Behind the Beard Media: Story-Driven Video Marketing & Client Collaboration

Ever wondered how a simple cold call could change your career? In this episode, we sit down with CA Green, founder of Behind the Beard Media, to talk about his path in the video production world. CA shares how he built relationships in the industry, his creative approach to storytelling, and the wild projects that shaped his career—including a viral coaching video and an undercover rabbi mission. We also dive into the highs and lows of working in film, the balance between writing and producing, and how an unexpected spiritual journey shifted his perspective. Tune in for an inside look at filmmaking, client collaboration, and navigating the creative hustle.

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Welcome to the Shoemaker Films Podcast.

This podcast explores stories of local businesses, entrepreneurs, and creatives, while also offering tactical tips and valuable knowledge on video marketing, social media, and navigating the digital landscape.

At Shoemaker Films, we focus on crafting professional video content that can help your businesses thrive online. Whether you're looking to launch a new product, tell your brand story, or engage with your audience on social media, we're here to help!

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Creators and Guests

Host

Dane Shoemaker

Founder and Owner of Shoemaker Films, Dane Shoemaker is an entrepreneur and filmmaker who interviews business owners, creatives, and brand-builders across the Greater Philadelphia region and beyond.

What is FounderGPS?

FounderGPS is the official podcast of Shoemaker Films. Join host Dane Shoemaker in 1-on-1 conversations with entrepreneurs, founders, and creators across the globe. Join the adventure with guests as they share their experience building in public and explore the platforms and culture across the digital marketing and business landscape. Watch and listen to inspiring stories while gaining some practical business advice. Visit www.shoemakerfilms.com for more details on our company, and stay up to date by following us on Instagram @shoemakerfilms

Intro: 00:09

This is the Shoemaker Films podcast.

Dane Shoemaker: 00:13

Well, welcome to Shoemaker Films Podcast. Dean Shoemaker. I'm here with CA Green of Behind the Beard Media. CA, how are you doing today? Yeah.

CA Green: 00:20

Good. Thank God. Thank you for having me.

Dane Shoemaker: 00:22

Yeah. Of course. I actually have a funny story. I mean, you not so funny, but you you cold called me one day, if you remember that.

CA Green: 00:29

Of course. Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 00:30

Yeah. And, I

CA Green: 00:31

Picked up. So I appreciate it.

Dane Shoemaker: 00:32

And I thought that was just such a, such a hustler move. Just picking up the phone. It's like having an old school thing these days, but just picking up the phone, calling, and reaching out and trying to build relationships with, local production companies. So, kudos to you. And now we're, now we're here

CA Green: 00:49

and Right. Chatting.

Dane Shoemaker: 00:50

So Yeah. I can't take

CA Green: 00:51

credit for that idea either. I was I was working with a coach and, before we moved to Philadelphia, I was in New Jersey, and he said, like, listen. Just you gotta make 20 calls a day. No matter what happens, if they pick up, they don't pick up, just go through a list of people and just give them a call and say, this is who you are. You're moving to town.

CA Green: 01:07

You wanna meet up. And I think it was the easiest thing because you're not I wasn't selling you anything. Yeah. Which I'm still not selling you anything. Right?

CA Green: 01:14

It's just like you said, we're here now. It's a relationship. We've known each other, you know, since I've moved here Yeah. The last six months, but it's, it's not an it's not an aggressive move to be like, hey. You wanna meet up for a cup of coffee?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:26

No. Not at all. Yeah. So it's how business gets done. Right?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:29

Right. So and I appreciate it. So, Me too. Yeah. Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:34

So tell us about, behind the beard media.

CA Green: 01:37

Sure. Yeah. So Behind the Beard Media is a, you know, small production company. It's just me and then I hire freelancers on a need basis and really focus on story driven, marketing videos that what I've noticed really, like, resonate with, you know, people's audience and usually leads to some sort of action. Let's say it's either them, like, buying or selling or signing up for the service, and just affecting people in a emotional way.

CA Green: 02:02

Usually make either more serious kinda drama stuff or Okay. Funny kinda comedy things as well. So it's a little bit of both of those, but I've seen that, like, depending on the client, you gotta just go with one that makes more sense. Could be a good time to use talk about an example, actually. So Yeah.

CA Green: 02:21

Last year, one of my, like, favorite videos that I actually made was for a business and life coach, and he, grew up as, like, a really troubled drug dealer, like, had $200, like, buried in his backyard, you know, like, bodyguards, the whole whole thing. Kinda went down that route and then, you know, found God and became religious and, business coach as he got older. And I just thought, like, this story is inherently dramatic. Like, I don't I barely had to write anything. So we kinda took his story of, like, this drug dealer on the streets, hired actors, like, a younger version of him, and then, you know, juxtapose that with if he could build his own empire, he could help build your business And kinda went that route of telling his story, and, he five x'd his his investment with me.

CA Green: 03:06

So, you know Nice. He posted the video, and then he got a coaching client that, you know, signed up for six months of his services. So I I found that, like, you know, having a story that people can know you better is a is a really great way to overcome, like, the trust issue that I feel like a lot of service businesses have, especially higher ticket items. Yep. Kind of like ourselves.

CA Green: 03:24

Right? Like, with video production. So Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 03:26

Absolutely. Yeah. Watch another video on your website too. It was the it was a behind undercover rabbi. This one

CA Green: 03:31

This is my gosh. Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 03:33

That was a cold.

CA Green: 03:34

Yeah. So that was for an organization called the Jewish Learning Institute, JLI. And they've got a huge audience already. So there's no you don't have to worry about, like, how we're gonna reach their target audience or, like, who are they? Like, they run with a lot of, Jewish nonprofits called Chabad Houses, and they have these courses that everyone basically just buys.

CA Green: 03:53

Like, they're kinda the only resource to, you know, have a a really in-depth teaching experience for the people that go to these, Jewish outreach places, the Chabad houses. And so they came to me because they wanted something different. Usually, they just have very information heavy, promos for their courses.

Dane Shoemaker: 04:09

Yeah.

CA Green: 04:09

And so they knew that I had done things a little bit differently. And so they said, like, we got this, course. It's about, you know, 25 questions about God, and, you know, what can you do with it? So I kinda the way I work, as a writer, and we can talk about producing in a little bit. The way I work as a writer is, actually really struggle with, like, charging, you know, hourly, daily.

CA Green: 04:30

We how's it work? Because for me, like, I'm kind of always thinking about the project. Like, an idea could come when I'm driving. It could come when I'm in the shower. I mean, those are the best ideas when, like, your brain is, like, really not thinking about the project.

CA Green: 04:42

So it it hit me, like, okay. What if we put, you know, these rabbis undercover and they're, like, finding out what these questions are that the course is made up as. So it was really like a Mission Impossible style situation. The the original script that I wrote, actually, I had, like, a a rabbi hanging from, like, a helicopter listening in through the window of buildings. And they came back to me and they were like, how are we going to shoot this?

CA Green: 05:06

And I told them like, I'm not producing, I'm just writing really kind of for me. Like I have to wear really two different hats

Dane Shoemaker: 05:12

when I'm

CA Green: 05:12

writing and producing because if I, if I have my producer hat on when I'm writing, which obviously is the same hat, but if I have my producer hat while I'm writing, like, I really stifle myself in the writing. And so I have to really separate that and just be like, what's the craziest thing I can do and then tone it down. So, you know, we went from, like, a guy hanging outside of a window, you know, window cleaning, listening in on a a corporate meeting to just sitting in the back of a taxi, and then we have the driver, you know, listening in on what's going on there. And then I'm I'm sure you noticed, but the golden mime rabbi, I played it.

Dane Shoemaker: 05:45

Sounds good.

CA Green: 05:46

Yeah. So this also comes with the territory of writing crazy things is sometimes they call you up and say, we couldn't find anyone to play the part who wanted to get, you know, painted up in gold when you do it. And it's like, you gotta, you know, like, if you're gonna write it, you gotta put your money where your mouth is. So I went in and, it's kind of a little traumatized by it still because we basically, like, tape my mouth and put, you know Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 06:08

So I say, how do they do that?

CA Green: 06:09

Yeah. So it was first of all, it was a lot of gold costuming. Right? Like, a hat, glasses, jacket, pants, so that was all covered. But for my face and beard, we used, you know, hair spray paint, and we put tape over my mouth and nose.

CA Green: 06:22

So I, like, thought, like, I'm about to, like, suffocate myself for a few minutes. So we do that. They just sprayed my entire face with the with the gold spray paint. And I was just like, I cannot breathe for, you know, obviously, like, you take it off and you're just like, okay, totally worth the shot. You know, we're working with, like, a child actor that day as well.

CA Green: 06:38

So that was like, okay. You know? Gotta make sure, like, we're shooting this efficiently and making, you know, but, she was really cool, and we just, like, bought her pizza. And it was it was pretty cool. It was like a pretty low steak shoot, you know?

CA Green: 06:50

Yeah. Gave her ice cream. So that was cool.

Dane Shoemaker: 06:52

Kids, you give them snacks.

CA Green: 06:53

They were cool. Yeah. So those are the that's what I meant before when I said, like, kind of, like, a more serious dramatic thing and then, you know, comedy. So I I wouldn't say that, drawn, like, more to one or the other, which is, you know, a lot of businesses like to have a a niche or niche or however you wanna say it. But I kind of, like, you know, like to connect with the client and see, like, well, what's worked for you in the past or, like, who are you?

CA Green: 07:18

Like, what kind of uncover, you know, we're kinda going down the producing route. You know, having these, like, the discovery calls and the sessions with them finding out, like, who they are, what they represent, like, what what they want other people to view them as and then kinda play into that. And so sometimes it's an animated short that I need to produce or write and talk about. You know, I wrote something about, anxiety, depression, ADHD because it was a mental health place and, like, it was geared towards kids and they didn't want it to be so serious. Right?

CA Green: 07:48

These are very, like, intense issues. So, obviously, I thought animated would be a really great way to kind of break through something that could feel a little bit more approachable. So, that was for a company called Beehive, and so they had a a logo that involved a bee in Honeycomb. And so we had this kid, like, animated kid, like, walking around, like, a round globe. And as he's walking, like, it's really dark and there's, like, lightning bolts.

CA Green: 08:12

It's the sky is lighting up saying, like, you know, depression, you know, ADHD, like, all, you know, things like that. And as he's he's getting closer to, you know, the lights, like, everything's starting to the rain's stopping and, you know, these bees are starting to to follow him and lift him up, and they actually then transform into the logo of the honeycomb

Dane Shoemaker: 08:32

and stuff. Right.

CA Green: 08:33

Right. So that, you know, really worked for the company because it was able to you know, it was cute. And it was kind of a way to approach these things that are serious, but in a way that, you know,

Dane Shoemaker: 08:44

is approachable.

CA Green: 08:44

Right. Right.

Dane Shoemaker: 08:45

Yeah. How do you how do you, when you approach a project, how do you know if the vibe or the, you know, the concept of the video should be funny, should be dramatic, serious, you know? Yeah. That's a

CA Green: 08:56

good question. Yeah. So, again, I think it comes down to just trying to have a little bit of what we talked about before, like a relationship with the person that I'm speaking with.

Dane Shoemaker: 09:04

Right.

CA Green: 09:04

You know, I don't really go into things like thinking, how do I sell this person on what I wanna do? I I know what I'm good at. Like, I I'm I'm good at putting together all the pieces, kind of being the architect of a video, hiring the right people, and then, you know, making a a a kick ass project. Like, that's

Dane Shoemaker: 09:21

Yeah.

CA Green: 09:21

I'm good at that. So in instead of me coming and saying, this is what I wanna make, I try to really just listen. Try to just ask more questions than speak, which is the opposite of what I'm doing here today. But, really just, like, find out more about the organization or the person and, like, what's their vibe? Like, are they making jokes in that discovery call, or is it a more serious organization?

CA Green: 09:42

Right? Like, with the business coach that I mentioned before, he grew up as a drug dealer. His life was threatened. He, you know, had, you know, thugs as his bodyguards. Like, okay.

CA Green: 09:53

You could go a comedy route. Right? There is a world where that exists as a funny movie, but it's it's a little bit more obvious to do it as a serious, you know, rags to riches type of story.

Dane Shoemaker: 10:04

Yeah.

CA Green: 10:05

When it came to with JLI, they they even said, we want something more fun. We want something a little bit different than what we had done in the past. So I had seen, you know, a little bit of market research never hurt anybody. Right? So I just looked up what other stuff had they done.

CA Green: 10:19

And it was always, like, just very, straight up, like, not I wanna say not interesting, but it was just very direct. Like, this is our new course. This is what we're doing. This is who what we're gonna be talking about. So when they come into me and they say they want something different and they want something more fun, to me, that's like a sign of, like, okay.

CA Green: 10:36

Let's have fun. Like, let's do something a little bit out of the box. Let's do something, obviously, a little funny. So I I really try to doesn't always work, obviously, but I try to, like, let the client guide me a little bit in terms of the the style. I forget the exact quote, but, you know, if a client comes back to you and says, you know, this is the wrong shade of yellow, they're probably wrong.

CA Green: 10:59

But if they say, like, this doesn't feel right, they're probably right. So I let them kinda guide me on certain things that I can trust, them with, and we both need to have that trust. When it comes to, like, specifics about, like, cut this here or, like, add this, like, usually, I don't I I try to work with them to uncover more of what they mean because usually, like, the, mechanics of what we're working on is not exactly what they're talking about. It's more of a feeling that they wanna accomplish. So I try to just make sure, like, at that you know, as much as I can at the beginning, be on the same page as possible.

CA Green: 11:29

So, I'm in I'm in talks with another, nonprofit now, and I had two discovery calls with her before even sending a proposal. Right? Like, it's not about getting that that sale, which would be nice, but it's more like, are we on the same page? Do we understand the process? Do you, like, get the investment of making a video?

