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Film Connection mentor Zac Adams (Skydive Films, Nashville, TN) is known for involving his externs on his major film projects to help them gain experience and build their reels. Two of his recent documentaries, the Emmy-winning Hunger in America and Autism in America, both include credits by Film Connection externs and are now available to view on Amazon Prime. A third externs-assisted documentary, Iron Will,is currently making the film festival rounds and recently won the Audience Award at the Twin Cities Film Festival.
But in the case of his current externs, Caleb Dixon and Brandon Russell, Zac seems to have turned the experience knob up a notch or two. When we caught up with Zac a few weeks ago, the shooting schedule sounded so full that we felt lucky to have a few minutes to talk at all. Apparently, Zac is bent on getting the guys as much experience as possible before they graduate in a matter of weeks.
“Tomorrow we’re doing the EPK [electronic press kit] for a local artist here in Nashville named Morgan Clark,” he says. “They’re both going to be filming and codirecting. It’s really a project for them that I kind of helped set up because I want them to graduate with good stuff for their reel. They’re both aspiring cinematographers and editors and producers/writer-directors.”
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“I also make them do their own projects on the side in addition to the assignments and all the stuff they’re working on with me,” says Zac. “One of them just finished a documentary he directed, and then we’ve got two film videos that both of them will be directing before they graduate… I’m trying to get them on as many sets [as possible,] and probably 90% of the time I’m able to be with them on set watching them and giving them notes and things like that.”
Zac also goes the extra length to enable his students to take the reins for themselves—even to the point of naming Brandon as the producer on the Morgan Clark EPK project! The good news is, Brandon is rising to the occasion.
“I’m making him do everything,” says Zac. “He’s got a few people helping him, he got the location, he got with the artist…Brandon is the main producer. I said, ‘You’ve been learning from me for seven, eight months. It’s your turn now.’ I’m not doing anything. So he got everything together, and he did a great job.”
Zac says he’s effectively paired the externs in a way that they help each other on their respective projects. For Caleb’s upcoming film video shoot, he says Brandon will play a supportive role while Zac himself stays around, but without getting directly involved unless necessary.
“I’ll be kind of helping them crew, but I’m not going to be directing,” he says. “Caleb’s going to be directing and filming, and Brandon’s also going to be filming. Then when Brandon shoots they kind of reverse roles.”
While the schedule seems frenetic, Zac’s externs know what they’re signing up for, because he tells them what to expect right at the jump.
“I just tell them up front. If I meet them and think they don’t have the right work ethic, we’re just wasting everyone’s time,” he says. “It’s very polite, but you’ve just got to be blunt. This is one of the most competitive fields in the world…100% is not good enough. You’ve got to go above and beyond. If you call time is 7:00 a.m., you get there at 6:30.”
The hard work pays off, though. When Zac’s externs graduate, their reels aren’t just stuffed with great content—those who have the work ethic often find ongoing work with him after graduation.
“My old extern Corey Pitts, we actually pay him to work after he graduated,” says Zac. “We did a video for the band Kansas back in October, and I hired him for that. He did really well in the program, so now that he’s done he’s doing freelance, and I hire him when I can.”
“You know, if you see something needs to be done, you don’t ask, you do it,” he says. “That’s how you start to think, ‘Hmm, this guy’s going above and beyond. Once he graduates, I’ll hire him.’”
Give longtime Film Connection mentor Zac Adams a call and chances are, he’s right in the middle of shooting, editing, or producing a project, or multiple projects. As the owner of the Emmy-winning Nashville-based production company, Skydive Films, Zac’s an expert at taking those who train with him under his wing and teaching them in a direct, hands-on manner. We recently reached out to Zac, who pulled over on the side of the road to give us the update on his current extern Aaron Weitlauf and share just a bit of his hard-earned wisdom.
“We just got out of location scouting. Tomorrow we’re doing a commercial meeting with Monell’s. We’re also gearing up to do an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) with a brand new country artist named Jamie Floyd who was recently a finalist on the USA Network show called Real Country with judges Travis Tritt, Jake Owen, and Shania Twain. It’s kind of like American Idol but for country film… Jamie was nominated for a Grammy two years ago.
Back in November, Skydive Films and some other student externs, did a film video of Jamie. Now, Aaron is going to be directing the EPK for Jamie Floyd, the commercial shoot for the restaurant chain, and his own short film.
“By now, he’s been on tons of shoots and he’s very reliable, he’s a go-getter. He’s got a lot of talent and he seems to have a clear vision. Even on set, when he wasn’t directing he’d have ideas. When we edit on projects together he has specific ideas to make the edit flow better and those are signs of a good director. I’ve been with him for about six months and I think he’s ready to step it up and do some of the above the line work like producing, screenwriting, directing, working on editing and he’s been shooting some more…
He’s always wanted to make his own films. He has several ideas for short films and feature films so I think he’s going in that direction for cinematography, directing, producing. So yeah, I just thought that he was ready. I’ve been watching him on set. [He’s] very reliable, and I think now’s the time because he wasn’t ready 4 months ago but he’s ready now.
“I’m looking for someone with a clear vision. Someone who knows what they want. Someone that’s prepared…Knowing what you want, specifically, having a very clear and thorough vision of the project. And you have to have great communication skills, not only with your cast but with your crew, with your cinematographer, with your editor, with your colorist, sound designer, everybody.”
“What I always try to teach my externs is the importance of being prepared. Not going on-set and saying ‘Oh we didn’t location scout. This house looks a lot bigger…or I didn’t know we’re right next to the airport.’ That’s why we went out today to location scout…We have a lot of pre-production to do. And we have to have a list of questions for the artist. We have to know our camera angles, how many cameras we’re going to use, who’s going to be our crew, what time are we filming, what time are we setting up, what time are we going to wrap, what are we going to feed the crew, how many locations do we have. It takes time to do it right. That way you save a lot of time because you’re not having to reshoot everything and time is money.”
“One thing I tell my externs is you better know at least fifty to a hundred filmmakers. If I’m the only filmmaker you know, you’re in trouble because I can’t hire everybody. You have to know a lot of people. So I put them on other people’s sets as well and if these filmmaking friends of mine like them, they hire them and pay them. So Ryan’s been getting paid gigs from me, from friends of mine because he was always so good, he went above and beyond. You send him a text, he responds right back. You tell him call time is at 7am, he’s there at 6:30. It’s things like that that will get you hired.
Garic Griffin (another Film Connection grad) is also doing really well…A friend of mine, Sergio, got funding to edit this feature length wrestling documentary. It was shot in Oklahoma and now they’re having to go back to do some more shooting in Oklahoma. Garic’s got paid work helping Sergio shoot and edit. And I’ve been hiring Garic to do some editing too. I’ve got about 3 or 4 editors that I hire but if we get too much work, I always go to Garic and I pay him.”
“Not only working on my stuff but meeting other filmmakers and making their own projects. The students I teach, work on my stuff, my friends’ stuff, but also their own stuff. I give them extra assignments and we work on those together…For instance, Aaron’s doing his own 3-5 minute documentary that he’s already shot, so we’re going to be editing that. It’s about this vape craze that’s been going on the past 3-4 years, he’s got some interesting angles on that… That way they have stuff on their reel, not just a good résumé. If they want to be a cinematographer, editor, producer, director, they don’t just have a piece of paper of stuff they’ve worked on… Film is a visual medium, so show them a visual representation—a reel, something they can demo to other people so they can get other jobs.”
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