Meet Jason Eldredge

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

Hi Jason, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
I think Dustin Hoffman once said in an interview something about how he quits acting all of the time. Basically, after every movie, he tells everyone: “I’m done. I’m retiring.” And then inevitably, he ends up doing another film. Hearing that really stuck with me, because as an artist, one of the biggest challenges is thinking about whether or not to keep going. I think giving yourself the permission to “quit” actually allows you the opportunity to surrender and take a break. You can then revisit things later on with a fresh perspective. I’ve had multiple moments in my life where I thought I was quitting something completely, only to return to it again later. At one point, I even went back to school with the intent of working outside of the arts and going full-time into psychology. But then an Art History professor reflected to me how my creative sensibilities really are innate, so I left the psychology program to further study art and film instead. Most of the time, the act of creating for me doesn’t seem like a choice, it feels inherent in everything that I do. Whenever things are coming down to the wire, I always just try to trust my instincts. I think I have a silent and tenacious drive behind my ambitions as well, so that also carries me through the more challenging times.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a director and writer who is dedicated to creating and supporting personal queer cinema. Before filmmaking, I was the host of weekend radio shows for the NPR affiliate, KCRW here in Los Angeles. I also worked as a music supervisor for Warner Brothers, Viacom, and I was on the team that selected music for the HBO Original Series, Six Feet Under. During that time, I also performed at the MTV Video Music Awards and I DJ-ed the Oscars in 2014.

After spending over five years on the air at KCRW, I ended up moving to New York and was on East Village Radio. I also created soundtracks for multiple runway shows at New York Fashion Week, and I had a stint developing promotional concepts for AvroKO, which is a design and hospitality firm responsible for inventing food halls and re-igniting speak-easy cocktail culture.

I feel like this multifaceted collection of experiences that I have is what differentiates me as a filmmaker. Although I’ve been essentially making films since I was six years old— using my parents video camera as a kid every chance I got— my professional career didn’t really start until after I had gone though a variety of other disciplines, all of which contribute to the way that I create films today. I also originally come from theater. I was an actor and I performed with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, so that kind of classical training has also definitely provided a strong foundation for how I work with my actors today.

In 2017, I was the victim of an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime in Brooklyn, which was very random and terrifying. That pivotal moment in my life greatly shifted my perspective and galvanized my commitment to queer storytelling. Shortly after that incident, I volunteered as a crisis counselor for queer youth with the Trevor Project. These experiences really reinforced for me the ongoing and essential need for authentic queer storytelling in film.

MASC is my directorial debut and it is a deeply personal story. With the film, I wanted to explore the themes of internalized shame in the queer community and how sincere hope can be found on the other side of self-acceptance. The film premiered at the 2024 Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, and it will also screen at other festivals later on this year.

I think the biggest lesson I have learned throughout all of my experiences so far is that patience and kindness are always key. Those are the two main components of my personal values system along with respecting diverse perspectives and committing to authenticity. It sounds like it is so simple and maybe a bit cliché, but the two virtues of patience and kindness really do go a long way, especially when working in collaboration with others.

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?
To me, chef Nancy Silverton is queen. Her influence on the Los Angeles food scene is unsurpassed. When I first moved to LA, groups of us would scramble to make it to her Thursday “Grilled Cheese Nights” at the now closed Campanile, and when I lived more full-time in NYC, I would always get a La Brea Bakery sandwich at the JFK airport before boarding any flight. So, if you’re coming to visit me in LA, I’m definitely taking you to Nancy’s powerhouse, Pizzeria Mozza on Melrose. We’re also gonna go to The Row in DTLA to have the crust that influenced her at Pizzeria Bianco. And then I’ll probably have to take you for some inspired drinks at Cara Hotel in Los Feliz. The after-party for my film premiere was held there and their sister establishment, Laurel Hardware is another great spot.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
When people ask me about my favorite film, I’ll usually say François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. It’s curious because I’ve only seen the movie once, and that was when I first moved to Los Angeles and AFI screened the film at the Skirball Cultural Center. Ultimately, as a queer person, I think the film’s themes of alienation, the search for identity, rejection and resilience really resonated with me. Also, Truffaut’s ability to capture such profound emotional depth in young Jean-Pierre Léaud’s performance as Antoine Doinel makes it feel very special. There are other films overall that have had a similar impact on me, and I’ve seen those literally dozens of times. But with The 400 Blows, I don’t know… that first viewing was such a rare and powerful experience that I’ve always wanted to preserve its memory. I think seeing that movie was also probably one of the first times I realized that I genuinely wanted to direct my own films.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason_eldredge