By Anna Julia Vissioli Rodrigues
Writer/Director Jerod Wood shares his experience creating his narrative short film, Is God the Same Here, and showcasing it at the 2023 Charlotte Film Festival. The film follows Mateo’s thoughts as he travels through a strange new world, having recently immigrated to the United States from Latin America. His sister, Lupita, tries to shield him from the harsh realities of their situation when she runs out of money for food. As things get worse, Mateo’s innocent outlook on life is threatened.
Anna Julia: Tell me a bit about yourself. How did you become involved in filmmaking and directing?
Jerod Wood: I started making videos when I was 14 with my brother, sister, and friends. I did that for a few years before I really started taking it seriously in high school. In college, I found paid work and started my own business. I’ve been running my freelance business since 2016. With the company, I have done a bit of everything, but right now, it’s probably two-thirds commercial work. This allows me to devote a good chunk of my time to narrative filmmaking. Last year, I directed my debut feature film, and am currently editing it. The end goal for me has always been to make feature films so this was a huge moment for me. Is God the Same Here was the last big short film I made before starting to work on the feature film. After having made that and a handful of other short films, I felt it was time to focus on making my feature.
AJ: Last year, you showcased your narrative short film Is God the Same Here at the 2023 Charlotte Film Festival. What was the process of directing and creating this film? How did you get involved with this particular project? Was there something about the story that particularly drew you in?
JW: The main reason I wanted to make a film on immigration is because I grew up in Mexico. I lived in a pretty rural and poor area, and a lot of my friends or their parents were immigrants; so growing up I noticed the different struggles that came with that. I feel like the conversations around immigration in the US are simplified and we ignore the human story of it; it’s become a political hot topic issue.
With this film, I wanted to talk more about the lives of two children in terms of what they are going through, their struggles, and the reason why they might have to immigrate. To prepare for the film, I started doing a lot of research, talking with immigrants about their experiences, and reading different accounts from immigrants. One book that really influenced the film was Enrique’s Journey, which is by a reporter that followed the journeys of migrant children, such as riding trains up through Central America and Mexico to get to the US. Just reading more about these personal stories and what these people go through influenced my writing of the film.
I wrote the script in 2021 and shot the film in the fall of that same year. We filmed it all over this area. We shot some scenes in Uptown Charlotte, Rock Hill, Waxhaw, Monroe, etc. because I wanted to convey the journey of the characters coming across multiple parts of America. I was trying to show how they were going in and out of cities and rural areas and the culture shock that a kid might have. That was one of the main goals.
We shot it in six days, which is pretty long for a short film, and we filmed in 24 locations overall. It was a lot. Some days, we were filming in five different locations. There was a lot of driving around to different spots to get just one shot before moving on. Editing took me a while, which it normally does, because as I said, I was working other jobs while making Is God the Same Here. We finished in late 2022, so we were ready to submit the film to the 2023 Charlotte Film Festival.
AJ: Your film focuses on a boy who recently immigrated to the United States from Latin America and the struggles of this boy and his sister in this new world as immigrants. Why do you think it’s important to tell stories from the perspective of immigrants, especially from their experience of immigrating to somewhere new and their struggles with this change?
JW: I think there is a lot of nuance to every immigrant’s story. I’m not the first to tell a nuanced immigrant story, but I think there are a lot of different stories out there. We need to tell more of them because I think that each story brings more humanity to the situation. Hopefully, having more stories helps make the topic not as politicized and more of a human topic.
In this film (Is God the Same Here), I focused a bit on the crime issue because I grew up in a Narco-heavy state in Mexico. I saw it all, on the news, and growing up in a state that was Narco-heavy and high in crime really impacted me. I wanted to put this experience in the story because I still have images and memories of seeing people who had been killed and mutilated when I was growing up in Mexico. Since that influenced even me as a kid, who was even more distanced from the issue than others were, I wanted to put that in the story and show how it can influence a child to see and grow up with that. I also placed this in the story because this issue isn’t always talked about, and how there really are people who are seeking asylum and are running for their lives.
AJ: What was your experience attending the 2023 Charlotte Film Festival like? Did participating in this festival have any impact on your film Is God the Same Here or any other projects?
JW: This was probably my favorite festival I have ever attended. I met a really solid community there. There were a lot of Charlotte filmmakers, including ones whose work I had admired for a long time and followed on social media for a while, but we had never met before the festival. It was really cool to bring everyone together, all these people who really love film.
I loved hanging out with people and talking about their films and the films we had just seen. It was a unique spot in that way since everyone who went was pretty invested in these films whether they had made a film, were showing a film, just wanted to meet other filmmakers, or were just film enthusiasts. I think the best reason to go to a festival is to meet other well-minded filmmakers and hopefully, build a team and work together in the future.
AJ: What was your favorite part of the festival?
JW: Meeting others and making connections at the festival was definitely my favorite part. Another cool thing was being able to see your film in the theater with other people and watch them react. That feeling and experience is a valuable one and it’s one that indie filmmakers don’t experience very often.
AJ: Do you think film festivals like the Charlotte Film Festival are beneficial for filmmakers? Would you recommend other upcoming filmmakers to submit their work to the Charlotte Film Festival?
JW: I think that they are beneficial in multiple ways. The most beneficial one is having a local festival where you can attend. I would definitely recommend people submit their films to the Charlotte Film Festival if they’re able to attend, as I think that it creates a great community.
A more superficial reason I have noticed is that having laurels on your film gets the film more attention online. When I repost a film after we’ve gotten into some festivals and won some awards, the film gets a second life and gets a lot more views. For whatever reason, people love seeing all the laurels.
AJ: What would you say are some of the benefits of showcasing your work at a film festival?
JW: I think, again, the connections that are built from that. Most of my work as a filmmaker and most of the reason that I have been able to make good films is because of my connections, because of a strong team that I can put together for my films. A lot of time I will get work from filmmakers I connected with years ago, and they’ll hire me for projects. Building that community around yourself is super valuable, and the Charlotte Film Festival can help with that.
AJ: Do you have any future projects that you are excited about?
JW: The feature that I am working on is called Like and Subscribe and we filmed it last year, 2023, so I am currently in the editing process of this film. We are hoping to get the film into post audio and color in the next few months. Hopefully, it will be done by the end of this year. The film is a psychological thriller and it was shot around Charlotte. The film is about a failed entrepreneur who does whatever it takes to get his prank channel to one million subscribers online. I am hoping to show this film at the Charlotte Film Festival one day, and have it be the Charlotte premiere.
The 2024 Charlotte Film Festival will be at IPH September 24-29. The final submission deadline is July 21!
Make sure to follow Jerod Wood on his Instagram and check out his film on YouTube!