Making FUGU (Ft. FUGU)

Have you ever heard of Fugu? It's an Asian dish that if cut wrong can be deadly, but if cut right can be delicious. But it has a different meaning to our guests today. I'm joined by producer Caleb McCoy, director of photography Ashley Ramos and director Nathan Yap. The minds behind a new student short film titled Fugu, to hear the story about bringing their film to life. Welcome to episode 4 of The Jordan Van Vida Show. So I'm here with the production crew for Fugu a short film that we're filming here at UNT. Who are you guys? Like, who are you? I'm Caleb, I'm the producer of Fugu. I'm Nathan, I'm the writer and director of Fugu. I'm Ashley, the director of photography. What do you all do? What's your job? How do you impact the production of the film? Well, I guess I'll start. As producer, I'm basically the boss of everyone. I have to oversee everything, make sure everything is moving smoothly, make sure production is moving smoothly. And I'm also the post-production producer, so I have to worry about the distribution process, make sure everything with marketing is going well, make sure we have people to edit, do the sound, we've got composers to do everything, make sure everybody's high, we have to, it's a lot. We have to produce to do a lot. Yeah, we're like the, what do they call producers? Like the unsung heroes? Yeah, yeah. I'm the unsung hero. Yeah, cool. What do you do? Yeah, so I'm, again, I'm the writer and director. As the director, I kind of like the overall vision of the film, I give like the final call for every department. I work closely with Ashley, the director of photography to make sure the images are exactly how I want it and how it's going to be the best that can. Yeah, I just communicate with each department. For this short film, I'm also doing some AD work as well, where I make the shooting schedule. I also make the call sheet, not call sheet, shooting schedule and also the, what was it? Shooting schedule and shot list and shot list. I swear I know my role. So honestly, as a director, I think in terms of my role, I, yes, I have like high authority, but I low key, like, since I hired such an amazing people to work on this film, I can like kind of like stay back and let them do their job because everyone's crews amazing. They do a really good job. Yeah, Ashley, what do you do? I am the cinematographer for Fugel, basically what that means. If you don't already know, you work closely with the director to try to get the vision out that he wants. So that deals a lot with like camera storyboard, shot list and just in general, like reviewing the script and trying to see how we can execute the visual look of the film. I work closely with my two, with my two teams, the camera team, love them and then my group and electric team. So at the end of the day, it's a very collaborative role with a lot of responsibility, if you will. Yeah, it's just a lot of creativity and unleashing it in terms of like what the director. Yeah. So what is Fugel? Tell me about the story. You ever heard of Fugel? I have not. No, what is Fugel? Yeah, so I'm afraid my question is for me. So Fugel is a puffer fish, there's like a Japanese style, sashimi style puffer fish, and the whole idea of the story is like, who can you trust? And so with the play on the word Fugel and actually the story is, and they serve this is shimi in Japan, yet to have a lot of trust in the chef or else it's going to be very poisonous. And so the whole idea is like, can you trust a person who has a knife to cut your dinner? And the story of Fugel is based on these two teams of different generations, Vincent being the young or thief and Dorian being the older thief. And it's really a story about how they become partners and you see their friendship evolve and learn what drives each other to do what they do. I don't say too much about the film, but it's a story about trust relationships and gambling on so many barely know. And yeah, I'm excited for people to see what we've been cooking up and we hope that you don't trust the trust the characters as much as we do. That makes sense. Yeah. How did it start? What really what brought you to you said you wrote the film? What brought you to write it? How did you get to this? Yeah, so I really I wanted to put more Asian faces on screen. And so also I used the resources I had with me. And so at this time I worked at a sushi restaurant so I was like, okay, what can I do at a sushi restaurant with these two characters? I'm like, okay, so I wrote an idea about the two thieves originally the story was called Miso and funny story. As I was making the Instagram. Miso, the short film is already being made by a production company called Yap Productions. My last name is Nathan Yap. So I was like, okay, that's a double no can't continue with Miso. Me and my girlfriend were just watching like a Korean drama and there's this guy making food. I'm like, wait, wait, this look you like this like honestly like we're really well for the for the film. And it was like a perfect fit. And yeah, so more Asian faces on the film. And just create a really fun story that I would personally want to watch. When did you write it? I wrote it two years ago. So in my sophomore year of college, I was like, okay, I need to write something because I can't go to film school and not write script. And so I wrote it two years ago. I talked to them about it very loosely. And then, yeah, we just got the arm to work together. And yeah, everything just kind of came at a point where it's like, we should make this it's the perfect time to make it. Yeah, what point in the journey did you meet Caleb and Ashley? My first year, I think, I think our first classes together were like, wait, intro course at UNT where it's like TV movie TV. It was TV. It was filming audio. Yeah, audio and regular narrative. Yeah. And then we met like we were partners. Yeah, we were partners on our, because we started off with audio. So I sat by Nathan because he looked smart. I was like, oh, yeah, he dressed nice. He dressed nice. Yeah, guys, I was like, okay, this is a smart. Let me say about this smart kid. But yeah, then we were partners. After that, we were in the same group for the live production course. And then that's when I don't know if that's that's helped me and you knew I wanted to add on to that with you. I thought he was a foreign exchange. I don't know if you guys watch Korean dramas or whatnot, but he was dressed like a little vest. I'm sure me and Caleb were gonna hoodie or something. And this man was fitted up at nine and what the heck. So did you meet in the same class at the same time? Essentially, yes, but I don't think our friendship took off in that course. If that makes sense. That's where we met. That's how we like we knew of each other. Then we had more classes with each other. We had, well, me and Ashley have film styles together. That's where our friendship really grew. And we started. We were like working together with the same group. And after that, we've like really like, you know, work well with each other. Like we really knew how to communicate. And we were like perfect