CA Green: 11:50

And, like, I wanna take it serious. You're a serious organization. I wanna take it serious for you as well and kind of, like, make sure we're on the same page there. So in those conversations, I found that, the more you ask and the more you listen, like, they'll tell you what what they wanna say and and what they want. And then you can kind of take what they want and then, you know, put it through, like, your own creative meat grinder and then come up with the thing that makes sense for them.

Dane Shoemaker: 12:16

Yeah.

CA Green: 12:16

I found that to to work with you know, sometimes I'll do interviews as well for for videos and, just asking open ended questions is, like, super obvious, but maybe sometimes we don't always think about doing. And you'll have people just, like, just talk and just kinda kinda ramble a little bit, but they'll uncover what's what they really wanna say while they're speaking.

Dane Shoemaker: 12:38

Right.

CA Green: 12:38

And then from that, you can just, like, follow it, you know, down the rabbit hole of that conversation and then, you know, see, oh, is this what you mean? Is this a little bit more am I closer to what you're what you're talking about here? So, yeah, I just try to, like, work with them in that conversation.

Dane Shoemaker: 12:54

Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Is most of what the work that you're doing today, producing or or, or writing or a mix of both? Or tell me about that.

Dane Shoemaker: 13:03

What do you like

CA Green: 13:04

doing more? What do I like doing more? That's a great question. Yeah. So I will say that that's really tricky, actually.

Dane Shoemaker: 13:13

Okay.

CA Green: 13:14

I'll I'll tell you why. So it's tricky because I think I'm I'm, first of all, really great at both. Right? I I I love to produce and I love to write. The thing with producing is, like, we talked a little bit about my approach before.

CA Green: 13:30

It it takes a lot. Like, it's, you know, not only just, like, countless calls and a workshop or, you know, speaking to people about, like, different, you know, tactics or or messages that they wanna accomplish and really whittling that down. But then you have the shoot days that are, you know, eight to fourteen hour shoot days. I'm sure you're well aware. The product like, it it the cycle is, like, very long in terms of making that video usually.

CA Green: 13:53

Whereas writing is, like, I could do that nine to five. You know, it could take me five minutes. It could take me three days to to write a script depending on the the clarity that I have and the idea that that will come. So, you know, on one hand, like, I love the idea of, like, if I could just write, you know, and and just sit there and cope with different ideas and just follow scripts and and not have to be on set, like, that's, you know, attractive in its own right. I've got three little kids.

CA Green: 14:19

So, you know, it's nice to, like, being home in the morning, like, being home in the evening. And on on shoot days, I usually don't have that luxury. But, you know, there's I I I produced a music video in December, just a month ago, and it was a last minute request from a a local company. They had another producer that was supposed to be, you know, getting permits, locking down locations, props, like, a a really a whole list of things. And last minute, they totally bailed.

Dane Shoemaker: 14:47

You

CA Green: 14:47

know? Whatever was I don't know what was going on with that producer. Like, they had personal things or whatever it was, but they just were not able to accomplish what they said they were going to. So I got a call on Friday morning, which as a religious Jew, like, there's not much work I'm gonna do Friday night and, you know, Saturday. So I get the call and say, hey.

CA Green: 15:04

We're shooting on Monday. We have a we need help. You know? So coming in as as a producer, that means to me, like, okay. There goes, like, the next however many hours I have awake and available to work is gonna be dedicated to this.

Dane Shoemaker: 15:18

Mhmm.

CA Green: 15:18

So the difference, you know, between, like, writing where it's, like, a little bit more, I wouldn't say, like, maybe less pressure or a little bit more relaxed versus, like, the producing, which is, like, all on. Now what's what's interesting for me is I love the all on. Like, I'm a very, like, intense person. Like, I'm I have a really, like, devoted, I guess, like, personality. And so, like, when a project is brought to me and there's, like, a million things flying and there's phone calls at whatever time and there's, like, all these tasks and people to talk to, like, I love it.

CA Green: 15:53

I mean, like and then when I got on set and to see all the things, like, all the pieces that I put together, like, come to fruition, and then you have this awesome music video, and it's, like, super cool and everyone's happy on set. And Sure. You're like that feeling. I realize, you know, especially in December, I was recently thinking about this that fills me up like, like almost nothing else. Like, you know, no matter the, I love my family.

CA Green: 16:16

I love my, you know, religion, like all these things, but like being on set, like, and and seeing all the work I had put in in preproduction and then the problem solving that comes with being in, you know, on the production day, seeing that work out is like it's it's a high that I really can't relate to anything else. Yeah. And so long story short, I don't really know how to choose between the two. So what usually happens is, let's say I have a project that it's called for writing a script, I'll write it. Like, I'm not usually gonna hire someone else to write the scripts, whether that's, like, short form marketing stuff where we're talking about, you know, you know, call to actions and and information about people's nonprofits and services, or it's a little bit more in-depth where we're gonna get actors and we're gonna make characters and things like that, versus, like, more of the interview where it's more just interview questions and stuff, which is fine, but that's not I wouldn't really call that writing Right.

CA Green: 17:14

You know, so much. But, I think it it yeah. So as a when I was younger, I really thought, like, I'd be, like, a director. I thought I would, like Right. You know, be the Martin Scorsese, be the see what's going over David Lynch.

CA Green: 17:28

You know?

Dane Shoemaker: 17:29

I still have those dreams. So Yeah. Sure. Yeah.

CA Green: 17:31

Yeah. By the way, David Lynch, you know. I can't tell you. Alright. Press in

Dane Shoemaker: 17:34

peace here. Yeah. Yeah.

CA Green: 17:35

I was really I'm

Dane Shoemaker: 17:36

fine. Yeah.

CA Green: 17:37

I I was really sad, actually. My wife told me. I was, like, in the morning, and I was just like, what? Like, just kinda realizing, like, the chances of meeting, you know, some of your heroes. Like, you gotta try to do it.

CA Green: 17:47

Like, they're not gonna live forever. So it's just a thought there. But as I as I kind of, you know, directed and and produced and wrote through, you know, high school, college, and then, you you know, my early twenties, like, when I was working in New York, I I kinda saw that certain elements of directing I I wasn't so interested in. I really, you know, like speaking to people or really connecting with them and opening them up to, you know, them being able to do the their best possible work. So let's say with an actor, that's really useful.

CA Green: 18:17

Right? Like, getting someone to, like, focus in and, like, hone in on something that's inside of them to be able to bring in front of camera when you're interviewing someone, getting them comfortable. That's those are essential skills to have. But I didn't care about the texture of the film. I didn't care about, like you know, I worked with the DP, and they were like, look at this beautiful light that I put in the back with the curtain and the plant, and do you I was like, I don't care.

CA Green: 18:39

Like, that that's not important to me. And it was kind of like, in that particular, film I was working on, I noticed, like, oh, maybe I'm not a director. Like, maybe and and I felt a little bit of, like, a, you know, sadness of, like, letting that go. And it it's not gone forever, but it's not I realized, like, what do I really enjoy? It's a little bit of what I spoke about earlier, which is, like, putting together the pieces and hiring the people who could do their job the best.

CA Green: 19:04

And usually when people know that things are being taken care of for them, they can focus on their job, and that's how we get the best, you know, product, video, film set. Right? Like, you know, having the right energy on a set is super important too. So that was really clear to me, especially last year. I was I was directing, producing, and cowriting something, and I just noticed, like, I'd rather just get the people feeling that they can do their jobs and then sit back and let them do it.

CA Green: 19:32

Yeah. And and that was just very clear, like, oh, producer is the way to go for that.

Dane Shoemaker: 19:36

Yeah. Yeah. No. That's great. I mean, that's a great point that, like, you know, you're kind of, like, clearing the blockers and and allowing everyone else to do their to do their best work.

Dane Shoemaker: 19:44

Right? Best creative work. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like growing up, I was like, oh, man.

Dane Shoemaker: 19:49

You know, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, that was like my that was my aspirational thing that I figured out. Out. You know, I really like DP probably more now. So I'm a guy fussing about lights and curtains and plants in the background and getting the right focal length and all that stuff and, you know, producing is also part of the job as well. So Right.

Dane Shoemaker: 20:09

Kind of a production company. So

CA Green: 20:11

Right. So I have the the opposite a little bit. I have zero interest in being a DP. Yeah. Like, I I mean, I don't even know.

CA Green: 20:20

It's crazy to be in in the industry and, like, working on stuff. I just so not care about the the camera stuff. Like, I I know there's people like yourself that love it so much. And like you said, caring about the lights and the focal length and apertures and all these things.

Dane Shoemaker: 20:35

Yeah.

CA Green: 20:35

And it's more like I just wanna get the shot. I wanna make sure people are, like, performing at their at their best. And the specifics, like, I that's not where I I I Yeah. There's a a Yiddish word called cupping. Like, I don't really cupping that, which means, like like, I don't really dig in there.

CA Green: 20:52

I don't really, like, swim in that area. It's more, like, if if that's your thing, how can I support you Mhmm? To to make sure that you're doing the best possible job? You know? Like, what do you need to be able to focus on?

CA Green: 21:06

So that way, like, I can ask you, hey. I need this crazy shot, and you say, I'd love to do that for you as opposed to, like, are you effing kidding me? That's that's I I love to make sure my DVs are, like, very comfortable and, like, they know that, like, they can be they have complete creative freedom in terms of, like, how they wanna get the shot as long as it kinda lines up with storyboard shot list and things that we've spoken about before, which obviously is usually part of that preproduction meeting. You know?

Dane Shoemaker: 21:32

I read something on your bio. It's kinda wild. The the first thing that that inspired you, I think, was a double feature. Lion King and Judge Dredd. Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 21:41

What a combo of a double feature.

CA Green: 21:43

You can thank my dad for that. You know? Like, he, we we grew up, like, going to the movies. Like, that was Yeah. It's interesting.

CA Green: 21:50

Like, when I watch, like, you know, movies about making movies and movies about filmmakers, I feel like I can relate to a lot of them. So so growing up, my parents divorced when I was

Dane Shoemaker: 22:02

two.

CA Green: 22:02

So I had, you know, split custody, and I just saw my dad, like, every other weekend. So, like, nothing, like, very regular. So kind of as, like, a regular American kid, like, growing up in South Florida, like, what do you do on Fridays and Saturdays? Like, you go to the movies. Yeah.

CA Green: 22:18

I think it was pretty I think since the twenties, people have been doing that. Right? So that was, like, the thing I did with my father was, like, you know, this is not that old, but, like, you know, we would be driving down the street, and we'd stop and pick up a newspaper out of the, you know, the things on the side of the road and look up the movie times, like, you know, so it's crazy to think that we don't do that anymore. It's, like, all on the phone. Right?

Dane Shoemaker: 22:37

It wasn't that long ago.

CA Green: 22:37

Right. It's been

Dane Shoemaker: 22:38

like twenty years,

CA Green: 22:39

you know,

Dane Shoemaker: 22:39

or something.

CA Green: 22:40

If I tell my kids, if I tell my even my younger siblings, they're gonna be like, what? Like a newspaper, you know? So that that's what we we would do. And so The Line King was actually the first film that I asked to go see in theaters. So, yeah, I was, like, four years old.

CA Green: 22:55

And I was, like, wanna go see this movie, but my dad probably also wanted to go see Judge Trent. So, like, we just did both. And, what what really stuck with me and, obviously, like, I don't have, like, super strong memories of the plot or anything like that. I've seen them, obviously, a little bit later in life. But what what I loved is the the the transporting factor of watching something of, like, you're you're here in this theater, but that film is gonna take you to a different world.

CA Green: 23:20

It's gonna take you to a different place. It's gonna you're gonna kind of live vicariously through these characters. Right? And that's Yeah. And that's the the basis of any good story is that you're kind of whisked away from the reality that you're in Uh-huh.

CA Green: 23:31

And then you go into this kind of alternate reality, this alternate universe, and, like, live these other characters' lives. Now if you were a psychologist, we could probably open up why a kid from divorced parents would, you know, wanna go through different realities, different universe, whatever. Right? You know? Yeah.

CA Green: 23:46

Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 23:46

Yeah. Yeah.

CA Green: 23:47

So I think it's, like, looking back, it's pretty clear that, like, I was looking for either some sort of escapism or, you know, just something to to take me out of that reality. Right? But but really it was just an infatuation and a love for for storytelling on a on a visual layer. You know, I love to read. I love to, you know, didn't really grow up loving comic books so much, but, you know, as, like, an older guy into some graphic novels.

CA Green: 24:10

But, there was something about, you know, lights dimming and just, like, watching for, you know, an hour and a half to three hours depending on Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 24:17

You know,

CA Green: 24:18

what you're gonna do with it. It's an experience. Yeah. Like that. Yeah.

CA Green: 24:21

And for, you know, my my wife really doesn't love TV and movies. It's it's Oh, really? Very funny thing that, you know, we got married because it's such a big part of my life, and she is just, like, does not care about it. Thankfully, we have other things that kind of bind us together, but she just does not get it. Like, it's not something that she can really relate to.

CA Green: 24:39

Like, you know, when I I watched a really awesome commercial the other day that was, like, moving and, like, it hit all the right emotional points and, like, storytelling beats. And I'm like, you know, how do you, like, look at this look at this commercial. And she's like, okay. So what? And I'm like, what?

CA Green: 24:54

Like, how do you not care, like, so much about this thing? It's like, didn't didn't you cry watching this Honda commercial? It's just a great talk.

Dane Shoemaker: 25:02

Yeah.

CA Green: 25:03

So it kinda, like, grew up, like, just just really loving everything about, about movies. Wasn't really until high school that I I, you know, had the opportunity to take, like, a film appreciation class and TV production. So, again, like, I consider these to be, like, very, like, normal things for a kid who's interested in film to do. Right? Like, it's nothing, like, crazy.

CA Green: 25:23

I didn't, like, have an uncle who was a producer brought me on set and meeting all these. It was just like, oh, like, I like these things. Let me learn a little bit more about it. So when I took the film appreciation class in high school, it was with I had a a an amazing teacher. Her name was, miss Brenda Derkis.

