Hollywood is Dead
Hollywood is Dead
11 // Steve Bridges // TikTok Star
What happens when you stop chasing trends and create something only you can offer? Steve Bridges, the comedic genius behind viral TikTok characters like gamer kid, Junior, and Dirty Dan, has built an audience of over 2 million followers by tapping into authentic experiences from his life.
In this revealing conversation, Steve shares how his challenging childhood—complete with family struggles that led to time in foster care—became the foundation for his comedy. Making his siblings laugh during difficult times wasn't just entertainment; it was emotional survival. This connection between comedy and resilience would shape his entire creative journey.
The road to success wasn't quick or glamorous. For over a decade, Steve worked as a hospital housekeeper, facing "the worst, grossest, nastiest stuff" imaginable. Yet every day, he'd race home to use whatever sunlight remained to film content. "I always knew one day it was going to happen," he reflects. "I might blow up after I die... but it's worth it." That persistence finally paid off when he stopped following TikTok trends and started creating original character-based videos that no one else could replicate.
Steve's authenticity and growing audience caught the attention of filmmaker Eric Mathis, leading to his first movie role in the comedy-horror film "INfernal." The collaborative nature of filmmaking proved revelatory for Steve, who found acting with others far more enjoyable than stand-up comedy. Now writing his own screenplay, he's expanding his creative horizons while maintaining the authenticity that built his following.
The conversation explores the shifting landscape of entertainment, the delicate balance between social media and traditional media, and the value of creating constantly rather than seeking perfection. Steve's journey demonstrates that in today's creator economy, building your own audience might be more valuable than waiting for Hollywood's permission.
Ready to be inspired by someone who created their own path to success? Listen now, and discover why sometimes the most unconventional route leads to the most authentic destination.
Please consider following the podcast on Instagram, TikTok, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube!
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today on hollywood is dead. We've got a guest who proves you don't need hollywood to build an audience. Steve bridges is a tiktok sensation with over 2 million followers, best known for his viral characters like gamer kid dan j Jr and a personal favorite Princess. He just made the leap from the phone screen to the big screen with his first film role in the Eric Mathis-directed comedy horror Infernal. Welcome, Steve.
Speaker 2:Thank you, happy to be here.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah, man. So first off, when we met uh in las vegas, I straight up told you that I thought the junior character was a real person. And, uh, do you get that a lot with your characters?
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, yeah. People will say oh, I saw a video of you talking normal and now my mind's blown like thinking that he's real. Some people wish he was real.
Speaker 1:I kind of wish he was real a little bit sometimes he's like a cool guy yeah yeah, right he seems like um every high schooler I went to school with sure for sure I even saw somebody, uh, on one of your videos was saying they thought that the gamer kid was a real person.
Speaker 3:Wow, I was like whoa, that's a I don't know that's a little bit of a stretch, yeah. So let's get into it.
Speaker 1:Can you just give me a little bit of your comedic background, where you come from and how you got started entertaining?
Speaker 2:Sure, and how you got started entertaining, sure, just as a little kid watching Jim Carrey movies being like, okay, well, some, there's something different about this guy and all these movies I'm watching, like just figuring out comedy and, uh, in living color stuff like that like hell. Yeah, seeing the difference between you know the stuff we were watching at my house and why I liked comedy more, and I don't know. I just thought that'd be a really cool thing to do with your life.
Speaker 3:Hell yeah.
Speaker 2:Then SNL, you know, back in the 90s I was totally hooked yeah.
Speaker 1:Chris Farley was my favorite.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Amazing, he was great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I went to his grave. Uh, a few months ago we were up in wisconsin, whoa. Yeah, it was awesome. It's like a really peaceful area too, it was yeah, man, where we're at in wisconsin it's in madison, it is yeah yeah, damn dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's some good stuff. I was, uh, I grew up in a family uh, so I used to go to uh, tennessee and memphis uh, for uh, we kind of switch holidays that's where my dad's parents lived and every year, man, I just remember. I mean, these are like core memories, but three stooges, you know oh yeah, man and it, you know, it's just on a tube tv.
Speaker 3:This is in the 90s you and I are the same age, so you get it. But you know, just like something.
Speaker 1:So, uh, I don't know the memory of it's pretty romantic, but it's like, yeah, just sitting on my grandparents couch, you know, everything smelled like cigarettes, but just watching the stooges man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome, yeah, so good and in living color.
Speaker 1:That one was transformative. That was like yeah jim carrey I think at his finest oh sure being able to do, you know, uh, a show like that. It's just amazing. So good, so good. Who's your, who's your favorite uh snl character or actor?
Speaker 2:I, I would say oh, um, I would say that's a really tough one. Um, there's so many good ones. Yeah, dang. When I was a kid it was like tracy morgan, chris katan, uh, of course, farley.
Speaker 1:Uh, I don't know it's hard to say will ferrell oh yeah, of course, yeah it's. That was a rude question to be like who's your favorite of all these masters? Right, yeah, that's so good um, so I I did a little bit of digging uh on you and I I read an interview that you did with uh cat coffee and you said that you you honed your skills uh supporting your siblings through a challenging childhood. Can you elaborate on that?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, our house was insane. Uh, drugs, alcohol, uh, we ended up in foster care for a little bit and it was really tough and not a lot of stuff to you know about. But yeah, finding those moments and and making my siblings laugh during those weird times was really beneficial, I think, for me too yeah, yeah it's.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit of a, an escape from the horror. I know I I grew up in a, in a. I would just say it was an unpleasant house for quite a few years and same thing. You know, it's like kind of developed a little bit of a funny bone because I I saw that it took the attention away from my parents, Like it took their attention away from each other, and so, you know, I'd come out and be Ace Ventura you know, and I would just you know, my brother and I would put on Christmas shows every year and we'd write the show in like 15 minutes, Like if things were getting a little weird be like
Speaker 1:all right, dude, it's it's go time. We got to go write the show up real quick and then, and then I would tell my parents, be like all right, in 30 minutes you can come into the room and we're going to give you a full show. And but I mean, is there, do you think there is like a correlation between you know, um, like uh, unpleasant childhoods and successful comedians, or even entertainers as a whole, like sure?
