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Page Stephenson
840 Plays6 months ago
From Page Stephenson: "Sometimes my life feels as though I am both the director and the directed. As I attempt to navigate the vast ocean of choices, I often find myself adrift. It's in these moments that inspiration often bubbles to the surface. My creative adventures have enabled me to collaborate with giants like Google, Red Bull, Patagonia, and Netflix. These projects have sent me around the globe, expanding my perspective beyond my wildest dreams. I have been fortunate enough to play with robotic arms, fast computers, remote aircraft, and even real movie cameras. For me, it isn't about the gear, brands, or crazy stories; it's the journey of the self. I spend my time lost in video games, cinema, and researching new tools of expression because I love doing so; it is a way of life and it has sculpted me.
Hopefully, I can sculpt a small bit in return."
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Transcript
Introduction and Setup
00:00:01
Speaker
You are listening to Something Rather Than Nothing. Creator and host, Ken Volante. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer. Hey everybody, this is Ken Volante with the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast. We've got Paige Stevenson here and just before I give the backdrop, just wanted to welcome you onto the show.
00:00:29
Speaker
Thanks for having me. I'm in real life too, which is really exciting. In real life, and that's part of me not battling too much right off the bat, we're gonna be here at Warbling Creek Studios, the full physical home of the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast in beautiful Eugene, Oregon, track town, track city.
00:00:50
Speaker
And in this studio, they'll be mostly quiet in the background unless Paige and I create a very entertaining ruckus. This is Peter Bauer, editor and producer of the show. And a fan favorite who pops out once in a while, Jenny Jo Peterson, who is the co-host of the Blair Borax episode, which was also recorded at Warbling Creek Studios.
AI and Comedy: George Carlin's Legacy
00:01:16
Speaker
So just a little bit of the backdrop.
00:01:19
Speaker
We're going to talk a lot about what what you do and kind of like jump into tech questions. I talk about what you do. Talk about video and creation. But we were just gabbing a bit right now about it seems one of our favorite philosophers, George Carlin, who for me is a philosopher's comedian as as as they go.
00:01:44
Speaker
But you were telling a little bit about some content, a set from the deceased George Carlin that you heard recently. Tell us about it.
00:01:55
Speaker
Yeah, so recently there was a, a duo comedic, comedic duo that trained in AI, large, large language model to emulate George Carlin. And they did, they released a 60 minute special on this. And I'm in the same boat. George Carlin's a philosopher, a comedian really had the ability to, to have his thumb on the pulse and sort of be enraged, but also humble at the same time.
00:02:22
Speaker
And to hear him talk again for 60 minutes and to have a moment of realization that this is not real and that this is potentially crafted and unique or mimicking or whatever the morality of it.
00:02:39
Speaker
It was weird to be happy that he's back, but also realize that he was pissed during the 60 minute bit and in asking the question, like, what is, what is this? What does this mean? You know, uh, since it has been pulled off the internet, the Carlin family was, I'm sure distraught about feeding a machine.
00:02:58
Speaker
hours and hours and hours and hours of their beloved family member. But if you have the ability to find it, I recommend it because I've seen every bit of content that man ever put out and it was interesting, scary, exciting. It was all the above, but he was the perfect test subject and I'd be curious to know how accidental or on purpose that was.
AI's Impact on Creativity
00:03:22
Speaker
if you're paying attention to this AI stuff, that that was one that I raised an eyebrow. Yeah. Oh, okay. This is where this is going for sure.
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah, I found it fascinating for me because I would remember, I don't remember what it was called. You might know the last Carlin set where he knew he was dying. It's very clear in how he's talking about. And it's such a dark, rich set. But to even think about that set and be like, oh, we're going to hear another one like is just a
00:03:55
Speaker
It's a thought I wouldn't even thought at the at that time. And it wasn't terribly long ago, just a few years ago. I think what's really interesting is my my first gut reaction was I want Bill Hicks. Like now now I'm like already having this. Oh, I want to hear all these other people, which, you know, raises a really big question. I mean, we all have people that we miss dearly. And, you know, is this.
00:04:18
Speaker
how we're going to revisit or hang onto or, you know, what does this mean to hear somebody come back? But Bill Hicks was somebody that I immediately was like, Oh my gosh, imagine this guy gets to keep going.
00:04:32
Speaker
Would he want that? Who knows? I'm already hearing the routine, Bill Hicks routine. I got to ask you just just just right off. Tell tell the listeners a bit about, you know, what you do and working in creating things in video and just kind of the even the questions you encounter in your work.
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah, so I sort of was the skateboard snowboard poser of my school. I really enjoyed that culture and I had a mutual friend's dad who had a DV camcorder and I sort of locked onto that. The Jackass crew, the CKY guys, they were sort of the original viral sort of video duo.