CA Green: 25:39

So I don't even I think she got married. I don't know if that's her last name anymore, but she also loved film so much. And she was, like, an English teacher, but she taught she wanted this film appreciation class. And so I could see how much she loved, not just movies like I did, but the mechanics that went into making a film. So then all of a sudden, I learned about all the things, you know, sound, color, mise en scene, the storytelling beats, like hero's journey, like, all these things that I kinda was taking for granted when I was being, you know, whisked away as I said before.

CA Green: 26:08

Right? Like, this experience of watching a movie and realizing that, like, every single aspect was planned. Okay. You have some goofs. Right?

CA Green: 26:16

Like, you have, you know, a famous movie, Goose, the boom mic comes in, a coffee cup from Starbucks, and a period piece or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. But, like, most of the stuff is planned, and there's a team of people who were there trying to accomplish something emotional for you, for the viewer to experience there. And and that layer, then I fell in love even more.

CA Green: 26:35

Like, you right when you think, you know, what does he say? Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. Yeah. Right. So I thought I couldn't get any of a deeper love with it, and I found out, like, it's all on purpose, obviously.

CA Green: 26:45

You know? Kinda like, you know, these things, like, looking back, you're like, why why do you think about that? Obviously, there's a director, producer, writer, but I never thought about, like, the gaffer and the grip and the best boy and, like, the prop master and the colorist and the VFF. Like, all these different elements that really are, like you know, they're not related when they're apart, and then they create this really cohesive unit when they're being brought together with a unified vision. So, like, really fell in love with that.

CA Green: 27:10

And so at the same time of taking that film appreciation class, took TV production and just, like, ran the TV production, like, class. We did the morning announcements, my friend and I, like

Dane Shoemaker: 27:20

This was high school? Yeah. That's awesome.

CA Green: 27:22

Yeah. Like, we just we would do you know, we for our morning announcements, we had a short, TV segment. They would wheel these TVs into each classroom, and they play the morning announcements there. So we did, like, fake reporter style stuff, and we would interview people. And, like, then we started making some short films.

CA Green: 27:36

And I was really affected by, like, film noir, like, in high school, like, just like, you know, the Venetian blinds and, like, shady characters. So my first film was, like, a black and white, you know, I had my first company was called Fedora Productions, like, had a black hat I used to wear all the time. And it was Nice. The story of this guy who, like, stole a restroom pass, you know, from and and from in in high school. I don't know if you had those in high school.

CA Green: 28:00

Yeah. So, you know, it's like going on this journey of like funny and these interviewing all the shady characters as a femme fatale. Like it was crazy. Like, it was just like, that's funny. I even had, like, we had like a voodoo character, like who was like, you know, the mysterious guy who could give us the information.

CA Green: 28:15

It was, like, a really fun project. I don't nothing really went with that, but it was, like, my first, like, foray into the thing. You know, I didn't grow up with, like I didn't get a camera when I was eight and start making stuff. It really wasn't high school when I started playing around with equipment and and storytelling. So when when I was in high school, you know, that was super clear that's what I wanted to do.

CA Green: 28:33

And it was, like, obviously really aligned with with who I was and, you know, I was always at the movies, like, every weekend and and every night, you know, just, like, back when, again, Netflix was sending you DVDs, like, you know, had that and was just watching so many things. And then I went to college at Florida State because they had a a really great film school. So I applied and didn't get in.

Dane Shoemaker: 28:55

Oh, wow.

CA Green: 28:56

I actually applied three times to the film school before I say did not get in. The way it works, you apply, you get an interview if they wanna, you know, move you on to from application to interview. So I got interviewed, before freshman year and then before sophomore year. So I applied out of high school at freshman year and then after my sophomore year. So I got the first and third.

CA Green: 29:15

And on the on the third, let me go back up. So on the first one, on the first interview, I made a a huge mistake, but I don't think this is why they didn't let me in. They were we were talking about Avatar and, like, Alice in Wonderland and how I didn't really like those movies. Like, I wanted, like, to tell original stories. Like, like I mentioned before, Morris Scorsese, David Lynch, all these all these guys who I thought were really telling original stories.

CA Green: 29:38

A lot of them are based off of other IP. But, you know, we were talking about, like, I I blanked on Paul Newman's name. And, you know, I'm like, what's that guy's name? Like, he's on the salad dressing, you know? And the dean is like, the salad dressing?

CA Green: 29:52

Like, that's how you're gonna remember Paul Newman, you know? So I don't know if that's why I didn't get into the film school, but it definitely, I don't think held my shoes.

Dane Shoemaker: 29:58

In your defense, that is my earliest memory of Paul Newman also.

CA Green: 30:01

The parents, cause like

Dane Shoemaker: 30:03

the fruit, it was in the refrigerator.

CA Green: 30:04

You're a little kid.

Dane Shoemaker: 30:05

You're like, oh, that guy on the salad. And then you find out he's a a famous actor. Yeah.

CA Green: 30:09

Cool handbook. I mean, it's, like, great movies. Yeah. Just saw the Tower of Inferno for the first time a couple weeks ago too. Okay.

Dane Shoemaker: 30:15

I've never seen that. No.

CA Green: 30:17

Classic disaster movie. Now we've we've been inundated with disaster movies. This is the disaster movie.

Dane Shoemaker: 30:22

So,

CA Green: 30:22

like, it's Steve McQueen, Paul Newman. Oh, nice. It's fantastic. Yeah. Highly recommend it.

CA Green: 30:27

So, anyway and then the the third time I got interviewed, I had just won first place at a short film, festival in Delray Beach, Florida.

Dane Shoemaker: 30:35

Nice.

CA Green: 30:35

So I drove up, like, so basically, the the film was, actually very funny. I'll talk I'll talk about that film now, actually. It's on my website too. I put it

Dane Shoemaker: 30:43

up. Okay.

CA Green: 30:44

Highly recommended, but it's not very professional. But it's, so it was a a short film category where we took a preexisting script. It was, like, 17 pages. We needed it to be under ten minutes. So we had to cut a couple pages, and then we needed to shoot the the whole thing in Delray Beach.

CA Green: 31:00

So we held auditions. Me and, you know, high school buddy, college friend, like, we were in college at the time. I think I was

Dane Shoemaker: 31:07

19. Yeah.

CA Green: 31:08

And, nobody came to the auditions. Like, one of my one of our other high school friends, and we're just like, this is not great. What are we gonna do? So we're sitting around this table similar to this, and I jokingly say, let's just use sock puppets. And my friends, like, are like, that's what they do.

CA Green: 31:23

They start laughing, you know. So we laugh for a minute and then room gets silent and we're just like, wait a second. That's a great idea. So we ended up doing, I'm the main character. And then my best friend's a sock puppet.

CA Green: 31:36

His girlfriend's a sock puppet. So it's like really ridiculous thing to do. And it's like a little bit like sexual is a little bit funny, like raunchy to have it with the sock puppet. It's like really like, changed the whole Yeah. Film.

CA Green: 31:49

And then it came in first place. So Amazing. He said we won that. It was played, like, in a movie theater in Delray Beach, which was really cool. And then I drove up that night to get to the interview in the morning.

CA Green: 31:59

So, like, it's like a six hour drive from Delray to Tallahassee in North Florida. I slept in my car, like, outside the interview, woke up with, like, a five hour energy drink, and went to the to the interview. And I told them I had just come from, you know, this film festival. And so I think, again, this is me, like, making myself feel better that, like, I was already doing it. I was already doing the film thing.

CA Green: 32:20

I was already I had a small company. You know, I mentioned the Fedora Productions. And now at that time in college, I had my third company called Viral Crew Productions and that Viral Crew Media.

Dane Shoemaker: 32:30

Nice.

CA Green: 32:30

And we were doing event after movies and commercials and stuff. And so I think they just thought, like, what do you need film school for? So that's what I tell myself, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

CA Green: 32:40

But, It was

Dane Shoemaker: 32:41

probably a blessing in in disguise a little bit.

CA Green: 32:43

Yeah. For sure. My For sure.

Dane Shoemaker: 32:44

Did you go to school up So college dollar. Yeah.

CA Green: 32:47

So I stayed at Florida State. I got a creative writing degree.

Dane Shoemaker: 32:50

Okay.

CA Green: 32:50

You know, because, like, we talked earlier with the producing and writing. So I've always been writing

Dane Shoemaker: 32:54

Yeah.

CA Green: 32:55

You know, since, like I told you, I loved reading and I loved to, you know, kinda affect the influences my movie, my favorite movies as well, but I love, like, Goosebumps growing up, like, these kind of, like, you know, borderline horror stuff, like gross you know, just, like, over the top stuff.

Dane Shoemaker: 33:08

Yeah. Yeah.

CA Green: 33:09

So the first thing I ever wrote, I actually, like, ripped the story from, like, R. L. Stine and, like, just changed a bunch of the characters and names and, like, I wrote it for my friend's brother who had leukemia at the time, and I was, like, it's, like, eight years old. I thought, like, I'll write a story to, like, make him feel better. You know?

Dane Shoemaker: 33:23

So Yeah.

CA Green: 33:24

Thank God. I believe, you know, he got better. He was fine. You know? But it was, that was my first, like, journey into it.

CA Green: 33:31

That that also might be on the website, I think, or I used to be. So, anyway, so so in college, yeah, I I kinda wanted to drop out after I didn't get into the film school because I thought what was the point. But, my mother was like, you just stay in college. It's worth something to get your bachelor's and all these things. I'm still not sure that's a good idea.

CA Green: 33:49

Like, I'm, like, you know, $30,000 in debt from, you know, just, like, four years of I had to pay my own way. You know, I had scholarships and grants, but also, like, living expenses and things like that. So, yeah. So I don't think it was worth it to to get a creative writing degree, even if I was, like, an accountant or business or international affairs or something. But Right.

CA Green: 34:08

Creative writing, like, no one's ever asked me to see my degree. I think it's in, like, a drawer at my dad's house or something. You know?

Dane Shoemaker: 34:14

Yeah.

CA Green: 34:16

So so after college, I I just you know, the company that we had with, like, four other friends, we were kind of like, what do we do? Like, we had done, like, event after movies, commercials, few short films, and I wanted to go big. I wanted to go to LA or New York, and the other guys wanted to play a little bit more safe. So we kinda disbanded the company. They went to South Florida.

CA Green: 34:36

I went to LA for, like, six months with, like, a thousand bucks and no car. Terrible idea. Completely, like, failed. Like, got a job working for a call center in, like, Koreatown, and I was just so depressed. Like, I would get off the train, like, you know, two stops before the call center pick up like a pack of cigarettes and a bag of M and M's and carrots.

CA Green: 34:56

And that would be like my lunch for the day, you know? And it was just like, I was just, I was working with like Occupy Wall Street people, like heroin addicts. Like, it was just like not conducive for me, you know? I was living on different people's couches and futons, and I was just like, I can't cut it out here. So I moved back to Tallahassee.

CA Green: 35:14

I had a girlfriend there, and I was living with third, saved for, like, another year. Saved us some money, went to New York in 2014, and that was much easier to do with a thousand bucks and no car. So Yeah. You know, hit the ground running, like, connecting with different college friends, and somebody knew somebody who knew somebody who was, like, a PA on one of the Spider Man movies. Met him for lunch.

CA Green: 35:33

And, here's a, like, a cool inside story for this. I had brought with me, three tabs of LSD to take in New York, which is you will see a recurring theme in my life. Okay. So I brought them and I brought it up in this conversation with the guy over coffee. And he was like, really?

CA Green: 35:50

I haven't found in New York. Like, he didn't know anybody to get the psychedelics. And he said, if I get you on set, like, would you give me a tag? And I'm like, sure.

Dane Shoemaker: 36:00

There you go.

CA Green: 36:00

So the next week, he got me on a commercial. So, like, he called me Sunday morning. He was like, we need you to be uptown. I was living in Brooklyn, and he's like, okay. I'm gonna train right now.

CA Green: 36:08

Like, rolled out of bed, you know, and went went uptown, got on the commercial. Two weeks later, he says, I got a movie for you if you wanna come to your background, you know, PA, background production assistant. Like, okay. So there's two out of the three tabs, but that's how my career in New York started. So then I Avant said it was, the Tina Fey movie called The Nest.

CA Green: 36:28

I don't know if they kept that as the name. It was Tina Fey, Ivy Poehler. I think Josh Brolin, it was like they were throwing a party at their parents' house or something. But I think they kept the name. So I got on that movie, and I made friends with the location manager.

CA Green: 36:41

So after that, I followed up with the location manager, and she invited me to, you know, come down to Silver Cup Studios, which is in Long Island City, and they asked if I wanted to work on another NBC show. And so after being in New York for, like, a month and a half, I get offered to work on a show for the next eleven months. So it was kind of like they were you're like, listen. You're might be unclogging toilets or picking up trash and doing, you know, whatever. It was it was what's called a unit production assistant.

CA Green: 37:05

So Okay. Right. Within the locations department, but it's, like, the lowest position in the locations department. And I was like, I don't care. I'm gonna be working on, like, an NBC show.

CA Green: 37:13

Like, I'm gonna be in the same studio that they shot, The Sopranos, and they shot, you know Yeah. And, you know, Edie Falco just come in from, I forget the nurse show she was in back in the day.

Dane Shoemaker: 37:23

Yeah.

CA Green: 37:23

But to me, it was a a no brainer. Like, whatever it's gonna take to get me on set, I'll I'll do. Yeah. And I was, you know, I think I was 24 at the time, so it was just like, sure.

Dane Shoemaker: 37:34

Got nothing to lose. Yeah. Exactly.

CA Green: 37:36

Amazing. Yeah. So I did that show, and to be honest, it completely broke me. Like, I was working seventy, eighty hours a week for that that year, and it was, my experience on set was it's very hierarchical. Like, it's very, like, there obviously, there's the roles and positions, and there's just certain people you can't speak to, and you have to, like in location specifically, you're first on, last out.

CA Green: 38:00

So you're there before everybody because you need to make sure the trucks are landing and they know where they're going and holding and catering and the locations are open. And then you need to make sure everything's cleaned up after. So I'm working, like, you know, fourteen to sixteen hours a day, and it's just it consumed me. And it it it took away all the creative spirit I had because I wasn't directing. I wasn't producing.