Speaker 2:Yeah, cause, um, I don't know, know the stakes are pretty high back then. You know, when you're in a situation like that, yeah, um, I don't know, maybe it's kind of like, I don't know, my mind's going to like chaplain and stuff back when he like had to perform when he was a kid doing vaudeville and stuff. It's not quite like that, but it's kind of like you're young and you have to. You got to get some laughs here, like it's. The stakes are pretty high and I, yeah, I don't know. And yeah, you hear, you hear a lot of comedians say they came from hard places and yeah, yeah, it's helpful, I guess yeah, and it seems, you know like your, your character, junior, seems to come from a rough place.
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Is are, are. Is he based on anybody Like, are these characters based on anyone? Uh, yeah.
Speaker 2:Junior's based on just a lot of dudes I grew up knowing. I was in a band in high school and hung out with stoners and stuff and that junior guys everywhere yeah, the, the lip rings, all of it yeah yeah, um, and Dirty Dan, that's my dad, as close as I can get him like wow, he was like that.
Speaker 2:Wow, with the mullet too he had. Uh, I can't get his hair right. He had like really long hair. Yeah, not quite a mullet, but uh, he probably could have gone that way if he was drunk enough, I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh man, that's so funny. Um, now you've you've been on TikTok for quite a few years. Um, at what point, how did it, uh, how long did it take for you to like really kind of catch your groove?
Speaker 2:oh um, I was on there. I started in 2019 and I think it took maybe like a year until I started posting my own stuff. Because back back in the day on tikt, it was like you do trends and stuff and try to you find those songs or sounds that are trending and stuff, but I wasn't really getting much luck with that and as soon as I just was like you know what, I'm going to buy a wig and just do my own stuff, that's when I went viral. That's when I got like hundreds of thousands of views and I was like, oh damn, okay, I see what. I know what tiktok wants now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it seems like a bit of authenticity maybe yeah, yeah, they want that human, that human factor, you know I wonder if it kind of does it protect against? Like ai? You know creators, you know, like these, these ai replicas that are going to come in, you know creators, you know, like these, these AI replicas that are going to come in, you know. But I think people are always craving that, that human aspect, until we have full singularity. That's going to be interesting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, you know, it seems like. It seems like you know, as a creative, you know the goal is always to be able to create and pay your bills and you know it's for all of us that took this path. You know, and, but it kind of sometimes feels like a pipe dream. Still, you know, how did you keep going? What did you do through those lows? I kind of I do this segment on the podcast where it's called feeding the beast, and the beast is like your, your obsession, your your passion and pursuing that passion. But in order to pursue it, you have to do, you have to work other jobs to support your life.
Speaker 2:Oh sure.
Speaker 1:What were, what were some of those jobs that you were doing uh to support yourself through those, those uh algorithm videos that you were doing?
Speaker 2:before you hit. Um, I I worked at a hospital mostly I. I spent uh 10 plus years working as a hospital housekeeper just seeing the worst, grossest, nastiest stuff of all time blood, all the worst stuff than blood. And yeah, but I always knew one day it was going to happen. I might blow up after I die. I always thought kind of like Van Gogh a little bit.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But it's like worth it. I'm going to keep doing it and no matter what, I would come home from work and just be like, okay, I have like a half an hour left of sunlight. I better put this camera up on the window and figure it out. Like days like that all the time, Kids going crazy. I'm still like I have to make a video. I have to do something.
Speaker 1:Yeah that's right.
Speaker 3:You have a family, yeah, so even through that time, Yep, yep, had to Wow, yeah, so even, even through that time, yep, yep, had to wow, always thinking about the next thing and, yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:That's, that's the. That's the key. I think there's a lot of people that think that they want what you're doing, but they, you know personally. So I have a film that we just completed all the posts. It's for sale and hopefully we get a good distribution deal and everyone can see it. But and it's got you know, uh, what 21 year old me starting out pursuing would have dreamed of. And be like you made it, dude. You made it, you know, and you're a success, but it still feels like I don't even know what that feeling is like you know like oh my God, I made it.
Speaker 1:You know, and I just don't think a lot of people realize how much work goes into something and then you know once you hit that one mountain peak. It's almost like you know once you hit the top then you see that there's another one that's taller in the distance and you have to get to that one.
Speaker 3:Right right.
Speaker 1:It's this feeling of you know making it or being a success maybe kind of is a trap. You know it's like, oh, that's the goal, but it's it's. I don't know that it's necessarily attainable. You know that feeling of I've officially made it, unless I'm wrong. Have you felt like you've you've made it? Or you know, is there another mountain that's higher in the distance for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean in a way yeah, I think I have made it, it I've got really everything I want. I don't have to. I get to make funny videos for a job. That's pretty freaking cool. So I have to remind myself of that. But oh, yeah, like, yeah, I should totally be on the cover of people magazine. Like why am I not on it? Yeah, I gotta figure that one out, stuff like that yeah yeah, man.
Speaker 1:So, um, you star as mikey in the film infernal, and the reason that that infernal was put on my radar is because of sky elabar. Uh, he's a friend of mine and uh, who's in infernal with with you, love?
Speaker 3:Sky.
