Filmmakers Making A Social Impact: Why & How Jordan Anstatt of ‘Max Is Bleeding’ Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
My recent short film Max is Bleeding is a social issue film, specifically relating to women’s issues and victimhood of abuse. It tells the story of a woman who takes a leap of faith and acts courageously in the face of fear. Victimhood and abuse take many forms, so whether someone can relate directly or indirectly, seeing a situation of hope is something I’m grateful to be able to bring onscreen. It’s really important to me that it’s a story that shows the strength that I see in the women I know while not downplaying the complexity involved.
As a part of our series about “Filmmakers Making A Social Impact,” I had the pleasure of interviewing Jordan Anstatt of ‘Max Is Bleeding’ short film.
Director/Editor/Producer Jordan Anstatt wrote and directed a short film called Somna which received an Award for Best Local Drama Short at Atlanta ShortsFest. In recent years, Jordan’s work has been featured in publications worldwide including No Film School for his work on Essential Tips for Creating an Indie Music Video with Social Distancing, which is about his recent music video for Tucker Winstanley’s 2021 single Midding. He wrote and directed Blue Bags Float in Saltwater, a short film that won Awards for Best Student Film. Anstatt is currently in pre-production for his next narrative short film, Nobody Skates Except for Me and is also adapting his television pilot, The Gospel According to Eddie, into a feature film.
Thank you so much for doing this interview with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit. Can you share your “backstory” that brought you to this career?
Thanks for having me! As a Harrisburg, PA native I didn’t know anyone who made movies growing up, but I loved drawing, painting, making music, creating comics, acting, and making skateboard videos with my friends. When I was headed to art school, I knew I wanted to somehow synthesize all of those interests. I started at SCAD as a graphic design major, but I tried a film class during my sophomore year and directed my first exercise. I realized that filmmaking was what I’d been looking for and got hooked.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your filmmaking career?
I was taking an undergrad lighting course, but I had no interest in gaffing, so I convinced my professor to let me write and direct a short film for my final project. I scheduled a two-day shoot for a five-minute script called Makeout Tape. I had no idea what I was doing and my other finals were stacking up. I was so stressed that I got gastroenteritis and ended up in the hospital for the entire first day of the shoot. My now-wife, Amy, helped me re-hydrate and barrel my way through the entire shoot in one day. I edited it in a couple of days, finishing the cut as I was driving to class. My ancient laptop took so long to render the video that I told my professor I didn’t have anything to show for my final. But I kept it rendering during class, and right as my last classmate’s film ended, the render was finished. My professor was closing up class and I said, “but wait! What about me?” as if I’d planned it the whole time. The screening went perfectly.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
I meet very few boring people. I always find actors to be interesting — it’s amazing watching a reel, seeing someone play all these characters, and realizing that they’re nothing like those characters when I meet them. It’s incredible. There was only one time it really didn’t work out with an actor — I was in a class doing theater-style directing presentations of two-person scenes. I was experimenting with this very specific directing technique and, to my surprise, the actor absolutely hated it and was philosophically opposed to it. I begged them to try it for about forty-five minutes. It was to no avail, so I did something I’ve never done as a director: I said, alright, do whatever you want with the scene, have fun, and good luck.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
My short film, Max is Bleeding, just premiered at Palm Springs International ShortFest which is an amazing festival. The film is an eight-minute social-issue drama/thriller about a woman who tries to get her boyfriend arrested on a trip to the vet. Right now I’m trying to find distribution for it so it can make a bigger impact. Coming up, I’m adapting my coming-of-age-in-the-faith-world pilot, The Gospel According to Eddie, into a feature and working on my narrative short film about skateboarding, Nobody Skates Except for Me, which I’ll shoot in September 2021.
Which people in history inspire you the most? Why?
As a Christian and person of faith, I get inspired a lot by people who embody their search for faith in their work — as for filmmakers, I’m inspired constantly by Krzysztof Kieślowski, Terrence Malick, and Martin Scorsese. More recently I’ve loved Ramy Youssef’s work, he’s sharing his Muslim faith in a challenging way. One of my favorite movies is Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, which, in my eyes, includes the search for faith in the context of modern coming-of-age femininity in a way that’s really inspiring.
Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview, how are you using your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting social impact causes you are working on right now?
I always want my films and stories to positively impact the world. My recent short film Max is Bleeding is a social issue film, specifically relating to women’s issues and victimhood of abuse. It tells the story of a woman who takes a leap of faith and acts courageously in the face of fear. Victimhood and abuse take many forms, so whether someone can relate directly or indirectly, seeing a situation of hope is something I’m grateful to be able to bring onscreen. It’s really important to me that it’s a story that shows the strength that I see in the women I know while not downplaying the complexity involved. The scene structure is based on Lenore E. Walker’s Cycles of Abuse, so the film is not only a way to empathize, but it’s also a story-driven framework for helping us see the structures that keep us stuck.
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and take action for this cause? What was that final trigger?
I deeply connected with the script on a personal level the first time I read it and tried not to question that too much. I was so taken by this story of courage and necessary defiance, and something internal just clicked. If I’d had to justify it upfront, maybe I wouldn’t have done it. But the more I got into it, the more I realized what it meant to me personally, and that kept me going.
Are there three things that individuals, society or the government can do to support you in this effort?
I’m trying to get the film in front of people right now, so getting in contact with me about partnering to distribute and exhibit it is one way to support the film. Another way, more broadly, is just to have open and direct discussions with the people you love if you interact with my film or any work that uses a story to open up tough subjects — there are so many movies I watch that make me discuss things I otherwise wouldn’t interact with. Thirdly, education goes a long way — film is made from light, and we can’t question what we don’t see. Whether it’s through a film, book, scholarly work, or personal interactions, it’s just a matter of exposing abuse of all forms to the light so we can recognize and fight them.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1. No one knows what they’re doing. It took me so long to realize that even after people told me. Especially in filmmaking, people are just figuring it out day by day, and things got a lot more enjoyable when I tried doing the same thing.
2. So much good art is personal. I often thought that people who made beautiful things sort of heard about it and knew it would be good in advance, but it’s all experimentation with things that are personal. A good test is: if it’s terrifying, that’s probably the idea or project I’ll pursue.
3. Things are going to take a long time and that’s totally normal. I thought people came out of the box ready to go, kind of that American prodigy story. The more I study other artists, the more I realize the common thread is taking the time to cultivate a craft. That patience has been hard for me to learn.
4. You already have what you need. I went to film school thinking I had more things to “get” as far as my artistic identity — yes, I did have plenty of craft stuff to learn. But the things that inspire me, my taste, my voice — that’s formed already. Sometimes it’s actually a matter of uncovering something that’s been buried or ignored.
5. Feeling healthy is awesome. Anything I can do to improve my physical and mental health has baffling returns on things like work, relationships, and everything else. I ignored my physical health for a while and when I finally paid attention, I realized I had things pretty backward.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
I always try my hardest not to question myself to death. When the artistic voice inside me pipes up, I try to listen instead of interrogating. I try to take my artistic self out for coffee instead of making it write me a cover letter. But, if I do have to justify something to myself, I ask why it’s personal. If the reason proves truthful, I try my best to stick with it, even if others don’t understand.
We are very blessed that many other Social Impact Heroes read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would like to collaborate with, and why? He or she might see this. 🙂
If someone connects with what I’m saying here, we should collaborate. That connection is hard to find and I’m always grateful when it happens.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I’ve learned a few life lessons, I’m not sure I have a cohesive quote, but I’m always trying to get better at telling myself to trust people more and be as truthful as I can. Fear is really isolating, I’ve learned, whether that’s fear of failure, perception, or letting people down. The times when I’ve taken a risk and opened up have been the most difficult and gratifying times in my life.
How can our readers follow you online?
I’m on Instagram (@j.anstatt) and my work is up on Vimeo and my website, jordananstatt.com as soon as it’s available. My contact form and newsletter sign-up are on my site, too. Hit me up!
This was great, thank you so much for sharing your story and doing this with us. We wish you continued success!
Thank you so much for chatting!
Filmmakers Making A Social Impact: Why & How Jordan Anstatt of ‘Max Is Bleeding’ Is Helping To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.