CA Green: 38:20

I wasn't writing. I was really, like, the lowest on the totem pole, but it felt you know, you have this, you have this what's the word? Like, with a balloon. You have an inflated sense of ego when you're, like, working on set like that, you know? So it kind of battled, like, that feeling for that first year.

CA Green: 38:41

After after that show finished, like, kind of felt like I broke a little bit, like, you know, reached part of my dream of, like, working in the industry, but it was, like, almost not what I expected. So I went and took a five week, like, sabbatical or whatever and just went backpacking, through like Spain, Morocco, and Italy for a bit. Yeah. It was a really it was a great time. It was great because it was an experience I don't think I'll do again, but it was actually, like, really challenging.

CA Green: 39:10

I mean, like, I was by myself. I was just, like, couch surfing and Airbnbs, just meeting random people, which is, like, super cool experiences, but, like, it was also very lonely. Like, I was just, like, by myself a lot of the time, which was really great for introspection, not great because I'm kind of a social creature, you know, and, like, love, like, having someone like a partner in crime, you know Sure. Yeah. Which would have been cool, but it was also, like, I did, you know, just wanted to be by myself at those times, but I saw, like, wow.

CA Green: 39:36

This is really, you know, difficult. So I I wanted to stay a little bit longer in Morocco. Ended up staying just like a week and a half, but I had somebody reach out to me while I was there and say, hey. There's a movie if you wanna come work on it like an independent feature. It was called what was it called?

CA Green: 39:53

Indignation. It was like based off of, really blanking on names today. What's the guy's name? He's like a Philip Roth. Very, like, a guy's writer.

CA Green: 40:02

Right? So, so it's based off of his book. And so I think Logan Lerman and Tracy Letts, was in it. So it's cool. I don't know what happened with the movie, but something to come back to.

CA Green: 40:12

So I came back, worked on that movie, and saw, like, okay. I guess this is the grind. Like, this is just if you wanna work in the industry. And I saw that, like, eventually, the path to producing these types of things was stemming from location. So I could go from you know, when I came back, I I went from a unit PA to a location's assistant.

CA Green: 40:29

So not picking up as much trash, but, you know, and having a little bit more autonomy and, like, being a little bit more control of locations. And I saw that if I stuck with that, I could go from a location assistant to assistant location manager, location manager, and then make the jump to a UPM, to a unit production manager. And that to get to producing is extremely easy. So Yeah. Locations has the the second biggest budget on the whole show or movie usually, besides the main budget because the locations are so damn expensive.

CA Green: 40:57

You know? And you gotta pay for permits and explosions, all these things that, you know, you might be doing. So I saw that as, like, the path that I was on. So that then put us, let's say, the almost February, I worked on Daredevil season two as a locations assistant, and, that show also then just broke me. Like, I just, like, saw, like, I was working nights.

CA Green: 41:17

Like, you Daredevil only comes out at night. So, you know, I my call time Monday was 10AM. By the time Friday came around, it was 4PM. So, like, I've just just felt like I was working all the time. And it again, it was just, like, felt like a grind.

CA Green: 41:30

Like, it didn't feel like something I loved anymore. And I was really sad about that. I loved movies, but I didn't love working on that. So it's it's actually really hard for me emotionally to, like, put to kinda coincide those because I thought, like, this is what I wanted to do for so long. And now I'm there, and it's not what I expected or it's not, you know, what I thought.

CA Green: 41:48

And and it it still bothers me now to think about that, to have that experience because I really loved working. I really love love movies so much that it was a shock that it it did wasn't everything what I thought. So that was the February, and a friend of mine calls, and I was, like, finishing up on Daredevil. And I was just, like, drawing in in Bushwick in Brooklyn, like, I'm doing nothing. He's like, you wanna go on birthright to Israel?

CA Green: 42:14

And, you know, I was born Jewish, not religious, like, had no intention of, like, doing anything more religious. Like, based off the story, I was pretty just a typical stoner film kid. You know? Yeah. And, I thought to myself, like, well, maybe it's a free trip.

CA Green: 42:30

It's like a $250 deposit. I just went, like I mentioned, to Spain, Morocco, Italy. I wanted to travel again. When I go to The Middle East, like, what I didn't know anything about Israel. I didn't know anything about neighboring countries now.

CA Green: 42:41

Obviously, everything's on the news, and there's a lot more to know about it, but I knew nothing about what was going on there. So Was that your first or

Dane Shoemaker: 42:49

will this have been your first trip to Israel?

CA Green: 42:51

Yeah. Yeah. And that was still my only trip

Dane Shoemaker: 42:53

to Israel.

CA Green: 42:53

I haven't gone back since. So what's what's typical of me when I travel is I bring a couple tabs of LSD. So that's that's that's what I'm doing.

Dane Shoemaker: 43:03

Pretty far so far.

CA Green: 43:04

Yeah. So, so we get to to the to the airport to get on the on the flight, and, you know, the first thing they ask you is, like, do you know anybody from the neighboring countries? So, like, I didn't even know what the neighboring countries were. Like, obviously, now, like, you know, okay. Egypt Lebanon, Syria, like, not typically fans of the Jews.

CA Green: 43:21

Right? But so that's why they're asking security measures. So I didn't really know any political things or anything. And, I had a roommate in Bushwick. I lived with, like, five other people in very, like, bohemian style apartment, and she had actually escaped from the Gaza Strip.

CA Green: 43:36

So, you know, pretty, like, serious, like, place, like, you know, refugees, all these things. And I told the the airline, yeah. I have a roommate who escaped from the Gaza Strip. And they're like, what? Excuse me?

CA Green: 43:49

So I thought they didn't hear me. So I'm like, yeah. I have a roommate who escaped from the Gaza Strip. And they're like, woah. Did she give you anything?

CA Green: 43:55

Did you would you ever leave your bags alone? Like and I'm like, what are you guys talking about? Basically, they took everything I had, almost strip searched me, like and I was the last person to get on that flight, and I still managed to get the three tabs of LSD through all of that. Yes.

Dane Shoemaker: 44:12

Do you wanna share

CA Green: 44:13

what I was

Dane Shoemaker: 44:13

or what? Yeah.

CA Green: 44:15

I mean, I guess this one, but if there's a if ever an airline who wants to try to find it, I don't know how you would. So, I mean, like, LSD is a senseless, tasteless piece of paper usually. You know? It's a it's a liquid that gets dropped on things. So it could be on a sugar cube.

CA Green: 44:28

It could be on a piece of paper. So, usually, my experience was that it was on a a little tiny, you know, note card piece, like, a little tiny square. So what I did, I used to travel with different, you know, books I was reading or art books that I was drawing in. And I was I was actually working on an art project then where I would ask strangers to draw in the books, and then I would, write a poem about them while they were drawing and then read it to them when they were done. Oh, that's amazing.

CA Green: 44:52

Yeah. It's really cool.

Dane Shoemaker: 44:53

So I

CA Green: 44:53

have, like, a ton of collections of those, which is awesome. Together. It's very cool. Yeah. So I took one of those notebooks, and I put different post it notes on different pages with, like, notes to myself.

CA Green: 45:03

Like, let's see how far this rabbit hole goes or, you know, take take the red pill or whatever it was, you know, and put put it behind there. So it's like a piece of paper, buying a piece of paper, on a piece of paper. Like, how are you if you're not even how would you even find that within all these I had, you know, different books and whatever. It's I feel like I could get arrested, like, post, you know, the thing, but I mean, probably not. I will delete this.

CA Green: 45:26

No. I'm sure it's fine. So so, so I brought it brought it prodded, you know, got it through brought it I never told you that before, by the way.

Dane Shoemaker: 45:35

I don't think so.

CA Green: 45:35

Yeah. That's really funny. Yeah. So I I was more worried about, like, my art books than I was about the the LSD. Like, I really wanted the project I was working on, but got everything back on a kibbutz.

CA Green: 45:47

By the time we got there, they sent it all to me, and everything was fine. They didn't take anything. And so we went to a place called Spot, which is like this hippie city in the North, and it's like the city of air. So, you know, I won't say I was a spiritual person before, but, you know, I was always looking for something more to life, and I think I was looking for that in movies. I was looking for that in stories and in books and and, you know, just there's something more to, like, what we're doing Mhmm.

CA Green: 46:13

You know, in terms of, like, what does it mean that there's this giant universe and we're the only, like, intelligent life that we found, like or, you know, I experienced a lot of crazy coincidences. How could it be that, you know, I I I used to travel and then meet a random friend that I had seen, you know, in high school in in a random place. You know? Just all these, like, random things happen, and I just kept thinking, like, okay. It's the universe or it's serendipity or whatever.

CA Green: 46:39

You know? So I was, like, already tuned on to, like, something else going on in reality. But it could have just been the drugs too. So so we go to the spot, and I realized, like, this is the place I wanna take the the LSD. So after the official birthright trip ended, I had extended to stay for another week in Israel.

CA Green: 47:00

We would back up to Spot. We stayed in a place called Bat Yam, which is, like, just South of Tel Aviv. It's like a Russian beach town. Mhmm. Super cool, chill.

CA Green: 47:08

It was great. And we drove up, and I started taking the acid at 7AM, nine AM, and then 11AM. So, like, every two hours. So the way it works, you just, like, keep going higher. That was, like, the plan.

CA Green: 47:18

So by the time we got to to Spot, like, around, like, 09:30, like, I was already, like, you know, going to say cloud nine, maybe cloud seven, getting to cloud nine. You know? But it was like, okay. Like, I'm in I'm in a really good place. So we're kinda walking around.

CA Green: 47:31

The graffiti is, like, talking to me. I'm just, like, floating through this city, meeting random people, you know, eating delicious, like, Middle Eastern food. Like, it's just great. Yeah. It's all.

CA Green: 47:41

Sounds very chill. It was it was a great time. And we're walking around and, you know, spent the day there. And as as, like, we're gonna leave, I noticed, like, the city start to to shut down. People are leaving.

CA Green: 47:53

I I realized it's Friday afternoon, so it's gonna be the Sabbath or, you know, what I would say with Shabbos. So Friday night, Saturday night, there's no work. You know? So everyone's getting ready for Shabbos. So I didn't really know what that was.

CA Green: 48:04

But I'm like, I guess we have to go. The city's shutting down.

Dane Shoemaker: 48:06

Yeah.

CA Green: 48:07

So we're walking to the car and a guy comes up to me and he says, do you wanna do your mitzvah for the day? I'm like, what's a mitzvah? Now as a Jewish kid who's supposed to have a bar mitzvah at 13, I never did that. Like I said, you know, wasn't religious at

Dane Shoemaker: 48:20

all. Right.

CA Green: 48:21

And I'm like, what are you doing? What's the mitzvah? And he's like, oh, I'm walking around spreading the light of God. And I'm like, leave me alone. Are you talking to a crazy person?

CA Green: 48:30

First of all, I'm high as a kite. I don't need this guy to introduce me to God. You know?

Dane Shoemaker: 48:34

Yeah. Yeah.

CA Green: 48:34

And and then I think to myself, if I was writing the script to my life, my favorite psychedelic, I'm in the holiest place in the world, and I'm Jewish. This is an origin story. Like, you gotta put on Tefillin. You gotta do this mitzvah. You gotta just follow this and see what happens.

CA Green: 48:50

So okay. Fine. Let's put on tefillin. So there's these black boxes. You put one on your arm and you wrap these other straps around your arm.

CA Green: 48:56

You put another black box on your head and these other straps hang down. It's been it's a it's been going on for thousands of years, you know. In in the bible, in the Torah, it talks about you shall put phylacteries between your eyes and on your arms. That's the translation of Tefillin. And so we've, you know, through the years, have figured out these black boxes with biblical, verses inside of them.

CA Green: 49:17

So we put it on and and as we finish, you know, as a short prayer, you say, as we finish, a butterfly comes and lands right on the guy's shirt. So I reach over and I grab the butterfly in my hands, the tefillin still wrapped around my fingers, and time stops. It's like, you know, James Earl Jones, rest his soul too, comes up from the heavens and is like, there is a God. And I was, what is going on? I had never, like, experienced anything so, you know, synchronous at that point.

CA Green: 49:49

Like, it just felt impactful. It felt like whatever I was doing at that moment, that felt like God. Obviously, there was no real voice. There was no, like, Morgan Freeman saying, like, I'm gonna, you know, make you, you know, CA almighty, but it was just like this meant something. Yeah.

CA Green: 50:05

Probably was the asset that helped to that, but it was also like that kind of moment just felt like I've never caught a butterfly before or since. You know? That could be the subtitle to my biography. So afterwards, I realized maybe I should keep putting on Tefillin. So on the plane ride back from Israel, I I did what, what's called opposite mifthsoyim.

CA Green: 50:27

So mifthsoyim is what this guy did to me. He asked me, do you wanna do a mitzvah called mifthsoyim? Right? So opposite is when I go to other people and say, I need you to do a mitzvah to me. Like, I need help me out with this put the villain on.

CA Green: 50:39

So that's pretty atypical to do. But I met a guy on the plane, and he told the whole story of the butterfly and everything. And he said, where do you live? And I said, in Bushwick in Brooklyn. And he said, oh, Rabbi Menachem Heller has a Chabad house there.

CA Green: 50:51

So he wrote down his information, wrote down a couple books for me to get, like a Hamish, which is like the five books of the Torah. And, and he just said, you should go talk to this rabbi. So it took me a couple weeks to, you know, I guess, work up the courage to go talk to the rabbi. But before then, I was working on another film for about two weeks. There was a movie called the Pirates of Somalia.

CA Green: 51:16

By the way, I'm seeing, like, my my memories. Like, I'm, like, forgetting all these titles of things. I really should write this stuff down. So we're gonna move to call the Pirates of Somalia, which was, you know, the flip side to captain Phillips.

Dane Shoemaker: 51:28

Yeah. Right.

