Four+One Productions

What three guys think is a new series on the Four + One blog. It is a running conversation between three friends, Niel, Yoon and Jake, who live in three different cities and work in three very different professions. Today we will get to know Jake, who lives in McMinnville, Or and is a film and video Director. Read parts 1 and 2 and get to know Niel and Yoon. Enjoy.

Niel: Sorry I’m late. I had to make myself a drink to get through this.
Jake: Spoken like a true writer.

Yoon: What is your favorite kind of cheese? Why?
Jake: Camembert made with raw milk. Or Camembert au lait cru as they say in France, because it’s so good. Perfect blend of creamy with a bit of kick. Saint Andre is pretty good too, and available here in the U.S.

Niel: Which is harder, being a dad or being a husband? I am especially curious in light of the fact that you became both at the same time.
Jake: It depends on the day. I’d say that generally being a dad makes it much tougher to be a husband. But then there are some who would focus solely on the one and ignore the other. It’s trying to do both that is the real heavy lifting. Both take a long time to get any good at. Four years and I’m just figuring out how to figure this stuff out.

Yoon: If you could be one age for the rest of your life, which age would you pick?
Jake: 24. It’s the perfect age to be. You’ve got the experience under your belt, but no big responsibilities yet. You can still have fun and not look like a total slacker. Things I did when I was 24: work on a lot of movies and go to France on student loans.

Niel: Top five jobs (no matter how ridiculous and ignoring your actual ability to perform them) that you wish you had, other than your current profession.
Jake:
1. International diplomat
2. Baseball player
3. GM of a baseball team
4. Political speech writer
5. bike builder/mechanic

Niel: Greatest fear. Greatest hope.
Jake: Greatest fear: That I’ll take the easy way, go without challenging myself for the rest of my life.
Greatest hope: that I can find the perfect blend of work/earning money, minimal possessions, spending time with family and friends outdoors and seeing the world.

Niel: P.S. The correct answer to the second part of the question was Barack got elected.
Jake: Yeah, greatest hope already fulfilled. That’s a weight off.

Yoon: Do you consider yourself really, really, good-looking?
Jake: I don’t see how I couldn’t. But would I go as far as to consider myself ridiculously good looking?

Niel: You magically have $5,000 and nothing to do for 90 days of consequence….. so…. what do you do?
Jake: Walk through France. I just went to a presentation by this couple who walked a trail that has been around for centuries, formerly used by Christian pilgrims, that is now maintained by local volunteer groups. 500 miles in 50 days. It turns out there are trails like this all over Europe. You can just walk.

Yoon: Have you ever spoken a racial slur in your life? If so, which one and to whom?
Niel: Damn.
Jake: If you mean directed at someone as a racial slur, the answer is no. I’m sure in my youth I used racial slurs as expletives or quotes (especially in music), but I’ve never used a racial slur directed at someone to disparage them.
By mistake, that’s possible.

Niel: Alright, we really stuck it to you. Here’s one up your alley: Organic or locally grown?
Jake: it depends on the product. Ideally both, but given the choice in something that really matters I’d go with organic. Otherwise locally grown. Is that hippie enough for you?

Yoon: Name the last movie that made you cry. Or at least get teary-eyed.
Jake: Il y a Longtemps Que Je T’aime, a.k.a. I’ve loved you so long.  Scratch that. Evie [my two-year old daughter] was watching the sandlot last night, and it always gets a little dusty in my house in the last scene when Benny ‘the Jet’ Rodriguez steals home.

Niel: Wes Anderson or David Gordon Green? Follow up: David James Duncan or J.D. Salinger?

Jake: You are giving me the tough ones. Anderson and Salinger, purely on the breadth and depth of their work.

Niel: Favorite time: Food, Movie, Band, songwriter, book, and friend (j/k about that) and Dodger.
Jake: Raclette. All the Real Girls. wilco. Lou Reed. The Brothers K. Shane (you started it). Andre Ethier.

Niel: Lightning round. Yoon, you start.

Yoon: Famous filmmaker or superstar baseball player?
Jake: Filmmaker.

Niel: Italian (food) or Mexican?
Jake: Mexican.

Yoon: Guitar or piano?
Jake: Guitar.

Niel: Hottest actress you could ever hope to cast in a movie.
Jake: Kate Blanchett.

Yoon: McDonalds fries or In ‘n’ Out fries?
Jake: In ‘n Out.

Niel: California or Utah (to live)?
Jake: California

Yoon: Would you ever use a man-purse?
Jake: Yes.

Niel: Most dependable for zinger: Yoon or Niel?
Jake: Niel lives and dies for the zinger.

Yoon: Do you wish you could grow a beard?
Jake: In a very bad way.

Niel: Royal Tenenbaums or Rushmore or other?
Jake: Rushmore.

Yoon: Mountains or beach? Easy one.
Jake: Beach.
Niel: Really?
Yoon: Wow.
Jake: Yeah. No question.
Yoon: But you’re a hiker.
Jake: You can hike on [or around] the beach. You guys underestimate the beach because you’ve lived around it a lot. I’ve lived in the mountains. You get the fresh air, but there’s nothing else to do besides breath.
Niel: Eff the beach and Jeff Goldblum.

Niel: NYC or Portland?
Jake: Considering my current situation. Portland.
Niel: Typical.

Niel: Deserted island, pick one: food, magazine (which is magically new each month), island mate (that isn’t your wife or kids), and game to keep you busy.
Jake: Sushi, I don’t know, Maggie Gyllenhaal, life.
magazine: the New yorker? but that’s a weekly.

Yoon: Superstition you still believe?
Jake: None.

Niel: Google or Yahoo or other?
Jake: Google.

Niel: Is it true you were the MVP of the intramural softball team that Niel played on with you?
Jake: I would say that had to be true, but as the team captain I recruited a bunch of misfits specifically to make myself look better than I really am.
Niel: Dick. What was I? Chump change?
Jake: You were an all-star. But a pitcher in softball can only be so valuable. [completely misses the "but you were the B-squad leader" reference opportunity]

Yoon: I’m out of questions.
Niel: Me too.
Jake: Alright, I guess that does it.

Niel: Chau, playas.
Jake: I think it’s ciao.
Yoon: Spanish, it’s chau.
Jake: Oh. Ok.

Jake: By the way, I’m officially waiting for your first correspondence pieces. Get on it.

Tags: press conference, What three guys think

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