10. Jake Arky
Creator's Cafe Episode 10. Jake Arky: Building Artistic Community with host Jessica Payne of Kika Labs
Jake Arky and I dig into acting villainous onstage but not in real life.
Show Notes:
Follow:
@thejarky
Acting
Storytelling
So Say We All
Tiny Titan Productions
Femme Regard
Creator's Challenge: Garbage Free Write
Free write for 10 minutes, knowing most if not all is garbage - you are clearing the junk out of your head in a meditative process
Bio & Intro
My guest Jake Arky is an actor, writer, and producer. As an actor he recently appeared in the Bay Area production of Silent Sky along with commercial and film projects. Jake is the Co-founder of So Say We All, a non-profit dedicated to educating and producing storytelling events , which has flourished in San Diego for almost 15 years and is now adding shows in LA and San Francisco. Jake is an award-winning writer whose work has been published by SSWA press.
Jake is a producing partner with Tiny Titan, where he executive produced the short film The Waiting Room. He is currently working as Executive Producer on the feature SYNC, from Femme Regard. Jake is a champion of artists and a master collaborator.
Silent Sky
Lauren Gunderson
Elena Wright
Jennifer LeBlanc
TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley
La Jolla Playhouse
Justin Hudnell
Jennifer Corley
SF Sketchfest
The Moth
Carolina Alvarez
Creator's Cafe with Jessica Payne of Kika Labs
Host Jessica Payne of Kika Labs breaks down the subtle and the sublime of the creative process with inspiring artists at the Creator's Cafe.
Find out more info on the show and host Jessica Payne.
Offering digital courses, performance coaching, and more! www.kikalabs.com
Jessica's Featured Course:
If you or someone you know is on the job search, check out her digital course "Level Up Your Video Interviews."
More info and resources at | www.kikalabs.com
Watch the video podcast on YouTube | YouTube Creator's Cafe Podcast Playlist
Follow the Show | @creatorscafebykikalabs
Facebook Group | Creator's Cafe by Kika Labs
Transcripts and YouTube Links at | www.kikalabs.com/creators-cafe-shownotes
Theme Music
Our theme music is composed and performed by Kyle deTarnowsky.
Transcript:
Jessica
Welcome to Creators Cafe. I'm your host, Jessica Payne. I'm a performer, performance coach and multi-hyphenate creator. I'm going to be bringing you conversations with some of my favorite creators where we talk about the sublime and the specifics of the creative journey. So grab a drink, get cozy. Let's go. My guest, Jake Arky is an actor, writer and producer. As an actor, he recently appeared in the Bay Area production of Silent Sky, along with commercial and film projects. Jake is the co-founder of So Say We All, a nonprofit dedicated to educating and producing storytelling events, which has flourished in San Diego for almost 15 years and is now adding shows in L.A. and San Francisco. Jake is an award winning writer whose incisive and funny and dark work has been published by SSW Press. He is currently a producing partner with Tiny Titan, where he executive produced the short film The Waiting Room. And now he is starting his first feature as an executive producer from regard called Sync. Jake is my friend and a champion of artists, along with being a master collaborator. Please enjoy my conversation with Jake Aky
Jake Arky! Welcome to Creators Cafe.
Jake
Thank you. Jessica Payne Thanks for having me.
Jessica
What are you drinking?
Jake
I am drinking a cold brew that's creamy with oat milk.
Jessica
It is creamy with an iced vanilla latte from our friends from Dialog. Hello. Hello. It's delicious.
Jake
Yes, indeed.
Jessica
Okay. So how do you think of yourself as a creator? What are all your titles and all the things that you love to do over the years?
Jake
All the titles and all the things I love to do. I think it amounts as much as we can go with like, a big multi-hyphenate. I'm going to stick within the parameters of actor, writer and producer.
Jessica
Okay. Those are the big three.
Jake
Those are the big three. Yeah. And I think everything else can kind of fall underneath those and little subcategories subreddit. All of those things. But yeah, the big the Big three. The Holy Trinity. Actor, writer, producer. Awesome.
Jessica
Let's talk in that order, then. Okay, So actor, how are things going? It's a weird time in Hollywood where the streak just ended, and so it's just been a weird year. But we have a ratified new one. And so Hollywood is kind of in this morass, kind of middle ground. So, yeah, just how how are things for you as an actor?
Jessica
How is that going? What has been fun? You've done some cool things.