00:05:22
Speaker
I think a lot of people at that age, 16, 17, 18, want to make pranks and just be sort of jovial. But this device sort of, I just gravitated towards it. I don't really know why. I certainly, I was baby sat a lot by movies and television and only child, you know? So I certainly had this box in front of me quite a bit and had an affection for it.
Paige's Career Journey in Film
00:05:47
Speaker
And then sort of then grabbed this device and pointed at my friends and
00:05:52
Speaker
It's an interesting sort of way to be integrated in the life, but also hide behind a device, which has been kind of cool. And so, um, quickly, you know, I was like probably 16 when I really started getting the bug and filming my friends, you bad tricks at the skate parks and all that stuff. And shortly after, um, I worked, I did, I did, I did waited to go to college for a couple of years out of school and I had one day, um,
00:06:18
Speaker
where I just was like, nah, I'm not going to do the work thing, the nine to five. And I went to film school in Portland and I've just been on a rocket ship ever since. I got really fortunate. I had incredible mentors and teachers at that school and kind of
00:06:41
Speaker
got the artist with an A integrated too. You know, I sort of had that like CKY meets four years of art history and it just sort of became this awesome machine. I'm just a curious person by nature. And so I kind of got to be pretentious and also a skateboarder guy in my early 20s.
00:07:03
Speaker
And then I got kind of propelled into the nonfiction world through the adventure sport industry, which was really unexpected. I'm like a computer nerd, like never climbed a mountain, never did any of this stuff. And I got lucky with great mentorship in that industry. And it more or less kind of well rounded me into this
00:07:26
Speaker
this individual who's got grit and tenacity but also techie geeky and it kind of just toughened me up a little bit to be honest. I have a lot of mentors who have that just send it kind of attitude and I've taken that and kind of applied it to my life and so I've done non-fiction work. I've been really fortunate to work with companies like Google and Netflix and Patagonia and Nike and Adidas and
00:07:50
Speaker
spent some time in the commercial industry, unscripted, aka reality TV. I mean, I've kind of just been cruising around. I've never really had a plan, which seems pretty common with a lot of filmmakers or artists in general. So I've gotten to a point in my career, though, where I've recognized
00:08:11
Speaker
I'm pretty fortunate and pretty lucky to participate at any level. I've been able to meet some of my heroes, filmmaker heroes.
AI's Influence on the Video Industry
00:08:20
Speaker
Recently, I got to work on the behind the scenes for the latest Pinocchio film with Guillermo. You know, I sat next to him one day for lunch, you know, and so it's been really cool to
00:08:34
Speaker
sort of manifest a little bit of a dream and be like, hey, it's working. And then it's also certainly followed up with, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. No, it's a lot of interview, a lot of artists on the show. And it's like, even the short conversation we had, like the ideas of mystery of like how something comes about, you know, curious towards that.
00:08:58
Speaker
as a huge driver. And talking about video, just to jump in topically, since we're going to talk about it, I've been hearing a talk with Peter as well about
00:09:18
Speaker
There's a ton going on right now. Video with A.I. Like right at this moment, it feels like A.I. in general, but like what is going on with what A.I. can do in that video realm? And just one point, I think it's a realm where, you know, as an audio podcast and thinking about video and like video can be
00:09:43
Speaker
a lot difficult to edit and create and get just so so what what's happening with ai in video at the moment yeah that's a great question uh you know right now you know video and filmmaking is already a young sort of form of expression it's about 125 130 years old uh it's much younger than a lot of other things out there right now and so it's already been advancing at a pretty rapid rate i mean when i was
00:10:12
Speaker
sort of learning the craft. It was on tape prior to that. Film, still quite a bit of film being shot, but it's a form that's evolved really quickly. It has not been the same for 130 years. And so you've had sensor technology advancing, computers. I mean, if you have a laptop and an iPhone, you are now a filmmaker. Andy Warhol once said, we're all going to be famous in the future. And I think
00:10:37
Speaker
the video portion of that has been very obvious. You know, OpenAI has talked about their Sora model, which has sort of caught everybody off guard. And essentially this model is presenting what looks like very realistic video content via prompts. And just yesterday, a short film was released that, you know, it certainly looks like something that could have potentially taken five, six months to animate.
