Beyond just being an actor with whom I’ve worked on five short films (including the endlessly delayed NURF Wars – still in the works, naturally), Jerramy is another one of my close friends.

Strangely so, I think, because we’re so radically different. Yin and Yang I suppose. I’m all about controlling my environment, he’s all about going with the flow. I have a hard time letting go of precise planning, while he lets things evolve however they will.

So my first struggle with him when trying to setup this shoot was pinning down what exactly we were gonna do.

Me: “What defines you, Jerramy?”
Jerramy: “Living life, filling it with love and dreaming.”
Me: “Dude, I can’t shoot that…”

Love, for example, simply as a concept, is too broad and abstract to capture in an image. I shoot the consequence of love when I shoot a couple, I shoot the expression of love with a kiss or hands clasped together, but I can’t shoot love. And I can’t shoot life. And I can’t shoot dreams.

So I kept trying and trying to pin down something tangible to shoot. This proved to be very difficult with him. We did come up with some ideas, but nothing I was crazy about.

So when I decided to meet him by a park, still without a solid plan I felt confident about, I called…

Me: “Hey where are you?”
Jerramy: “I’m in the north parking lot. I’m sitting on the curb next to my car, playing my guitar.”
Me: “Don’t move!! This is you!! This is our shoot!!”

Screw the park; we shot this in the parking lot instead! And this is my best representation of Jerramy. Easy-going, filled with hopes and dreams, and loving life however it comes at him

Oh and here’s the NURF Wars poster Jerramy was the star of. See? It’s making SOME progress! And yes, the “One Man. One Last Job. Lots of NERF Guns.” tag line is obviously meant as a joke. Otherwise I think it would mean I’m currently stuck in the 80s.