Jake
I've done a lot of cool things and I've I've been really lucky, too, because I'm I'm not currently in the union and believe I'm eligible to be in the union, but I haven't officially joined as a member. I was able to work on a couple of like small projects, like some commercials that were nonunion and a couple of other gigs.
Jake
But the best thing was that this summer I got to be in a play and go back to the stage. I got to go back to the Bay Area and be part of this play, Silent Sky, that I had originally worked on ten years ago when I was at Theatreworks Silicon Valley, and I was there playwright and residents and part of their education department.
Jake
And the cool part of that was that I, I sort of know the playwright, Lauren Gunderson, who was like one of the if not the most produced playwright in the world right now. And watched her develop that at theater works. Elena Wright, who played Henrietta Leavitt, the the main character of the show back in 2013, came back to revive the role on stage.
Jake
And so to be on stage with her and do that was amazing. And then Jennifer LeBlanc, who was in the original production, came back to direct this one. And so it was just a lot of fun to go and to actually be part of this show that I knew really well. But in many ways, ten years ago, I couldn't imagine myself being in it, let alone in it with the a lot of the same cast and working with the same artists.
Jake
So getting to do that was amazing and like a big highlight for me.
Jessica
That's so special. And yeah, I mean, she's an amazing playwright and it's, you know, it's a script about women in science. Yes. And it's it's a really cool topic that's not explored very much. And it's kind of been the hot play the past couple of years.
Jake
Very much so. And it feels really resonant to do it because about like, what do we deny in science? What are we ignoring? Whose voices are we marginalizing, Who are we putting aside? And for me, it's been really awesome. I will say in the last couple of years I've gone from playing like the sweet, like best friend to like, aw shucks, it doesn't really work out for them to playing like the problematic white males.
Jake
And that has been really fun. And also, I feel like I will happily take on those roles if the story can be about the people overcoming them or fighting them, I will happily take on like not the villainous role, but like the oppressor role.
Jessica
Yeah, right. Because to tell that story, somebody needs to play that character and play it well and kind of find a way into it. Yeah. Experience been in, you know, I know you as someone who works really hard for social justice and is like is walking a really beautiful walk of not being that person. So how do you get into that mindset?
Jessica
Do you have like acting techniques or is it just like the empathy for the situation or is it more that you just know you have to step into a character for people to have that to fight against? Where do you kind of come into that mindset? Was?
Jake
That's interesting. I think, you know, being a cis head, straight white male and being raised in a society that champions all of those things right off the bat, it never I never felt comfortable in that world of like the guys world, the dudes world. There's, you know, there's a reason that I flocked to theater and I flocked to the arts.
Jake
And there's a reason, you know, that I, I tend to while I have very good guy friends, it's a smaller number compared to the other types of friends that it or people are in groups that I go with. So I think there was always a part of me that felt on the outside of that, but I could look in and think about all of the toxic dynamics that happen between men or watching in workplaces that I had been in, where things had kind of come down from a patriarchal sense and a colonial sense and and watched as all these people got hurt and and empathizing with not just the situation, but the groups and the
Jake
individuals involved. So I feel like I know those characters because I think that they the characters I've played have never thought that they were bad or thought that they were the wrong person in the situation. And watching so many people, you know, and even myself at certain points in my life, in my career, talk myself out of, oh, I'm I'm not that bad of a person.
Jake
I didn't make a mistake and not owning up to it. So I think diving back into it and knowing that there can be a sense of of of redemption for for me, at least in in showing a person who's trying to do good and failing at every turn and making that character as human and as empathetic as possible while still knowing that they're entirely in the wrong.
Jessica
Mhm. Yeah. Like hitting the marks that you need to hit. Yeah. While having empathy for the character.
Jake
Yeah. I had a director for a short film give me a note that I thought was so great where they leaned over and just said he's a male feminist and that is like I instantly clicked in to that where it's like, Oh, he thinks that he knows what he's talking about, but he doesn't at all. As opposed to like somebody who's like, outwardly, like abusive and aggressive.
Jake
It's like, no, this is the guy who thinks he's good, but he's not.
Jessica
Got it, got it, got it, got it. That's really interesting and like, could be more pervasive and.
Jake
Yeah.
Jessica
Interesting in a nuanced way and more.
Jake
Complex. Oh, yeah. You know, I think it also it grounds my performances. At least whenever I've done this, it's grounded it in a way where I know if I'm doing my job right, that people are upset with me. And that's been really interesting. React to how yeah, we're so likable. Thank you. That's very nice. I try to be nice to try to be, you know, open and and amenable to everybody and every situation as much as possible.