Speaker 1:Sky's amazing. Like a dude he's such a, he's the epitome of. He's actually one of the people that really made me think like holy shit, like the amount of work that goes into pursuing, you know, a creative life, Like it's non-stop and that dude never stops. Right, I know, yeah, but how did, did you? How did you come to be a part of infernal?
Speaker 2:uh, eric mathis, the writer director, hit me up and he was like first he said he had some small role for me in some movie which was and I think it was infernal. And uh, uh, it's stuff changed. He, uh, or maybe it wasn't infernal, I don't know, but he, he offered me some small role in something and I was like, yeah, sounds good. And then, uh, later he, he hit me up saying that he had, he wanted me to audition for Mikey and infernal. Uh, cause he, he was a fan of my stuff. I guess his whole family was, or his kid, at least him and his kid were fan of my stuff. I guess his whole family was, or his kid, at least Him and his kid were fans of my stuff.
Speaker 2:Anyway, I auditioned and everything worked out. But then I almost couldn't do the movie because it was filming on my wife's birthday. And then, yeah, my wife was like, just do it, just go, just go do it. And I guess Sky is the one who approved my audition. So shout out to sky for that too hell yeah, that's amazing, yeah, uh that's cool.
Speaker 1:So you, you do have a supportive wife partner very much. So, oh yeah, is she doing, uh, social media stuff as well, or?
Speaker 2:she's. She has an account, but she doesn't. She doesn't post like that she. She's just a, a regular person, I guess, yeah yeah, she has a regular job and stuff that's cool.
Speaker 1:That's cool, that's amazing. Um, how did uh being on set feel compared to uh creating your own content? I loved it.
Speaker 2:It was so cool. I compare it to stand-up comedy. It's like what path do I want to pursue? And I had no idea what it would be like. But on set it was so much fun. I was like this is way better than doing stand-up, because I've done stand-up before and acting just is way cooler. You get to hang out with people.
Speaker 3:It's more collaborative.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's a good way to put it. You can kind of feed off the energy or the performance of your scene partner Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:It is fun Stand-up freaks me out.
Speaker 1:Dude Stand-up freaks me out Like just standing up there by yourself.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm. Saying words that you wrote and hoping that it, you know, lands with people right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a rush, did you? I think I read that as well. You did some stand up early on west coast yeah, yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 2:I've done some here in illinois too, but yeah, were you.
Speaker 1:Were you originally from the west coast? Yeah, I'm from oregon no shit, yeah, yeah, I'm in northern california, so cool okay, yeah yeah, yeah, um, no, that's cool, ma'am. Yeah, it's uh. Yeah, I, yeah, I do enjoy I'm also I got into acting. So when I was 21, I moved to los angeles to pursue acting. I thought I was going to be the next thing to save Hollywood, you know, and uh, yeah, it was. It was uh a little bit freaky. The thing that always freaked me out were monologues.
Speaker 1:And so like up in front of an acting class just shaking, sweating, preferred scenes with other people Cause it took the focus off of me. You know, that was one thing that I was never trying to pursue was I was never the guy that wanted to have all the attention. You know, I just wanted to kind of be a part of something really cool. But yeah yeah, that was, those were, yeah, monologues man. Yeah, the bane of my existence in fact, auditioning was a nightmare.
Speaker 1:Because of that very fact, because all eyeballs were on me and I was like I don't want that, I just put me in the movie. You know, it's like oh my God, that's why I got into producing, Cause I uh, I don't have to audition for my films. I'm not going to put myself as the lead necessarily, but it's like I'm going to be in the movie.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, you got the part.
Speaker 3:I got the part yeah.
Speaker 1:Write myself a little text messages.
Speaker 2:Be like you know.
Speaker 1:I'm really happy to announce that you got the part. Congratulations.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:But did you take any acting classes or anything like that?
Speaker 2:No, I never took any acting classes, but I took an online Second City 101 class. I didn't get a whole lot out of it, probably because it was online and I'm just like in my basement.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:This is not cool. You're like I'm how old acting like this right now. Yeah no, but actually you get to to, you know, live out your childhood dreams, which is amazing. But I you know about, like second city and even groundlings. I did groundlings in Los Angeles and I don't know if it feels a little bit like a puppy mill you know, like it feels like there.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I don't know what you'd have to do to really stand out in a group like that, but it it felt like they were willing to take your tuition and there wasn't a whole lot that you got out of it, that you couldn't get elsewhere, except you could say oh, I graduated from groundlings and you know like the thing with groundlings is. You know, after a few years you're either promoted to their kind of troop you know that gets to perform or you're not, and so you spent these years there and now you're no longer.
Speaker 1:You know, it's like you're not going to perform on their stage and it's like that's hard to go all the way through that yeah but yeah it was, it was uh, an interesting time.
Speaker 1:And I wonder it's like early on, probably when they first got started, you know like, because there's so many wonderful, so talented people that came out of those groups that you know transformed comedy as we know. It is when we were growing up, yeah, but you know so obviously there is something there. But I wonder if it kind of just got a little bit, you know, corrupted or I don't know what it?
Speaker 1:is, but it seems like it was about the money. That's what it was. So you know, probably yeah, but uh, yeah, it's all good. I you know Groundlings, second city, amazing, so yeah. Yeah, um and uh, you've had a chance to go to some of the screenings for infernal. Yeah, um, do you? I imagine that you had some pretty cool fan interactions and you know it's like how, how is that for you, do you?
