Beg, Borrow and Steal

I’ve never asked anyone for financing for any of my films. That is not to say that I’ve never made money from producing videos, but for my own projects I’ve always self-funded.

JULIAN was the first time that I considered acquiring outside money to complete the production. I thought about how I could do it with what I had but with a new baby and my wife about to get out of the Navy there was no way I could spend thousands, or tens of thousands, on this film. Which ultimately is what it would demand to become what it is now. This is not even calculating the cost of equipment that I already had in my inventory from years and years of earning money then reinvesting it in to gear like lighting, lenses, cameras and mics.

I approached Mike about creating a crowd funding campaign and he assisted me in planning and then filming what would become our IndieGOGO pitch. Watch it HERE.

I was terrified.

It takes a lot of humility and also confidence to ask my entire network and even strangers for a buck to make a film. This happened to also take place at a time when people were significantly struggling financially post pandemic. In MIke’s studio we set up one day and I read my pitch from a teleprompter, telling potential supporters that I was going to create a professional, moving documentary about an American hero, a Marine. I knew once I posted this video and our campaign went live that I had to be all in. NOTHING could stop me from finishing this and it had to be good, no, great. I also knew that my goals may not be met, and if no one contributed that I would still find some way to make it happen.

The campaign went live and I was sharing the link all over my social media. Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok as well as texting and calling around seeing who may be interested. I would only ask that people take a look at the video we made, and then if they wanted they could give something. A dollar or a thousand dollars. It all went a long way over the course of the production.

With a bit of shock and a great deal of gratitude I watch as the notifications came in on my phone. Twenty dollars here, then fifty, soon $500 and $1000 contributions came. It was amazing to see the support that Julian garnered. People whose names I’d never heard were giving generously. Julian shared the link as well and people SHOWED UP. We received almost $10,000.

But the support went beyond the financial.

Julian has impacted so many lives and this campaign really demonstrated that. A gentleman from Jiu Jitsu reached out and told me he was in a band. They offered to let me use their music and even make new music for the film, and we did!

I had a contact at VetTV, a Veteran focused content streaming website, who I reached out to to rent uniforms and props for some of the scenes. They donated them to the project.

I called all around looking for different locations and was able to secure and rent everything we needed for each reenactment and were able to get back in to Mike’s studio for the interviews. Every penny from crowdfunding went in to production and then ultimately a lot more out of my own pocket.

EVERY PENNY WAS WORTH IT.

I made a lot of promises in our IndieGOGO video. I feel like we delivered on all of them, and the feedback I’ve gotten on the film supports this. Please read the reviews on this site to see what I mean.

I can’t wait to share this with you and show you what we were able to do with a small budget and a dedicated team.

Max

Building a Team

Starting any big mission can be intimidating. For too long I’ve considered myself a “one man band” filmmaker. Believing I can do it all myself. This is not because I didn’t want to work with anyone else but because who else is going to put as much of their time and energy in to MY project. Who is going to make time on the weekends, late nights and short notice filming opportunities. Well…lots of people.

My wife and I had an opportunity to attend a Veteran networking event while we were still very new to Oceanside. There we met three incredible people: Fred Galvin, Scott Huesing, and Amy Forsythe. All three are Marines and published authors and I recommend you look them up and read their works. I stayed in touch with all of them and tried to help any way I could to promote their books, one day while talking with Amy I told her about Julian and she then introduced me to her friend Michael, also a Marine veteran.

Michael is a filmmaker himself with a studio in Oceanside. He and I spoke and when I told him about my ambitions for JULIAN he volunteered himself and all his resources to make it become the best film it can be. He and I spent hours on Zoom going over ideas and structure for the film. It was thanks to him that I was able to create an initial plan for the film and when the first day of filming came he met me at Gracie Barra Oceanside. All this was before he even met Julian or anyone else involved. That was the first, but not last, time someone made a remarkable commitment to this story after just hearing about Julian and his story.

As the scope of the work grew I sought out additional crew. Facebook has an active community of actors, filmmakers, musicians and other creative professionals who are seeking work in film and tv. I posted in one of these groups that I was looking for a production assistant, a jack of all trades type. There I met Robert, a total stranger, and after a phone call he said the project sounded “dope” and he’d be happy to help, for free. Honestly this was a little concerning, I was skeptical, why would someone want to do all this for free? Even if they believed in the project for what it is will they really show up on early mornings and late nights all over San Diego County day after day? Well again the answer is yes. Robert was at almost every single shoot day even if it meant driving for hours to make it just in time. Robert is amazing. He is an absolute professional, incredibly talented and knowledgeable on all things filmmaking and now, one of my heroes.