Jake
But it during Silent Sky opening night, I had a really interesting thing happen where somebody in the crowd in act two where I am basically showing all my cards and showing that I'm not siding with the main character and that it in fact I am actively pressing her. Somebody stood up, put their thumb down and went, Boo o and I knew it wasn't like that.
Jake
They were saying that they hated me. And afterwards we were saying hi to the crowd and she came up and she's like, Don't think I hated you. I just hated the person you were playing. And I was like, That's great. That meant I'm doing the job. Well, yeah.
Jessica
That's so funny. Yeah, I get that kind of reaction, you know, from like, children's theater. But to have an adult reacting to a period piece like that is hilarious.
Jake
But that's the best thing, right?
Jessica
We're actively moved.
Jake
Actively moved by it. And it was nice to get a response where I feel like, you know, a lot of people could walk away and just kind of give you a look of like, I don't want to deal with it, but I'm glad that they actually expressed how they felt.
Jessica
That's really funny. Yeah. Okay. So when I originally met you, we were both working back at theater work, and one of the things that you're amazing at is both as a writer, but also kind of interacting with people is drawing stories out and your love of stories and your ability to work with someone and craft an amazing story.
Jessica
The way that I've seen you recently do that in L.A. Is with your group. So say we all, which is a storytelling nonprofit that you started in San Diego years ago with a friend. Yes. And you've recently, this year, brought it to L.A., So can you tell everybody about what? So see, we all does and kind of how you work with storytellers and if somebody is listening, how they could like, you know, I'll have in the show notes about what it is and how they can find out about it.
Jessica
But just kind of what the process is if they want to check it out or get involved somehow.
Jake
Yeah, absolutely. And so say we all is my creative baby and it was something that I, I truly never thought I would do and I never thought I'd be a part of coming out of school. In 2008, I had a degree in dramatic writing and I really wanted to be a playwright. I left New York and moved to San Diego to work for the La Hoya Playhouse, and 2008 was not a great time to graduate with a lot of student loans and a BFA in dramatic writing.
Jake
So I threw, you know, the economic recession. I got laid off from the playhouse and I was still looking for something to do. So I randomly one 4th of July, my first 4th of July in San Diego, I met a man named Justin Hudnall, who we quickly became friends because we found out we had both been at NYU, the same department.
Jake
He graduated the year I got there, so we missed each other by months and he introduced me to this idea of storytelling that was just starting to pick up a podcast for New and they were starting to release The Moth, which is, you know, this storytelling event where they put out a theme every single month. You put your name in the hat, you get 10 minutes if you're called up to tell that story on theme, and they're supposed to be true stories from your life.
Jake
So we were looking around San Diego and it didn't really have a lot going on in the literary scene at that point. And we were we had a writers group and it was hard to kind of, you know, as writers tend to do, to keep people on deadlines and keep them accountable. So we decided, well, what if we presented a show that was similar to The Moth, except we weren't going to time it where it was going to be?
Jake
No judges are going to be like no winners. We just want to give people a deadline and a theme to write a story from their life on it. And that show ended up being called Vamp and the group ended up being called So Say We Are. And that show has now been running for five. That started in 2000, nine, almost 15 years.
Jake
And it's been absolutely incredible to watch people come up and tell their stories on stage. And we now have this multimedia element where they can pick pictures from their life or pictures from the Internet to enhance the stories. And in the weeks leading up to the show, they have group critiques. They have one on one mentoring for writing and for performance.
Jake
So we feel like people, people have the tools and the power to get up and tell their story in the best way possible. And it's not easy for everybody to do that. It's not always easy for me to do that. And I love writing and I love perform. Hang. But we want people to not just tell their stories, but know how to tell it well and to in many ways have a document of the story going forward.
Jake
And so say we all. It's just been really instrumental in kind of working with different communities to get these stories out there. So we've, you know, had partnerships with a lot of the veteran community down in San Diego, and there was a whole series we did with them. We worked with the Unhoused population down there and in schools.
Jake
And just this last year we said, well, maybe there's a way that we can expand it and not necessarily franchise it, but try this different type of storytelling in other places. So we've done five shows in Los Angeles. We did one in the Bay Area. We're planning more shows for Los Angeles coming in 2024. And we just found out that we've been accepted.
Jake
Sketch Fest up in San Francisco.
Jessica
Congratulations.