Speaker 1:I'm I'm not like huge on all the attention on me but, how are you, in those situations where you get noticed or you know interacting interacting with with real fans that absolutely love what you do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love it. I love that part of it. Everyone that I've met has been really cool. I do get, um, hate comments, but I don't get any hate comments in real life. Uh, which is nice so far. Um, but yeah, going to those screenings I went to the one in Vegas and I went to the one in Indianapolis yeah, so much fun to see the people come out. And uh, it was, uh, Indianapolis was the first time I ever like sat at a table with like pictures of myself on the table too. That was really freaking cool. I didn't sell any, but it was still tight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, are you, do you sign autographs and stuff, or I take pictures Like people.
Speaker 2:I'll go to Walmart and have to take a picture with a fan Like not have to, but get to really, yeah, yeah. But not so many autographs. Maybe that's just because everyone has a cell phone and a picture is better. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, a picture's worth a thousand words. Yeah, that's a lot of autographs, right? Yeah, no, that's cool, I mean that's got to be kind of neat you know and you know um. I mean, do you bring like swag or anything like that to the shows?
Speaker 2:uh, to, oh, the infernal screenings. I didn't the first time because I had no idea. Sky was like you didn't bring anything. I was like I don't know, never done this before, yeah, but uh, in indianapolis I brought some stickers and some pictures to autograph and stuff and shirts. I did sell some shirts. That was really cool, see yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was I was gonna say, because sky's the king of of merch like just getting your, your brand out there and you know in indianapolis.
Speaker 2:He had action figures. I was like whoa dude, yeah from greasy strangler yeah whoa, that's cool.
Speaker 1:That's cool, it's like dang. Yeah, have you seen his new film yet, the ebony and ivory?
Speaker 2:no I haven't is it on? Amazon. Not yet have you seen the trailer for it.
Speaker 1:I have seen the trailer yeah, it looks insane oh my god, yeah, he called me like last year sometime and was like yeah, I've got a new new movie coming out and it's directed by the, by jim cummings, um, uh, hoskins and um, you know it's about he. He's like it's about John Lennon and Stevie wonder. I was like which one? I know you're John Lennon, or uh, uh, paul McCartney, sorry. And uh, paul McCartney and Stevie wonder. And he's like yeah. And I was like do you do a British accent at all?
Speaker 1:He's like no, I was like like, oh my god, and I know it's gonna be wild yeah same director as greasy strangler. Uh, what's the? Is it a night with beverly luff lufflin? Um, that title for that film is so long and I never get it right. But uh amazing films like just I don't know, like I don't know, like I don't know what your sensibilities are for film, but mine are kind of like I want weird and I want something that I wouldn't normally see you know in the theater uh, an independent film which you know it's like.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, this was obviously made with a camcorder and a bunch of buddies getting together and making it and it's like I don't know, like there's a noticeable difference, and not to knock that, because everyone needs to start somewhere, but you know, that's kind of like, I don't know. I just want something that moves me and I don't feel like. I necessarily get that from a lot of the, the fare that is out there, you know and right you know I'm happy to say that Infernal meets the the, the better side of that spectrum and you know it's.
Speaker 1:It's a really fun film like yeah, the effects Clint Hummel as the devil is just amazing yeah, you know it was really cool. How was it? I mean working on set, what was? What was the energy? Like the?
Speaker 2:energy was fun. It was really cool. It was. It was a good hang. Um man, I had a. I I thought I came in thinking, oh, you know, two million followers, I'm gonna be all right. I I was like, oh shit, when I got there, everyone's so good, yeah. So I was kind of like, uh, once I figured that out, I was. I was sitting there like oh god, what are my lines trying to like make sure I didn't suck in front of these people.
Speaker 1:They're so good every single one of them. Oh yeah, poncho moeller, he's great. Uh, oh my god yeah yeah, just heavy is wild. The movie is wild. It's so good and there's so many good practical effects as well that was so much fun, my god had you speaking about lines and stuff. Did you ever have to have you had experience with that at all like having to learn lines for stuff?
Speaker 2:uh, a little bit back in like, uh, the early 2000s, I had an agent and I was doing like industrial, like training videos for companies in portland, so I had to learn some, like you know, learn like a technical language, all like verbatim and stuff, yeah, and I hated it. I hated it. So, uh, that's when I was like I'm not, I'm, I'm done doing this, I'm just gonna do my own stuff, youtube and all that stuff yeah and uh, now I'm back into doing like more professional type stuff. I guess yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Which is cool.
Speaker 1:More fun stuff, though. Yeah, well, you know, you get a chance to learn and grow and and, uh, tap into skills that you didn't know that you had. Right, yeah, that's true, and I think that getting thrown into the deep end is is the best thing that can happen to you. You know, as far as having to learn quick, without overthinking it, you know, like that, that's the way to do it for sure.
Speaker 1:I had a uh an experience where I got this audition and it was for, uh, an instruction, DVD or video and um, it was for a company called safe racks and you can actually buy them in Costcoco today still, and I'm the guy that tells you how to put it together like 13 years ago and nice. That's cool. To this day, my best performing video.
Speaker 1:It's got like over a half a million views you know, okay, um but I remember when I went in for the audition and then they called me afterwards and they were like, you know, how do you feel about reading uh off of a teleprompter? Like you know, do you have experience with that? And I lied and I was like, oh yeah, easy, whoa. And so then on the day of you know, and I'm thinking, oh sweet, like I'm gonna have a teleprompter, I'm not going to have to like learn the lines, and I still was, you know, went over it because I didn't know how good my eyes, you know, like, how clear the words and stuff were going to be.
Speaker 1:And there is a skill like you, can go to classes that teach you how to read teleprompters and because you know the trick is so that your eyes aren't like going from side to side like you're reading.
Speaker 3:So, you.
Speaker 1:You basically have to kind of use your peripheral vision in order to read the words on the edge.
