The relentlessly prolific Jason Carman is making the films our culture needs: optimistic, inspiring and positioned at the frontiers of modern tech and science. In under two years, he has shipped more than 70 high-quality mini-documentaries exploring the startups shaping the future, racking up over 130,000 YouTube subscribers along the way.

His new venture, Story Company, premiered “New Space”, its 100+ minute-long exploration of the modern space industry, to a packed San Francisco theater this year. Story Company has multiple projects in the pipeline, including a full-length sci-fi feature. Ultimately, he intends to create a new generation of sci-fi films: a Star Wars for the 21st century.

I love Jason’s ambition, drive and enthusiasm (not to mention his filmmaking chops), which is why we awarded him a $100k O’Shaughnessy Fellowship last year.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. For the full transcript, episode takeaways, and bucketloads of other goodies designed to make you go, “Hmm, that’s interesting!”, check out our Substack - https://8ca54796.streaklinks.com/CJPd0z7cXCh07hc4JAiMaKTC/https%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter.osv.llc%2F.

Important Links:

- Jason on X - https://x.com/jasonjoyride
- Story Company on X - https://x.com/storyandscience
- Story Company on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@s3build
- Story Company’s Website - https://www.story.inc
- “New Space” Frontier Film - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOlpKN7ZOTo&t=2223s
- Jason’s Fellowship - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/osv-funds-prizewinning-filmmaker-for-multiple-upcoming-projects-302172403.html

Show Notes:

0:00:00 Intro
0:00:50 Main podcast
0:02:47 How Jason fell in love with filmmaking
0:10:11 Laziness as an edge
0:11:47 How to build a good team
0:25:06 How to fix Hollywood
0:41:54 Frontier Films: a new category of movie
0:49:30 From sci-fi to sci-fact
0:57:49 Finding the right infinite loops
1:03:32 The roots of the idea of America
1:14:21 A Complete Unknown: Jason’s slideshow & Bob Dylan’s anti-authoritarianism
1:24:53 Getting woo on Tenet’s Sator square
1:32:05 How do you know when a movie is finished?
1:36:07 The fragility of the artist
1:40:45 We are all co-creators
1:44:02 Jason as World Emperor

Books Mentioned:

- I Am a Strange Loop; by Douglas Hofstadter
- The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
- One Summer: America 1927; by Bill Bryson
- The Hypomanic Edge: What Built America; by John D. Gartner
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; by Douglas Adams

Movies Mentioned:

- New Space - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOlpKN7ZOTo&t=1s (directed by Jason Carman)
- Flow (directed by Gints Zilbalodis)
- My Dinner With Andre (directed by Louis Malle)
- Star Wars (directed by George Lucas)
- A Complete Unknown (directed by James Mangold)
- Tenet (directed by Christopher Nolan)
- Dune: Part Two (directed by Denis Villeneuve)