Born July 31, 1971, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jason Connell is fast becoming a rising star on the indie film scene. In 1999, he founded Connell Creations, a production house for commercials and corporate videos, in Tulsa. However, as the company’s focus shifted to feature films and television, Connell relocated it to Los Angeles, California.

When he isn’t creating motion pictures, Connell is screening them via one of his film festivals. He began the Tulsa United Film Festival in 2002. In 2007, Connell established the Los Angeles United Film Festival as well as the New York United Film Festival.

For his first feature-length project, Connell produced and directed the award-winning documentary Strictly Background, an examination of the lives and careers of professional background actors. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Connell about the making and distribution of Background as well as some of his future films. We likewise discussed the LA United Film Festival, to be held this year at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills on April 18 - 20.

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Josh E Armstrong: How did Connell Creations begin?

Jason Connell: It started years ago, when I was in my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had just started doing freelance work. I was coming off of a couple of companies that went under in the Dot-com era. I was doing video production for them and decided to start doing freelance work and just came up with the name. It kind of hit me at once. I thought, ‘This is what I’ll call it,’ kind of my own branding.

That was it. I started just doing freelance video production for many years - commercials, lots of wedding videos, that kind of stuff. That was ten years ago. I got involved from there. I decided I really wanted to do feature films. I moved to LA four years ago and made that transition.

JA: What made you decide to enter filmmaking?

JC: I went to business school in Oklahoma. I was a business major. But I started managing a movie theater there and that was exposing me more [to filmmaking]. I also shot a couple of videos and that was before you could really even edit on a computer, round about the time digital editing took off.

I was just fascinated by filmmaking. I just kept tinkering and got more and more into it. I didn’t grow up thinking I would do it. I was just fascinated and here I am doing it. It’s like a dream come true.

JA: What inspired you to make Strictly Background?

JC: When I first moved to LA, I didn’t have my bearings. I was trying to get used to the city and find my place in it. So I was an extra myself for about a month. I was just doing it because I wanted to get on a big Hollywood set and see some things.

I was in a few projects that were, you know, forgettable. I was on one episode of Six Feet Under, which was actually really cool. But I was doing a few projects, and started to meet other extras. I found it fascinating that people did this for a career. I just thought, ‘Well, you know, this would make an interesting documentary!’ That was really the genesis of the idea. A few months later, I was casting, and we were in production.

JA: How did you choose which extras did follow?

JC: I had an open casting call in Melrose Avenue, back in February ‘05. I still have the ad. It’s part of our press kit too, on the website. It read, ‘Documentary about movie extras’ - ‘Open call… such-and-such days, times….’

People just showed up. It was a whole day, from like from 9 in the morning until 6 or 7 at night. We just had a ton of great people show up. We videotaped the whole process. There were some that just jumped out right then. The rest of the cast, I went home and looked at the tapes over and over again and whittled it down to the people you see in the film. We were very fortunate.

I mean, we did get some people who had never been an extra before. They were just coming, as they were maybe curious about the ad. They were obviously not qualified.

But there were some other great people that we didn’t use. Yeah, we were very fortunate to get these amazing characters to come out. We were lucky. When you see the film, you’ll get a better understanding of that.

JA: Where did you get the resources to make this film?

JC: That’s the thing: I didn’t raise the money the conventional way. I put money I had and just a couple of other investors. It wasn’t a lot. It was enough to buy all the equipment and initially just to get going. It was really kind of self-financed with a couple of other people.

JA: Strictly Background mentions some of the films that the extras have appeared in. Was it difficult getting the rights to use some of these films’ images or scenes?

JC: It was. I tried to go get the rights up front and then quickly realized that there was budget fallout that would exceed what I had. But then I started doing research and talking to other filmmakers who have made documentaries and used movie clips.

There is this thing called the Fair Use Act. It really just applies to documentaries. You have to hit all this certain criteria. We fulfilled every part of it. I could get into that whole thing. But basically, once we found out about the Fair Use Act, we felt a lot more comfortable using these movie clips, because they were not cheap to buy. We just couldn’t have done it otherwise. So that’s really what we hung our hat on.

All the other documentaries that have used the clips have gotten distribution, and they’ve used even a ton more. We used about 45 - 50 clips, in the movie. But we took these really rare scenes that our extras are in, and we did a really cool thing, which we show in the trailer: we highlight the extra. It’s such a crucial part of our film. The Fair Use Act just fits perfectly. So that’s kind of what we’ve gone with.