Speaker 2:Oh dang. I didn't realize that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so I spent eight hours in this warehouse uh, you know, filming with these racks on a ladder and going through, and there was a couple spots where there was, it was just my hands, but they had the microphone up to my mouth to uh then I had to explain what was on the table and I'm like, oh my God. And so like I think I got saved by the bell because it was like okay, lunch, I didn't eat anything.
Speaker 1:I just went over and read all of what I was supposed to say, where I wasn't going to have a teleprompter oh man yeah I had to learn that stuff so fast, but I don't know, I think, if, if you watched it, I don't think you could tell that I was reading a teleprompter and I was like that's good, hell yeah, but talking about getting
Speaker 1:just thrown into the deep end man yeah yeah yeah, even on uh dresden sun. Uh, I got to do the scene with with an amazing actor. His name is linus roach and um, he played thomas wayne. In batman begins at the very beginning of film.
Speaker 1:He was on law and order. He was in Vikings on the history channel for a few seasons, just in everything homeland. He's a he's a very accomplished actor and I was in a scene with him and I'm also producing this movie. So I'm having to take care of all this other stuff and my day is up where I'm gonna be on camera and I'm literally learning my lines right there in my seat.
Speaker 1:I was like oh damn and and he's like, he's like you know, he's like he's british. He was like tyler, do you mind if we, if we, run the scene a few times? I was like absolutely, and I surprised the hell out of myself.
Speaker 2:And you know a lot of it's just reacting to your partner.
Speaker 1:You know, and if you're, if you know what the scene is about and you know you have to kind of know your lines. But in that moment everything just kind of clicked and it just locked it in. And so then, when it was, you know, roll camera, I was ready to rock and roll you know Nice yeah.
Speaker 1:But it's, it's uh, yeah, it's a, it's a tricky thing. I don't think there's anything natural about being on on camera. That's another thing. It's like, how am I supposed to be right in front of this thing? And I I always say that it's like there's just nothing natural about it. But you know, somehow we end up doing it, you know yeah it's like mental gymnastics or something it is.
Speaker 2:It is trying to forget and then, yeah, remembering your lines yeah, was there.
Speaker 1:Was there a learning curve for you like even being down in your basement with your cell phone, you know whatever you filmed on? Was there a bit of a learning curve to be comfortable in front of the camera?
Speaker 2:um, I don't know, because I've been doing it even since I was a kid, with a camcorder stuff that no one will ever see because it's been erased and re-recorded a zillion times. I'm I'm used to being on camera. Um, I don't know if I how good I was, though, just that anything else on like I can be on camera, but I don't think I was that good at what I was doing. I was just like totally delusional and then, like my uh skill caught up. Yeah, to my delusion, I think what do think?
Speaker 1:What do you mean? Delusional.
Speaker 2:Where it's like you think you're so good when you're a kid and you're doing this stuff and you're obsessed with it. But looking back at some of my older stuff, I'm like oh yeah, I know why it didn't happen for me back then. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:But, I completely agree with the delusion that we are something and you see stuff play back and you're just like, oh my God. But, you know, I blame my family and friends for saying oh he's so cute, you're so funny. Right, right it just set me on this path, yeah. And you know, I finally started pursuing it when I was 21. But yeah, it was. Yeah, it's so crazy so any interest in doing like live theater at all theater.
Speaker 2:uh, you know, I I really like theater and I'll never say no, but there's just so many avenues that you can take with comedy. It's like I know I can't do them all yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and you're doing well with, with what you're doing, it's like it is different. I mean yeah you'd be giving up a lot Theater. It's a, it's a, a vortex of time that you don't get back. You know, you're in rehearsal for three months.
Speaker 1:You know, and you're there, uh, you know, six, seven hours a day right right and stuff and it's like very very time intensive, you know oh sure yeah, I, uh, I have a funny my, what was my second play that I ever did and it was called uh, bye-bye birdie and I was Conrad birdie and uh, who's basically like an Elvis character, uh, it was a musical.
Speaker 1:And so, uh, my dad, who isn't like he's not into the arts at all, he's a musician but not into the arts at all, but uh, never, uh, he actually did introduce me to the drums. So you know, played, started playing drums when I was really young. But, um, he comes to this play and it's at a college here in town and you know, there's like 600 people in the audience and I'm singing like Elvis up on this stage, and afterwards he was like literally scratching his head. He's like you never sang ever in your life, like not in the shower, you know like where, how do you what? He was so confused. He was so confused. But what he didn't know was when I would go to work with my mom some days and when we drive home we turn on the oldies station and we would just blast the oldies and sing them.
Speaker 1:Oh cool, when I was younger I went to church and and those the hymns are very singable, you know, and you can work on your harmonies.
Speaker 3:You can do all sorts of stuff.
Speaker 1:but, um, I was like, yeah, yeah, you didn't go to church and uh, you weren't in the car with us when, when mom and I were singing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But those are, but, um, okay, so, uh, let's see here, have you so, during your time of figuring out that you could break free kind of of the algorithm, um, and do your own video, were you? Have you ever been able to like, like your own characters? Let's say, were you ever able to pinpoint something about that particular method that made your videos go viral? Or is it simpler than that? Like, um, just be yourself, or what I'm trying to do is like you know, I'm sure there's people I know for a fact that there's people that are like, how do I do what you do? You know?
Speaker 1:and and so I'm trying to get some insight into um, into that process. Like, yeah, does that make sense at all? Was that a question?