00:11:07
Speaker
I think a lot of people probably knew this was coming. I've had a lot of conversations with people over the last few years that felt pretty confident that the creative sector was sort of safe from this. My sort of computer brain and my, I'd say,
00:11:27
Speaker
techie guru, wannabe futurist sort of is not surprised that it's the first targeted sector. But yeah, I mean, essentially, what we're looking at is potentially a $20 a month Pixar machine that can also maybe do realistic stuff. It's certainly unknown. But as somebody who
The Societal Impacts of Rapid Tech Growth
00:11:49
Speaker
makes motion content for a living. You know, there's certainly a joke with a lot of my colleagues right now that we're like, oh, this is this is coming for us, I think. And we're trying to be polite to it, I guess. Yeah, I wanted to ask you something like particular to the point, and this is this is not a studied way of talking about it, but
00:12:16
Speaker
I look at tech and I know one of the major dynamics when you talk about tech is kind of the exponential, the pace of tech and how it outstrips even our projections. And it's not just that tech advances, it's just that tech advances at such a rate.
00:12:33
Speaker
and so fast. And then I look at the kind of like, I don't know, let's say just strictly human institutions around like legislating or figuring out there's no fucking way in the universe that that these I'm just looking at velocity here that I don't know where the intersection is. So well, first of all, I don't know if you've heard that, but the context of what I'm saying, this is like
00:12:58
Speaker
There's this feeling of like we're off on our own right now. Like if you check in your gut, at least for me, I feel like it's like.
00:13:07
Speaker
okay, we're gonna be experiencing that and there isn't any regulation or deep knowledge about what's gonna occur. Would you agree with the framing in that way or comment? Yeah, absolutely. I think what's really interesting is that there's always this stigma and stereotype that, you know, back in my day, things were different and we've always gauged and suggested that, oh, it's always been like this. You know, the next generation is always like,
00:13:34
Speaker
sort of stereotyping and being just a little bit less advanced. But the reality is, is it is actually advancing at a rapid rate. I'm not sure if you read Sapiens. This is like a book that is a great book. So this book, Yuval Noah Harari wrote, it's his second, it's his follow up to Sapiens. And it's essentially
00:13:57
Speaker
What's happening now? He is a historian, a philosopher, anthropologist, just somebody who clearly has studied what's going on. And he is suggesting that this is happening at a faster rate.
00:14:15
Speaker
Science fiction authors and futurists all knew this was going to happen, and we knew that this was going to catch everybody off guard. Some of the best science fiction authors have written about the guardrails that have to happen if we want to coexist with this mechanization.
00:14:37
Speaker
whether it's in a computer or anthropomorphized into a robot or whatever it ends up being. I'm pretty excited. I think one of the hardest.
00:14:48
Speaker
or challenging parts of being a human is interacting with humans. And so to know that there's like another thing that's going to be hanging out, it's kind of exciting. But yeah, it is advancing at a rate that we've never seen. Moore's law is going to be challenged for sure, because it's going to enter a whole new dimension.
00:15:08
Speaker
As a creative, it's really exciting. I think as a science fiction lover, it's also exciting because it's gonna become science reality. It's gonna impact everything. And it's really safe to assume that in the next five years, we might all collectively look back as a culture and go, wow, like this is not the difference between a stick shift car and an automatic car or even the printing press. I mean, it's gonna make the printing press seem
00:15:34
Speaker
like a very small jump, medicine, immortality, raising the dead, you know, there's going to be a lot going on. And so I highly recommend reading his first two books because they seem, one is historical and one is sort of like the back to the future almanac where you're like, oh, this is happening. Like it's all right here in this book. It's a few years old. And so to see the sort of
00:16:00
Speaker
prophecy of what he's talking about happen. It's kept me a little sane. Well, and digging into, you know, with the podcast, you know, talking about art, I was thinking one of the things, let me think about like the creative hand in art, right? So if you look at the theory of aesthetics, like, you know,
00:16:22
Speaker
Where's the creator's hand in the art object that you're putting now, does there need to be a hand. The question I bring up on the show sometimes of, you know, the believer who sees the beautiful Oregon coast and sunset and said that is perfection, that is art.
00:16:42
Speaker
That is the most beautiful thing by the hands of God. So like these great questions of philosophy about, you know, the hand or George Carlin, right? Is George, George Carlin still thinking for us to help us in 2024? Seems like he might be.
00:16:57
Speaker
But what do you think the collision here and talking about art issues and the hand behind creation, do you think the pace and what we're talking about technology and who has made the thing is being as deeply challenged as I feel that it is right now?
00:17:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, it's exciting to see this new color paintbrush come onto the playing field. And I think what'll be really interesting now is this sort of
00:17:33
Speaker
globalized economy that's also going to participate in it. Even with the release of the open AI Sora, you they've sort of selected individuals that get the key first. And, you know, yes, there's democratization. But also, let's say this is $100 a month, you know, who's going to be able to have access to it. I think one thing I've really
00:17:59
Speaker
ruminated a lot about is the Moloch game theory. And more or less what that is, is that the personal incentives of individuals, I'll paraphrase it because it's pretty big, the individual incentives are bad for the group. And, you know, artists are
00:18:18
Speaker
people that need to make a living. And so if we're incentivizing, you know, selling our work constantly, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify is under a lot of fire, under a lot of questions right now. With this new device and with this new potentially competitor, I don't know if I want to use that word because it's not, you know, if it's art, creative, whatever it is.