If I had to buy the clips, I think they were like, I don’t know, $5,000 each or something. It was a ridiculous rate that would have been cost prohibitive for us.

JA: Even with that Fair Use Act, were there any studios that said, ‘No, you cannot use these clips!’

JC: No, but you know, our film is still under the radar. Once we get distribution, more places will see it. But no one has come back and battled us.

Anyone who’s seen the film understands how you really need these film clips, because otherwise you don’t have any proof of these people actually working in the business. It’s a pretty crucial part, although it’s only a small section of the film. But it helps tie it all together. So no, anyone who’s seen it has really gotten behind it. We haven’t had any problems.

JA: What were some of the other obstacles you encountered while making this documentary?

JC: Getting onto movie sets was next to impossible. Some of our extras are in some of these big films. Like, at the time, I think they were filming Poseidon and just movies of that size. We would talk to their producers. We just wanted to follow our extras all the way to work and on a set. There was just too much red tape. They weren’t going to let our camera crew do that, as much as they liked our idea.

So then I started to solicit independent films and say, ‘Hey, I have a few extras that want to work on your feature - but you’ve got to let us film.’ That’s the only way we were going to be able to get any kind of footage on the set. So we got on three or four independent movies that way, which was enough. We just needed enough footage to show them working on a set, as opposed to just talking about it. So those were the two biggest obstacles we encountered during production.

The third obstacle was music, because I didn’t shy away from putting together a great soundtrack and have a musician score a lot of the film. Now, I’m dealing with clearances and such, which is never an easy thing when you don’t have a huge budget on an independent film. That’s the last hurtle, which we’re at now, since we’re dealing with distribution.

But it’s okay. It’s a good place to be. At least people are interested in the film. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even mess with it.

JA: Is there any particular music you want to use but are afraid you can’t?

JC: Well, we have a track from U2 that’s a tricky one. I mean, they’re pretty big… Our guy did an amazing job scoring the film. It’s beautifully done. The music we picked really fits it perfectly. I’m going after five or six songs. U2 is kind of our long shot song.

But I’ve met a couple of filmmakers - U2 saw their documentary and granted them the use of a song. So I always had that in mind. If we could ever get this to them…

Strictly Background is a very heartfelt movie about people chasing their dreams. I think U2 could get behind it. We did get a copy to them. We’re talking to their management. There is a small chance we could get it. If not, that’s okay too.

We have played the film with the song at the festivals. We had festival rights. So we’ll see what happens. But that’s probably the longest shot there is.

JA: In following the lives of these people, were there any boundaries you were hesitant about possibly crossing?

JC: I had never done a documentary before, so yeah, it was kind of new territory for me, doing interviews and learning more about the actors and them being able to open up on camera. I didn’t want to poke fun at these people. It’s a funny profession. Anybody I told the idea to would just laugh and think, ‘That’s going to be hilarious!’

It is very funny, but it’s definitely very heartfelt. We walked that line, when we put it together. We could have easily, I think, pointed a finger at the people and been like, ‘Look at these guys! Look at how ridiculous this is!’ But the movie doesn’t do that at all. I was very conscious of that. I wanted to respect them.

The actors love the film. What meant more to me than anything else, was their response to the film, which has been amazing. Then I knew I did my job, and then I knew other people would probably get behind it.

It was definitely interesting when they started to open up and tell you certain things. You just want to be very respectful. Some things happen during the film that, once you see it, you’ll understand. Some pretty sensitive things that we dealt with, I think, will definitely show on screen.

JA: Earlier, you mentioned distribution for Strictly Background. How is this going?

JC: Well, you know, this will be my first one. It was a lot of lessons learned. I went to festivals pretty much all of last year. We have just a few this year, I think. I never
wanted to be on the festival circuit more than a year. But there were several months we weren’t doing any festivals.

I have three in April, two in the very beginning of May that’s it. We’ll have done - I don’t even know offhand - I’d say 20 - 25 festivals when it’s all said and done, because we have these ones coming ahead. That’s been really what’s got us out there. I’ve got a publicist. We’re starting to get a lot of press and a lot of great reviews. We’ve won some awards. We’ve won three Best Documentary awards at various festivals. That helps.

Then I went and got a producer’s rep and in a few months got us to the point where we have some offers on the table from people who want to distribute it. By the end of the month, I think we’ll have something in place.