patties for like we wanted to we wanted to be like really perfect. We were very meticulously on what we wanted and what we wanted to strive for. So we've been doing that. She also helped me get to my first. She didn't do a networking event. So she like that's also like a thing that we do. We go to network and events now. So that's how we like. Yeah. Yeah. That's how we connect it. Yeah, that's how we connect it. Well, I'm the film. I'm sure to you holds a very deep meaning. But for you to, you know, joining the project at a different point in time. How has it grown on you and how has it, you know, started to become not just his baby, but also y'all. Yeah, of course. Nathan, I think shared the script with me like very early in the drafts or at least like second or third draft around there. Very different from what you're going to watch eventually. Why not? But yeah, I think the really cool thing about having this position, this role as cinematographer with this script is that you get a lot of openness and you can let your creativity be seen. So from a DP standpoint, when you read a script in general or like this one, you already have like the wheels in your brain are turning you're like, OK, so if there's a scene where this happens, it would be really cool to implement this technique or, you know, he has a very specific vision for this part. And then at the end of the script, they could be something completely different. So it's like, how can I, particularly arranged it in a way where even the viewer can see it on a visual standpoint. I think that's where I really come in and enjoy working alongside these two guys. And the script is like it's a really nice script, a really good story. can use my creativity to kind of excel and show the viewers how good this script and the story is, then that's the goal, and then that's what I enjoy the most. I think I answered your question. - Yeah, no, for sure. - Yeah, basically the same thing would actually say, this script is amazing. When I read the first draft, I already told Nathan how I'm making this to a feature film. Like whatever we do, once we're done with this, short film, we're gonna work on next steps of getting this to be a feature film, 'cause it's really good. - Yeah. - And this is like my first time actually, like doing real producing, 'cause again, we were doing film styles. I did produce them like once, but it really wasn't to this scale, 'cause I'm doing the hiring, I'm managing like 44 people right now without this whole production. So it's a really new experience, but I like the work. - Yeah, that's cool. - Kind of back to what you were talking about, 'cause that got me. What is it like getting to imagine something and then just shoot it? 'Cause you said you were doing a lot of the like, shot lists and stuff like that, and really writing it down. What does it feel like getting to have those moments where you really get to put it together and see it happen in front of you, for both of y'all, especially. - I think it's really amazing. So we watched "Dailies" in class the other day, and it felt really cool to see it put together and have people come up to you after class or even during class and be like, "That was amazing." How did you do that? Tell me about it. I want to know more. And I think that sort of like people see you and they understand the talent and the effort that you put in. And the work that comes out of it is very special. It makes you feel like you're doing something right and all this time that you've been putting in has been worth it in the end. And that was with like a daily. So it's like pre-edit, pre-collegrae, pre-music, composure and sound design. So I think for me to get that feedback from even the professor or the TA or even other colleagues of mine, that was a really nice feeling in a, sorry, is a really nice feeling to feel. Yeah. And like to add to that, the one thing I really love about our group especially is I feel like between the three of us, there's very little ego. It's really like the best idea wins. And with me and Ashley, we worked really heavily on this together, just finding the visual style and like finding the perfect pictures. And it is a really gratifying moment where we're on set. And we finally get that one take where it's like perfect. Exactly how we want it. It's like catching lighting in the bottle. Like it's a really special moment. And like Ashley said, like being it put into like a theater or like into a room where everyone gets to see, it's like it's really cool because it's experienced that we could share with each other. It's not just owned by one person, it's owned by all of us. Mm-hmm. Yeah. How about you Caleb? You have any kind of input on how that feels to you? It's very rewarding because like when we were watching "Daily's", everyone was excited. Like when I was given a hard drive to my professor to download the footage, you were telling, oh yeah, I can't wait to see this. Oh, I know it's gonna look good. I'm just like, oh, all the glaze. Holy grains, yeah. We were all so nervous. And yeah, but when we played it, it looked really freaking good. And once it finished, the whole class was clapping. It was a whole, it was a standard of Asian. I couldn't believe it. Yeah. So it was a great feeling. Nathan, you said, so two years ago is when you started writing. Yeah. How has it changed from that point to now? I mean, you mentioned the name, Miso, and to now. Like, how is it, especially in the last like couple months that you guys really gotten things ramped up? What have been the biggest changes and how have you guys adapted to them? So much, so much has changed in the original concepts. Like I said, it was called Miso. And I wanted to, I got inspired by, you know the cartoon, what was it called? Spy versus Spy, like the black and white Spy. Like the huge noses. Anyway. Yeah. So I had that concept, like, OK, two Asian thieves going against each other. And then as I was developing the script of Fugu, it really changed to like, OK, in terms of like, I really liked the idea of like the age dynamics between Asian culture, because I feel like the younger generation, or we were taught to like, kind of put the older generation in a pedestal because like, oh, they have so much wisdom. But I feel like sometimes that puts us in a place that like, kind of like holds us back. Or it just, we, we kind of like undermine our own abilities because we think that there are so much better. And so writing Fugu, I really liked that dynamic of having an older and younger thief. And then even when we started casting, we started shooting, one of the characters I didn't feel like was my favorite character turned out to be my favorite character. Later in the film, there was like an antagonist the character, played by the amazing Spencer Yang. And like, once you see him once again, I'm really excited because he is spectacular in that role. And just, we had a photo shoot like not too long ago. It was so cool. Like, they were words on a page two years ago, and now they're real people with real costumes and like, you know, like real personality. So it's like, it's crazy. And like, also, it's more to that how much has changed. Our actors, Brennan and Rika's, Jordan Sabrina, Spencer Yang, they all add so many different layers to these characters, which I didn't initially have in the very beginning. Like, they really shifted the characters and made them their own. And so, like I said, like this whole film is a huge collaboration. And like, I think everything that's changed has been changed for the better. Yeah. How is it adapting to these changes? Especially, you said there's not a lot of ego throughout Yol's group and what you do. But I have to imagine, you know, something goes wrong or something changes, especially after two years of hard work on getting to this point, what is it like having to adapt in, you know, big ways like that? You know, is it as it hard or is it just something you just take it and run with it? I feel like we can kind of all answer this. I think that's just filmmaking. I feel like there's always going to be issues that you just have to come up with this solution on the fly. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't work. But at the end of the day, that's your film, you know? And like, I would say, because I've had two years to think about this, in my head, I know what can change. I know what can change. And the things that can change, I think, state the exact same. Like certain character moments, character beats, line to dialogue. Those are like written at the stone that can't change. And then I feel like as a crew, we kind of like see the script, see the story, how it's evolving, and we make those sacrifices where we need to. Yeah, we persevere a lot throughout the, specifically, the production process. Because man, there was some things that we thought we was going to get, like the lavish house, make the one of like a real big mansion, so I was like, which he got. Yeah, he got. Like, as a prize and share. Surprisingly, because I was like, if it's not the warehouse we're not going to get, I don't know how we're going to find a mansion. But I knew a real answer. I told him about long story short. I told him about our, well, I told him about me in my film making journey. And he was like, oh, if I could be an extra in your film, I could let you use one of my houses. So two years later, I had a code called-- no, not code called. I had a code emailed him. And I was like, oh, do you remember me? I talked about this and that. I'm working on this film called Fugu. Here's the portion of the script. This is where we're going to film in that location. Can we do it? Do you remember being-- he said, yeah, he sent me the link. And man, that house is amazing. It just looked like a mansion. I mean, the house is so for close to $1.1 million. So I'm just like, once we film here, don't break nothing. Yeah. It's not coming out of Fugu's chick. It's coming out of your house. No. But yeah. That's really cool. You talk about-- because that's your job, right? Is to find things like that and people like that. And as a producer, working with people with a lot of different schedules, widely ranging, especially most of us, your students, what's it like for you having to adapt to that end of things? Because I feel like one day somebody's doing really hard, really good work. Next day, they're like, hey, I can't do this anymore. I feel like that's something that happens more often than not, especially in a college setting. What's that like for you having to adapt and find new people on the fly? Or fill those roles? I mean, I'm not going to lie to this stuff because even though, like, yeah, college students, you're managing with their school schedule, their work schedule, and their personal lives. So that's why I implemented a contract. It was nothing, nothing legal or nothing, but just a commitment, just to sign off that you're going to be willing to commit to this one because right off the bat, when I read the script, I'm like, this is an action. We're going to be filming at night, like the whole script is filming at night. So I'm just like, yeah, a lot of crew members are going to have to commit, especially during this production time because I mean, we're filming right now and we're going to be filming no higher scene, the sushi restaurant, and they're only allowed in this film overnight. So yeah, we make sure I had to make sure we had to let them know ahead of time that this is going to be overnight. you guys to commit because taking like because I had the email be all their schedules, their general work, school schedules, because if we're going to film overnight, I need to know what your availability are, what days are your available, and can you set out time to make the shoot days? So in short, to answer your question, it's tough, but it's just that's where your experience coming in and you've got to do it. Yeah, you just got to get through it. I think that's another thing a part of film making you just got to do it, man. Yeah. It's a commitment and sacrifice to you. Yeah. Actually, I know-- so this is still the same question for the most part. For you, I do a lot of TV and broadcasts. So I don't know much about film making, because I haven't really done it. But I imagine that there's a lot of changes that happen in the exact moment of when you are filming a scene. I don't know for sure, but what's it like for you having to adapt to changes, especially in that moment when you-- maybe something that you thought was going to look good, doesn't look good, and it looks better another way. Is that something that you guys work around? Do you just make that change on the spot? You know, what's it like for you? It's hard. No, yeah. But we actually encountered this similar issue, at least. It was first or second day of filming. It was one of those days. We had an original plan. So I guess I'll backtrack a little bit. I'm also the storyboard artist. So I have that. And then I give it over to him to do the shot list. And then we go from there. So it's like, OK, if we're filming in 8A, let's do scene 8A. We came across this instance where the framing and the lighting and just in general, the storyboard wouldn't work. But it was a day up. And it's like, we are 80s already on our ass. Get this shot. You know, you got four more. We got a location change. So we just skipped break, like lunch. And then we jumped straight into it. And I was like, OK, I thought for a second. And I was like, come here. What do you think about this? So we blocked off the action. And at the end, it turned out to be one of the cool shots. One of the best shots. Yeah. It ended up turning out good. So I guess to answer your question, it's bound to happen. After being in a part of projects, you're bound to come across these hurdles. And you have to know and think ahead, how am I going to manage this? Or if we need to pivot, how can I do it in a way where the crew won't suffer or will stay on schedule? OK. So tell me a little bit about Y'all's personal inspirations. Of course, tied to the film. But also in your journey alone, what inspires you to do what it is that you're doing now? And what pushes you to want to continue doing this in the future? I can answer