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  • 6 weeks ago
Director Sergio Camacho & Producer Jonathan Adelson talk to Fest about concept, sports parallels and visual style in regards to the pilot of "United Crafts Of America" playing the Pilots section of Dances With Films Los Angeles 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Transcript
00:00From Toronto to Cannes to a lot of the smaller
00:29places, you know, they're focusing on TV, focusing on pilots just because of the level of production.
00:35And obviously that's true with what you guys are doing with this pilot and obviously what
00:40you're going to do going forward. But as I was talking to Jonathan earlier, you know,
00:45the thing is, is that you have to find the right breweries and the right people to do that.
00:50And obviously starting off in New York because of you, Sergio, makes a lot of sense with
00:53Interboro. Can you talk about the sort of that gestation and why to start there from
00:58your point of view? Well, I think the reason I chose New York in particular was when we think
01:04of, I've always had this, this, this perception that anytime people, I meet people from around
01:10the world, you know, and whether they're in New York or I meet them in Germany, they, you
01:16know, people have this perception globally that, that New York is representative of the
01:21United States. They think that if they come to New York, everybody's like, you know, New
01:26York is the same way it is in San Francisco or Northern Montana. And obviously it was an
01:30American, you know, that's not true, but New York is such a representative of the, of the
01:35global aspect of America. We've done symbolism, but what it represents and, you know, it's a
01:40melting pot for that reason, not just internationally, but even domestically. So many people that we
01:44live around in, you know, in Manhattan are from Montana. You know, again, it just, it seems
01:50to kind of represent the big picture. Now, when it comes to craft beer, I knew it might
01:54not be a Mecca, but there is, the more research we did, the, there's a story about New York
01:59and its beer because, you know, United States started in the Northeast. It was Boston, it
02:04was New York and this. So, um, aside from also, but I just felt like it had a great, you
02:09know, the stories that we're finding about entrepreneurialism, that's New York as well.
02:13And so, um, when we, you know, and it just, it just worked for us and we knew we would
02:18slingshot out of New York into San Diego and Portland because that's, these beers are, these
02:23cities are Meccas for beer, but we wanted to start with, that's why it's United Crafts
02:27of America because it's a story about America and we're going to get around to everybody.
02:31Can't wait till we make our way around the map. And, um, but New York itself was something
02:35we felt was indicative of the big, of the larger story of the United States and representative
02:40in so many places, but like, you know, um, I think just when we meet again, even our
02:45brewers from Fort Collins, Colorado, but, uh, and, and again, passion and entrepreneurialism,
02:50uh, seem to be found there. And, and that's where all of this begins.
02:54I had like a one-year-old son and no job, couldn't get unemployment, didn't know what the hell
03:00to do. My brother-in-law started to get really into beer and he was home brewing. I was like,
03:05I want to be a brewer.
03:05From a very early age, we are instilled with this idea of the American dream. We hear all
03:14of these stories of we're going to rise above whatever our circumstances are and try to achieve
03:20greatness. Craft beer has done that. The modern craft movement is absolute chaos.
03:27When it comes to Interboro, we met with, you know, practically every single brewery in the greater
03:34New York, Brooklyn area. Um, and when we met with Jesse and Laura Interboro, we walked out and within
03:42five seconds, Sergio turned to me and he's like, that's, that's the one. And it's just cause they
03:47had such a heart and sincerity and like, there might be other brewers that are more, uh, talked
03:55about or critically acclaimed, but, uh, we fell in love with the people and their backstory and their
04:01connection to the city. Um, so that's why of all the, the breweries to select, we ended up working
04:06with Interboro cause they, uh, we were really able to tell a story with a lot of, uh, heart and passion.
04:14Um, and they were very open and upfront about the good and the bad or in the difficult of the industry.