Now we even have an international rep who I met while at one of the festivals I went to in Europe. They’re taking the film to sell in every market but North America.

All this has happened in the last few weeks. I had to get all my rights in order, all my music rights hammered out. And that’s where we’re at.

There’s kind of a process. You do the festivals. You build the buzz. You get publicity. You get a rep and then they start shopping it around. It never happened as soon as I really thought. I thought initially, ‘Oh, we’ll sell this thing right away!’ But it’s a process, which I’ve learned now. So the next one, I’ll be more prepared for a realistic timeline.

When I jumped on this one, I was like, ‘Ah, we’ll shoot this thing for a few months; we’ll edit for a few months, and we’ll be out there!’ We edited alone for one solid year, in long days. It took a year to edit. That was the most grueling process of all.

Then it was a year of festivals. So, you know, you learn. Had I known it was going to take two-and-a-half to three years, initially, I might not have done it! So I’m kind of glad I didn’t know what I was getting into.

But yeah, that’s kind of the process. I’m sure every film is different. If my movie had 16 stars in it, or whatever, you’d probably have a deal right out of the gate. But for indie movies that don’t have any stars, and especially documentaries, this is kind of the route that they usually take.

Most films don’t even get distribution. They just don’t. So just getting it is a wonderful thing and will probably open up the door for many more films.

JA: I guess you don’t know when the film might be out on DVD yet, do you?

JC: I would probably say later this year - maybe fall of this year. I’d love to say summer. But if this goes through, we have to go back in and do a couple of things on our end and then deliver them to the company, and they have to take time to kind of get into the market.

I’d say definitely this year. I can’t wait to have a day, to tell everybody, ‘This is it, right here!’ But yeah, we’re close.

JA: Have you already been thinking about bonus features for the DVD?

JC: Yeah, we thought about that a long time ago, and then we put it away. I brought it up again yesterday, because to the other two editors, I said, ‘You know what, we might want to start getting these things ready.’

There are a lot of funny things we had to cut out of the film a long time ago. The film is 84 minutes. I always wanted it to be 80-85. There was one point in time when it was 96 minutes, when we were still building it. So those 12 minutes are things we took out, I said, ‘Oh, that’ll be great DVD extra stuff!’

We also have - like I said, we filmed the whole casting call. Well, that’s hilarious, because it’s the first time you ever meet the actors. So yeah, there’s some fun stuff we definitely want to put on there.

Maybe we’ll have a commentary. There are ten background actors, if you put them all in one room, that might be a bit much. You might not be able to understand that commentary. But if we broke them up, I’m sure they would have some funny tales to share during that.

I want to have fun with the bonus features part of the DVD. I can’t wait.

JA: Speaking of the background actors, is there any chance you’ll someday do a follow-up to this film, updating folks on how they’re doing?

JC: That’s an interesting idea. I’m not ruling it out. Yeah, you could always do a follow-up, or do a special edition in the future and add like a ten-minute segment on where they’re at now.

The website is really fancy, and we’ll probably always add things to that. So absolutely, I mean, worst-case scenario would be just to update their info on the website.

I’m close to all of them. They’re actually using this film as leverage to do other things, which I think is amazing. Kind of the irony of the title is that maybe they’ll never do background work again. I would love to see where they go. I mean, I’ve already seen one of the guys on a national television spot. Another guy has been in some amazing things. They are starting to work and not just in background. It’s exciting!

So we’ll see. I definitely will do something. I’m not sure what that is.

JA: Now, the title of the film, Strictly Background, where did you come up with that?

JC: I know there’s a movie called Strictly Ballroom, which I was I big fan of. While I was an extra, I was sitting in holding one day - the day that I finally had the idea. I had been thinking about it. But the moment I just decided to do it, we were in a gymnasium and five hundred extras were around us. I just said, ‘You know what, I need to do a movie.’ I was talking to myself, thinking, ‘I’ve got to do this.’

The name just hit me. The subtitle says Extras in the Spotlight, just in case people didn’t know from the box what ‘background’ meant. I thought it was a catchy title.

I got up, and I told a friend I had made while as an extra. We’re friends to this day. He actually works for me. I just said, ‘Hey, I’m going to make a movie about extras, and I’m going to call it Strictly Background!’ He was like, ‘That’s a great idea!’

