Jason Carman — Filmmaking at the Frontier (EP.260)

The relentlessly prolific Jason Carman is making the films our culture needs: optimistic, inspiring and positioned at the frontiers of modern tech and science. In under two years, he has shipped more than 70 high-quality mini-documentaries exploring the startups shaping the future, racking up over 130,000 YouTube subscribers along the way.

His new venture, Story Company, premiered “New Space”, its 100+ minute-long exploration of the modern space industry, to a packed San Francisco theater this year. Story Company has multiple projects in the pipeline, including a full-length sci-fi feature. Ultimately, he intends to create a new generation of sci-fi films: a Star Wars for the 21st century.

I love Jason’s ambition, drive and enthusiasm (not to mention his filmmaking chops), which is why we awarded him a $100k O’Shaughnessy Fellowship last year.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack.

Important Links:

• Jason on X
• Story Company on X
• Story Company on Youtube
• Story Company’s Website
• “New Space” Frontier Film
• Jason’s Fellowship

Show Notes:

• How Jason fell in love with filmmaking
• Laziness as an edge
• How to build a good team
• How to fix Hollywood
• Frontier Films: a new category of movie
• From science-fact to science-fiction
• Finding the right infinite loops
• The roots of the idea of America
• A Complete Unknown: Jason’s slideshow & Bob Dylan’s anti-authoritarianism
• Getting woo on Tenet’s Sator square
• How do you know when a movie is finished?
• The fragility of the artist
• We are all co-creators
• Jason as World Emperor
• MORE!

Books Mentioned:

• I Am a Strange Loop; by Douglas Hofstadter
• The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
• One Summer: America 1927; by Bill Bryson
• The Hypomanic Edge: What Built America; by John D. Gartner
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; by Douglas Adams

Movies Mentioned:

• New Space (directed by Jason Carman)
• Flow (directed by Gints Zilbalodis)
• My Dinner With Andre (directed by Louis Malle)
• Star Wars (directed by George Lucas)
• A Complete Unknown (directed by James Mangold)
• Tenet (directed by Christopher Nolan)
• Dune: Part Two (directed by Denis Villeneuve)