Jake
Thank you. So February 1st will be part of the festival, which is really exciting to go back there and work with that community again and to do. I'm really excited to do a show. That's all funny stories. Yeah, and really like comedy based. But the flagship show is down in San Diego and Justin is the executive director of So Say We All, and Jennifer Corey is the program director.
Jake
But there's been so many other people who've gotten involved over the years and who are still involved, who handle everything from tech to social media to coming on as producers of shows themselves. So we like to create a pipeline where you come to a show, you don't know what it is. It's a little hard to describe, but you see it instantly.
Jake
You're like, Okay, great. Then you go to our website. WW Debi So say we all online dot com, we'll plug back and you see what the themes are coming up and you say, Oh, I might have a story based around the theme of blood, and it doesn't necessarily have to be like a time that you bled or saw blood.
Jake
It could be your blood line or the idea of what courses through your veins. We try to say the theme is like a jumping off point, but you submit your story, you go through the workshopping process, you perform it on stage. You feel really great about that and you feel like you know the people you're on stage with from there will probably ask you, Hey, do you want to be on the reading committee?
Jake
So you can see other stories that are submitted and vote on what comes up next. Do you want to volunteer as a mentor and help people get ready for it? And then do you want to produce a show? Do you want to be the one in charge of leading the call for submissions, running the workshops, working with the mentors, working with the storytellers, hosting the show when it comes time so that it never is one person's story or organization.
Jake
And I'm lucky that I'm a co-founder and a producer with it. But I would never in my entire life say like, this is my company because anybody can be part of it and anybody can really take a big hand in it. And I think that that just helps to grow this idea of sharing stories, telling stories, and and having that that sense of community lift you up as opposed to we're all kind of on our own just trying to make it on our own.
Jake
We have a community now.
Jessica
Yeah. And it's beautiful. I was really honored to get to come to your first show here in L.A.. Yeah. You know, be able to see the differences of I know some people that performed were professional writers and some of them it was very clearly their very first time doing anything like this. Yeah, but even the people, you know, there's the saying of like, speak the truth, even when your voice shakes.
Jessica
Yes. And I just loved how you made an environment where people felt empowered to do that. And there was a couple of them that their voice was shaking. But by a minute in it wasn't. They had relaxed and they knew that they were confident in the story and the work that they had done to prepare. And you saw them physically relax and their shoulders go down and settle in and get that response from the audience.
Jessica
And there was chuckles and then there was tears and yeah, it's really just beautiful.
Jake
Yeah, it's I'm always surprised by the reactions to the stories and my reactions to the stories in particular, because I think sometimes you work with the stories so close and then you see them on stage and you're like, Oh, this is so funny in a new light, or it hits you in a different way. And so say we all I would say is where I've done most of my vulnerable work and last year in particular, I did two stories, one where I really had to work with my mentor a lot too, to not cry through it because it was so emotional and so raw.
Jake
I still cried through it, but not as much, and I was able to have the tools to feel comforted and to feel resilient through it. So it wasn't like I lost my my place or the energy of it, but I just had a reaction that was normal to it. And then the other one I did, I was very nervous to tell it and very nervous based on like the theme and how it was going to be received.
Jake
And it's the only time I've sat in the crowd of of a show and the only time it's happened. But my Apple Watch sent me an alert that was like, are you having a heart attack? It feels like your heart is racing because a cardiac event. Yes. I was so nervous that my my heart was was beating so fast.
Jake
But I did this story and I think it went really I think it went really well. And I knew it because somebody else who was performing that night, who was very gave a lot of constructive criticism, but was very much like, this is what you need to hit. I came off stage and they looked at me and they just said, You had landed the plane.
Jake
And I knew that they meant it because I think they would have told me otherwise. And they're brutally honest. Okay, fair. So it was it was something where I felt like, oh, I'm I'm not necessarily in a like the safe space where, like, anything goes. I think like we do create a safe space. But you also you have to back up your words.
Jake
This is your your life, this is your story. And it's also been interesting to talk to people and say like, it's okay if you don't want to share this part of it, or if you don't feel like you want to go there. It necessarily talking about the facts. But we we like to unpack the feeling of it and we like to unpack the emotional experience of it.
Jake
So it's always trying to like walk that fine line of like, we want these stories to be real and true and honest, but we don't want to push people past their limits to where they don't feel like they want to share it. And that's entirely fine too.
Jessica
Yeah, that's interesting to get to work with people to find the line of how do you be vulnerable and open and choose a deep truth to say, but not drown in the truth in the emotionality? And, you know, there's some things that, you know, if you unpack it in therapy first, you might feel then equipped to talk about it.
