Today we’d like to introduce you to Cam Duncan and Ethan Nelson and Zach Bakken.
Hi Cam, Ethan, and Zach, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
The three of us (Zach, Ethan, Cam) have been making films and YouTube videos for about a decade now, despite all of our young ages (20, 21, 21). We officially established So Good Productions in 2013 and released our first short film, ‘Tomorrow,’ in 2015. After a few failed films and a brief hiatus, we decided to make another film in the summer of 2021, ‘A John Hughes Jawn.’ In our usual roles, Cam directed and wrote it, Zach produced and wrote it, and Ethan produced and starred in it. We premiered it at the Lyric Theater in Fort Collins during the Summer of Shorts event, hosted by Black Sparrow Media. We met Jamal Page at the event and got in touch with him. Following the premiere, we started developing a new film, this time a full-length, feature film. We developed the idea, brought it to Jamal, who agreed to produce it, and ‘Welcome to Hollywood’ was born. We are currently in the midst of pre-production, gearing up for production in the summer of 2022.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
With this particular film, there have been numerous challenges. We decided to make a huge jump from no-budget short films to a 5-figure budget feature film. This has presented us with the challenges of picking from an array of actors, crew members, and much more logistics than we’re used to. One challenge that was totally new to us was fundraising. We had never had to raise money for our films before, so that was a learning experience. Fortunately, we were able to hit our fundraising goal for our budget. Another major obstacle has been that since the three of us are college students, we aren’t all in the same town during school times. That has meant countless Zoom calls and jam-packing our breaks when we’re all in Fort Collins, full of meetings and tasks.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Our work is filmmaking, with each of us bringing a unique set of skills to the table. Cam has traditionally been the director, Zach the producer, Ethan the lead actor. This is no different with Welcome to Hollywood. Since we have been making films together for so long together, we were able to naturally find these roles while developing our skills. As we made films growing up, we never had the luxury of large crews or cast, which meant that we were always doing a million different jobs, such as camera, sound, lighting, writing, acting, and editing, all by ourselves. That level of collaboration for so many years led to a very strong bond between the three of us. We’ve developed almost identical instincts and can always read and anticipate each other’s thoughts, which makes us a really good team. It also means we are able to challenge each other and be honest with our opinions when we aren’t agreeing on something. For our current work, as mentioned before, we are working on a feature called ‘Welcome to Hollywood.’ The film follows two young filmmakers fresh off a big success who are invited to a high-class party in the Hollywood Hills. With differing sides trying to sign them, the night devolves into madness and violence as allegiances and bonds are tested and the underbelly of the industry is shown. We are deep in pre-production at the moment and are slated to begin production on May 23 and wrapping on June 9.
What are your plans for the future?
We don’t have any set-in-stone plans for the future beyond this film. For now, we are just focusing on ‘Welcome to Hollywood’ and gearing up for production. After this film releases, we can hopefully use it to push the envelope even more in our next film, whether that be in terms of content, budget, or both.
Contact Info:
- Email: cam.sogood@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.blacksparrowmedia.org/news-updates
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_welcometohollywood_/?hl=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SoGoodProductions
Image Credits
Maddie Steele Photography
