Life & Work with Eli Green of Towson, MD

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eli Green

Hi Eli, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Since I was a child, I have always been interested in film-making. I spent countless hours creating as many little goofy videos as I could whenever an idea would present itself. Once I was in high school, my desire to create film was fully realized. I began by making mostly short-form sketches designed to have a setup and punchline without much else for the internet. That got some attention from my peers and eventually resulted in me and a few others banding together to make projects as a group. We mostly worked together on class projects, with a few original videos here and there. Fast-forward to the summer after graduation when I started working at a local restaurant, where my drive for making videos slowly withered away.

After that summer, I had started taking classes at the local community college. Progress was slow, mostly gen-ed classes and such. I believe it was my second semester when I discovered that this college had a film/video production course. I signed up as soon as I could and it was a breathe of fresh air. My drive had finally returned, I was studying the very thing I loved to do. Everything was going great, but due to a number of circumstances, I was unable to take the following courses that would lead me down the film/video path. There was only professor who taught this track, so if you missed the train, so to speak, you had to wait for him to start the program again the next year. I was a bit down, but not wholly defeated in my passions. That was about the time that COVID hit. I had to stop going to class, which effectively put my college education on hold. I quit my job and spent a lot of time going forward doing very little. I had all the time in the world and no drive, no ideas, just quiet days and figuring out how I would proceed with my education. Eventually, I started taking online classes. I was very ready to move on to a four-year school to pursue a career in film, especially since I had already spent the last 5 chasing a 2-year degree. After a couple more semesters, I finally graduated with an associate’s of English,

I really had no preconceived preferences on where I wanted to get my Bachelor’s, just that there was a good film program. I decided to go for Towson, my dad had graduation from there and they did in fact have a good film program. Initially, it was tough to get into the groove of true college living. Up until this point, I hadn’t had to deal with roommates and budgeting all that much. My first year came and went pretty quickly, I hadn’t made too many friends, but ultimately I was having a blast working a projects and spending time learning, something I thought I’d never say about a college class. My second and final year was where I really came into my own I feel which I can trace back to a specific moment that started that change, May 17th after the fall screenings for the film program at Towson. As I have mentioned, I hadn’t had too much luck establishing strong friendships my first year there. After attending the screenings, I received a text from one of the few friends I had made, Carly. They had invited me to come celebrate with some of the other film students in town, something I would historically turn down. I decided to go, which is very uncharacteristic of me, and I have no regrets at all. After that, I felt more confident in my major and as a person. I really came out of my shell over that summer. Once year 2 began, I was off to the races.

That brings us to the topic of this whole discussion, Gam-Gam’s Yam Jam, my debut short film.

GGYJ started as a minor writing exercise during one of my first writing classes at Towson the previous year. It was only about a few pages long and very unpolished. After doing some peer reviews with each other, it was received very well, people liked it. I was quite surprised, so I kept the concept in my back pocket for the future. Jump ahead to my final semester, I’m enrolled in what is effectively the height of the film program courses, Film 3. This was a class where you spend the semester producing a short film from the ground up in preparation for the end of semester screenings. We were instructed to have an idea ready to pitch DAY 1 of the class, so have something ready before then. I spent the entire month prior trying to come up with something, but then I remembered that I had GGYJ, which I had joked in the past that I would pitch when I finally got to this point. I decided to go with it. Day 1 had arrived and nerves were high. One by one, nearly the whole class stepped up to present something. These were really preliminary pitches with an official pitch to be prepared for the next class. 18 in total were pitched if I recall correctly, 15 pitched officially the following week including mine. There were so many good ideas, but there were only room for 8 films to be made. The Pressure was on. After all the pitches were through, voting began. It was decided by both student input and professor. After a nerve-wracking 10 minutes had passed, the results were in. Much to my surprise, I got pickled to make Gam-Gam’s Yam Jam.

This was when the joke became reality.

I should briefly describe the plot:

A man named Marvin Blank is tasked by his Gam-Gam to pick up an order of Sweet Potato Pies for her annual Yam Jam festival. After Marvin brakes down, he hitches a ride with a guy named Hurley and unknowingly becomes the getaway driver for a bank robbery.

I found out later that a major factor in why I was picked was simply the scale and complexity of what would need to happen to make this film a reality. We would need equipment and coordinate stunts that no other project was doing. I wasn’t sure we’d actually be able to make this thing, but I was blessed with the A-team of film crew. It was truly like the stars aligned. For every role needed, we landed the top pick. Not only that, There was something electric about it, everyone was invested in this project. It wasn’t just some school assignment, it was real, it was film. In the days leading up to production, me and my core team: Kyle, Ethan and Carlos, made sure that we had everything we could need ready to go. We spent hours scouting out locations and holding auditions, we didn’t even finish most of our props until a couple days before shooting. Everything was working out as good as it possibly could for a project of this size at the level we were at. Day one of production came, a little farm in northern Maryland. It was unreal. Everyone was so professional and passionate about making this thing, I could hardly believe it. To think, this started as a goofy little writing assignment and now we’re running two RED Komodo 6Ks bringing it to life. Of all production days, this one did end up having the most issues. We got rained on for one, which put us in crunch time and we had issues with our walkies, so we didn’t know if the scene we just shot in the car ahead of us was any good while we were following behind and had to go with a single take and hope for the best (Which it was). That really set the bar for what we need to be prepared for going forward and the next 3 days went by nearly without a problem to be seen. We had finished shooting, but we still had so much to do.

We shot the film during the final days of April and the final cut of the film was needed by May 15th. this meant we had just over 2 weeks to put it together. Me and Carlos spent nearly every day cutting concurrently with Ethan as he worked with his color team on the final look for the film. We were one of the last teams to finish editing, I was getting a little worried at the end that we weren’t going to make it. Although from what I could tell, our film was amongst the most anticipated of the year. Word had got around about the project and people had actually recognized me as the “Yam Jam Guy” around campus. The premiere was upon us. That evening, I was on another planet. People loved it, I was so worried that the dream of making film had died in me somewhere along the way but the response we got that evening was all the proof I need that It’s still in there and it wants out. I was playing social ping-pong for the remainder of the evening, it was unreal. I felt like a celebrity. I mentioned earlier that I usually shied away from big social situations like this, but I felt like I was in my element then.

So then starts the next chapter, what’s next? We plan to enter GGYJ into some festivals around the state soon, but one thing is for sure: We’re not finished making movies.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was all over the place.

We had some tech issues on set here and there, a few schedule hiccups, but ultimately it couldn’t have gone better. The dedication and skill of the cast and crew made things easily fixable if and when something happened.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I think I’m most known for my absurdity of concept. Most everything I’ve made has some hint of unreality, whether it be one of my short-form sketches or a large scale project like Gam-Gam’s Yam Jam. I just like to create things that I enjoy and find funny and entertaining. I think what sets me apart from other in regards to this project, and it feels odd even referring to it, would be humility. I strive for humility in life and in my profession. I noticed it one day when we were on set and we broke for lunch. I was urged to be first in line since I was the director of the project, I had to refuse. I don’t feel that just because I’m directing the thing, that I’m the most important person on set. I just wrote it, the cast and crew are the ones who are working to make it real.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
When I was very young, I was super energetic but got more shy as I grew up. I spent a lot of time playing with Lego’s and making stop motion videos. I grew up on a farm in rural southern Maryland, so it was pretty quite most of the time.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gamgamsyamjam/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GamGamsYamJam
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/secretlypancakes/