Jessica
But if you are just looking at it for the first time in a storytelling space, it might reveal itself to be too much. Yes, And I know working with actors, I find that a lot of like, sometimes there's truths that are so powerful that they're too big for this moment. And so it's about finding the thing that's the right size that is true and is deep and moves you, but it's the right size for the occasion.
Jessica
Yeah, really cool and beautiful.
Jake
Yeah. And I think an ever evolving process. Yeah. Like I, I've been doing this storytelling not just with, say, we all but several different groups for the last decade and a half and it always changes of how do I approach this and that, What am I actually saying and sharing here? And oh, maybe this is too much and maybe I need to pull back, or maybe it's not enough and go a little deeper.
Jake
And I think that's always the interesting part at the end of the day is what is shared and what is not shared. Mm hmm.
Jessica
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I like that you have created a space where people feel free to talk about, like, life in all its variety. That's funny and it's sexy and it's like raw, and there's space for all of that. Back to back to back. Yeah. And I just really appreciate that. I think you've created a beautiful thing and nurture to thank you.
Jessica
And it feels beautiful.
Jake
It feels beautiful to me too. Yeah. Yeah.
Jessica
Okay. So something that you've always been good at and done to varying degrees, but you're really stepping into in a more extended way is your role as a producer. So tell us about what you're working on now, what you're excited about and what you like about producing. Hi.
Jake
I'm well, I'll tell you, I'm very excited that this summer shot an independent feature with Femme or Garde productions. So Karolina Alvarez, who's one half of femme regard, who I had worked on with two other short films and became a good friend, I got introduced to her producing partner and friend of Markle and they as we were meeting, they were planning to shoot this feature sync, and so they were looking for producers to come on board.
Jake
And I really I like the story and I like the team a lot and I like the vision that they had. And I thought, Oh, this might be an interesting project to jump aboard because not only is it a project I like, but it's people I want to continue working with and hopefully, you know, the process will be that, you know, this all turns out well and then we can work together in the future and we kind of focus on each other's projects and lift each other up.
Jake
So it was really exciting to to meet Karolina and Tessa and then come aboard as an executive producer. And I really like the aspect of getting people paid. I think people need to be paid and they need to be paid what they're owed. Having done enough projects in my life for exposure or, you know, for just some clout or to get something out there.
Jake
I think that there's a time and a place for that and it's great. But if you're doing this professionally, you need to be compensated for it at the bare minimum of like what the standards are. So it was 2022 last year. I did my first executive producing on a short film called The Waiting Room, which is now making the festivals, And my friend Suhasini Krishnan, she wrote and directed it.
Jake
It was her directorial debut. I had acted in her short film that she wrote called The Company We Keep, which is where I met Karolina and what I saw that how she goes by sushi because she's like, white people can't say Suhasini all the time, so I know her as sushi. So if I'm saying sushi, that's who I'm talking about.
Jake
She is such a great leader and a great person to create a vibe on a set so what she talked about was that we weren't going to have assholes on set and we were going to treat each other with respect and dignity and nobody was going to throw a fit and nobody was going to be a diva. And working on two movies with her, it was it was great to see what it could be and great to see the environment.
Jake
And when you're working with a cast and crew that are willing to do that, you want to see them get paid and get paid for for what they do. So I went out and I got some money to help finish the waiting room. And then when Sink came about, I was like, I think I can go and raise money to make sure that everybody is paid, which was a big goal for regard to make sure that everybody was paid and paid fairly.
Jake
And I would say that I'm learning a lot about producing in the sense of asking people for money and support, which is not something I'm used to, but I'm finding I'm pretty good at it.
Jessica
That's great.
Jake
Yeah, Yeah. And for me, it's the joy of saying, if you give me this money, I can give it to the people to make the thing that you want to see. And they can pay their rent and they can have a credit that is not just like we gave you a meal and a credit. Now it's like you got paid for this.
Jake
And so that's where I'm kind of seeing my sights go as like, I want to back projects where people are saying, Oh, I am, I'm not sure I have the money, I'm not sure how to go and get the money, because on set I feel like I'm more want to be an actor or creative. And I definitely want to lend my insights and my thoughts to productions.
Jake
But knowing that if I can get the money and get them financed and they can come to life, that's a huge hurdle. And I think that's what stops a lot of people from being able to make their movie or produce their play or get something out there. And so that has been a real joy and a real exciting new adventure that I'm I'm still very new at.
Jake
But learning along the way and learning that I have the not just the resources but the community around me who will help support that.