CA Green: 51:28

Right? So it's like, you know, they're the Somali pirates, why they did what they did. So another two weeks to work Is that a narrative

Dane Shoemaker: 51:34

or a documentary? Narrative.

CA Green: 51:36

Yeah. I've had, like, Al Pacino and, the guy from American Horror Story. What is his name? He also played Quicksilver in the x men the new x men movies.

Dane Shoemaker: 51:47

Oh, younger guy or

CA Green: 51:48

Yeah. Younger guy. Forget what it is. Come on.

Dane Shoemaker: 51:50

Yeah. I'm so bad with Yeah.

CA Green: 51:51

Your names too. Couldn't come with me. Yeah. It'll come to me. So, hate when that happens.

CA Green: 51:58

So I'm working on this film, and I'm trying to do, like, these Jewish things. But, again, I'm working fourteen to sixteen hours a day. No breaks, not allowed to sit down, and I'm trying to, like, figure out, do I keep kosher now? How do I put Tefillin on once a day? I just knew I had to put it on before the end of the day, but I never had a break.

CA Green: 52:17

So I was always running around to different places looking up doors of mezuzahs, like, can I put on to fill, you know, whatever? Yeah. And and then a couple weeks after that, I was in Crown Heights, which is like the hub of, you know, Hasidic jewelry. Like, it's a they got the Chabad headquarters. I'd never heard of any of these things before.

CA Green: 52:36

And I'm in Crown Heights, and I was, like, probably buying weed or, like, hanging out with someone, like, just doing nothing. And I go into this barbershop, this, like, you know, Jamaican barbershop at, like, three in the morning, and they're just, like, hanging out, smoking. And I'm like, oh, you know, can I fix my scarf? It was freezing. It was around this time of the year.

CA Green: 52:55

And I'm, like, from Florida. I don't know how to wear a scarf. I'm still trying to figure that out. So I, like, have in order for me to put on a scarf, I have to take off my jacket. I have to rewrap it, try to tuck it in, all these things.

CA Green: 53:04

So I go and I start talking to these guys about peace, love, and changing the world, you know. And, you know, we end up talking for, like, an hour. And afterwards, like, okay. We're, like, we're leaving. So they're walking up the street, and I tell them, you know, about this experience I had with Defillin about how I think there's a God now, but I don't know what to do with it.

CA Green: 53:21

I gotta speak to a priest or pastor or a rabbi. I don't care. Just like somebody who's got a connection to God. And this guy, this non Jewish guy says, there's a twenty four hour synagogue right up the street. So this twenty four hour synagogue is like, you know, world famous as it's called 770.

CA Green: 53:36

It's 770 Eastern Parkway. So it's the Chabad world headquarters. So this so I'm like, it's three, 04:00 in the morning. I'm like, there's a twenty four hour synagogue, which way? So he points to the street.

CA Green: 53:45

It's like five blocks away. So I just book it. Just run down the street. I'm, like, half stoned. I've got my backpack on, like, baseball hat, and I start seeing religious Jews.

CA Green: 53:53

And I'm, like, where is the twenty four hour synagogue? You know? Little did I know this is, like, relatively normal to happen because, like, people have these experiences later in life and, like, crazies come to this place, like, all the time.

Dane Shoemaker: 54:04

And also they have a twenty four hour synagogue. Yeah.

CA Green: 54:07

Yeah. So I burst in and it's, like, nuts. There's, like, tuna fish everywhere. There's vodka. They're having, like, what's called the forbidden.

CA Green: 54:15

It's, like, Hasidic gatherings. It was, like, a Hasidic holiday that day. So it happened to be that there was like a bunch of people and they're up late. And I'm like, the Jews are crazy. Like, what is going on?

CA Green: 54:26

And I I talked to somebody and I say, like, you got it all wrong. God doesn't want organized religion. He wants us to do, you know, peace, love, and whatever. Like, I was very hippie. You know?

CA Green: 54:35

Like, that was just just be a nice person. So I end up sitting down talking to this one guy, and I tell him I say, I'm on a quest for truth. How do I not go crazy or die? And he's told me a story about three rabbis who were granted access, about four rabbis, sorry, who were granted access into the the deep mystical secrets of God. And one rabbi dies, one rabbi goes crazy, one rabbi becomes a heretic, and the other guy walks in peace and leaves in peace.

CA Green: 55:00

I'm like, how do I become like him? So he said, if you wanna get closer to truth, if you wanna get closer to God, you gotta stop doing drugs. So I said, fine. I was stoned at the time, and he said, give me your weed. And I said, why?

CA Green: 55:12

You don't smoke. I'll give it to someone. It'll be my mitzvah. So gave my weed to somebody else, and I went cold I quit cold turkey, went thirteen months, you know, without smoking. I smoked a little bit since then, but at that point, I was like, I'll I'll be done.

CA Green: 55:24

The second thing he says, you gotta find your teacher and do everything he says. I'm like, what is this? Karate Kid? Like, what are you talking to mister Miyagi? Like, what do you say?

CA Green: 55:32

So I don't know what he's talking about. So a week later, it's, you know, I'm about to finish, like, working on this movie, and I had to be up early. It's my mother's birthday. I called her, like, 50 times to wish her a happy birthday. She doesn't answer.

CA Green: 55:48

It's a very rocky relationship with her at the time. And she calls me back overnight, like, two in the morning or whatever, her and her boyfriend, and they're just, like, cursing and screaming at me and, like, hanging up. And just, like, real, like, not nice things, like and it was really upsetting for me. So I'm, like, crying in bed. And as I'm sitting there, like, as I'm laying there in bed, the the Baba Chirabi, like, who passed away in 1994, appears in my room.

CA Green: 56:11

Like, just, like, melts into existence. And I'm like, what? So now I quit weed, you know, the week before, hadn't done acid in, like, a month, and I wasn't drunk. So I'm okay. Maybe I'm still sleeping.

CA Green: 56:24

Right? So I'm, like, shaking my head like, no. This this is not legit. So I look forward and on my wall is like a tapestry of, like, beach scenes, a bunch of circles, and the the scene turned into his face. And I was just like, this is too weird.

CA Green: 56:39

I gotta get out of here. So I get dressed, and I think, where could I go this twenty four hours? I'll go to that twenty four hour synagogue. So I go outside, and and he's standing on the corner in the snow. I squint my eyes and be like, classic movie moment disappears.

CA Green: 56:50

I go to the twenty four hour synagogue, and first guy I see is like, yeah, whatever. Like, people have, you know, seen the Rebbe a bunch of times since he passed away. I'm like, what are you talking about? It's kinda felt crazy for a while. You

Dane Shoemaker: 57:05

know? Yeah. Yeah.

CA Green: 57:06

So when that happened, you know, the the the timeline, just so we're we're following here, I was working on Daredevil in the winter. I went to, you know, Israel in January, came back and worked, you know, for a couple weeks on that film, like, let's say around February. And then when that happened, those those moments, I was like, I think there's a God. I think this, like, this rabbi guy, you know, the Lubavitcher Rebbe is like, something's happened. I had some sort of vision whether I was sleeping or not.

CA Green: 57:38

And I think I have to go full force into this.

Dane Shoemaker: 57:41

Yeah.

CA Green: 57:41

So I, like, quit the movies. Like I just said, I'm done working on it. I I got a call from another location manager to work on another show. I just told him, like, no. Thank you.

CA Green: 57:52

And once you kinda do that, like, no one's gonna call you again. So I didn't really get any calls after that. And I just went and met up with that rabbi that the the guy on the plane told me to get ahold of, and I saw, a lot of things that I was missing in my life at the time. I saw happiness. I saw open door policy.

CA Green: 58:10

I saw family. I saw, you know, there was this rabbi with, like, I think at that time he had, you know, I don't know, eight or nine kids. Thank God he's got, like, 12 now, 13, you know. And I just saw, like, a solid family base functional living. I saw, like, he was the nicest guy possible.

CA Green: 58:28

Like, I was a total stranger. He just opened his door. I was invited for coffee. I was invited for meals. I was invited for classes.

CA Green: 58:34

I was it was just like it was exactly what I needed at that time, and it was exactly what I didn't have growing up. You know, I didn't have, like, a strong family unit. I didn't have those strong family values, and it really didn't have any values. I think, like, as a typical kind of American kid, like, you know, at least for us, like, for for me and my siblings, our parents were like, okay. Be a good person.

CA Green: 58:55

Don't hurt anyone. But, like, you're kind of making it up. You're you're there's nothing that's like Right. No traditions. Even, you know, maybe some random family or just, but there's nothing that's like your Judaism's thousands and thousands of years old.

CA Green: 59:05

You know? So you have, like, okay. We can point back and back and back. You know? So I'm seeing, like, a, like, a real substantial, you know, something to hold on to feeling lost.

CA Green: 59:17

So it was very obvious for me to, like, go full force into that. And like I said, intense personality is like, okay. I'm done with the movies. I wasn't happy doing it. Let me do this this, like, Jewish thing.

CA Green: 59:27

Let me really go full into that. So I got a job working for a kosher candy company doing deliveries, driving a truck. And, you know, for the next nine months in 02/2016, I saw all the Jewish neighborhoods in the Tri State area really, like the big ones, you know, Flatbush, Williamsburg, Crown Heights, Lakewood, Muncie. Like, I don't know if you know these places. These are, like, these are the big places of of of of Judaism in in New York.

CA Green: 59:53

So I saw this like whole subculture of people that were way different, had a special dress, had special food, and I love subcultures. I mean, that was like why I love movies a lot. Like, I love, like, being part of something that felt like fringe on society. You know, I smoked cigarettes for a long time because some culture, like, what kind do you smoke? And, like, you're gonna step out and be separate from the group.

CA Green: 01:00:14

Like, I love anything like that. So when I saw there was, like, this kind of seething, like, not seething. It's, like, vibrant, you know Yeah. Sub community. I was like, this is great.

CA Green: 01:00:26

So really went full force in that. And then after, like, nine months of driving a truck and learning a lot about Judaism, trying to learn Hebrew, I felt like, now what? You know, I quit smoking. I hadn't, you know, taken any acid anymore. Like, I was just, like, driving a truck, like, living in Brooklyn.

CA Green: 01:00:43

What am I doing? So the rabbi that I got close with was like, oh, I thought you'd go to yeshiva by now. So that's rabbinical college in New Jersey. Yeshiva is a is a men's learning, you know, center. So a lot of boys, you know, when they're in their early twenties, that's where they go.

CA Green: 01:00:58

And so there's a place in New Jersey called the rabbinical college that, you know, people who become religious later in life or wanna explore more about Judaism in a, you know, environment like that, they can go there. So I wanted to go to Israel. There was, another place in Jerusalem that I wanted to go to, but I had no money. This is like a typical story, you know, of my my early twenties. So had no money.

CA Green: 01:01:18

And my rabbi was like, if you go to Jerusalem, I think you're just gonna get into trouble, like, hang out at the market. Like, you're not gonna learn. Why don't you go to New Jersey? If you don't like it, come back. We'll figure something out.

CA Green: 01:01:28

So I go to New Jersey and, like, going from, like, kind of the growth streets of Brooklyn to, like I never thought I'd say this, like, beautiful New Jersey. You know, like, growing up, I was like, New Jersey, like, you know, from all the movies that I watched, it was like the orbit of of Right. Right. Right. But it's actually gorgeous.

CA Green: 01:01:42

It's very green. Yeah. Yeah. In the suburbs.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:01:44

You know? Yeah.

CA Green: 01:01:45

It's a very beautiful place. So go to, you know, Morris Town, New Jersey, middle of nowhere. And I realized after two weeks of being in this, Yeshiva, there's no way I could go back to Brooklyn. So I ended up staying for two years. And in those two years, I really just, like, transformed who I was.

CA Green: 01:02:00

You know, we used to make jokes about it being like a cult. Right? Like, you kinda change your outfit. You start we start wearing black and white, like, the religious shoes. You change your name.

CA Green: 01:02:08

I started going by my Hebrew name, but we're eating a lot of carbs because it's just the cheapest food. So, like, just like a cult. You know? Obviously, a joke because none of us are trying to, you know, kill ourselves at the end. So, in those two years, what what happened was because I was diving so far into religion, into Judaism, into this, like, kind of new life, really, like a side set to what I thought I was doing with my life

Dane Shoemaker: 01:02:34

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:02:34

I stopped doing anything production related. And I'd, like I said, quit the movies, and I just kept thinking, like, what am I supposed to do now? First of all, now I have different, like, values. There's different rules. Like, you know, supposed to be a little bit more modest.

CA Green: 01:02:46

So, like, I used to when I used to work on set, like, see people, you know, wearing whatever, you know, or changing and, like, you know, I I was working very inappropriate, let's say, venues or even, you know, now there's there's Shabbos, like I mentioned before. So when I worked on Dender, well, how could I possibly no way. You can't. You gotta you have to work Friday nights, Saturdays. You know, I need to be available all the time, and I saw now there's Jewish holidays or there's Shabbos, like, things that so I couldn't really wrap my head around how could I do production and be religious.

CA Green: 01:03:18

And so for those for those two years in in that yeshiva, I just said, I guess I'm not doing production anymore. Now I have a a film reel tattoo around my bicep. I have five tattoos. So that's that's one of them. And so for me, that's like, I got it so it's in my blood.

CA Green: 01:03:33

Like, film is, like, such a love that I didn't wanna ever forget it. But now, first of all, becoming a religious Jew, we're, like, you're not supposed to have tattoos. You're not allowed to get tattoos. And and I have this it was really confusing for me, and it was really like a like a, self negation. Like, I I I really, like, pushed down who I was in order to try to become this other person that I thought I should try to be.