first. OK. I think, like I said before, I really want to put more Asian faces in film. I really want that representation. I also feel like this film does a good way of portraying so many dynamic characters with Asian faces. And I personally kind of feel like I want to put more stories talking about self-confidence. Because I feel like that's something really important that people are going to talk about now. Like I personally struggle with self-confidence, and that's something I want to instill into the story, especially with these two thieves, because you don't really know how to trust each other. So it's like, I don't know. It's also not trusting each other, but also not trusting yourself. I don't know what I mean. And so that's kind of my kind of self-insert was like when creating the story, I want to create a character who you kind of sympathize with. Because you can see that he's struggling with self-confidence. And he kind of gets like, lured in by a guy that you really shouldn't trust. But because he thinks of so little himself, he just automatically trusts him. And so I want that to come across and people to understand that like, hey, you're good enough. You're strong enough. You're confident enough. You just need to believe in your own skills and just keep on going. You don't need someone to tell you that you're great. You're great by yourself. Feel ready to run through a brick wall, man. It's awesome. And how do you follow that? Don't literally repeat the question. Well, like, cameras, like, I don't know. No, no, no. I think-- I prefer clothing. Like, people would think I'm crazy with the work I put in, for free too, because the schedule I manage I sometimes think to myself, who else can manage my schedule? How do you go from a 12-hour set and you're almost there overnight, like, close to-- you're basically in home to 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock in the morning. Then you have to wake up and be at work like 8.30 and work 8 hours shift. And then text your manager that you're going to be laid. Not only that. You have for a text? For background information, Caleb and I work together. And he's text me multiple occasions. And I'm going to be late at like 3 in the morning. And then not only that, when you're on the ship, you have your crew members blowing up your phone. Like, my watch or my phone is always thinking. And I'm over here doing the Amazon return. I'm just like, oh, I can't talk, guys. And then when I'm off work, no, before that, when I'm on break, it's either a 15 or 30 minute break. I'm not like sitting on Instagram or nothing. I'm literally texting them back. I'm still working. Doing answering somebody's email on our food email. And then back on the clock. And then when I'm out of work, I have to either go on a meeting or call Nathan right here and just catch me up to speed. Sometimes it's not the case, but that's usually 9 times at a 10. Then I'm at home either doing some food or work or my homework. And then just planning, preparing stuff, meetings, whatnot. What makes you want to do it? That's the crazy thing. I can't imagine. I can't imagine having-- No, I think-- You could not pay me to do that. I just didn't got the work in the fact that it is so much work. And I can be able to handle it. I feel like that's very-- Yeah. --that's impressive. I'm not going to lie. But I don't know. I guess I'm just crazy. I like the work. I feel like it's the rewarding thing. I'll believe. You're the backbone of it. Without you pulling the string to the back, it's like, how did we even get to this point? Yeah, Ashley asked me, why did I want to be a producer? And I'm like-- I like being responsible for the things that get made. Because this set, in my opinion, is very organized. It's a very-- like Morales up really good. Our crew, all of our crew love our film. Like, if we get a backtrack, there are nine times I attempt to go into, like, maneuver their schedules to work with ours. So I think I'm doing pretty good as a producer. And everybody, they really like our film. Yeah. W. Producer. The goat. The goat. What about you, Ashley? The question was, why did I want to do what I wanted to do? Yeah, I'm what inspires you. What? Because I mean, I guess you couldn't pay me to do this stuff that easy. I can't imagine. So what inspires you to continue, even through the hard times? I'm sure there's a lot of those over the course of the two years. And they all been doing this stuff. I mean, I think at the end of the day for me too, it's also like trying to see my capabilities. That makes sense. It's like, OK, if I want to do this full time outside of school, once you graduate, I really got to put my best foot forward and try to make the most out of this. So with an opportunity like this, where you're in a foam cap stone and you got a 20, 30 minute film to do, and it's like, OK, well, if I want to be taken seriously and I want people to know that this isn't just a little hobby and it's an actual craft that you learn and you put time into and you invest, I think that is very important to me. I like to strive to be better and I like to dedicate myself. I'll get hyperfixated on one thing and then just put so much time into it because I just want to excel in it and I want to prove myself to other people and more importantly to myself, it's like, yeah, I'm full for this shit, you know? Oh, yeah. I'm really built for this shit. Also, I want to add, I think one thing that really strives us to make do what-- how much we're doing is because we're all very ambitious and we don't have fast anything. I think that's one thing that we all collectively agree that we're going to make the shit good. We're not going to make it half-ass, we're not going to make it mid. This can be a good film. You know that saying surround yourself with like-minded people and you're more successful. I'm probably-- I'm paraphrasing. That's probably not the exact saying. But that's how I see that quote is this. We're very like-minded. We want to push each other to do good. Yeah. I feel it's easy to succeed when you have a lot of people that all just will give whatever it takes to make the best possible thing, not just for one person, but for all of you. Yeah. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about-- I mean, you said you wanted to take steps to make this like a feature film, like a real thing. What are some more of the plans that you guys have for the future? Even if it's like the short-term future of what you're going to be doing, like, you know, when you permit. premier this and etc. You know things like that. What are some of the plans you want? Well yeah we are planning on having a premiere at a movie. I haven't got that far yet but we're looking, we're scouting for theaters to have this premiered. Yeah but long term I have been thinking long term. Hopefully I can do some more producing because again I'm I guess I'm crazy. I like the work so hopefully I get some more producing. I would like to get into directing. I have some ideas I like to put on screen as well so that's what I have for now. Yeah what about you Nathan? I feel like you know you need to take a lot of time on this at some point it turns into you know what's next how do you really follow it up? Yeah so definitely like seeing our cast really open my eyes like wow this could be a lot bigger than I ever imagined because originally it was just gonna be a short film but then after seeing again like Ashley's work it was work I was like oh wait you know what this could be like great this could be really big and so right now I'm currently writing another short film based in the same kind of like universe I guess but kind of like a spin-off of this I don't want to say too much but I'm very excited about that. And then for feature after the this other short film comes out then I'll start thinking about working on the feature because it took me two years to write the first one give me some time on like I leave a couple months but yeah that's I'm really excited for the future of Fugue and I think yeah hopefully you guys you will see more soon. Yeah awesome Ashley I don't bet you what's what's your upcoming plans especially following Fugue. Oh man where do I even begin? I don't know I've been trying to get into the freelance world a little bit um a lot of corporate gigs. But I don't know I really want to lean into the creativity like I know D.P. they get to have that creative liberty with like music videos especially or other short films so I think long-term like I really want to stick to this sort of like fields with the cameras and stuff lighting um but yeah we'll see what kind of doors Fugue opens we're gonna try to promote it on film festivals and just see where it takes is so the possibilities are ultimately endless. Tell me a little bit about so visually what inspired the film. I know because I've seen some stills of it and a little bit of the stuff that you guys put on social media and it looks great I think it you know the colors are awesome tell me a little bit about what inspired that you know there are certain directors a certain movie that you guys have watched that really brought you to like um because you told me a little bit about it at the beginning but you know what what what did you throw into the pot and blend together to get this you know yeah we can both answer this do you want to go first? I think you can talk about like inspiration that inspired the look and then I'll talk about the specific look of okay okay so definitely the inspiration so I want to make this like a body-carp ice film so big inspirations were like films like bullet train nice guys I have to go listen we forget like five long rush hour also the looking fuel everything over once I talk about I love that film I talk about that too much also a lot of like old Hong Kong style like one car wife films um and specifically the color the main thing I want to have this film to I want this film to have a specific color palette and because there's like three specific specific locations and three points in their journey I want them to be represented in three different colors um it being green yellow and red and then also the characters or wardrobe or like they're they're um kind of a tire also be green blue and red and so if you look throughout the film um you can see the progression through not only their costume but also how the film is colored and so that's really uh why really want to do and actually was like oh yeah let's do it and then she can go into more detail yeah um so we had a pitch it I guess you could say like a pitch deck to our class whenever we were promoting our films and stuff um and I told Nathan well I'm not I'm not too sure how much I'm allowed to see about the script but there's three different waves of emotion I guess I would phrase it like that where our characters go through um so I pitched the idea to him I'm like well what if we start in this color when you know they meet you know all this stuff happens and then towards the end or as it's building up we switch colors and we lean more into like a greenish typo or red but yeah so basically uh I put a some thought into it I was like okay well if our characters are going through this sort of trajectory like let's lean into like color shifting you know based on emotion and stuff um but as far as like inspiration and hate me because I always say this but I love picky binders it's a really good show and I will I will binge watch it and then randomly I like 2 a.m. what text bro and I'm like dude dude this is so good I'm gonna put some on this this is so big this is what inspired this shot and then he's like okay bro whatever like let me go to bed I don't know I'm having lots of fun you know telling him like pitching him ideas because at the end of the day it's like his film you know yeah say so it's really fun pitching him ideas sometimes I'll be like dude sit down like calm down I'm like no listen though well that's cool um so we talk a lot about the um behind the scenes and what it's like making it and your inspirations things like that um tell me about your cast because that's uh you know I'm sure that's fun having to work with all these people and and not only work with them on but meet them and learn who they are in such a short time um what's that like for you guys you know do you have any crazy stories or experiences that you've had on set so far or stories about people you you've met I feel like I talked a lot here you want to talk a little bit or want me talk about oh well I don't uh I mean this is really your question yeah I can have a question I can answer I would say well I mean like you did you do a lot of the hiring yeah and additions and stuff like that so it's like you know it's like your question too yes it was it's tough it was tough because we had a it was kind of hard because we had very specific well Nathan had a very specific uh details about he wanted who he wanted Dorian to be Vincent and uh sashimi it was tough because it was we had really talented actors and I mean it wasn't hard uh like I don't know like the amount of people is what I'm trying to say like because we needed like we need Asian actors we needed them to be this specific uh age range and I think it was kind of hard uh finding Dorian because Dorian's doing uh action scenes so from there you had to like really take a consideration do you need a stunt double for this actor he's gonna be able to stay up uh long nights because he's like around the age of 30 he's most likely going to have a family in kids so yeah you got to take into account of that but um yeah I mean all in all we managed to find the actors they're really talented by the way um it was honestly the casting process was so fun but also so so so so hard um like you said we had a lot of very talented actors but like finding the perfect versions of them were extremely difficult because I think generally in Texas there aren't too many Asian actors and so just finding the right ones we're like okay we have to either sacrifice some things or we just have to like commit um and I don't think we found we found all of actors kind of at the same time too like we were looking actively for like a month a month or two months yeah and so we were like constantly looking at different