04:21Now, I was going to say that we, we felt that, um, in addition to that, um, we, we knew again,
04:33Jonathan and I are seasoned professionals been doing this a long time. It's easy to say this can
04:37is great. And what's in there, they can't drink it through the screen. We needed people that we knew
04:40what the audience would connect with. And when we saw them, we met them. We just, we know characters.
04:44We know this is what we do. And we know when we found it, that everything came together,
04:48not just that it was great beer. It was that we had great people that the, on the audience,
04:51I think we'll very much connect with them in this, in this pilot.
04:54There is a bunch of pioneers who got together to say, we can be better than the generation before
05:00us. And the generation before that you see all of their passions on display, you see their
05:05frustrations too. It is 10,000 breweries all vying for the same small piece of the craft beer market.
05:18Beer is magic elixir that is responsible for human civilization.
05:25There's a certain push that I have to do the things that people tell me not to do.
05:32We tried to bring craft beer and music and art together.
05:37But the thing that you do that not a lot of other people do, because you have the background of both
05:41of you, it seems in sports too, is the aspect that it feels more, it feels very cinematic. A lot of
05:49documentaries don't feel like that. They don't use those macro closeups as much, you know, but you
05:54guys balance that because you understand the commerce of it, as well as the storytelling aspect.
06:00Because that's what all the big brands are trying to do. They're trying to make intimate stories that
06:04look beautiful and high concept. Can you talk about that balance? Because that requires
06:09doing those kinds of shots. I know how long they take. But can you talk about that balance?
06:15Yeah. I mean, to me, that was the fun and easy part, because I think it's just, that's my nature.
06:22I'm a Kubrick guy. That was the part when once we found what we wanted, I knew, you know, doing,
06:26but that to me comes from the pre-visualization and the look development, and which takes months.
06:32You know, I mean, if anything, I'd been probably working on it mentally for a much longer time.
06:36But when we got serious about, oh, you know, and I'm preparing everything with my creative
06:39director, we're going through pallets, we're going through look books, and I'm doing research
06:43on, you know, everything from what film stock I want to feel in New York. And again,
06:48there's a projection. It's not just one episode. There's a series again that, you know, and so
06:51it was look books. It's look development. Everything, everything was very intentional,
06:54but I knew I wanted that to the audience to feel close to it, but also just compelled by it. And the way
07:01to do that is, you know, and again, I went through this lens look that, you know, again, and to me,
07:05the, so, and that, that to me is just breathing again. I think it's just my background, you know,
07:09we do that all the time. And so I wanted, but I wanted, you know, I knew I wanted the audience to
07:13walk away feeling hungry and thirsty, but also just like, I've never seen it like that before,
07:18not in a show. And again, to me, you know, the cinema, the cinematic aspect is just, that's why I
07:23love movies. And I, you know, we're seeing that, that we, you know, filmmakers making TV shows as well.
07:28And that just seemed like a natural bridge for us to cross in every episode. We'll have that
07:33treatment and intention to, to tell that kind of story, but also, you know, the impact, we want
07:40that impact because I think the stories deserve it. Tim, you're the first person I've heard to make
07:44the sports comparison and it's, it's very apt. It's a very competitive industry. Obviously there's
07:53not an athleticism to it, but I can see the sports parallels. And it's a, it's a commitment to craft
08:00and improving that craft and really studying it. And Jesse, who's the main brewer at, at Interboro,
08:11I very much see him as a, the same mentality as, as a, an athlete in terms of how he approaches
08:20his job. And, uh, he has that, that fire, that competitiveness for sure.
08:26Success really demands everything.
08:30Every time I have one of Jesse's beers, I'm happy.
08:34Owning Interboro, the highs and lows are unbelievable.
08:40I just always wanted to put a stake in the ground for New York.
08:42Beer has woven this tapestry of what's happening in San Diego is happening in Milwaukee,
08:48is happening in Miami, is happening in Nashville. It's exciting.
09:02Craft beer is a story of America.
09:18We're leaving.
09:37We're going for it.
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