CA Green: 01:03:56

And, you know, looking back, like, I think I needed to do it in order to, like, just, you know, learn as much as I possibly could and, like, get the the foundation of living, like, a religious lifestyle and and really, like, going full force into that. But I really think I, like, personally, like, kinda suffered, but, like, felt like I I gave up a lot of myself, like, during that time and pushed it away to try to be something else. So after those two years, I got married, and my my wife now, she was applying for PhD programs, and so she got into Emory University in Atlanta.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:04:31

Okay. So

CA Green: 01:04:31

I told her, like, wherever you get in is where we'll go. So we moved to Atlanta, and I actually ended up working at one of these Jewish outreach centers that I mentioned before as a Chabad house. I ended up working at one of these Jewish outreach centers at a Chabad house as a rabbi. Mhmm. So I started going by Rabbi Green, which, like, I didn't have rabbinical certification, but I was I was the closest thing to the you know, most people who come in don't know anything or they know very little.

CA Green: 01:04:55

And so I spent those two years in the yeshiva and really learned a lot about, you know, how to live like a Jew, how to, you know, just answer questions, hold meals

Dane Shoemaker: 01:05:04

help people.

CA Green: 01:05:04

Yeah. Help people and and connect them to their heritage. You know? You not I'm like I don't wanna put down anybody, but, like, we weren't missionaries. Like, wasn't trying to make anybody religious.

CA Green: 01:05:14

Wasn't trying to, like, force anything down. Just like if people are interested, happy to answer questions, be a resource. Like, we used to host people Friday night meals, Saturday meals. Like, just it's a fun thing for them to do, hang out with like minded people and just, like, you know, learn more about, like, what does it mean to be Jewish. Like like I said, as a kind of a typical American kid, I don't think we we didn't really grow up with knowing what it meant.

CA Green: 01:05:37

What does it mean to be Jewish? What are the customs? What is you know, like myself didn't have strong, you know, customs and traditions. So, like, there are things that you can connect to. You can have a little bit of that structure in your life.

CA Green: 01:05:48

So did that for about two years and and realized at the end of twenty nineteen, I was at a for bringing it, like I mentioned, the Hasidic gathering. I was with a friend and, you know, it's a slight slight you know, not super older, but it's slightly older than us. And, you know, we were talking about me getting back into production. And I I realized I was kind of unhappy, like, working at this Chabad house, like, being a rabbi. Like, first of all, huge identity crisis, like, not a rabbi.

CA Green: 01:06:16

And, you know, now all of a sudden I'm, like, the most religious person I know, you know, like, in this group, which is, like, doesn't make any sense. And I kind of realized, I gotta get back into production. Yeah. So, going into 2020, that was when I decided, like, let's do it. Let's get back into production.

CA Green: 01:06:32

As we all know, perfect time to get back into it. Right. So everything shuts down. The Chabad house that I was working at shut down, and I told the rabbi that I was working for, like, you know, I don't wanna do this anymore. I wanna move on.

CA Green: 01:06:46

And so we had to kinda decide, like, are we gonna stay in Atlanta or, like, do we move? Atlanta was cool. I I didn't really know too many people in the industry there. You know, as we know, like, Atlanta was kind of becoming and is, like, a pretty hot spot. Yeah.

CA Green: 01:07:00

Big fire. But I we wanted to live in a Jewish neighborhood, and the neighborhoods there, like, weren't so attractive to us. So I said to my wife, let's move back to Morristown. So she got, like you know, she cried for, like, a day because she kind of liked Atlanta, but her program went remote. And she's actually from New Jersey, so her parents are there.

CA Green: 01:07:18

You know, her mother's in South Jersey. Her father's just outside of Philadelphia. And so she realized it's a good idea. So we moved out to New Jersey, and I had a friend who I learned with in the rabbinical college who was a motion designer. So, I reached out to him and was like, hey.

CA Green: 01:07:32

I wanna get back into production. Everything shut down. I wanna make some cool stuff. So I found a a client, like, a rabbi actually here in Philly who was trying to publicize a book that, you know, was written about the Rebbe and about, basically, he spoke about, you know, how do we address incarceration issue? How do we address education issue?

CA Green: 01:07:52

How do we address these different, like, issues that he would, like, wanted to say. How can we make society better and, like, using the Torah as, like, a guiding Okay. Post. So this book had all these topics in it, and he wanted to talk about each of these topics, like, in instituting a moment of silence in public schools, not as a religious concept, but just as, like, an awareness concept. Like, have the kids just be silent from, you know, a minute.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:08:17

Reflect in.

CA Green: 01:08:18

Yeah. Yeah. I think anyone can see the value of that. You know? So, that's what this book had, all these different things in it.

CA Green: 01:08:25

So we decided to take, you know, five different topics in the book and make these short, really trippy animated, shorts about them. Okay. So just like I mentioned before where I like to hire good people and give them creative freedom, that's what I do with my motion design friend. So I said, I'm gonna write the script. I'm gonna talk to the client.

CA Green: 01:08:41

I'm gonna work with the voice over guy. Whatever visuals you wanna do, I'll let's just I wanna be on the same page as you, but you can come up with whatever you want based off of what I write. So that's what we did. He had, like, a particular style he wanted to start, you know, working on and doing, and it was really, like, you know, copy paste, like, you know, visuals, like, cut on top of each other, like, cutouts of people and chairs and geometrical shapes and all it is it really I think it defined his style now. Like, I think that was really the start of what he was trying to do, and and he was, like, super cool.

CA Green: 01:09:13

Like, it was just like, oh, wow. I'm finally, like, you know, gonna mold both of these worlds together. Like, you know, take the duties of what I've been, like, so involved with and then bring back a little of my my producing stuff. And when I told the rabbi that I worked with that I wanna get back into production, he was kinda shocked at first. And then he saw this first short that I made, and it was, like, a minute and a half.

CA Green: 01:09:34

And it was it's, like, really good. I mean, obviously, I tried to make really good stuff. You know? So he was just like, wow. Like, this is much better than I thought.

CA Green: 01:09:41

Like, he thought, what are you gonna you know, gonna go make films? There's only gonna make, videos? And it was, like, poignant. It it told the idea clearly. It was visually appealing.

CA Green: 01:09:49

It was it was all the stuff. It was really, really cool. So we did five of those that year since 2020. And, and then that was when, you know, behind the beard media, I would say, was born, but under a different name. You know?

CA Green: 01:10:01

So then I called it Greencut, and and and I didn't really like that name for a while. My last name is Green. Greencut. Oh, like yeah. It works.

CA Green: 01:10:09

It works. So I had that for a couple years and, you know, just kinda, like, connecting with different Jewish organizations because that was my network at the time. Yeah. And, you know, figuring out where do I fit in there? Like, am I gonna just produce?

CA Green: 01:10:22

Am I gonna write? Am I gonna direct? Am I gonna shoot? Am I gonna edit? Like, you know, I wasn't, excuse me, I wasn't having conversations with people for, you know, $20.30, $40,000 jobs.

CA Green: 01:10:33

I was having conversations about a thousand, 2,000, 3 thousand dollar jobs and trying to figure out, like, if I hire someone else, how do I make money with it? Like, really, like, all of a sudden realizing, like, oh, like, I I'm I'm becoming a business owner, and I need to figure out how to, like, make money from this. I suppose it's just like a interested film kid, like, freelancing on different sets. So from, like, 2020 to 2023, I was, like, working, you know, odd jobs, getting unemployment from from Georgia because of of, you know, the Havana shutting down and, you know, producing like, I produced a thirty minute short film about the high holidays. That was more documentary style, but that was like I had a real a lot of big names in the Jewish world involved in that in that film.

CA Green: 01:11:17

I don't think your audience will know, but, you know, Rabbi Shays Taub, Avram Fried, Yankee Lover. These are, like, you know, two of those guys, huge singers. One guy's, like, a, like, world renowned speaker and author. And that was, like, really big for for me to, like, have these guys in the film. And it was, like, during COVID.

CA Green: 01:11:33

So it was used as, like, you know, during the high holidays, if you couldn't come to the to the synagogue, you could watch this film. And it was a musical accompaniment. We, like, hired violinists and keyboardists, and they were singing. It was really beautiful production. But I was like, is this what I wanna do?

CA Green: 01:11:49

I wanna just do Jewish things. Like, you know, I wasn't sure exactly, like, where I wanted to fit in. So over those those years, like I said, 2020 to to '23 was, am I gonna get a job, like, working as a producer or maybe as a writer or something, or am I gonna keep building my own thing? And at the same time, like, my family is starting to grow. So we had, you know, my first son when we were living in Atlanta, and then we moved to New Jersey.

CA Green: 01:12:14

My daughter was born in 2021, and then hold on a sec.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:12:17

I feel like the last four years have been like a blur. Yeah.

CA Green: 01:12:20

You know

Dane Shoemaker: 01:12:20

what I mean? You're like like, it's still we're all still living in, like, March 2020.

CA Green: 01:12:23

Twenty '20 years. Yeah. That's so much. So my son was born in 2019, then my daughter was born in 2022, then I have another son that was born in 2023. Right?

CA Green: 01:12:31

Yeah. Because my because I've got birthdays in March and a birthday in July. So I got my son turning six, my daughter's turning three, and then my other son's gonna turn two this July. So that's there we go. Yeah.

CA Green: 01:12:42

So, you know, figuring out I gotta now support my family. It's not just me, like, living with, like, you know, ramen noodles and peanut butter. There's, like, other people I need to try to figure out. Now my wife was also getting a stipend for her PhD, so I didn't feel like I had all this pressure to have to make it work. I could, like, hobble around and, like, figure out, like Yeah.

CA Green: 01:13:00

A project here, a project there. And so along the way, like, have the opportunity to, like, you know, write for for different companies. Like, I wrote some course materials. I wrote some copywriting stuff. I wrote, like, emails, and I wrote newsletters.

CA Green: 01:13:12

And I was just, like, kinda bouncing around, like, you know, figuring out where do I fit in. So around 2021, I think, I connected with, Motion Gross of Reset locations. He's like a location, broker for film sets. So he actually brokered the deal for a severance in Holmdale at Bell Works. So So they shot, you know, season one, season two, outside and inside at Bell Works.

CA Green: 01:13:37

And so he wanted to, like, have more emails and he wanted to have a newsletter. And so he was, like, one of the best clients I ever had. Super low maintenance, paid me, like, pretty, you know, well for writing, and he just, like we just, you know, I helped him with his website with copy, and it was like a like a bridge between me and, like, the industry again. You know?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:13:55

Yeah. Nice.

CA Green: 01:13:56

And so I I did that. I think I kind of rested on my laurels of, like, having him as a client. Like, I wasn't, like, as hungry to, like, have to find other videos. But if something came by, I would I would, you know, take it on. And it was mostly mostly writing because I didn't wanna I didn't wanna go out and produce and, like, get, you know, engulfed in in that world.

CA Green: 01:14:14

So I wrote, you know, scripts for a a marketing company in Canada. You know, they had a few, like, one short about, MK Kosher, which is like a famous Kosher company. And so we had to kind of, like, you know, explain your typical explainer video, like, what is MK Kosher? How did they get their kosher meat? Why does it cost so much?

CA Green: 01:14:34

Like, all these, like, questions that people had.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:14:35

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:14:36

So, like, wrote that, worked with my motion design friend again. He had already, you know, been on the project for a while, and I came in a little bit after. And then just saw, like, okay. Writing's cool, but, like, I kinda miss the producing stuff. So, along that that way, though, I saw a really cool job opportunity to work for a company called Rite of Passage.

CA Green: 01:14:54

And they were like an online writing community, and they were teaching people how to write and they were looking for a production writer. And the job description was like me in a nutshell. It was like having production experience, loving writing, you know, wanting to write really cool things. I was like, okay. Sign me up.

CA Green: 01:15:10

So I had a four digit applicants. I was, you know, selected to work at this company. It was totally remote, and it was like, woah. Did I really just get, like, a pretty sweet gig? It was like 80 k, you know, four zero one k, health insurance.

CA Green: 01:15:22

It was like, this is great. You know? The thing with that job is it was like a moving target. It's like every time I work on something, they'd be like, no. We wanna work on this, and now we wanna focus on that.

CA Green: 01:15:32

And I told them at the beginning, like, talking ahead, like, isn't really, like, my strong suit. Like, I you know, a little bit more creative. And so, like, just just doing straight dialogue for the whole time is, like, it it it's not what I'm what I'm great at.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:15:45

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:15:46

So we kinda shifted into doing more of those videos.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:15:49

And

CA Green: 01:15:49

so I wasn't really, like, doing what they wanted, and I I, you know, they the the the CEO was like, well, let's focus on this and focus on that. And and I and I couldn't keep up with, like, the changes. I'd work on something, and like I said, it could take me three minutes or three days. And so, like, they wanted to see, let's say, work every day. So I would work on something, send it to them, get feedback, and I it wasn't really conducive for, like, my way of working.

CA Green: 01:16:12

Like, if you have to send something that's, like, you know, as we say, a media res. Right? Like, it wasn't good for, like, getting feedback on a half finished or a half assed idea. You know? Yep.

CA Green: 01:16:22

So after, like, a couple of months, I just, like, really felt like it wasn't working. Had a lot of anxiety about, like, working with them. And, and then at the same time, they actually let me go. And, you know, kinda, last minute, like, no warning, just, like, had a meeting and was like, hey. It's not working out.

CA Green: 01:16:41

You know, we're giving you whatever, separate package, etcetera. What's interesting is, like, maybe the specifics we'll we'll take out. I'm not sure Yeah. In terms of certain things, but I'm happy to tell you. Sure.

CA Green: 01:16:54

So my manager at the time, like, he was on leave. So, like, while so I never worked with, like, direct reports and the manager, all these things. So I had a manager, and he was on leave. And so I was I was I was reporting to the COO, and so he didn't really know how production worked. So I, like, was kind of my own, like, thing for, like, two months.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:17:14

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:17:15

And they fired me while my manager was gone. So my manager came back and then found out I had been fired. He wasn't even part of that decision. You know? Yeah.

CA Green: 01:17:22

So I was like yeah. So whatever. So from from working at at Rite of Passage, I realized, like, I don't wanna be in that situation again. Like, I don't wanna work for somebody and just get fired, you know, like, for kind of something that was, like, out of my control, and, like, kind of double down. Like, okay.

