version that you can play with multiple people, each using your own phone and — hot dang! – it is also a blast. Download it for free here.
I MADE THIS JUST FOR YOU
I’ve been working on a music video for the last couple of months and it’s finally out for you to watch. Written by my friend Philip Labes, the song ‘something to believe’ is about existential angst in the face of the climate crisis, gun violence, misinformation, and so much more. It’s sad and hopeful at the same time.
This was a Herculean effort done with an insanely small crew. It really wouldn’t have been possible without each of them: producer/AD Matt Mazany and cinematographer Carissa Dorson, gaffer Rene Yescas, and pyrotechnician Scott Harrison. We also lucked out when we realized we had room for one more person in our caravan out to the desert and Clay Larsen happened to be available. Clay is a masterful photographer and artist so getting to have him as a pair of extra hands on set was a boon.
I’ve got a ton of behind-the-scenes footage and will likely put together a ‘making of’ video to share at some point as well. Meanwhile here are a few set photos just for you.
LITERALLY JUST A BRAG
We were lucky enough to add Emmy and Golden Globe winner Rachel Bloom to our film Full Picture as an executive producer. Rachel is a singular talent who has built a career deftly tackling difficult subjects with smart, comedic execution. Santina and I have been friends and fans of Rachel for years and we’re thrilled that she is lending her support to this important film.
Shortlist voting wrapped up last week and we’ll find out if we made the cut later this week. If so, holy shit. If not, it’s been a helluva ride.
Alrighty, that’s it for this week. Feel free to leave a comment or share the newsletter using the links below.
Party on,
Jacob
WAVELENGTH! Enjoyed the rest as well :)
That music video is so great!!!