Speaker 2:I think so yeah, I think I can answer that. Um, so when I stopped doing trends and started doing my own stuff, I was giving the world basically something that nobody else could give them. I sort of became the trend instead of chasing the trends. You know what I mean yeah like you're not. This is the only place you're gonna get these characters like in this, in this way that I'm doing them.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And uh, there was another point I had too that I thought of real quick Um, I don't know, but yeah, just that was pretty much it, just uh just giving them some original stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, original, pull from life experiences. There is, like you know, the saying uh, especially for filmmakers, it's you know, film what you know, or actually for writers, it's right, what you know, but for filmmakers it's it's you know, film with what you got.
Speaker 1:So I think for social media it's actually kind of an amalgam of those two things where it's create the characters essentially right if that's how you prepare for a character People that you know but then also film with what you got, like cell phone, Because I feel like there's a lot of gear chasing out there and everyone needs to have the biggest and best thing, and it's like you can actually do very, very little. And you know, there's a lot of evidence for that.
Speaker 2:And the other thing I've learned is give yourself a zillion chances to do this, chances to do this Post. All the time, throw all kinds of stuff at the wall because you never know what's going to work, and people do one thing and then they give up and it's like no, you should be thinking about this and working at it every day. If you want to do this for a living, you have to keep going, gotta figure it out exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, you never know yeah, and how long does it usually take for, let's say, like one video for you?
Speaker 2:oh, from like inception to uh, clicking post um, I would say that writing it takes like it could take an hour. Sometimes it takes less a half an hour. And then filming it takes maybe 20 minutes to make sure, Because I'll film the same clip a bunch of times until I'm like okay, it's perfect. Or if it starts to change from how it was on the paper, I'll chase that down and see if I can make it funnier. And, um, so, like I said, about 20 minutes for that editing's like another 15, 10, 15 minutes and then boom, ready to go.
Speaker 1:So, about an hour, so you really try not to overthink it.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, yeah. And sometimes I'll watch my video back once it's already online and be like, oh, I wish I could edit that one again. Or like, oh, I should have put this clip at the beginning.
Speaker 1:I don't know yeah but you just keep going it seems like, uh, like beyond, if you're trying to, you know, uh, make money doing it, like making something that fast posting it. And I'm talking to you know, some of the filmmakers that are out there that are listening to this podcast is, you know, we get stuck in this kind of perfectionism. And I was talking to another, uh, uh, well, I was talking to a VFX guy, jason Sperling, a couple of weeks ago, and he was hung up. You know a long time 13 years it took him to make his short film that in in, uh, in three weeks had over 600,000 views once he finished it and released it and he told us on this podcast that you know it was he was.
Speaker 1:He had a block. You know it was he was. He had a block. You know he wanted it to be right. He didn't think that it was like it was finished yet and his friends were just like dude, just put it out there.
Speaker 1:You know, and I think we we get stuck in that I'm personally I'm absolutely ravaged by that sort of perfectionism, which is ironic because I'm the least perfectionist person. But you know, when it comes to sharing something that I'm working on, it really is hard. You know, I took a hiatus on this podcast for a couple of years because I was like I don't know what I want this thing to be. You know, and and I would just you know, eventually I would just get fed up and I would just make something and put it out there, even though I knew that that it wasn't really what I want this podcast to be yet. But I'm like, you know, that's episode one, let's say. But you know, and as I get further and further into it, kind of mold it into this thing that I want it to be and eventually it'll be its full form and working, you know.
Speaker 1:Uh and you know, but yeah, you just can't get there unless you do create a lot. And so back to my point is that creating like the way that you're creating, is such an exercise on like not being hung up on anything. There's no writer's block. Like not being hung up on anything, there's no writer's block, there's no, uh, editor's block. You're just get it out there and onto the next one.
Speaker 3:Cause yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's such a trap. It's like you know and it's interesting to hear you say that like when you see it up online and be like, oh, I wish I could go back and edit that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, go back and edit it.
Speaker 1:But good on, you, just leave. Leave it. Move on to the next one.
Speaker 3:You got right bigger fish to fry.
Speaker 1:You got some more videos to make you know yeah and uh, yeah, that's interesting. I never kind of put those pieces together before, but it is an exercise for filmmakers to you know, like for, let's say, short films, you know, to just make your short film and it doesn't matter if it's good or bad, just make it, because you know uh you never know Right, you know that way frees up your brain activity to to make your next one.
Speaker 1:You know so and I said this a bunch on here is that I'm usually projecting my own stuff that I'm dealing with and, as I was saying that, I have a short film that I've been not making for a couple of years and it's just like all the signs are just like go out and do it, dude, right, yeah, got to got to.
Speaker 2:I know, yeah, life is short Life is short.
Speaker 3:You gotta do your stuff yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have fun doing it. Um is you know back to the the uh Um, is you know back to the the uh social media thing? So is it um a uh, a falsity to say that social media is, uh, either oversaturated or saturated Like? Some people get turned off when you know they're doom scrolling and someone's like you know, don't post on tiktok anymore. It's just too saturated.
Speaker 2:Like you never catch right, but I don't know I'm gonna let you answer the question yeah, I mean there's there's a lot of people making videos now, um, so it and in a sense it probably is saturated, but not with you know, great stuff. Yeah, like it's a lot of people doing sort of uh, I don't, I don't want to say mediocre stuff, but stuff that where you know they're sort of in like the beginning of act two of their journey. Yeah, if you know, if they take it all the way to the top. But so yeah, I wouldn't say I wouldn't be discouraged by any of these platforms. You don't know how their algorithm works.
Speaker 1:Nobody does like I wouldn't not post on something because it's saturated yeah, like no, just just do it yeah, yeah, and you know, they, I feel like they kind of have built in um, you know, uh, like groups, you, you, uh, I'll be scrolling through Tik Tok and I'm, I'm, I come across book talk, you know, and it's people that talk about books, you know. And it's like well, that doesn't seem like a very saturated you know books.