00:18:42
Speaker
There's a balance of monetizing and a balance of making a living. And so, you know, who's going to, who's going to have the keys to the car on this one and how, you know, how powerful is that going to be? I kind of always equate it to like the coffee shop photography or painting, you know, and you see, you see this cool photo and it says $9,000 and it's easy to walk into the coffee shop and go, wow, this person's making $9,000 on these.
00:19:11
Speaker
that sort of assumption that there's any sort of financial exchange is, I think, interesting in the general public.
00:19:19
Speaker
but the value of what we do is gonna change rapidly. I felt that way when Instagram came out for photographers. I remember I was pretty adamant that now the value of it, whether it's economic or artistic or whatever it is, is gonna change. And so, you know, if we're looking at advertising firms or, you know, anybody who's gonna consume the artistic expression also for means of
00:19:49
Speaker
economic value, like, there's gonna be, it's gonna be a really interesting shift. I mean, Sam Altman said the other day that 95% of advertising is going to be done on this platform, which is not a small number. And it kind of reminds me of the travel agent of 1999, you know, like, now I can pull out my phone and book a flight, I can ask my phone to book a flight for me right now. Yeah. And so,
00:20:14
Speaker
We're going to continue to see the labor in the artistic community have an impact. I think the challenge ultimately is that if you love to do something, it should transcend beyond money.
The Philosophy of Art and Creativity
00:20:26
Speaker
Not always the world that we live in. And so I hope that there can be a happy middle ground to that because
00:20:37
Speaker
It is really what defines us as humans, I think, is the ability to create. I think we're all inherently meant to create. I think it's important to have that. So if it potentially is removed, or you see this new thing creating at a level that we can't even comprehend, you know, I think that's what's a little exciting. I hope that in the next 10 years, the scope of the universe, maybe. Yeah, I mean, it really is like one of the biggest questions I think our species is going to come against is this artificial general intelligence.
00:21:07
Speaker
I hope, you know, I don't know if you guys ever watched Futurama back in the day, but I'd like a bender sort of robot who's just drunk and hands out with me. That's what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping that this thing is conscious and it's like, I don't want to go to fucking work today. I hope that's it because that's kind of like just the sci-fi dork in me that really wants to hang out with a robot and kind of talk shit.
00:21:32
Speaker
No, it's a great discussion. It's almost like it can be a discussion of crisis around these type of questions. Crisis not necessarily being negative, but the strong conflict between what's happening now and the creative process. Another way I looked at it, too, generally speaking, is trying to describe it as like,
00:21:56
Speaker
For me, the experience of I adore Warhol's sculpture, which is the Brillo box. And I still have difficulty explaining all that. I think I was a kid. I saw I think that's so really cool. It's cool looking. It's by Warhol. And that sold the whole thing for me when I was younger. So I never knew.
00:22:18
Speaker
why or why that's one of my favorite sculptures. And it's this type of thing of thinking about where the hand is and that it's a kind of a panache of Warhol tied to that thing. But I think these questions that come up when we talk on the show are just really fascinating. And you're talking about to the, you know, the intent of the creator, what can the creator expect?
00:22:41
Speaker
in the economy or within these dynamics. And I got one of the big questions for you, Paige. What is art? The ultimate trick question. What is art? You know, I think I might even wrote a paper on this in college and did not have chat GPT at the time, which would have been awesome because it is this massive question. For me, I never really felt like an artist with an A. I
00:23:10
Speaker
Just wanted to be and I think that might be part of it. I think inherently humans Want to create I think a lot of people especially nowadays who are anxious or stressed or depressed That's the artist, you know, that's the the Whatever label we've put on it, you know, there's this things energy that needs to come out of us and
00:23:36
Speaker
I think that's part of art. You know, a lot of people do a lot of things that are creative and maybe don't even notice. You know, I think food, the service industry, chefs, I mean, there's art can be on a canvas, art can be in your mind. I think probably some of the best artists out there are still in their mind. And getting out is part of being an artist versus sort of
00:24:05
Speaker
somebody who's trapped in what society wants us to do. It's very counter, I mean, I've always been pretty against, not against, but I feel like I had a natural aptitude to not want to be policed or told what to do. I'm not necessarily an anarchist by any means, but I think art can be an opportunity to
00:24:30
Speaker
be yourself. And so it's easy to say it's expression. But yeah, I mean, it's a massive question. Do you have do you do you feel I ask around this to as you know, identification as an artist, is that something that you felt at a particular moment? Because right with our question is like, oh, like,
00:24:56
Speaker
being called an artist, you know what you are, but what about your relationship with creating an identity and being an artist?
