By Anonymous
In his spare time, Adam Jones has enjoyed being a harvester on a Christmas tree farm, a popcorn sweeper at a multiplex, a daycare teacher, and a fine salesman of suits, books, coffee, and door-to-door vacuum cleaners. He tries not to let these hobbies distract him from his real job.
Professional Badass.
And filmmaker.
"Story-teller," Jones corrects. "I love to tell good stories. Making a film is just my favorite way to do it. It’s better than making anything else, although I haven’t really made everything so it’s hard to tell really. But, uh&hellp; But, no, it definitely is."
When I sat down with him, he was preparing his next feature On Tour With 12 Slim for shooting in summer of 2008. He refers to it as an "epic comedy." Jones: "Like how Ghandi is an epic, but like a&hellp; Ghandi&hellp; road trip epic, you know? Trust me. It’s funny."
According to Jones, he is about 10 percent Nerdy Writer, 10 percent Visionary Filmmaker, 10 percent Gripping Actor, 1 percent party animal, 67 percent water, and 2 percent General Tso’s chicken.
"Count it all up," Jones explains, "and that totals 100 percent Professional Badass."
His mother recalls discovering him at age three in the living room, typing on a typewriter. When she asked him what he was doing, he replied, "I had a story, Mom. And it just couldn’t wait."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s cute and all," Jones says about it now. "Like showing everybody my naked-ass baby pictures or something. But writing became a serious obsession. I just couldn’t stop."
Jones has written a novel entitled The Butcher and the Gorgon and penned numerous stage plays, which have been produced:
He is also an award-winning screenwriter, whose scripts are "of premium quality!"
Cross Eyed was his film directorial debut "&hellp;unless you count the movies I forced my brother and sister to act in. But they were hardly professional. It’s difficult to work with performers who sometimes just don’t feel like it and would rather watch cartoons."
After that harrowing experience, Jones moved on to community theater, "where you pull your weight! On stage and off at the same time!" According to Jones, this trained him how to multi-task "like a mo-fo."
He made it a mission to work in every department of theater so that he had a better understanding of how it all "came together" for a director. Or as Jones says, "so I could tell my stories." And once he transitioned to film, he did the same.
He chants the departments with emphatic hand gestures:
Hair and Make-up!
Props!
Construction!
Technical Director!
Production Designer!
Grip!
Camera!
Wardrobe!
Sound!
Box Office!
Pin Rail!
Concessions!
"BAM! BAM! BAM!" Jones exclaims. "And the hits just keep coming! You name it? I’ve done it!"
With that knowledge, Jones went to Bard College where he "scored" two B.A.s, one in Theatrical Arts and the other in Literature. But Jones says the most educating experience is in doing.
"Just doing it, you know? That’s where the skills come from. Having a vision and dragging it to the finish line. Trial by fire, man. Even if you don’t have money, you figure it out. Limitation and innovation, they’re like neighbors. You gotta’ be a friggin’ powerhouse! You gotta’ be feeling Swayze. Oh, wait did I mention I was a dancer?"
Oddly enough, Jones has performed in several modern dance pieces and acted in over thirty-five plays, some of which garnered him awards for best actor and best supporting actor.
He has performed in fourteen short films, and has had major roles in five feature films:
Cry Havoc, directed by Bard alum Adam Lamas, won a lot of awards and acclaim for the acting. "Subtle, effective performances by Jones and [Justin] Lane enhance a film&hellp;" (Reka Jellema, "Holland Sentinel").
This gave Jones an inflated ego, until people stopped praising him. He has since learned from that experience. "Now when people are like ‘Oh, you were so good in that,’" he just punches them right in the face. He responds better to derision and sunlight. "I’m a big fan of photosynthesis," says Jones. "Oh, and the beach."
Most recently, Jones acted in Adam Lamas’ second feature, Empty Rooms. "I play a cop with a moustache who tries to save the day [Officer Keith Horchens]. Well, the director made me shave the moustache. He was like, ‘You look like a 70’s porn star.’ So I said, ‘What if he was a porn star before he became a cop?’ And he was like ‘No.’ Then one day, I just got it, you know? My character only tries to save the day, but he doesn’t actually do it. If he had a moustache, then he would have. Lamas was going for irony. He’s a smart director."
When asked if acting in his own films is an ego thing, Jones replies "Well, sure, there’s ego there. I mean&hellp; Hello! I’m in entertainment. But it’s mainly&hellp; [sighs] Okay, you know when you tell a story, I mean you talk with your hands a lot. You’re all excited, and your face is like RRRRRRAAAAHHHH! That’s acting. That’s part of telling the story to me. Same as writing, directing, editing&hellp; And it’s very easy for me to work with myself. I mean I don’t even have to speak out loud to give myself direction."
On making Cross Eyed: "It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I mean making a feature film first? That’s so stupid. You usually start with a short or something. But nobody said, ‘Hey, that’s so stupid.’ They just called it ‘brave.’ But those people are the stupid people because I used all my damned credit cards, and I screwed myself out of a Playstation 3. Have you seen those freakin’ games? Dude! Awesome!"
In 2005, Jones produced the film "Métier" alongside Sarah Sloboda of Bilancia Productions. In 2006, he collaborated with filmmaker Matt Lesser in writing and directing the comedy-fantasy short films "Toothless," "Annoyed To Death," and "Fear of the Boogeyman" for Hot Sausage Productions.
"I wanted to be able to walk into an agent’s office and do the whole ‘BAM! BAM! BAM!’ thing. I mean I probably wouldn’t do it like that for real. That would scare them&hellp; probably. It would be all in their head, like a quiet ‘bam! bam! bam!."
When asked which of his crafts he loves doing most, Jones replies "Story-telling. Everything I’ve learned, all my crafts work toward that. Good story-telling." He adds contemplatively, "That’s like asking a mom ‘Which is your favorite kid?’ I love them all the same. And you know what I do? I pull each of my children aside and I tell them why I love them the most."
He leans in and whispers. "But secretly, writing is my favorite."
Jones on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0427420/
1 – Cross Eyed
B – Goodnight, Pig Dog
Best Screenplay prize.
Previously optioned by Miller Clark Productions.
4 – Ice Cream Man: a Dairy Tale
Previously optioned by Envision Entertainment.