I also found all of the actors and extras through Facebook who either worked for free or for less than they’re worth when they heard about Julian and the project. They will get their own whole blog post for their hard work and dedication to this film.

I also have to thank a number of people in my personal network who didn’t hesitate to get onboard as a gaffer, boom operator, actor or other job on set. Scotty, Austen, Tommy, my wife and baby and so many more, thank you.

This film isn’t mine, it belongs to the whole team, without any one of you it would not be what it is today. Your support and contribution means the world to me and to Julian and his family. I can’t overstate how incredible it is to me that people who didn’t even know me, total strangers, put enough trust in me and the vision to show up for Julian. I hope I didn’t let any of you down.

Finally, all these people showed me that I don’t have to do it alone. If the mission is worthwhile people will want to get on board and support. And when it’s for a Marine and American hero there is no shortage of support at the ready. You’ve reignited my faith in humanity and I hope to work with all of you again soon. I love you all.

Max

Conception

When my family moved from Okinawa, Japan to Oceanside, California my wife was six months pregnant with our first child. While we were living overseas we watched on TV and the web as the pandemic unfolded and America started to look like a scary place to live.

Japan on the other hand was one of the most peaceful and beautiful countries I’ve ever been to; as well as a fantastic place to raise kids. It was second to none in safety. We would watch in awe as children as young as five would travel on the subway unsupervised. Meanwhile it seemed as though crime had never been worse back stateside. When we landed in Seattle in July of 2022 I witnessed an armed security guard at SEATAC scream at, cuss out and threaten another airline employee who was pushing an elderly traveler in a wheelchair through customs. In the moment I thought, it’s all true, how fast can we get back to Japan.

Things calmed down as we settled in to our new home in Oceanside but there was no question that crime was worse and I didn’t feel as safe walking around in our community. This was amplified by my concerns about becoming a new first time father and protecting my family. It naturally led me to considering getting self defense training, something I had not practiced in many years. I started searching on google for local Jiu Jitsu schools and one caught my attention, Gracie Barra (pronounced Ba-Ha). While meeting my wife’s new colleagues at the Camp Pendleton on-base bowling alley I noticed one of them, Chuck, wearing a Gracie Barra t-shirt. He told me that it was a great school and I should come check it out on a Thursday evening in August.

I did.

When I walked in Erick greeted me, he was wearing his gi and a blue belt. I told him Chuck told me how great it is there and I was excited to get started. Erick told me how Chuck was a great guy and he was happy I had come in.

I completed the trial class in a borrowed gi by the end of the evening was signing up for a membership. Later I would learn Chuck went to another Gracie Barra branch and Erick had no idea who he was. Erick is a good salesman, it would be wise to retain him on staff.

After a couple classes the Professor (black belt school owner) Doug, a retired Marine, heard that I hosted a podcast and YouTube channel and he wanted to ask me some questions about starting his own program. We met for breakfast outside of class and spoke at length. During our conversation he told me a number of reasons teaching Jiu Jitsu inspires him. One of the reasons was that he loved helping people by getting them on the mats. He told me about a guy he knew who he wanted to train. He was a double amputee Marine, wounded in Afghanistan. Doug told me he had convinced him to come in and try it soon though he’d never taught an adaptive athlete before but he was looking forward to it. Two weeks later JULIAN came in for his first class. Instead of being a quiet shy newcomer, like me, he was a loud, confident, happy, and highly motivated student of Jiu Jitsu. Despite it being his first day his presence was that of the Captain of the football team.

We became fast friends and training partners and after only a few classes Julian shocked everyone when he committed to competing at his first Jiu Jitsu competition.

Humbly I approached him about making a YouTube video about all this, but after a couple meetings it was clear that his story was far broader and more meaningful than what I could capture in a brief video that would come and go on the internet like a flash in the pan.

We were off and on the path that ultimately led to the completion of JULIAN: a Jiu Jitsu Story, which is now winning awards at film festivals and inspiring people worldwide.

I look forward to sharing this film with you soon and sharing the journey through this blog. Stay tuned to get get to know the journey and all updates regarding the film. Thank you so much.

Max