00:25:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think what's really interesting is, you know, going to film school and sort of not just the film part, but, you know, color theory and art history specifically. And when you study art, I mean, it's this massive scale of, you know, ancient pottery and, you know, 17th century painting and
00:25:31
Speaker
There comes a point where you quickly identify, I like this stuff or I don't like this stuff. And I think anybody who creates at any level can appreciate somebody else doing it. And so I definitely remember having that light bulb moment.
00:25:53
Speaker
in sort of recognizing that, you know, whether it's doing a gallery or filming an interview, you know, whatever it is, like, there's a level of participation that, yeah, it's easy to be like, I'm not an artist, you know, because I'm not Rembrandt. You know, I think when you study it, you realize the capacity that it can go.
00:26:16
Speaker
And I think that's the best part of it. You don't want to compare yourself, but you also want to live a lifestyle that feels like it can support the creativity. And I think it is a lifestyle. I mean, I ultimately think it's a lifestyle. It's a choice.
00:26:30
Speaker
But yeah, I think when I was in my mid 20s, I had like the real sort of, you know, you're making things that people are like, what are you talking about? What are you doing? And you don't know what you're doing. And you're just throwing paint on the wall and hoping it sticks. And it's been fun to hone that in and sort of...
00:26:50
Speaker
become a quote unquote professional, but also know that that's in there. And honestly, for me right now in my career, I'm kind of excited to see what that next chapter is. And with the democratization of filmmaking specifically, knowing that I go do it tomorrow and make this thing. So yeah,
00:27:14
Speaker
Yeah, I on the what is our question. I don't know if I brought this up on the podcast before I saw I went to a Marquette and I studied philosophy. I got a master's there and I bring it up from time to time on the show because it was just a unique period of my life and.
00:27:31
Speaker
There's two days proctored exams. So you get the, anybody might remember kind of really pencil and paper, little writing book for masters, three questions. And what was funny is one of the questions I got was what is art? So I was like, you know, fuck yeah. Like I was really excited for it, but it was funny because I was also pissed off because
00:27:59
Speaker
the exam was supposed to be proctored and I guess some professor missed their assignment and I was like I'm here like I've studied this I want to get past and get my master's degree and I'm like I want to make sure this is official like so we had to hunt down so you can get over here and proctor this exam
00:28:18
Speaker
I get, you know, so and so we get the exam proctored and I had the answer what is R and I did, I must have answered it properly. I have no idea what I wrote. It was quite some time ago. I don't know what I wrote.
00:28:33
Speaker
Um, one of the things I think in the artist persona and I and you talking about it for me and noticing it for myself over the last few years is that there's something about in a larger voice to say something more space to say something like behaving as an artist and being responsible, but not ultimately responsible for the things that you produce in a sense of
00:28:57
Speaker
I can say this as an I know I can say this as an artist and I can say it that way. And maybe in other areas, I don't know if I can. But so I really like like talking about that space with with people. And I think identification with being an artist helps folks with that as intimidating as it might be. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think my decision to go to film school sort of
00:29:23
Speaker
I think was subconscious in a way. And when you when you recognize like we were talking earlier about like sort of finding your people and there is something to be said about going on a path.
00:29:35
Speaker
committing to it and realizing like oh this is I forget how non-traditional the lifestyle is that I live I mean and I really have forgotten but I also don't ever remember consciously making the decision to live like that it's just always been like that and so it's really
Exploring New Creative Mediums
00:29:55
Speaker
It's really interesting, A, to try to inspire others to sort of go down a path like that because it can be scary. But it is just really fascinating to realize like, oh, that's me. And I really agree with being safe to say things. I think you don't want to challenge people all the time or their lifestyle, but
00:30:19
Speaker
as an artist, and we've been talking about comedians. That's why I love comedians, especially Hicks and Carlin. They had the ability to just say exactly how they felt. Yes, it was entertaining, but there's a lot of truth in that philosophy.
00:30:37
Speaker
It's just fucking exciting. I mean, it's just really like, there are days, certainly the ebb and flow of being an artist. And there are days where you sort of sit back and go, yeah, fuck yeah. This is awesome. This is a fun party to be in. And I'm grateful that I stuck it out.
00:30:55
Speaker
Yeah, you mentioned somewhat of a crossroads or transition as far as the work you're doing and talking about video. Want to tell us a little bit about that as far as what you're thinking about and what you're talking about specifically? Yeah, you know, I've I've always been a really technical person. I was kind of the computer kid. I was born in 88. So, you know, access to the home computer was sort of growing. I'd say I was probably a bit younger.