And that was it. It spawned that day. I never wavered on the name, ever. So that was it. I know there’s movie called Strictly Business. But somehow, I thought Strictly Background would be catchy enough to stick.

JA: It is a very catchy title!

JC: Good! I’m glad! I’m hoping when people see it in Blockbuster, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, I want to see this!’ because the artwork looks great. I think it will do well - pop off the shelf, I hope!

JA: Regarding the LA United Film Festival, what would you like to tell us about that?

JC: Anything you want to know. I started the festival in Tulsa, where I’m from. It’s coming up on its sixth year, I think.

I was doing it obviously before I lived in LA. It started as a short film festival, because that’s all I was doing back then. Then when I moved to LA, I kept doing it. While we were shooting and editing Strictly Background, I would fly home and do it.

Then finally, last year, I was like, ‘I know enough people in LA. If I could make the festival even bigger in LA, then I want to do an LA version, while still keeping the Tulsa one going.’ So I started it. I also started one in New York at the same time, because I have some ties there.

But the festivals do vary from city to city. It’s not like we just do this festival and then show up in New York and do the exact same festival. We get different films. Some of the films carry over, but, for the most part, it’s a pretty new lineup. Maybe 10% or 15% of the films carry over.

It just started growing. Last year was really small in LA. It was two features - actually it was one feature and a bunch of short films. This year, we have twelve features - all LA premieres. I was on the festival circuit all last year, so I saw all these films. I knew they had won awards and never played in LA, and I thought, ‘Okay, this would be a good group’ and put it together. It’s a very eclectic lineup. They’re all great films from very different places. They’re all documentaries.

In future years, I do plan on bringing narratives into the mix. Like next year, I don’t know, we’ll probably have more films, and we’ll maybe have it 50/50. We’ll definitely have some fiction films.

Around each of these features, we play a bunch of short films. If you come to see a feature, you’re going to see 20-25 minutes of short films - I think about 20 actually. They’re amazing. I’ve never gotten away from the whole short film arena. It’s just now I kind of package it better.

This is the biggest set for us yet. I have a PR team on board now. We’re trying to promote it, because this year, we want to get on the map. Last year, it was still really small and kind of under the radar. This year, we have a beautiful venue in Beverly Hills, and we think we’re going to have a great turnout. This will be what we can build upon. Make next year even bigger!

I’m really proud of these films. My own is in it, but I’m proud of the other ones just as much. All the filmmakers, I think, are coming, which is exciting. We’ll do Q&A’s afterwards.

We’re having a huge kick-off party on Thursday, for networking. It’s kind of about that. It’s about networking and showing great films and having a wonderful lineup. And that’s kind of the idea of it all. I just want to keep it growing.

The New York one will be coming up this August. I want to get more tapped into that place. It’s good having the festival in New York and LA, because everybody wants to screen in those cities. If they haven’t already been sold, there are so many films like these that need to be on a bigger stage. We’re kind of representing the littler guys right now. I’m not saying we will never get a film with celebrities or bigger films. We probably will! But we’ll still always have a place for these movies that need to be seen.

I still love doing the Tulsa festival. It’s just, obviously, a little market, so it won’t be quite as big this year. But it’s great. It’s good to keep your roots, where you’re from. I love doing that festival as well.

These festivals keep me busy. I’m trying to get new films off the ground and sell my own film. I’m probably busier than I know what to do, which is probably a good thing.

JA: What is your next film?

JC: I’m trying to get a few things off the ground. I really want to do my first narrative, so I’m writing, with a co-writer, a script now. I’m almost done with it. I want to show it to some people who liked the concept and want to see the script.

There are a few other documentaries I want to do. I’m actually trying to raise money now for them. One is character-driven, very similar to Strictly Background but not about movie extras. It’s that same kind of feel, but it’s a whole different arena. I’m trying to do that with an actual budget - not being my own money, because I just couldn’t afford to begin. With all these things going on and with Strictly Background getting distribution, it’s helped get us a little validation and open the door to some possible funding, because we’ve proven we can do it.

That’s where we’re at now. I’m so anxious to get started on something new. In the next 1 - 3 months, I want to be in pre-production at least.

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The Los Angeles United Film Festival will be held at the prestigious Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills on April 18th - 20th. Strictly Background will be shown at the festival, on Saturday, April 19. For more information on the event, please visit the LA United Film Festival’s official website.

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