auditions this it was good but I don't think it worked well for the story other people were like they were good choices but their age ranges didn't fit between the two characters they needed that age gap and then we it was really weird like um one actor uh Spencer he was like he's like a big like tiktokker and like big influencer I'm like how do you want to do this but then I met him like before at an networking event we were really chill and I was like um I wish like like actually it was really pushing their reach out to him like okay I reached out to him and he sent it to an audition I'm like oh okay and then like uh for Dorian me and Ashley we went to we worked at a film festival and we saw Brandon in one of the films and I was like oh he's really good like I think he'd be really cool and then we just like we sent him a message like hey are you down to do this he's he's down and then Jordan like I was just on Instagram I saw my friend Don's like story of this Asian dude and I'm like all these guys are like really cool and then not even like five and ten minutes later Ashley was like have you seen Don's story like this guy was like okay now we have to ask this guy and like it was really cool so we all we brought them all together we basically casted our Brandon on the spot and was like oh this guy is great perfect and then those two guys they're kind of interchangeable for each other's characters and I asked them to audition for both parts so we got all of them together to do a chemistry read that was like the moment where I was like okay you were for sure Vincent and you're for sure the other character I won't say too much about and then like yeah just seeing their dynamics together seeing their chemistry I'm like wow again this is this is this is it and like yeah all the actors have been so game they've been so so patient and so kind with our production and they've been just incredible. Yeah, I couldn't ask for better actors for Andy and he's very much of like a director's actor, which is like, he'll basically like, for him to do his best job, he needs like everything for me, where it's like every single like even like little detail apart of the scripts, he wants to know specifically as a part of my vision, which I love. But also with Jordan, he's more of an actor's actor. Where he comes in, he has an idea of what he wants to do. And so we have a collaboration like in between like, okay, I like this, I like this, that's fine, the perfect medium. So talking to those two on set, it's very interesting because that's like, I kind of have to separate those two, but then when I put them together, it's like, okay, how what's the best way to communicate my vision towards the both of you? And I think you can see in the film, like I think they bounce off each other pretty well too. And I think on set, they just like, yeah, it's a great vibe. And then with Spencer, he's so easy. Like he is like, he's like, he's like the, how do you say the youngest child of like the three, if like the older middle and youngest sibling, he's like the easiest kid. He's like, he's like, I give him my little notes, he got it, he performs it and I was like, oh, easy. And then the other two act, I don't want to say like, all the two actors are amazing too. All of them are great. It's just, they're all very different to talk to, but it's all fun, all fun. On set for you, how is that? You know, working with them and getting to kind of communicate the idea that you have in the moment. You know, I think Nathan does a good job directing them, not for me to not like get it to and do it. But you know, obviously I got to sometimes they'll come up to me. They're like, okay, so what does this shot look like? And I'll tell them the blocking. But as far as like working with them, it's pretty simple. Like they do their thing and then I'll probably pull Nathan to the side and be like, well, I didn't really like that shot. What if you tell them like, I don't know. They're right there. Yeah, it's almost right there. It's almost like whenever he does this, like do it bigger or do it smaller, you know, just a little shot looks good because at the end of the day, that's my job. It's like getting the frame to look good, getting the shots to look good. And if it looks good, then we move on. Yeah, it's really nice to have like a good director to like take that consideration of what you told them and then relay that information to our actors, which they take single handedly like really well. You talked earlier kind of about the way that they've taken the characters and made them their own. How can you kind of like elaborate, you know, how do they take it and just change it from what you had and not so much change it, but you know, really build that relationship with their character. You know, what ways have you seen that change and impact the overall vision that you had for the film? Yeah. So it was really funny because like watching them, like just like in their chemistry read, I can already see the characters like evolving, has their like talking. And like with Jordan, he plays like a really good like younger brother where he's really good at having that innocent look and really like you just want to root for him. And with his character, he kind of wanted to make it like, like I had Vincent kind of like, like he was like low in confidence, but Jordan had another aspect of like, let's make him like a little bit awkward. Let's make him like a little bit socialker like he doesn't really know how to interact with people because in this backstory like he's an orphan so like, oh, like when he was growing up, he didn't have make his talk to it and we have any parents to talk to so it's like, he basically, he's like a blank slate. Like he thinks of like, oh, this is how people like become friends, right? And so that's how they're really tripodorian kind of like, oh, like this is this is my friend, you know? And Brandon like he is like like, it's crazy. He's like seeing him do his improv compared to him on set because his character in this is like very like, he's intense. He's like a thief and like on improv. He he plays like a clown. He's like very comedic. He's very funny, very outgoing. So I brought some of that energy towards Dorian making him a little bit crazier, a little bit like a few loose through a screws loose on the head. So like having those two together, it's like, okay, like it is like a different energy, but if anything, I just think it makes it more electric than what originally wrote. And for a Spencer, what he adds to his character, it's like originally, I had him just like be like a super intense like villainous character, but Spencer did a great job in like putting in so many more layers of like he he he feels like a tortured character. He feels like a character that's been abandoned, has been alone. It was also pretty scary like I described him like as like a tiger and spencer really rolled that and like elevated it to like 100%. And he also like he made him kind of hot. I'm not gonna lie. Like he made a character like, oh shit like, you know? Yeah, so like yeah, all of them made the characters