00:31:24
Speaker
in the sense that I was just early enough that I was probably four years ahead of everybody on the internet thing. I mean, it was just an interesting time to be a digital native, emerging sort of experience. And what kind of happened, I think, for me as a filmmaker, is I gravitated towards anything that was digital. And
00:31:45
Speaker
you know, the cameras were changing my senior year of college, the ability to make things that looked quote unquote, like a movie was starting to be wildly more accessible. You know, 10 years before I graduated, you had to go to LA or New York, like that was just you're like, you're going to AFI or you're going to NYU. And if you don't, you're going to be working at a news station like that. That was it. And so I got really lucky to kind of be on the forefront of digital filmmaking, which
00:32:15
Speaker
I think is exciting. What was cool is I worked at the rental house at my school. Like I just kind of was always right there. Cameras to me are computers. And so I've just immediately gravitated to shooting. I've been really fortunate to be a decorated cinematographer and be acknowledged at film festivals and you know publicly for my work. It wasn't something that I
00:32:42
Speaker
was like, I'm going to be a cinematographer. I just wanted to be a filmmaker. I think a lot of filmmakers want to be a director, sort of like big picture. And I just happened to be also good at shooting my own stuff. And so right now I'm currently trying to remove the camera guy's stigma, I think, which anybody in the industry can kind of understand what
00:33:06
Speaker
what that looks like and sort of, you know, not wanting to pigeonhole myself into something that I'm kind of good at. One thing that I've always done with filmmaking and I'm also really into post-production, I really believe in sort of experimenting with all facets of the form. The one great thing about filmmaking in general is that it takes a lot of different creative experiences and it puts all of them together. You know, there's wardrobe and production design and there's architecture. I mean, there really is
00:33:36
Speaker
Almost every discipline involved in the creating of a feature film or short film or commercial episodic and so I'm kind of trying to Move a little bit more in the direction of a big picture. I was recently running a video department which was
00:33:54
Speaker
exciting because I could take a step back and look at the bigger picture. One thing I really want to keep focusing on right now, I've been taking Unreal Engine classes, which the ability to get education on the internet is just insane. There's a website that I've been using called Udemy. And for every movie I can name, I can name just as many video games. And I don't really consider myself a gamer, per se, as I'm not streaming.
00:34:21
Speaker
storytelling in the interactive space has borrowed from Hollywood for a long time. And I think the democratization of making those stories is happening right now. You have one and two person developers who are creating really compelling projects. And so I'm hoping to kind of like thread the needle of doing a few different mediums. I think also just sort of the amount of time I've spent in it too,
00:34:49
Speaker
try and just look at it like making a new album. I feel like I've been playing kind of the same jam a little bit. I love documentary work. I'm a really curious person. Documentaries for me are an opportunity to see the movie first. I get to sit there, I get asked the questions because I actually am interested. And so when I'm removed from that, I'm kind of like,
00:35:09
Speaker
Where's, where does this go? Where does the rest of this go? So yeah, I think, uh, I just recently relocated to Seattle, which I'm really excited about because there's a big tech scene up there. I mean, we've got some serious tech giants up there. I'm kind of been joking that I think that could very well be an epicenter for robots. First, you know, the I robot might happen up there. I mean, there's, there's a lot of.
00:35:30
Speaker
There's a lot of movement up there, similar to the Bay Area. And so, yeah, I'm hoping to really graft the inspiration of that community and culture into my work moving forward, which is exciting, I think.
00:35:46
Speaker
I think potentially the AI, open AI, if there's this new Sora model in two years, it's like, what video game you want to make? I could definitely foresee myself gravitating towards that. I really enjoy the interactive elements.
00:36:06
Speaker
long, long version slash short version. I don't know. Yeah. Seattle is, I think one thing in doing the podcast is really fun is, you know, over time kind of having connections with, let's say like, you know, pieces of the creative up there in Seattle has been such a huge draw for the show. And
00:36:27
Speaker
as the the art that's there and the music and some bands up that way so that's really fun too and also on the show like being and being able to talk to you about film like the the show is about a lot of different things but
00:36:44
Speaker
just love journeying through film, whether it's like documentary and storytelling, horror movies or like, you know, found footage horror movies and new directors. In a few episodes back, we had MJ Bassett of the New Red Sonja movie. And just like for me being a film lover and bopping around, it's
00:37:07
Speaker
I'm always fascinated to talk with people, people who make film, because there's something that's so immediate now, and you think about tech and our culture of, you know, whether it's TikTok or longer form, seeing how people see through film is really fascinating.
Existential Questions in Creativity
00:37:29
Speaker
And Seattle as a place sounds like such a great place to connect to.
00:37:35
Speaker
with the, what you're doing. I heard there's a lot of tech up that way. Uh, a lot of, uh, a lot of great are in, in creativity. Uh, but despite all that and putting that to the side, why is there something rather than nothing? Hmm. Something rather than nothing. Uh, that could be one of the first questions I ask.
