Meet Carl Reid: Writer, Director, Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carl Reid and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carl, what role has risk played in your life or career?
As a person who chose to go into the more unorthodox career of filmmaking, I was met with a lot resistance when I was younger. I was often explicitly told that there was no hope for me being successful or realistic future in pursuing a creative vocation. Statistically, it may be true that a very small percentage of people who attempt to work in film are able to achieve long-term stability in that field, but I would rather be able able to take that risk, fail, and feel grateful that I tried than to be too afraid to believe in myself at all.

I know too many people from back home who let their dreams wither on the vine of pragmatism, and now they find themselves stuck in lives other people told them to live. There will always be a reward in taking a risk on something you love or are passionate about, because at the very least, you’ll learn you were brave enough to try. And trying, that initial leap of faith, is the first (and perhaps most crucial step) on any path to success.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Wow, OK, let’s see…for some background on me, I wrote my first screenplay when I was eleven, moved from DC to LA when I was twenty-one. It was definitely a grind early on. I paid my dues, worked a lot of jobs to stay afloat and a number of practically no-pay gigs to establish myself before booking freelance writing gigs. From there, it was about building a reputation until the work started coming to me. Eventually, I was hired as an in-house writer for Baron Davis’ production company, No Label, and I rose up the ranks to become the Head of Development there for a number of years.
We produced a number of projects in conjunction with Kevin Hart’s company, LOL, where I served as showrunner, as well as our series, WTF Baron Davis, that I wrote on and produced, which is currently on Hulu. Our film, Domino: Battle of the Bones, starring Snoop Dogg and David Arquette will be out this June. And while I’m proud of that work, it was essential for me to retain enough autonomy to write and direct work outside of the company and foster new relationships to keep moving forward.

That paid off recently with the formation of my new company, Redbird Entertainment. Redbird is an independent production company founded with the goal of telling stories that empower underserved voices to break the mold of traditional Hollywood fare and shine a light on new worlds not typically depicted on screen. We want to tell stories that move the needle in some fashion and hopefully help to make our society a little better.

We’re very proud of the success of our first feature, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, in which Frankie Faison gives an awards-worthy performance. So far, we’ve fared very well in every festival we’ve been a part of, sweeping the Austin Film Festival last year. We’re very pleased to have Morgan Freeman and his company, Revelations Entertainment, currently pushing our film to new heights.

During the quarantine, we also stayed busy by filming a full season of a half-hour superhero comedy series called Grounded, which we’re in post-production with at the moment. It tells the story of the world’s strongest superhero, who finds himself quarantined at home, where he couldn’t possibly be more useless. When word of his secret identity as a therapist leaks, he finds his purpose restored when dozens of similarly cooped up costumed heroes with serious psychological issues turn to him as they confess their deepest fears, foibles, and fetishes to the only man they know will understand their pain.

I don’t know that any other company on the planet pulled off something as ambitious as our season while the industry was shut down, so we’re very excited to share the show with the world in the near future.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m going to assume this hypothetical refers to a time in the near future, with everything still relatively shut down, ha. I love LA. I’ve wanted to live here nearly my entire life, so I was very happy that it did not disappoint upon my arrival. I’d say that a comedy or musical show at the Largo is pretty essential. I’ve seen some of my favorite performers of all time at that venue in both fields, and the intimacy of the Little Room especially is unparalleled. Standards like The Hollywood Bowl (several John Williams nights and Paul Simon have been my highlights), The Getty, LACMA, the Tar Pits/Museum, The Museum of Natural History, Hotel Cafe, and The Huntington Gardens, which I recently discovered, would likely make the list. I recently went seal watching in Marina del Ray, which was pretty fun.

My favorite bars include The Blind Barber, Backstage (for any karaoke fans), and Jones (incredible late-night happy hour)…all of which I hope will still be around. The art house theaters were the real draw for me, however. The Nuart, Laemmle’s Royal Theatre, The Landmark, and The New Beverly (…again, praying they survive all of this).

When it comes to food, I don’t even know where to begin! Fig and Olive, The Misfit, Jon and Vinny’s, BOA, Stout, Meat on Ocean, Spartina, Gyu-Kaku (for fun Japanese BBQ with a group), Canter’s (of course), Fifty One (great dim sum specials), Cerveteca, DeSano, Full Moon House (one of the best stops to go when the bars close), Gracias Madre (for vegan options), Brothers sandwiches, EMC Seafood, Sattdown, Millie’s Cafe, The Overland (great brunch spot if you can find a seat), and I can’t turn down Lucille’s BBQ, ha. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’m pretty auto-didactic in regards to my current field, mostly because of the amount of resistance I faced in pursuing writing and filmmaking growing up. I have to credit my favorite directors for inspiring me and teaching me through their craft. DVD commentaries were my film school in my formative years before I was ever able to get a camera in my hands, so I can’t thank the legends enough for giving me a window in their processes.

I learned so much studying the films and behind the scenes moments of Peter Jackson, James Cameron, George Lucas, Stanley Kubrick, Guillermo del Toro, the Coen Brothers, Steve McQueen, Tarantino, Cronenberg, Kurosawa, Carpenter, Herzog, Ang Lee, Kaufman, Aronofsky, Miyazaki, Linklater, etc. Without them, I wouldn’t have such a deep love for the medium or know the basics of structure and characterization. The imagery they rendered on screen forever opened my eyes to the endless possibility and power of filmmaking.

I also learned through various DVD documentaries what a collaborative enterprise movies and TV are. There are so many immeasurably talented people involved in bringing a production to life, and those are the people I am most grateful for today. My creative partner, Enrico Natale; Julianna Politsky who always champions my work; Zennen Clifton for giving me my shot; Shaun Chasin whose beautiful music makes everything I do infinitely better; Steven Allerick an incredible actor, singer, and friend who always has my back; Steven Vasquez, my brilliant frequent co-director; Andrew Carl, my childhood best friend and brilliant comic book publisher who I watched all those formative movies with. He loaned countless films and graphic novels to me when I couldn’t afford them, and I don’t know if I’d be where I am if it weren’t for those experiences getting lost for hours on end in the conjured realities of dreamers whose shoulders I stand on. An equally massive shoutout to Alan Moore, who taught me to delve deeper, think harder, and always challenge convention in every story I undertake.

Website: https://redbirdentertainment.com/contact/

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/redbird-entertainment/

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Image Credits
Jeff Berg Michael David Lynch