Jessica
Yeah, that's beautiful. And it's such a direct way to support artists. Yes. When you are working and contributing, you know, when the audience is contributing directly to a passion project. Yeah. You know, you are making someone make the thing they care about, helping someone make the thing that they care about the very most. So it's going to be the best.
Jessica
Yes, it's you're directly paying for their rent and food. Yes. And like helping independent artists to thrive and make things, which is so fantastic. Yeah.
Jake
It's it's it's the best feeling. Because I will say, having worked the majority of my career in nonprofits, you get used to asking for money. But what I never quite got used to was like, Well, how is it disseminated and how is it really used? You can break down the metrics, but if I say, Oh, we need ten K to pay our editor and to make posters and to pay our VFX team and our sound team, that's like you're giving me the money and it's going to them.
Jake
It's not like, Well, we've got the overhead and we've got to figure out. Plus there's, you know, we spent all this money on a gala and we need to recoup the expenses on that. Yeah, it's the direct thing where you should be paying artists, you should be paying anybody who's doing their job and doing it well, and you should be paying them what whatever it should be beyond the bare minimum, but at least the bare minimum of what they're worth for their project.
Jake
And their time and talent, they're worth that. And I think the strike, if anything, showed everybody that like time and talent and energy go into this and it looks fun and it is fun a lot of the time and it is our passion and it is the thing we want to do. But if we're not getting paid, there's no way to do it.
Jessica
Yeah, it has to be sustainable or it can't happen long term.
Jake
Indeed.
Jessica
What do you find works the best for you so far in finding finance? Is it online financing programs and crowdfunding? Are you looking towards grants? Are you looking towards donors? What's the blend that you're finding for these kind of projects versus more traditional nonprofit financing?
Jake
Yeah, that's a great question. I found so far it's been a mixture of online campaigns, which can be a little tricky sometimes because there's a lot of work and a lot of the backend to set up. I will say that there's a lot to keep track of to when you want to thank the donors and you want to get them, you know, the gifts and the the things that like are they're not the main thing that they're donating for, but you want to say thank you and keeping track of all of that, that can be a little tough, but it can also be something you can do from home, which is great.
Jake
This last year I went and I did several in-person events where we would host like a very homemade meal and invite people to come and we would do a pitch in person. So with the our team, we did one in April where we hosted a brunch and we made all the food and we had people come and we had somebody who's a scientist come and talk about the sci fi aspects of the film so that people kind of knew what we were playing with within the movie.
Jake
And then the pitch followed afterwards. So you get this kind of like fun little bonus thing. And then I hosted a barbecue with my friend Lauren Berman and her house up in Palo Alto, and we invited people over and I made my famous smoked ribs and, you know, showed them a cut of an early project that we were working on at that point in time to get them excited for it.
Jake
And then just asking if they could back and support it, not just as the project itself, but as the new venture. For me as a producer saying like, Hey, not only do you want to support this film, but you're supporting me in that this is my first time out here doing that. And I will say that I had a really great response to both of those events and what was really great is seeing people who were maybe a few years ahead of me in the game or who were entrepreneurs in their own right, say like, Well, we've all been here at this point in time and this is the way to pass it forward or
Jake
pay it forward, you know, pass it along to the next generation of people who are striking out on their own and doing something. And that was great to have that in-person aspect of it.
Jessica
Yeah. Hi, Lauren.
Jake
Hi, Lauren. I love you. Yes. Love you. Love your family. Thank you. Yeah.
Jessica
And I really appreciate people that see that need to encourage people who are, you know, all of us. I think there's always someone who's steps ahead of you and there's someone that's maybe right behind you or a few steps behind you and something that seems maybe small for where we are right now might give somebody a life changing step up, step forward.
Jake
Absolutely.
Jessica
You know, whether it's advice or a little bit of money or hosting the thing or people with the resources. Yeah, Lauren, such a beautiful model of that. And it's incredible to see how one person has touched lives of dozens or thousands probably.
Jake
Absolutely. Or thousands at this point.
Jessica
Yeah, definitely. And I think there's something interesting with this concept of, you know, the science now is telling us that you are if you get money to a certain extent, you pay for your needs, but then giving it away and having experiences are two of the ways you can maximize your happiness. Your personal happiness is by giving money away, but especially to someone you can see the benefits of them having it.
Jessica
And so this is like such a like life hack to just have like micro donations even to things and projects and people that you care about. But the fact that you're combining it with an experience that they're going to have a wonderful time.
Jake
Yeah.
