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50 First Takes:
Interview with Jared Cohn
By Carin Chea
To the casual onlooker, filmmaker Jared Cohn has it made. He has in excess of 50 movies under his directorial belt and has worked with legendary artists – Bruce Willis, William Shatner, Theo Rossi, Thomas Jane – just to name a few.
His story is all too familiar: A young, hopeful actor ventures to Hollywood in pursuit of the dream. But, Cohn is far from an overnight success. He wasn’t scouted at the mall, nor did he simply get lucky and meet the right person at the right time. And he certainly wasn’t discovered while waiting for a $30 probiotic smoothie at Erewhon.
Cohn’s success came at great sacrifice, and was consistently paved with perseverance, stalwart determination, and grit – a supernaturally large amount of grit.
Cohn’s book, 50 Movies Made: Lessons Learned on a Filmmaker’s Journey, chronicles his path from an actor in New York to his now thriving career as a Hollywood director.
But make no mistake: Cohn makes it clear that nothing in the entertainment industry comes easily, and is not a journey meant for the faint of heart. As it turns out, the hero in this story isn’t on the screen, but behind the camera.
Tell us about the first movie you ever directed.
The very first movie was this movie called The Carpenter: And So They Die. It was a low-budget horror movie. I took out all my money to make this movie and it was a slasher, your classic 20-something year old getting killed off by a scary-looking figure. I was 26.
If you want to make a low-budget movie and make money, make a horror film. There’s a market for horror, but it didn’t work for me. I didn’t make money on my first movie. I was naïve.
The book talks about that experience, and some of those lessons I’ve learned on how to not get burned.
Is there a specific genre of film you find yourself gravitating toward?
In the action-thriller space right now, but I’ve done all sorts of genres. I wouldn’t say I’m limited to one genre. I enjoy a good story. The story supersedes genre.
What has been your most memorable directing project to date?
I’ve directed 50 movies, but I’m going to say the most involved was the Lynyrd Skynyrd movie because not only was it a movie, it turned into a major lawsuit. The lead singer’s widow has bad blood with the former drummer whose story the movie is ultimately about.
While we were on set, we got sued and it turned into a full-on trial that we lost. It was so depressing. But, we appealed to the second circuit appellate court, and all the major studios got involved and wrote briefs on our behalves saying that if they didn’t rule in our favor, they’d be denying us our First Amendment rights.
And we won. It was a whole Rocky story. We were the little guys and we won. The movie’s out now and doing great.
Do you have a muse?
Music helps inspire. I’ll write certain scripts listening to a particular artist. I’ll just do the same song over and over again. It changes and depends on the script.
There was one time I had written a script that got stolen. I contacted a lawyer and went through the whole process. It’s in the book. During this experience, there was a Rage Against the Machine song that came on, and at the end of the song they yell out “REACTION!”
I wrote this script called Reactor about a guy on a hell-bent mission to take out a bunch of bad guys. That script got turned into Deadlock starring Bruce Willis.
What inspired you to write 50 Movies Made, and what do you hope your readers will glean from it?
I love reading Hollywood biographies. I’m obsessed with reading fellow filmmakers' and actors' and directors' stories. Those are the only books I read, other than technical books. I wanted to contribute.
It’s not a how-to book. There were many bad things that happened to me; I’d like to help people navigate through this industry, which is so complex and brutal.
50 Movies Made is geared to help and inspire, but also backed with practical advice and real stories. It’s not a theoretical book.
Was there an a-ha moment that you remember triggering your desire to write this book?
I was directing so many movies back-to-back. Somewhere around movie 40, people asked me how many movies I’d directed and I’d respond with “I’ve had about 50 movies made,” including upcoming projects. It became a running theme in my head and I thought, “That’s a book title.”
The title spawned further development. Originally every movie I did was going to be its own chapter. That was the first draft and it was 900 pages. But, after the re-writing process, combining stories and themes, it’s now about 296 pages.
Who have you always dreamed of working with that you haven’t worked with yet?
Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, I love to work with great actors. Ben Mendelssohn is so great. Leonardo DiCaprio – everyone would love to work with him.
That saying is true, you know, how major actors say, “The only reason I got this role is because Leonardo DiCaprio passed on it.”
Are there any upcoming projects you’d like us to know about?
I’ve got a movie on Tubi premiering on May 19 called The Getback. We had Theo Rossi, Dermot Mulroney, and Kim Coates star in it.
I’ve had a crush on Dermot Mulroney ever since My Best Friend’s Wedding. Is he cool?
Dermot is such a cool guy. This guy is the real deal and as cool as they get. He’s charming, funny, a wonderful person.
If you were to direct a movie based on your life, who would play you? This can be a younger you, or an older you.
A young Shia LeBeouf, before he went crazy. Like, around Transformers 2, before he got jacked up. I met him when he was at that age, at the Vincent Chase acting studios. I was hanging out with Shia outside, smoking a cigarette. He was cool. I’m from New York and he had that east coast feel.
What would you like to say to your younger self, the You that first came out to LA?
I would say: “Try your best to enjoy life.” I was so focused for 20 years. I put the pursuit of the career above anything else, above family, friends, relationships. You miss a lot of life events. But, at the same time, I don’t know if I would’ve gotten where I needed to be without that.
Here’s the real advice: If you want to give yourself the best chance, you’ve got to go 100%. You have to make sacrifices and put your artistic endeavors above most things.
If you get a job, and your best friend’s also getting married, and those dates conflict, you got to do the movie.
Are you really, really ready to swallow what could be poison, what could possibly kill you? It’s brutal. A lot of people come and go. I know several people who went out to Hollywood. Some of them went crazy and some of them killed themselves. It’s unfortunate. It’ll take everything out of you.
I’ve been doing this for a long time. It takes so much grit and perseverance. My book also discusses my transition of coming out here as an actor and failing in the most brutal, slowest way, and then transitioning to filmmaking.
Do you miss acting?
Sometimes. I don’t miss the auditions, the headshots. But, the funny thing is, I’m actually about to do a movie role.
Throughout the years, every once in a while, I get an acting job, not by me actively auditioning, but from my filmmaker friends casting me. Some of them have been lead roles.
For everything Jared Cohn-related and for updates, please visit www.JaredCohn.com.
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