Speaker 1:Like you probably have a good chance of you know if you can, you know, be interesting and authentic. You know you might be. Know be interesting and authentic. You know you might be able to, to catch some ground there yeah, and that's the other thing.
Speaker 2:It's saturated with audience too. There's a lot of people out there.
Speaker 1:I want to watch your stuff yeah, yeah, that's the scary part there's so many people on social media yeah um, do you have any opinion? Well, actually I have a question I always ask at the end I'm gonna hold, hold it in. Uh, I don't want to let that the cat out of the bag too soon on that one. But uh, okay, if tiktok were to disappear? Uh, does that scare you? Do you have a fallback like what's the plan?
Speaker 1:because there's talk that uh tiktok is is going to go away. Is it the end of the year?
Speaker 1:or beginning I don't know I haven't heard I heard something where I forget what the company, uh, they're basically copying. I mean, like, literally, they're copying the code of Tik TOK, moving it out of China and they're putting it, uh, in the U S, so that's a U S controlled entity, and it's called like M or something, or key, like I forget what it is and, um, yeah, I don't. Yeah, yeah, I think I'm like 99 sure that that's the news that I read, because it was after um, the current administration has been like pushing the, the tiktok ban, but I guess okay you know what.
Speaker 1:what were your? What were you doing? Uh, when the first like deadline was coming up on the TikTok ban Like that must have been a little bit.
Speaker 2:I was fine. I was fine. I have other platforms I post on and you know, even if I have worst case scenario oh I have to go work at Burger King or something Okay, fine, I'll do it, happily. I've. I've worked my whole life, up until a couple of years ago, and I'm still going to make videos Like I'm not, I'm not scared about that at all. I think a lot of other people will be really screwed over, people who only have an audience on Tik TOK and can't, can't stomach that kind of adversity. But yeah, bring it. Ooh, I think I might even like it. I don't know why.
Speaker 1:Let's go, let's go, it's a nice little challenge. Let's go, let's go, it's a nice little challenge yeah, that's an amazing mindset, that is really cool. Yeah, because you know and that's yeah, yeah, you're gonna be just fine, sure I think so yeah, yeah, it's um yeah yeah I just don't. I don't like all the doom and gloom that goes around. It's like things change. You know, like what was that six years ago? There was no tick tock, you know. Yeah, yeah, and, and the world was just fine, you know.
Speaker 1:And yeah, but you know, like with tick tock, you know there's also um. How does the monetary stuff work with TikTok, like? Do you get paid like per click or like? I don't even know how that works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's pretty vague. You get paid per view but you don't get paid the same amount per view per video. Some videos you'll get, I don't know you'll make like per million views you'll get. I don't know you'll make like per million views, you'll make like 800 bucks. And then some videos per million views you'll make like 300 bucks based on the user or the viewer activity during the video. I guess, I don't know, I'm not sure huh I just post stuff that cracks me up and just hope for the best I don't know, I can't think about that other kind of stuff yeah, but as long as my wife's happy, was it?
Speaker 1:yeah, exactly, was it ever like? Did you like when you got your first big check was like holy shit. And then you get the same like imagine this is what you're explaining, is you'd get the? You put out this like videos that perform better, you know, or even just as good as that first one, and you're like, oh shit, I'm gonna have a nice check coming and then it's like a quarter, yeah, yeah, that happens oh sure yeah, it goes up and down all the time.
Speaker 2:Wow, oh yeah, it's kind of it's a little scary, more so, like I said, for my wife than for me, but it is what it is. We, we live in a, we moved to the Midwest so everything's cheaper around here. We, we don't have a mortgage or a rent or anything, so so that's pretty cool. It gives us some flexibility for those weird times.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah. Um, what are your goals for the next five years? What's your career looking like?
Speaker 2:Well, I'd like to keep being in movies and I've been writing a movie too. Really, I got all these like note cards and crap trying to figure out Hell, yeah, yeah, I've never had to, or I've never done this before, so I've had to like had to, or I've never done this before, so I've had to like like learn how to write actual stories and stuff and plot points and all that stuff. Characters, yeah, yeah, but I'd like to make my own movies.
Speaker 1:That'd be cool hell yeah dude, hell yeah that's amazing that was going to be a question that I had, you know. It's like, oh really yeah I mean, do you want to get into directing or do you want to stick with the writing and then being in it?
Speaker 2:I'd like to do all three, or everything I can do, for this movie. I have a feeling I'm going to have to do a lot of stuff because it's my very first one and I don't know a whole lot of people I'm going to have, like like my kid holding a boom mic. Hell, yeah, yes, you get a family, a family affair yeah, exactly no, that's sick man.
Speaker 1:I, I love that, I love that for you and you know. My theory is that people that are versed and able to make their own projects are going. It's the future of uh, indie films, and when you have a built-in audience, you have 2 million people and another 400,000 on Instagram and another what? How many ever thousands over on YouTube that will absolutely you could bank on 1% of those people you know paying five bucks to watch your movie Sure.
Speaker 3:And so it's like dude.
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 3:That's amazing. It's um yeah.
Speaker 1:And you know, there there is a learning curve, but you, you've already got that spirit of you, know you're up for the challenge, know you got that spirit and so you've got the, the, the drive to do it. And, yeah, dude, find some people, anybody, you know that. Can you know that has a little some sort of a camera. Um, you know, as as you make more films you're gonna meet great actors, you know that'll do a favor for you you know, and yeah, I can't wait for to see your movies, dude are they kind of based around?
Speaker 1:is this one based around a character that you're doing, or?