so much better and so much more interesting. Who are y'all's favorite characters? This is actors aside because you don't have to I'm not gonna make you guys pick favorites, but you know your favorite characters, whether it's that you see yourself in them or you feel like an emotional connection to the way that you've worked with them behind the scenes, like, you know, yeah, who are your favorites? I can go for it. I don't know when I was reading this script, this was like draft through your something. It was like, oh Vincent, and I started calling him Vinnie and I think that just stuck. Yeah, yeah, it's like, oh we can have Vinnie do this and then it is like Vinnie. Who's Vinnie? Like dude Vinnie. I don't know. Vinnie. I'm like Vinnie. Um, but yeah, I think I like the he's the main character you can tell. Yeah, I like Vincent. I mean Jordan does a good job portraying him. Jordan's a great energy on set. So I'm gonna go with Vinnie. I don't know about y'all. I won't go last. You can go. Okay, well I was honestly gonna say Vincent too. That's it because the character, yeah, know his character the way you wrote him. I'm like he's very like cool chill collecting. I'm just like yeah, I'm like I can really like resonate with him in a way. So I'm gonna have to say Vinnie. Yes, he's very he has a very energetic personality on set. Like he really brings up the morale on set. Yeah. Damn. I love all my characters. I already know he's gonna say. I don't want to say too much. But like honestly like I've been saying like my least favorite character became my favorite character. But before we started filming, I think Dory knows my favorite character. Because I liked like towards the end you get to learn more about him. And like his. The story evolves to be something that you don't expect. And having that reveal was like really fun for me to write. And like I'm excited to see you. We haven't shot that scene yet. So once we see Brandon fully act out that scene, I think I'm I'm I'm I'm gonna be I'm gonna cry. I'm like, oh my god. This is exactly what I want. Like yeah. And Brandon's like Loki like he's a he's a great match for Dorian. And it's like, oh yeah. Perfect. Sponsorship. So you guys just posted a crazy post. I just scrolled on the other day and I saw it all over everybody's stories. Monster, right? Even monster sponsorship or monster deal or whatever. Partnership. Partnership. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay. How do you do that? I mean, what did you what did you do? I made a couple goals. Oh, yeah. No, it's not working. That's really coming in handy. No, it's funny. So the way it happened, fun enough. One of my old co-workers, she's a college ambassador for them. So I was talking to her about it. I was like, you know, I have like a huge crew coming up. You know, we're going to have a huge project. We should partner up together. Like, you know, give me a couple of drinks. We give you a couple of pictures. Equal exchange. Tell me more about like other things that you guys do. Because this is, I'm assuming, not really funded by, you know, like the school, right? I would have to imagine that it's more out of either out of pocket or fundraising that you guys do on your own time. Like a lot of crowdfunding and we had to dip in our own savings for a few things. Like mostly like for me, like small props that we just didn't want to deal with, you and T doing for us or like crafty. A lot of sandwiches out of our actors. Yeah, so I would say all of each of us kind of dipped into our own savings to pay for this film. A lot of help from the crowdfunding. So if you can, please help us in the crowdfunding. We'd be amazing to help this film further get made. And yeah, just support from our friends and family. And we all have our own individual jobs. Do you have any other partnerships that you're looking to, you know, work on? Talking with my line producer because I have been mentioning other brands, but it's in the works. I thought like, right now it's gonna work. So we got some brand. Can't speak too soon on it. Yeah. I really want to collaborate with the Boba Shop. We're like a tie-on key place to make like a Vuku tie-on key. I feel like that'd be really cool. I just have that idea right now. Yeah. If I can imagine like a Vuba. I'm gonna text my producer. And then a couple calls. Yeah, there's this call. Each character gets their own like style of Boba drink. Oh, please. That would be sick. Please. Expenses. What, how, you know, you guys did in your own savings. You said there's props and stuff. What else do you guys do in terms of spending? Well, at the EPS store. I make a lot of copies for my production binder and all these contracts. I'm not going to say how much I spent on. This is copies, but But other than that I mean yeah, I've been chipping in with a couple props and someone Day come on guys like glissby profession What have you bought oh Mindy I'm just a ski. No cuz you came up with some demands for I I snagged this a good deal. I don't know why they're complaining I just want to directors chair. I never I have not got that yet So tell me guys about your social media, you know, what do you? What is it like getting to really? You're making the film here and then you get to have your own online presence with that account. You know what's it like real? I think when making this film we kind of have social media in the like in the background of mines Like I'm I pitch this film to a lot of people in the very beginning I'm like, okay, so we're gonna make this film boss. We're gonna market it in a way that's like gonna be really appealing so we get a lot of eyes We're currently also making like along with this film we're gonna Get a documentary made of like the behind the scenes of making this film to and it was all this be really good marketing So it'll show like the process of making this film it'd be good for People around like you and T. It also see like our process so like future students can see how things get made Also, just like people in general like if you want to make a film This is like a great template of how to make a film and like We got on so many really good social media people to come along to like really help us out like Our social media person Pam does a really great job Like and we didn't even ask her to make some like some real so you just made them on the day Yeah, yeah, we did our first camera rehearsal and We did this she came up with this challenge. I think it was I never heard of it But it was the the train whistle where you had to make a train whistle which your hands and you just And I don't know it makes it whistle you got a ham has to do it though, but I'm just gonna make a special appearance It's date for nervous now She had everybody do that on our set when we was doing the practice and I'm like, okay What why we're doing this and then she saw me the video and it looked really good I was like, oh yeah, we can post this on our Instagram then from near she's just been writing a content for us And really good as you see yeah, yeah, you guys have a particular like gimmick going on with your social media or is it just like you