CA Green: 01:17:40

Like, let's get this production company back. Like, let's make sure we're trying to, like, do something really, like, sustainable and, like, make it make sense. That was the end of twenty twenty two. And and, you know, I got fired just a couple weeks before my third kid was born. So not great timing.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:17:56

Stressful. Yeah.

CA Green: 01:17:57

Yeah. Yeah. But also gave me the opportunity to be home more, like, while he was born. So, you know, with the severance, was able to take a couple months. You know, we didn't have to rush into anything.

CA Green: 01:18:06

So I was able to just, like, think about, like, what the next move was. And so the end of twenty two was, like, let's, like, fully dive back into it. And around that time, I had, like, a great shower idea of changing the company name to Behind the Beard Media. So that's, like, where that name came from and was, like, super obvious that that was, like, a much better name. I got the beard.

CA Green: 01:18:26

Like, it's just like and and and I kinda dissected, like, what does that name mean to me? It was really, like, uncovering the stories of of people that I'm gonna talk to to the businesses, to the, you know, service providers, and, like, not just say, like, the, you know, functions and the technical things that they're doing, but, like, what's the story behind your story? Like, what's, you know, behind Shoemaker films? What's behind you know? And that's, like, where the idea really, like, became and cemented and, like, made sense for me.

CA Green: 01:18:54

So November 23 was, like, trying to take it more serious. Got you know, I worked with two different coaches. I was doing a lot more cold outreach, like, you know, reaching out to you. And I worked on, you know, handful of projects. That's when I did the, the business coach one, told his story, and worked on a, eighteen minute documentary for another Jewish organization called, GEM, which is for Jewish educational media.

CA Green: 01:19:17

And that was they're, like, one of the biggest organizations in the in the Jewish world. And so working on them on that project was, like, a huge, like, milestone for me, and, like, just really great learning experience.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:19:30

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:19:31

And and that that video, it's it's a substantial video. You know, like, it's an eighteen minute I'm not gonna send that to somebody in an email. Right? So that's just like more of a learning experience. It was like, okay.

CA Green: 01:19:43

Can I tell this story that's a little bit longer? It's very educational. Like, it's very informational. There's a lot of information about it there. And it was like

Dane Shoemaker: 01:19:51

I want you to tell you, it's almost like a mass like master class.

CA Green: 01:19:54

Yeah. I was just You looked at it a little bit?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:19:56

I did. A little bit.

CA Green: 01:19:57

Oh, a couple of yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:19:58

First couple of minutes. Yeah. But it's very well done.

CA Green: 01:20:00

Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:20:01

It feels like, you know, master class, like, it feels like you're sucked in. Like, I kinda wanna learn now. What Can I tell It's like entertainment a little bit almost?

CA Green: 01:20:09

We went I mean, I'm sure a lot of people try to copy master class. That was our inspiration.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:20:14

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:20:14

Okay. When I was talking to Jim, I said, I wanna make it a master class. So we, like, we even shot an intro that didn't make it in the final cut, but, like, same idea where you have the person kinda walk in and you show the route. Like, we did all that stuff. Yeah.

CA Green: 01:20:27

I was like, I have the table. It's gotta be the guy learned. It's like really sitting down and and doing and it's gonna be it's supposed to be episodic. But when

Dane Shoemaker: 01:20:35

the pool

CA Green: 01:20:35

is maybe breaking up that eighteen minute thing into, like, three minute chunks and kind of releasing those episodes. But that I appreciate you making the connection there because that was what we were going through.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:20:44

Yeah. It was pretty obvious.

CA Green: 01:20:45

Yeah. Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:20:46

Just inspired by it.

CA Green: 01:20:47

Right. Right. Yeah. And again, like, I I hired a really talented DP, from Florida named Zatar Wolf and, like, highly recommend her if you're ever in Florida and need somebody to connect to. She is fantastic, just, like, really, like, lit it beautifully.

CA Green: 01:21:01

And to kinda tie it, you know, full circle here, that was the the film that I was on where she asked me about, like, the lighting and the curtain and the planet. I was, like, couldn't care less. I just wanted to make sure, like, this guy on camera, like, felt comfortable and could speak. You know, we had a teleprompter, but I wanted to make it sound not like he was reading. You know?

CA Green: 01:21:18

So I was really working with him on that and just, like, totally realized, like, you know, when I saw that she was, you know, more impressed that I had, like, prepared a lot of snacks of craft services and, like, made sure I got, like, a good lunch, and she was happy about that. I saw, like I like that she's happy that she could focus on work as opposed to, like, caring about the shade of the curtain, you know.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:21:38

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:21:39

That was when I really, like, noticed, like, producing is, like, where it's at for me. Yeah. And then since then, it's really just been, like, you know, we we moved to Philadelphia last summer. So, you know, the summer of twenty twenty four, and was just like, okay. New place, new people, new market, and really just trying to, like, connect with different businesses here.

CA Green: 01:21:59

And and and kind of really what what I would love to do is just branch out of the Jewish world and work with other businesses and work with other service providers because I don't think that, you know, I'm limited in terms of, like, the community that I'm a part of. And I think that the skills that I have, like, are obviously applicable to, like, everybody and to every business and stuff, which is, you know, when I'm talking to everybody, I'm not really talking to anyone. So it's more like what I what I love is, like, mission driven, like, whether it's, you know, nonprofits that, like, have a a strong you know, they're trying to change the world. They're trying to save the whales. Whatever it is, like, you know, stuff like that, I really love because that to me is, like, super impactful, and I always wanna be, like, having that impact.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:22:42

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:22:42

But at the same time, like, a business that's, you know, selling a product that I can get behind, that's also mission driven. You know? Like, that's something that, like, oh, you're not just, like, selling a hot new gadget that's based off of something else. It's like, oh, this you know, I was talking to a jewelry company the other day. Like, jewelry, you're like, that's not really mission driven.

CA Green: 01:23:00

But the company was started, you know, because the owner's mother passed away, and it was, like, in memoriam in what's the word?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:23:07

In memorial.

CA Green: 01:23:07

In in memoriam of her mother. Okay. And, like, they're gonna release, like, a special, you know, necklace based. And, like, that, like, that means something. That's like There's a story

Dane Shoemaker: 01:23:15

behind it. Right?

CA Green: 01:23:16

So that's the thread. Right? That's that is like, if there's that story that I could see and what I'm seeing is like most businesses are like that. Mhmm. If they're if they're a little bit more serious, not if they're just trying to, like, make a buck.

CA Green: 01:23:28

Most people who start something and then go out on their own, there's a why. There's a big why. And you just gotta kind of uncover that. You gotta you gotta get behind that story, and then bring that to life the best way possible. You know?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:23:39

Yep. So I love that. Yeah. I mean, we've got your whole story. I mean, this is really fascinating.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:23:47

I mean, thank you for going in-depth on, you know, some of these originating moments that you had, you know, in birthright and on asset

CA Green: 01:23:57

and sharing

Dane Shoemaker: 01:23:57

some sharing some, you know, some really deep deep things. I appreciate it.

CA Green: 01:24:01

Yeah. For sure.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:24:03

You know, just, like, where you're at? Where's your business at today? I mean, well, you kinda just went over a lot of that.

CA Green: 01:24:09

Can you talk a little bit more I know you wanted to do, like, the maybe tactical trends or, like, what the plan is?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:24:15

Just, I mean, I think one thing that I've noticed is just kind of on a surface level, like, following you for a little bit. Like, I think you're really active on LinkedIn. I mean, you know, what about how are how are you going about looking for business? How are you promoting the business today?

CA Green: 01:24:27

Right. Things like that. Yeah. So, I am very active on LinkedIn. So, like, if, you know, if people wanna see what I'm up to there, that's, like, where I would say I mostly post.

CA Green: 01:24:38

Yeah. And the the way I, like, kind of approach, I guess, content, which is always evolving for me. I don't know about other people. I mean, like, we're we talk, you know, trends and stuff like that. It's just, like, I don't overthink it, like, too much.

CA Green: 01:24:51

I just kinda think, like, what would kind of be interesting? Like, what would be a little bit interesting? What would be, like, oh, I'm working on this and then share that? And I think that's that's changing for me a little bit now. I recently read a book called They Ask, You Answer by, I think it's Marcus, Sheridan.

CA Green: 01:25:08

Might have to fact check me on that or we could look it up. But, he he he had a a pool company, and he said that they, you know, found that by just answering the questions that people have about your business will be content marketing. That when somebody comes to you and, you know, just like a like, if we look at ourselves as the buyer and we come to a company, we wanna find out, like, what's this company about? What do they do? Why is that why are they different?

CA Green: 01:25:36

Not necessarily better, but, like, you know, what is a producer? What is a video? Like, how what goes into making a video? Like, we get asked these questions a lot. Like, why is it cost so much?

CA Green: 01:25:46

You know, things like that. And so, I realized, like, that is a is a shift that I'm gonna start making actually with content in terms of, like, answering these questions. And, you know, I noticed, like, a lot of places have it as, like, their FAQs and stuff like that, but I'm not talking about, like, five or 10 FAQs. Like, I think, like, there are so many questions that I could probably you and I could go back and forth that we get asked, like, on the regular, like and just answer all of those questions. And you you'll have a different answer than I'll have.

CA Green: 01:26:16

So it's not like, you know, if I do it and and you do it, like, we're, you know, gonna put out the same thing. Like, we'll have different answers. And by doing that, what we'll do is, you know, what what I found is that with with my business, I need to have a relationship with somebody. I need to have, like, a lot of trust, and and how do I accomplish that? It's by trying to show people, like, who I am before they even meet me.

CA Green: 01:26:38

You know, people need to know, oh, who like, who's CA? Like, what's his story? Like, where does he come from? Which is why I really went into depth in here because I feel like the more people know who I am, the more they'll trust me in telling their story. The more they'll trust me with a bigger budget because it's not about me, like, oh, I just wanna, like, get rich off of this one client, but I wanna tell the best possible story.

CA Green: 01:27:00

And how do we do that? Sometimes you could do things on your phone, and then you don't need a huge budget. Other times, you need to have, you know, a ten, fifteen person crew, and you need sound, lighting, actors, location rentals, whatever it is. Like, whatever the story kind of entails. You know?

CA Green: 01:27:14

So I think that by kind of just preempting what do people wanna know from me because I've gotten asked these questions like, what's your story? What's your background? Who are you? I get asked all the time, what do you do? Like, what's a video producer?

CA Green: 01:27:28

You know? Like, people think it means, you know, a content editor. People think it means, you know You're a cameraman. Yeah. Like a cameraman.

CA Green: 01:27:37

Like, you could just I got a call in December, you know, can you come film this wedding? And I'm just like, no. Like, I mean, what I did though, as a side note, as a producer, they called me, said, you know, can you come film this wedding? I got connected similar to you. I cold called, New Pace Productions here in town, and they do weddings.

CA Green: 01:27:58

So I called them and said, are you available on this in the state to do, like, a a charity wedding? So, unfortunately, they weren't available, but I went and then found someone else who's, like, a younger, you know, DP who's, like, looking to do stuff, work, you know, on different projects. I said, I have a free thing. I'm happy to pay you for another project, but do you wanna, like, just go help the help out this this wedding? You know?

CA Green: 01:28:20

Yeah. No problem. He went and the and the they were so they were floored that somebody came and did a free, you know, video. It wasn't crazy. I didn't take advantage of the of the video guy.

CA Green: 01:28:30

He shot it. He gave the raw footage. He made, like, a one minute recap, and it was like, relax. There was no timeline. There was no pressure.

CA Green: 01:28:38

It was you know, he was cool with doing it. And so, I I I mean, I just wanted to, like, help them out. Right? Like, somebody asked to see if I could help. So in terms

Dane Shoemaker: 01:28:47

of were to ask what you do, I mean, that's essentially it. Right? You're connecting people. You're you're organizing. Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:28:53

You're putting the the dots together here Yeah. And putting together a project. Right. Even on a small scale like that, that's essentially what you're doing just on a bigger scale. Right?

CA Green: 01:29:00

Right. And I appreciate you noticing that because that that even sometimes I struggle with, like, explaining it to people because, like, I feel like people want, you know, button pushers. They want, you know, people let's say, especially if you're gonna spend, you know, upwards of $1,020,000 dollars, like, you wanna make sure that they're gonna, like, do the thing. Like, do you wanna make sure that you're gonna walk away with something that, like, you're very happy with? So, like, if you have to decide between, you know, CA who's not gonna be working the camera, who's not gonna be editing, who's not gonna be, you know, whatever it is, and somebody else who is gonna be doing all that stuff like the kind of one man band stuff, which is which is great because you know you're getting that thing by paying, let's say, even even probably less than what I would charge because I need to pay for myself and the crew member and the editor, whatever it is, even if it's a could be that I hire the one man man person to do everything.

CA Green: 01:29:53

Right? So it it really takes, I think, what we talked about at the beginning is, like, understanding the client, like, in a way that's like, listen. You could go with somebody cheaper. You could go with a or maybe there's nothing wrong with that. Right?

CA Green: 01:30:07

That is, like, makes a lot of sense for a lot of people. But I think what I bring to the table is is a little bit more, in-depth, you you know, listening, understanding, and then application of, like, saying, like, what makes the most sense for you here? You know, I'm not really of the mindset of, like, you know, the man with the hammer, everything's a nail. Right? It's kind of like I have an arsenal of different tools that, you know, I'm saying, like, maybe this one requires gorilla glue.

CA Green: 01:30:35

Maybe this one requires a staple gun, like, whatever it is. You know? And and and and that is the the value that I think that I bring to people. But I there's a you know another saying that you know the the shoemaker's kids don't have shoes. You must have heard this one

Dane Shoemaker: 01:30:51

all the time. Yeah.

CA Green: 01:30:54

Yeah. That shoemaker. Of course. Yeah

Dane Shoemaker: 01:30:56

of course.

