Off The Lot: One Filmmaker's Best Revenge

Jeremy Corray , U.S.A.

Date Posted: 06/11/07

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Just because he's standing next to a cow, doesn't mean he's a farmer. Jeremy Corray is a filmmaker from the American Midwest. He says that while most filmmakers just fly over the red states en route between Los Angeles and New York, there's actually some great filmmaking happening down there in the cornfields of Southern Illinois. But Jeremy's lucky because he has a toe both in Hollywood and Middle America. He was one of 50 out of 12,000 independent filmmakers handpicked to be on Steven Spielberg's reality TV show, On The Lot. He had a chance to take a risk and make his pitch, getting some face time in front of the show's panel of judges, which included Carrie Fisher and Garry Marshall. Unfortunately, he was one of the early cuts, but Jeremy says nothing will steal his thunder. He's still bringing it, and he's one to "watch"...literally. Here's his story.

The common thread that runs through my favorite directors might be a twisted sense of humor and a certain perspective on childhood. The dreams and imaginations of kids are pretty universal around the world, and without sounding like a blowhard film professor, I think the best filmmakers really keep a root in childhood and can pull from their memories, and nightmares, in many cases. They're able to put it on film or encapsulate these in some way that others can relate to.

Steven Spielberg has a twisted sense of humor. I mean, even in E.T., there were some messed up moments. Being a director is like being a puppet master; we all have a bit of circus ringleader in us. We like to put on a freak show and watch people cringe. We play on people's range of emotions, tweak 'em and shock 'em. It's kind of sick in a way, isn't it?

I wasn't raised on Dumbo and Bambi. I remember the VHS tapes, or maybe it was even Beta, and my mom letting me rent Commando. My comfort movies tended to be some of the harder edge 80s movies like Red Dawn. The Beastmasters and Robocops left quite an impression on me. These are the movies we'd sneak into, so for better or worse, I'm a product of them.

I was a backyard film school member. At around 10 or 11 years old, we began making atrocious little epics, like Space Zombies one through four, which get recorded over when your brother wants to record The Bulls playing basketball. I remember doing it even before we had a camera. We'd put on plays or write a little story and get up in front of class to tell it.