Speaker 2:it's not, it's, it's sort of um, it's adjacent to junior, I think, but not quite junior. Yeah, senior, yeah, right, right, senior yeah that's man, that's so cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't stop writing. I know, you know, yeah, man, yeah, writing can be pretty daunting, but it's really satisfying once you finish it and you can read it all the way through. And then you get a table read with some friends you know, just your friends, your neighbors like, just read it, Like okay, you it like okay you're senior, you're junior, yeah yeah let's just read it through yeah, that'll be fine it's really cool to hear hear your words come to you know fruition?
Speaker 1:that was a question I asked. Uh, I just interviewed um my business partner, michael ryan. He's the director of Dresden Sun and I asked him. I was like you know, that must be a trip to see like Christina Ricci saying words that you wrote you know, and here you are directing her. And he was like, yeah, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Oh man, that's awesome. I love Christina Ricci so much.
Speaker 1:She's great. I had such a crush on her when I was very young. And um, you know casper. I watched casper so many times. Adam's family yeah, oh dude one of my favorite films of hers uh black snake moan with samuel jackson, have you ever seen that?
Speaker 2:I saw it one time back when it came out yeah yeah, it was.
Speaker 1:The music is a vibe. There's a whole vibe thing for me when it came out.
Speaker 3:I was just like oh my God, this is insane.
Speaker 1:This is so cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's so good. Yeah, when I was a kid, my room was covered in pictures of her, like I was deep.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was deep in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had those Bop and BB magazines and bb magazines. I think those are mostly for girls, but I was like christina ricci's in them dude, that's rad yeah, I was a uh, alicia silverstone so okay, yeah, early on. Yeah, have you seen she's on tiktok? No, oh, yeah, yeah, she's making videos.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she's doing good, I think so yeah yeah yeah, people like her I have to pop in, say hey. Yeah, do you think, going back to your success, was this a manifestation of yours? I? Think so Because I read something where you just knew that this was going to be be as long as you just stayed the course yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Like I said, I didn't know if it would happen in my lifetime. I pictured people like dusting off my old videos like whoa, what the hell was this guy about?
Speaker 1:right, yeah, yeah, I knew it would be, I know no, I'm, I'm glad that you get to experience it and that you get to enjoy your, your time. You know, and thanks me too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh yeah so, um, the last question that I ask on this uh podcast is is hollywood dead? But I know you, just, you know you just completed your first film, but you know you love movies. You kind of see the success of social media, um, and there seems to be a, a real competition with you know, holly, like what I would say like studio hollywood films with social media. But is there, is is the old way of hollywood?
Speaker 2:dead oh well, I'm not too educated on those issues, but I, from what I can gather from my position is it's maybe not, maybe not dead, but changing, like it's going through some kind of a metamorphosis.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And uh, well, Hmm, Hollywood as an industry not looking too good. But films in general, I think, are just fine. People want to see movies still, and, uh, I don't know they. There's a lot, of a lot more options than just whatever it's coming out of Hollywood, I guess. Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it does feel like before, like especially obviously before, let's even say before the internet, like all eyeballs, you know, were at the theater you know, before going home and watching it, you know, on NBC or ABC or something like that or HBO. But it's like, yeah, it does seem like you know the, the competition for eyeballs, you know, certainly is forcing the issue of well, you better change, like you know, like why would you make?
Speaker 1:a $250 million movie when you could give 10 filmmakers 25 million bucks, you know, to go and make something cool, um and uh, and, and you know, and put our, our, uh, our creator friends in those movies. Because it's advertising. You know, um, but uh, no, that's a good answer and I knew that it would be kind of awkward of a. You know it's like I don't want you to throw. You know I didn't want to throw you under the bus where some Hollywood exec is going to be like man.
Speaker 1:I used to love him, but God damn he got me out of. Hollywood, Right? No, it is a tricky question, but it's not meant to be defaming Hollywood. I care so much. My buddy and I always say Hollywood is, you know, and that's not dead.
Speaker 1:Like you know, making films is obviously not dead, you know, competing for eyeballs and stuff, I think filmmakers got to get creative, you know. You know, like with you know, I hope that your involvement in Infernal, you know, helps infernal succeed, because you know, it's like you do have a built-in audience and and that is certainly worth something, Uh, not not only to the filmmakers that that casted you, but also to you, you know. And so to be able to get work, you know, and uh, cause acting is fun, being on movie sets is addicting. It's like summer camp, you know, it's like you get to be there with your friends and just goof off and have fun, and you know. So, yeah, but it's certainly changing, I totally agree with you on that. But you know.
Speaker 1:Luckily we have filmmakers like Eric that are making really rad movies like Infernal.
Speaker 3:Is there any?
Speaker 1:timetable on a release for the film.
Speaker 2:That I'm not sure. I from what I understand, they're still trying to get distribution for it, so they can't just put it up. Yeah, put it up online, or whatever.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I can't wait, though. I can't wait to show it to my friends and stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can't. I can't wait to for you to be able to do that.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Rinse out a little movie theater and and or have a movie night or something, yeah. Actually I would say go see it on a big screen somewhere.
Speaker 2:Cause it's one of those films.
Speaker 1:You want to experience it with the most people possible right, yeah yeah, it was so much fun hell yeah man um. Where can people find you?
Speaker 2:uh just online. If you uh go to, uh just type in steve bridges wherever not you'll get george bush steve bridges yeah, not that guy, not that guy, not that guy RIP.
Speaker 1:RIP.
Speaker 3:Yeah, great comedian.
Speaker 1:But yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, sweet man.
Speaker 1:Well, dude is great. You know I'll be following along with Infernal and hope you get some more acting roles.
Speaker 2:Hell yeah, I appreciate it, tyler. It's good hanging out with you Likewise.