00:38:03
Speaker
an artificially generally intelligent system.
00:38:09
Speaker
I think, from what I can tell, that's my current reality. My senses are telling me that there's something. I do believe that I've been fortunate to have an origin story that's allowed me to be critical of the something, which is exciting. I'm thankful that
00:38:34
Speaker
some low part of my brain has allowed me to be extra critical of the something. Experiences with mentors in just my general environment has certainly produced a being that sits here that's like, yeah, there's something. There's something going on. We're a small dot in a big, big, big, big pond and
00:38:59
Speaker
It's that something and it's in itself, you know, so yeah, certainly on the quest, certainly on the voyage to try to understand a very small shred of the something. Yeah. Let me ask you another video question. When you see, uh, when you see the film, it could be.
00:39:19
Speaker
Let's say it's documentary, it's a documentary film. What's one quality when you see that and you're like, wow, this is really good and kind of draws you. What's one quality that you generally see when somebody does that in that storytelling? Yeah. I mean, subject matter for me has always been a foundation, you know, when I was little, you know, the classic Star Wars, 2001 Space Odyssey.
00:39:44
Speaker
I've always kind of gravitated towards science, technology, that's just kind of my genres. And when it comes to documentary filmmaking, I think authenticity is usually where I am a magnet to.
00:40:03
Speaker
I have worked unscripted reality television when I was younger. They played on Real World Portland, which was fun. There's a lot of different directions nonfiction can go. It was the Grey Gardens experience.
00:40:22
Speaker
the things that feel like they can move you in a positive direction. I've been really fortunate to be a part of a lot of successful conservation projects. I think as a filmmaker, it's almost like a civic duty to sort of contribute back
00:40:38
Speaker
to the community via documentary, even if you're not a documentary filmmaker, I think filmmakers can have the potential to make a documentary. Even it's a one minute video about you helping, you know, landlady out with garbage, you know, whatever it is, I've always felt, and I got really lucky to have a mentor who really established that it is this sort of part of the craft that allows you to help if you want. It can take, it can be taken in a lot of different directions, obviously, and
00:41:07
Speaker
But that's what I've always liked about documentary filmmaking is that I personally get to learn and then also hopefully inspire others or make a little bit of a difference. It's nice to feel like you can have impact. I like things that have a little bit of emotion, a little bit of substance to them. It's kind of broad to say that.
00:41:26
Speaker
There's a lot of stuff out there now. There's a lot of noise. And I think one thing I've always tried to really retain is every film is better than the film that you never made. And I've tried really hard to not be a critic. I think there's a place for criticism. I think it's important to
00:41:48
Speaker
sort of critique. Um, but that is one thing I've tried really hard to do is that there, you know, there could be any sort of film out there that I watch. One thing I tried really hard not to do is like, Oh, it's bad. Yeah, it's terrible. Like it don't don't used to do that a lot more before interviewing a lot of people. I mean, I used to be a
00:42:06
Speaker
I mean, don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. Well, in knowing that, you know, especially now, being part of bigger projects, knowing that there's a lot of politics involved, there's a lot of ego involved, I try really hard to remind myself, like, I wasn't there. I've had to work through a lot of projects where decisions are being made by a lot of different people. And, but
00:42:30
Speaker
So no matter what it is, I try to remind myself at the end of the day, like, hey, they did it and good for them. And whether it's a giant corporate machine or not, you know, there is an individual in there somewhere who's trying to be a part of something and to remember that inherently, I think people want to make good stuff that makes them feel good. So it's not an excuse for question really just
00:42:58
Speaker
I don't want to say terrible films, but I don't know. Like I said, the worst movie ever made is still better than the film that doesn't get made.
Behind the Scenes of Unscripted TV
00:43:07
Speaker
I've subscribed to that. And I would say I was equally excited about your, you know, kind of like maybe life shifting work with documentaries, but I also love me some reality TV and some bad girls clubs.
00:43:23
Speaker
Like my brain goes in different type of ways and I appreciate whatever you're documenting. If there's anybody that deserves a shout out in production, it is people that edit unscripted reality. They get a shout out for sure. Unscripted is...
00:43:41
Speaker
wild. I mean, it is, you know, one thing I was really fortunate about my career is that some of it I have looked back on and felt like, wow, that was like rock star lifestyle. I mean, like, legitimate, like partying and the drugs and just like all of it where you're like, holy shit, like, that was, that was a hell of a time and I got out, you know, I survived. And, but Unscripted is the foundation, I think, for a lot of that for sure. Because it's, it's crazy. I mean, it really is
00:44:11
Speaker
crazy work sometimes. And I did one, one of the first ones I ever did was, you know, we were saving cats. It was like, we're like Discovery Channel. And we go around and you're like, you know, we're waiting for the call to save cats and trees. Well, that never happened. So we were going and getting cats, putting them in trees, filming the whole thing. I mean, this is on television, you know, and so there's a lot, there's a lot of that.