Jessica
Is that's just so smart because it's not you're not trying to trick anybody, you know, trying to manipulate anybody. You're just trying to say like, let's have a wonderful time together. Yeah. And then share some resources as a community and make something we're proud of. Yeah, That's so incredible.
Jake
And it's something to that. I think it can be really daunting and it's something that we talked about a lot this year for these, you know, these fundraiser type things where it's like, should we get catering? No. Should we rent an event space? No. Yeah. I think that there has been the perception that like, well, you need to have all this glitz and glamor to bring in all this money.
Jake
But it was always something that really irked me in the nonprofit world that we'd spend all this money, rent out an event space and get people there in their black ties and their beautiful dresses and really give them something that they they could get anywhere else. Very different, though, from like Meet the New Voices in Hollywood. Meet the independent scene and try some of our ribs, try some of our team, try some of this cake that we made, and then you get to meet other people there.
Jake
I had a friend of mine who is not just a dear friend, but like a great supporter and an artist in his own right who also comes from an anthropology background. And he came to the event and he helped to get like donors there and bring people. But then he met people who are interested in what he's doing.
Jake
So he also benefited just through a social connection there. And then your network grows and then there's more support. Yeah, yeah.
Jessica
Oh, I love it. Whenever it can be kind of a self-sustaining system that benefits everybody in a win win.
Jake
Exactly. Yeah.
Jessica
And it's interesting how I think we all hunger for this deeper connection and more intimacy. And, you know, when you're invited to somebody's house, post-COVID, I feel like it feels like an honor in a way that I took for granted in the past.
Jake
Absolutely.
Jessica
And so, you know, honestly, that's like why I feel I'm here and not in a studio is I want to invite people into my home. Yeah. And I think that that's a really interesting and cool way is to just make it so connected.
Jake
Yeah. Because I think then people really do feel like they're part of the project and they really are. But I know sometimes I've donated to things in the past and I never it's not that I need a thank you card or anything, but I don't feel like I know anybody associated with or had an experience with it, but this ties it to it. So you have that experience and you have that emotional connection as well as any other connection you might form.
Jessica
Yeah, brilliant. So what scares you on a regular basis though?
Jake
World Yeah. I mean, as a creator of I will say that the thing that scares me the most is losing the humanity of what I'm creating by having it sucked away through tech. I think I always get a little nervous around tech in general. I'm never one to be in charge. Like, don't put me in charge of the camera or the lights or anything like that because I can handle it up to a degree.
Jake
But if something goes wrong, I can't fix it. But also any time that I do a project where it's so tech heavy, I sometimes feel like I can't bring the humanity to it. And that is something that I'm worried about as an artist going forward. Is the reliance on tech, but then the overwhelming need for it and other people seeing that they can use tech and replace many of you.
Jake
The artist. I didn't do the the, you know, profiled challenges because I didn't want to support, you know, I taking work away and using work from other artists just to create like a cool Instagram post. And it's a big thing in the SAG contract and in the WGA contract of not having I take over in ways that kind of seemed inevitable.
Jake
And I really want to have a part of my creativity and my creative life be organic where I'm checking an email every 2 minutes and I'm not on a laptop for the majority of the day, but actually working face to face with other artists in an environment. That's what was so great about doing the play this summer is that, you know, with a play and with performing, you kind of you are it.
Jake
That's what it is. And I know I can rely on myself for that. But as the older I get, the more I feel like my parents where I'm like, I don't understand this test or I don't understand how to promote in this new way on social media where it's like, I know the old way to do it. So I think I'm just worried about tech not only surpassing my capabilities and my knowledge, but also taking over all the fun parts of what it's like to be a human making art with other humans.
Jessica
So you're leaning into the fun parts to claim those as your own.
Jake
It's absolutely.
Jessica
Nice. Yeah. All right. And what if you had a magic wand and you could do anything creatively? Where would you spend the ratio of your time? Or is there one dream project? Hmm.
Jake
I think what I'd like to do, if I could wave a magic wand, is create a creative space for artists. When I was in San Francisco, I was very lucky to be part of the piano community. Oh, they're amazing. They're amazing. And I saw them in their second iteration, which is when they took over 144 Taylor Street, and they created a space where there were two black box theaters, a cabaret space, full bar and restaurant.
