Some Changes To Jacob All Trades
A new way to help me make things...
This is a rare “state of the newsletter” newsletter. If that interests you, please keep reading. If not, feel free to skip this. I’ll be sending out a regular newsletter tomorrow. Otherwise, keep reading, and thank you.
For the last three years, I’ve been working on a bizarre project called Jacob Reed & Me. It’s an investigative comedy podcast where I track down other people named Jacob Reed and see what we have in common. This started as a joke when I’d go hiking with my friend Danny and talk about how everyone was cashing in on low-effort podcasts and how I would do one where I interviewed all the other people with my (very common) name.
Danny — an EP on Netflix’s Chef’s Table — would always encourage me to actually make this show. I didn’t… because why would I?
Then, the pandemic happened, and I had nothing to do. Like many of us, I went stir-crazy. But instead of making sourdough bread or taking up knitting, I tracked down other people with the same name.
Eventually, I circled back around with Danny, told him what I’d been up to, and sent him some of the early tape. His production company, End of The Road, became my partners on the project. Eventually, we added an excellent podcast company called Kelly & Kelly, and the project was repped by UTA. We started taking it out to buyers in the summer of 2023.
In the second week of 2024, we learned a big deal Director/EP wanted to sign on board to be the Executive Producer of the show through the audio division of their production company. We were thrilled. We were thrilled because we were fans of this person’s decades-long impact on art and entertainment, thrilled because of the genuine connection we had with their development team, thrilled because of the doors just using their name would open — let alone actually being creative partners with them.
Over the last seven months, we worked with agents, business affairs, and business affairs to figure out all the deal points, and last Wednesday, we finished the deal. Then, on Friday, one of the executives called me to tell me that — due to larger industry uncertainty — the audio department was shutting down, and the project was dead.
The last few years have been hard. Work has been scarce. The entertainment industry is being ‘disrupted’ by mergers, corporate greed, venture capital, streaming, general incompetence, foreign tax breaks — you name it. But, for the last seven months, I felt hopeful because it really seemed like this deal was going to line up.
Having it go away was kind of an ideological rock bottom for me. It made me realize that with outside-the-box ideas—from crowdfunding a plane to fly over the studios during the strike to creating an animated episode of Frasier—I bet on myself and make things happen. But, in my career as a writer, director, whatever-er, I’ve largely expected my path to go through traditional methods: pitching, networking, and hoping for opportunities from gatekeepers.
I no longer feel like that is going to happen.
And I think I’m done waiting for people to let me make the things I want to make.
So… where does that leave things? All I’ve ever wanted to do is make things (short films, features, podcasts, art) and not worry about how I pay my bills. My goal isn’t to be rich or famous — I just want to make art and survive. For the last few years, I’ve posted here sporadically and as more of a hobby. At the time of writing, I have 482 readers. And roughly 70% of you read every newsletter. That’s a lot! Thank you!
Many people earn income from Substack, Patreon, OnlyFans, etc. While I won’t be posting pictures of my feet,* I would love to see if I can make a moderate income with my creative work through this newsletter.
*I’m not opposed to it. Name your price.
For the next two months, I will post more often, including streaming my process of working on this podcast and other projects — letting viewers see how the sausage is made, getting input, and answering questions live. If you are a paid subscriber to Jacob All Trades, you will have access to these sessions.
This newsletter will remain free but will be published more often. I’m aiming to publish one a week for August and September to see if there’s a response to the additional content. So… lmk if you’re out there reading!
Here’s where you come in:
If you enjoy reading this newsletter or find it helpful in any way, and you would like to make sure it continues to exist so that I can pay my bills as a dad with two art degrees, it would be very helpful if you became a paid subscriber.
Whether or not you can become a paid subscriber, it would also help immensely if you shared this or any of my past newsletters with a friend you think might enjoy them.
Also, for goodness sake, please, please comment! Dozens of people have told me in person that they read my newsletter, and it seriously makes me feel wonderful. Commenting also juices the algorithm and helps people discover my newsletter. So, like and comment :D
If I can grow my followers here, specifically my paid followers, I could be financially stable from this newsletter. And if I were financially stable, a lot of cool stuff could happen.
Financial stability means I know this newsletter will pay my bills, and I can treat it like a full-time job. That means I’ll be able to post more often. It also means I’ll be able to do more of the type of work I want to do with this newsletter: interviewing creative thinkers about their process, holding networking events and knowledge shares, doing free workshops, etc.
If we went beyond stability to actual profit, I could use that money to develop my projects and those of other talented folks I believe in. Ideas have never been the problem for me. I’ve got a massive list of projects that include political and mission-driven campaigns, podcasts, pilots, features, independent reporting, and so much more.
Also, I’ve been told I should put the whole newsletter behind a paywall so that people who like it are forced to pay for it. But, tbh, I really hate paywalls. My hope is that those of you who can afford $5 a month will join at the paid level and that enough people will do that so that those who can’t afford it can still enjoy the newsletter for free.
Also, here’s a link to share if you’d like:
Alrighty, the normal newsletter is coming out tomorrow. Thank you for reading. I appreciate you!
Jacob
Sorry to hear about the podcast, Jacob - completely rubbish. It sounded like a lot fun, too - hopefully one day.
Best of luck with the Substack venture. I’ve recently joined and, so far, it seems really…nice?!