00:44:33
Speaker
um hopefully the create the scene hopefully the artist needs to create hopefully hopefully the catch up people don't come after me for that one but i need something to fill but yeah it's so in the people that you meet um it it it's to no surprise that people work in the industry are often like there should be a show about us um it's because it is certainly worthy
00:44:55
Speaker
Certainly. When you're watching the unscripted stuff, just know that behind the camera, it's even more fucking. Oh, wow. Okay. And I watched some great shows myself. I'm also a sucker for catfish, which is probably using. Yeah. I was recently introduced to the one on HBO where people are just nude and
00:45:15
Speaker
They just show up and they slowly raise a plank from toe to head and then reveal a body. Have you seen this? Yeah, I have. I'm pretty I need to get introduced. So I'm pretty off the grid right now when it comes to unscripted. But I believe it's who knows what you'll walk back into. I mean, I was I was surprised to just see flaccid genitals on an episode on a reality TV show. But that's where we're at now. So it's I'm pretty sure it's on Max. So if you're looking to get fired up one night,
00:45:43
Speaker
Not necessarily that's related to that, but where do folks find you in your art on the internet? I don't know if it's related to that. Yeah. I got a link tree to my OnlyFans. Uh, no. So I, I've branded myself, you know, I'm a big Star Wars fan. I've used the handle Page Skywalker for a long time and it's kind of just stuck. Let's pause the show just for that. A little, a little respect for the Star Wars. Thank you. That's excellent. I was raised on the original trilogy. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother, grew up with my grandma for a while and, um,
00:46:12
Speaker
Those were only three movies she owned. Hell yeah. I assumed everybody- Good grounding. It's good to hear. It's a good foundation and it's grown into this very socially acceptable thing, which is also funny about the outcasted nerd. There's a lot of things that are
00:46:32
Speaker
billion dollar socially acceptable things that I certainly got my ass kicked for. So it's been interesting to see that that growth.
Philosophical Implications of AI in Creativity
00:46:40
Speaker
But yeah, my name is page.com. I got some of my stuff on there. And, you know, it's interesting. I've done so much of it now that I forget, you know, there's Red Bull TV episodes. And, you know, at some point, you just keep turning and turning and turning and look back and you're like, Oh, yeah,
00:46:56
Speaker
I don't even know. I don't make sure you pull them together. I mean, a lot of accomplishments. And, you know, thanks for spending time on the show. I mean, talk about some some areas. You know, it's like part of it is, you know, talking about this, Peter talking about this and Jenny are just talking like intellectually about these issues. And we just turned the microphone on. It's like some real some just some real stuff happening now with the A.I. and the
00:47:26
Speaker
I think the fundamental thing that's so fun on the question, you know, there's dangers and there's possibilities that certainly that's the case. But just the fundamental philosophical question about who's doing the thinking, you know, like, is there a human in there? Is there something that's worthy of moral status that's thinking and creating that thing and talking about the status of robots? Right. And, you know,
00:47:54
Speaker
Um, it's like happening as we're recording. So I'm very excited. I've always, always, always wanted a robot friend. Um, I was fortunate to work with a company Sisu out of Texas. They do robotics and the last job I was sort of driving a robot and I'm, I'm the first one to admit that I'm, I'm looking for a robot buddy. Um, and I think.
00:48:17
Speaker
It's important to balance out the doom and gloom and sort of be optimistic, be aware. I'm certainly reminding everybody, anybody I talk to, hey, by the way, keep tabs on this. You don't want to get struck by a bus because you're not looking. And so, yeah, it's exciting. Exciting times. Appreciate you having me.
Closing Remarks and Listener Engagement
00:48:38
Speaker
This has been fun. Yeah.
00:48:40
Speaker
Something Rather Than Nothing podcast signing off from Warbling Creek Studios in the beautiful and slightly sunny Eugene, Oregon. Have a great day everybody. This is something rather than nothing.
00:49:10
Speaker
And listeners, to stay connected with us and our guests, visit something rather than nothing.com. Join our mailing list for exclusive updates and access to guest created art. If you enjoyed this episode or any episode, please like, subscribe, leave a review on your podcast platform. People really read that shit.
00:49:31
Speaker
Your support helps us reach more listeners and spread our community across the planet. This is a global show and we like to give a shout out to our many listeners across the world, including many listeners in Canada, Spain, Germany, UK, Argentina, Brazil, India, Thailand, and so many more places. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at something rather than nothing podcasts for behind the scenes content.
00:49:58
Speaker
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