know I mean feel like social media marketing is one of those things that you can really put like a personality to Like you see like fast food chains kind of doing their own stuff online is there a certain thing you portray well Nathan doesn't Nathan doesn't like when I say it but Who doesn't follow anybody and I Call who good either for that? Because I mean out of everybody you should at least be following Nathan he created you Tell me we talked about the Working with the cast and working with a lot of other people and how that Goes for you guys have you do have a certain Person in your crew that has really stood out to you over the course of filming, you know somebody that Like like an unsung hero like you guys talked about earlier That's really taking things and you know ran with it and kind of made your job a little bit easier or you know Just contributed a lot to the film so far We actually asked this question before Let's do that we're going let's do different people this time Because last time I said my Production designer is really good, but Wouldn't have to say my line producer like I was I was mentioned in her Yeah, podcast like my line producers really Doing her thing she's locking in things for us hopefully get some Brand deals or some more brand partnerships So I'm gonna say my line producer. She's really doing the job. She's a producer. She's a lifesaver for my What's her name? Johnny folks, Debbie Johnny. I Had to think I have to shout out my my first AD Tina you know Reeves She's she's been doing a really good job as AD and I also feel like she kind of feels like Kind of like low confidence going to this role because she's not a UNC student And so he kind of came in a little bit late, but she's been doing such an amazing job Keeping us on time make sure we're good and so yeah, she's been the best a day. I could ask for I'm gonna have to go with My camera operator Peter Cling You guys look at the socials. He did a little fun piece of what's my bag? So set it to Peter man. He's always on it building the camera while I'm talking to Nathan or my gap for just leading anyone else He gets it should done and who can I curse? The whole time Yeah, shout out to Peter hang dude. He's amazing, you know, he He provides good intel if I'm like, hey, like should I be throw a quarter? Glimmer glass on there. He's like, yeah, man, it'll look good shout out Peter Well, that's really all I have I just want you guys to answer this one more time. What is Fugu? Yeah, so Fugu technically, it's like a Japanese popper fish and If served incorrectly can be very poisonous So I kind of wanted to play with the idea in the scripts the stories about these two thieves of different generations Dorian being the older thief and Vincent being the younger thief and it's a story about how they Bond become kind of like friends and also you learn what drives each other to date what drives one another to kind of like a life of crime and I won't say too much about the film, but There are twist and turns where you were characters histories revealed and You kind of don't know what to make of it So I wanted the characters not the not you'd I want the characters not to know is just to trust each other as well as the audience not to know Whether or not they can trust the characters as well and then What is it to you guys as a group? What does it mean to you? I Think for how I feel about it. I think Fugu is a really cool project We've built up to and we're putting everything that we've learned into it I think it's the project where we kind of can be like hey This is what we do and this is the work to show for it It's a very nice collaborative project between us three as well as other people But mostly between us three because we've always wanted to collaborate together and now that we have the opportunity to come in and Make a great project It's it's been fun It's been amazing working with you guys and I'm sure like the work will pay off when you guys watch it I was gonna say Very much the same thing I feel like like her answer kind of covers it This feels like a culmination of the last two or three years of our friendship and how we've evolved as filmmakers and we're Putting roles that we really want to do in the future and this is like kind of our time to showcase our skills and like potential to be even better and I couldn't make this film I couldn't imagine making this film with any other people besides these two and I'm incredibly grateful for the crew that we have the people supporting us and I think this is the right time for us to make this film and tell the story That one up What can I say without saying because you're really just touched on all of it. I mean We've yeah, this film is showcasing a lot of our talents. We're also gaining new experience from it I Like it when people ask me is this a is this a class project or is it like a personal project because the way I take it is that This film is not like a what you would normally see as a student short film because No not trying to shame anything about us student filmmaking because hard but I feel like when people see the work that we're doing It's like almost out of the ordinary what you see from a student film so Yeah, I feel like we're like we're you were saying just showcase and guard talents that I mean I think we're doing pretty well especially since we're students and this is like our first time working with each other so Yeah, I feel like what food the means is Showcase and hard work skills talent Do you guys have anything that you want to let everybody that's watching all Five people watching my podcast You want to yeah, I think you want to let him know more hopefully Yeah, anything you want to let the off audience know before you know you go back to making your film. We're working really hard like over time because our production meetings, it will start like maybe like in the evening probably like five, six or clock and it ends like almost, it's past midnight for sure but like it ends like at least two to a clock in the morning. At that point I've got guys we got to go home, I got to work in the morning y'all, I got to go. We're just we're we're planning overtime. Yeah. We're doing everything we can to make this film the best that we can. We're putting a lot of energy, a lot of time and we're also not skimping or anything. We are making sure it's of quality and it's something that you guys deserve to see. We're putting a lot of money into this so if you can please help us out and donate to our GoFundMe just so we can make this film even better for you guys as well. We're hopefully going to show this showcase this film in the summer of 2026 and then hopefully future Fugu tales, Fugu stories come out pretty soon afterwards too. Thank you for tuning into episode four of the Jordan Benavita show and thank you to all the crew Fugu for all their hard work. Here's an exclusive look at their new trailer for Fugu coming out summer 2026. Sorry Emily. So what's the job? I need a partner. Holy shit. Do you know what Fugu is? The question is do you have the guts to pick up those chops? How much can you really trust us? Cheers. [Music]