Jake
And then downstairs they had a recording studio, they had rehearsal rooms, they had dressing rooms. And what was great about that space is that you you could throw anything up. And it wasn't always good, it wasn't always polished, but it felt really real and authentic. So I'd like to replicate a space like that where there is a stage and people can come and it's not a big stage, but it's one where you could do plays, you could have music, you could have a storytelling night or a poetry night where you could give lectures and also have a space where artists can incubate, where they can meet each other, where they can have a drink or
Jake
a coffee and hang out, where they can record their podcast, or they can edit their film. And so that there's a hive of sorts that are there and that people know that they can come there for a variety of reasons and not be exclusionary about it either. I think piano flight was the place that I think a lot of artists in the Bay Area went to because they weren't getting cast at ACT or Berkeley Rep.
Jake
I mean, some of them were for sure, but it was the place to go just to kind of be your artistic, creative self and be welcomed for who you were and what you were working on.
Jessica
Yeah. And because of that, the work was really vibrant and raw and yeah, all over the place. But it was very alive. Yeah, in a way that's not all. Or that maybe makes it to mainstream level audience base. Yeah. Is going to be able to.
Jake
Yeah. Yeah. And just a place to meet other artist debater. Yeah. To go there and know that either you're seeing somebody's show or you're working on somebody's show or you're in the show that night or you're just there to, you know, grab a drink on your way to go meet with other people. That that cross-section is so important.
Jake
And I remember Fran Lebowitz talking about this of like when you out LA like smoking in bars and stuff, it's like we're all the artists going to go to to sit and and connect with each other. And I don't think you necessarily need to bring back smoking, but I think you do need to create a non corporatized space and one that is without necessarily a definitive leadership making choices from the top down of like where the artistic director this is like the community where people can go and just try stuff out and be around each other.
Jake
And then if they need to take it somewhere else and develop it, that's great. But to celebrate that work, to wow.
Jessica
Yeah, I love it. Yeah. I've actually I've talked to people recently about like, you know, the concept of this show is Creator's Cafe is to kind of do that. And how cool would it be to have that in real life of a cafe where creators come? And so you are welcome to be my executive director as soon as we get the financing.
Jake
Yeah, yeah.
Jessica
Let's do it. Yeah, I'm.
Jake
Sure the check's in the mail.
Jessica
Yeah, absolutely. So what is your creator's challenge? Because I know you're so good with working with people to kind of help them get just like you were talking about with this beautiful vision for an artistic space to get whatever is going on inside of them out. So what challenge would you give my audience?
Jake
I would say this is something that I've been doing with students from when I've been a teaching artist or when I've been in residency with schools or with juvenile programs, is to do a free ride for 5 to 10 minutes, knowing it's going to be bad, do the garbage rewrite, because I think it's really hard to sit in front of a blank space, whether that is your blinking cursor on your screen or in front of a tangible page of paper and just to start to write or come up with a project.
Jake
But if you give yourself 10 minutes and just say, I'm just going to write like everything that's on my mind and these minutes, and if one sentence is great, awesome, If ten sentences are great, awesome. If none of it is great though, which is really what we're should be going for in this rewrite and this free, right? Yeah.
Jake
Is that you get all the junk out of your head and it's kind of it's kind of a meditative process where, you know, from my own personal experience with meditation, it's not about quieting your thoughts. It's about seeing them for what they are and seeing how you're reacting to them in the space. Yeah, and in your mind. And so if you can put it all down on paper and say, All right, I've cleared my head, I've had the moment to put all the bad ideas down, now I can really get started.
Jake
That can be applicable to if you're starting to write a book or if you're just kind of outlining your production schedule or something like that, give yourself the time to be bad, to make the mistakes, to to be to be crazy. And I think it opens up a lot more of those creative like resources that are tapped in your brain because you're not judging yourself, or at least not as hard as if you're like, Yeah, I'm sitting down.
Jake
This is my time to write. I have given myself that I'm writing ten words a day or ten pages a day. It's like, Why don't you give yourself 10 minutes to be really bad at it and then see where it goes from there?
Jessica
Perfect. Yeah. And I'm going to put all of your links in the show notes. Where's the best place for people to find you?
Jake
You can find me on Instagram. I'm at the Jarky at @thejarky. And then you'll find pretty much everything that I'm associated with from there.
Jessica
Beautiful. Jake Arky, thank you so much.
Jake
Jessica Payne She is, yes. Delicious.
Jessica
Join the community and share your creative challenges on Instagram and Facebook at Creators Cafe by Kika Labs. And also check out my website www.kikalabs.com to sign up for the mailing list. So you always know when a new podcast is released and to check out my coaching and digital courses to help you be a more confident and joyful creator.