CA Green: 01:30:56

So like with me it's the same idea. It's like okay like how do I how do I convey this sense of like I know what I'm doing and I've been down so many different paths of experience and and projects and and say to somebody I can do this for you if I haven't done it for, like, let's say behind the beard media. If I haven't done it for, you know, this client last year, super happy that I was able to get him to five x his investment with me, but I didn't do, like, a whole social media strategy. I didn't do a whole like, it was it was really just, like, that video worked. You know?

CA Green: 01:31:31

And and so can I promise that for somebody else? Not always. I have to be honest with people. I can't say, like, if I make a two and a half minute video about your story, you will five x your your investment. I don't know if that's true.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:31:45

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:31:45

You know? Like, I I know that what what works is telling an honest story, is telling people you know, this goes back to, like, David Ogilvy and, like, classic, you know, advertising guys. Tell the people what the product is. Tell the people what the service is. Tell them, like, what does it do?

CA Green: 01:32:03

You know, like, famously, you know, M and M's, like, the slogan, like, melts in your mouth, not in your hands. That's just what it does. You know? David Ogilvy's got another famous, you know, line like, the Rolls Royce is, like, the only thing or the the clock inside is louder than the engine. Well, how did he get that information?

CA Green: 01:32:21

Because he read hundreds of pages of of notes about Rolls Royce, and that's what, like, a mechanic said. You know? So it's so taking, like, that that and applying it to to whatever business it is, whatever service that people are providing, and trying to say, like, okay. What's what's the thing that you do? Who do you serve?

CA Green: 01:32:40

What can you how can you help them? And just telling the people that. And then just, like, let's be a little creative with that. You know, we we I we've mentioned a few times about, like, trends that I'm, like, following. And to be honest, on on one hand, I don't really follow so many trends because I think they they're just simply that.

CA Green: 01:32:57

I think it's just trends. I think it's that if I'm if I'm trying to constantly just do something that's, like, in at that particular moment, you might get a spike in engagement. You might get a spike in views on something that you're putting out, but I don't think that's gonna convince somebody to buy. I don't think it's gonna convince somebody to give. I don't think that's gonna convince somebody to do something.

CA Green: 01:33:14

I think that's gonna, you know, do something in terms of analytics for, like, getting traffic, which is part of the game as well. But to me, that's not that's not usually the call to action that I work with people on. I want people to, like, either connect with the business owner that I'm working with or connect with the business or connect with the nonprofit and to do something, to, like, become part of that organization or to hire the person. And, you know, when you're doing something that's, like, just chasing the trend, I I think you're missing that aspect. I think you're missing the whole connection aspect, which I think, you know, if we were to if I were to analyze my whole story and, like, you know, the reason why I went into into all depth about it was, like, I I think I bring, like, who I am to the to every project and to every conversation and to, you know, every interaction, and it it's about connection.

CA Green: 01:34:01

It's about community. It's about a sense of belonging. Like, those are those are, like, deep based desires that we want as human beings. So how do we apply that to x y business? How do we apply that to AV nonprofit?

CA Green: 01:34:16

How do we what are those things that are universal that we can say, this is what we're providing and it answers this. And it it it helps you, you know, feel like a better human. It helps you feel like a better, you know, father. It helps you feel like whatever whatever it is that and, of course, not in a in a sleazy lying way. If it actually does that, can we just, like, build it up a little bit?

CA Green: 01:34:40

Mhmm. You know, I was talking to another nonprofit the other day, and it was you know, it's for, it's, you know, it's for, like, a particular demographic, and it's about, you know, people who are supporting that demographic and, like, investors and master minds and, like, all these resources and stuff. It's very obvious that, like, you could say you're alone on this journey. We're here to be your community. Yeah.

CA Green: 01:35:02

And and then okay. That's the basic idea. So how do you make that more interesting? How do you make that, you know, into fifteen second spot, thirty second spot, ninety second spot, three minute spot? Like, you kinda take, like, all of that, and then you see, like, this is our message.

CA Green: 01:35:15

This is our our our connection, and then kinda weave that through everything. You know? So I I try to approach projects in a way that's like we have, like, the the hero video. Let's say that's gonna be one to three minutes, somewhere around there. Mhmm.

CA Green: 01:35:31

And then on that day, can we also get five, ten, 30 shorts as well? Can we also plan on, like, you know, if we're shooting in this room, let's shoot that way. Let's shoot that way. Let's shoot that way and get visual variety. I don't think I'm reinventing the wheel there.

CA Green: 01:35:46

I think it's just

Dane Shoemaker: 01:35:46

Yeah.

CA Green: 01:35:47

You know, being efficient and utilizing, like, the time, the equipment, the people, like, everybody who's there and just saying, like, can we get more than one asset out of this? You know? So I talk about that on LinkedIn. I talk about, like, you know, content systems, but the all these things have become buzzwords, you know, but it's it's, you know, it it's just can we get, you know, multiple assets from one shoot day, two shoot days, whatever it is? And then can we put those out in the world?

CA Green: 01:36:14

You know? I I saw another post the other day. Because I'm I'm also on the same train of, like, not scheduling months of content. Like, I try not to do, like I don't I'll schedule anything personally. I think maybe I schedule an email here and there in case I wanted to go on a certain day or time.

CA Green: 01:36:27

Yeah. But I don't schedule content really. And I think that scheduling content is is actually, I think, not a great idea because part of what we're doing on social media is being social. So if you're just posting a scheduled post, you then you're gonna post a scheduled comment that you're missing out on the whole, like, interaction that can happen there.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:36:47

Exactly.

CA Green: 01:36:48

So when you post something, you need to see, does anyone respond? Does anyone say anything? Does is there someone you can respond to? Is there someone that is there a comment that you can make on somebody else's thing? And so it's a little bit more of an engaging experience.

CA Green: 01:37:01

Now, you know, another trend that is is is happening, I'm noticing that, again, is not like it it actually supports what I'm saying. Lately, what I've noticed with, like, the LinkedIn algorithm, not like an algorithm, you know, freak or pro or whatever, but, like Right. What I've seen lately is is LinkedIn is actually showing me things that are not posted right now. I'm seeing things that are posted twenty hours ago, three days ago, two weeks ago. Yeah.

CA Green: 01:37:27

Right. Why? And why is that happening? Have you thought about it? So I think it's happening.

CA Green: 01:37:32

You got an idea. What is it? I know it's happening. Because LinkedIn is valuing quality over quantity. That LinkedIn is gonna start showing you things that are actually valuable, that people were engaging with, that people were actually commenting with, and they're showing you that.

CA Green: 01:37:48

So that means that it doesn't matter about posting, like, a ton. It doesn't matter about posting, like, every single three times a day. You know? Yeah. That's that's Russian roulette or not Russian roulette.

CA Green: 01:37:58

That's just roulette. But there

Dane Shoemaker: 01:37:59

but there's evergreen activity. Right?

CA Green: 01:38:02

Which is super important to have. Right? So that's where we come kinda come back to, like, the type of content that you need to be putting out there should be evergreen. Should if you have an idea, you know, if there is a trend that's going on, you know, something really lame like the ice bucket challenge or something, right, And your company or or you wanna do it, cool. But just don't that's not gonna be the thing that gets you, that gets you noticed, that gets a client.

CA Green: 01:38:28

That's, like, a cool thing that you wanna do. But you need to, like, be, you know, really filling up, like, what you're putting out there is something that people can go back and look at and say, well, they're doing research on you because as a as an informed consumer, right, people want to feel like they are making the decision to buy, that they're not feeling sold to, that they're not feeling like they don't have, excuse me, they don't have autonomy to pick something else or say no. Right? Like, they you know, another another big influence for me is, like, you know, Chris Voss with, like, the the hostage negotiators and everything. Oh, yeah.

CA Green: 01:39:04

Like, never split the difference. So, you know, I follow him on his channels as well. And, you know, he talks a lot about, like, making very clear that any client can say no at any point. Like, this isn't like trying to convince somebody to do something. It's just like we're working to, like, make sense of what you wanna do, and this is the best way we think we can do it.

CA Green: 01:39:26

Do you not like this idea? Is this a terrible idea? Like, is this you know? Like, how do you feel about that? You know, I saw another another big influence for me for for content is Christo and the future.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:39:37

Oh, %.

CA Green: 01:39:38

Yeah. So I just saw something the other day, which I thought was really great, and I'd love to to share it here. It's like, let's say you're on a call with a client, and you're talking to them about, like, it sounds like, you know, this project is between this and this amount number, or or it sounds like it's a $20,000 job. Let's just figure it out. Sounds like it's about a $20,000 job.

CA Green: 01:39:55

Does this sound like something, you know, you'd wanna pay for? Now that goes against Chris Voss' think about asking a yes question like that. But you want to just have the client be on the same page of, like, is this something that they're they're accounting for? Is this something that they have the money for? Is this something that they're budgeting for?

CA Green: 01:40:11

And so in this role playing game, he was doing the guy who gets asked that question. He says, oh, I have to go and speak, you know, to another member. And Christo is like, great. Why don't we pause the conversation? You go talk to that person and go back to me because I would hate to send you a proposal that you don't want.

CA Green: 01:40:28

And that was, like, huge for me. It was, like, realizing, like, the more conversations I can have with people and the more, like, open we can be and I I don't wanna, like, surprise someone with a proposal. I don't wanna surprise somebody with a quote that's, like, I don't know, thousands of dollars more than what they were expecting or whatever. Like, just be transparent. Like, okay.

CA Green: 01:40:50

It sounds like it's between this number and this number. Does that sound like something that's in your budget? Or does that sound totally ridiculous if we wanna go Chris Voss way to get them, you know, to to to to to say no. No. No.

CA Green: 01:41:01

It sounds good. Right. So this is all the thing I'm talking about here is kind of is like this influences the content that I try to put out. Try to put out, like, what am I learning from other marketing people? What am I learning from the books that I'm reading, from the podcast I'm listening to, to the conversations I'm having?

CA Green: 01:41:18

And then, you know, sharing that with people. I also wanna make sure that I'm sharing, like, results that I get Mhmm. For my clients. You know? Like, again, these are all obvious things, but are we all doing it?

CA Green: 01:41:28

You know? Are we is it something that I'm thinking about, you know, as a as a framework when I'm approaching, like, you know, today, later when I when I go to post? Obviously, I wanna talk about this podcast. I'm gonna talk about, like, what I shared, what I learned from you, and, you know, I did a lot more talking so much for how much I learned from you. But, you

Dane Shoemaker: 01:41:44

know Well, hopefully, it was a good exercise to kinda talk through a lot of stuff. I'm certainly learning

CA Green: 01:41:49

a lot, and I appreciate

Dane Shoemaker: 01:41:50

it. Yeah.

CA Green: 01:41:50

Of course.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:41:50

Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, I think you have to you have to create a framework that builds trust by sharing what you're doing, sharing results from your clients, share your expertise. I heard something the other day. I was like, share as much value as you possibly can, charge for the execution of of what you do. Right?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:42:09

And so don't be afraid to overshare or, you know, gatekeep information. Right? Or, like, hey. You know, thinking that you have the the keys to the kingdom. Right?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:42:19

You know everything and they have to pay you and then you have to share it. I mean, most people, there's so much information out there today that there's an endless amount of information. Right? You can go to ChatGPT and figure out

CA Green: 01:42:30

how to do anything. And our deep c Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:42:32

Our deep that's the newest thing. Right? But most people don't have the patience, the skill, you know, the resources to actually execute on an idea. Right? Yeah.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:42:44

A a video, a business, whatever it is. Right?

CA Green: 01:42:48

So When I was when I was, excuse me,

Dane Shoemaker: 01:42:53

when I

CA Green: 01:42:53

was 19 in, college and I was working on that one company, I was talking to, one of these party planners. Like I said, there was a a a company that I said, you know, the y of your logo, it would be cool if you, like, dropped an olive into it. You made that y a martini glass. Okay. So I told them that, like, idea, like, in the elevator of, like, with this, you know, building or whatever we're going in.

CA Green: 01:43:13

And they were like, oh, interesting. Okay. Whatever. Didn't hire us for the video. Didn't hire us for the logo.

CA Green: 01:43:20

And the next video that they put out had that as their logo. Like, had the y come in as a martini glass and drop the olive right in. And as a 19 year old, I was like, oh my gosh. I can't believe they stole my idea, like, all these things. And I realized, like, if that's my, like, last greatest idea, this is not the business for me.

CA Green: 01:43:39

Like, this is not, you know so I just I learned, like, early on that, like, if I tell somebody something and they wanna steal it or they wanna use it, like, cool. Like, that's that's fine. You know, I, I, you know, and to a certain degree,

Dane Shoemaker: 01:43:52

right.

CA Green: 01:43:52

So I'm happy to get into this actually because, you know, I know Apple TV's, servant literally just had a trial and the other day because they were getting sued by somebody else's film that said Emily Shammelon, like, stole the story from her movie and made Oh, really? Servant. Yeah. So they they lost the trial. Like, they they want they had the jury were watched, like, the first four episodes and said, no way.

CA Green: 01:44:16

It's not the same. So I was thinking about this because so what I like to think that I that I I have, which is a little bit of an advantage, I think, is is God. Follow me here. So so I can do as much as I possibly can. I can work as much.

CA Green: 01:44:33

I can meet with as many people. I can send a thousand emails if I want. God decides how much I make. God decides who's gonna call me back, who's gonna say yes to my proposals, all these things. Now that that doesn't mean listen to what I said.

CA Green: 01:44:46

Right? Doesn't mean I can sit around and do nothing, and he's gonna send me money in the mail. I have to do something. Right? It it says in in the Torah, like, God will bless you in all that you do.

CA Green: 01:44:55

So we very clearly see that you have to do something. But does that mean that I need to send 10,000 emails in order to do it? It could be, but it could also be that I could send two emails, and that's the way that god wants to he wants I have no idea. So the way I look at it is that, like, if somebody takes my idea, if somebody takes something that I've shared and uses it, whether it works or it doesn't work, that's not up to me. Mhmm.

CA Green: 01:45:22

What's up to me is doing the work. Like you said, it's not gatekeeping the information. It's like sharing that with people and being open. Now is that a little naive? Is it a little bit, you know, maybe?

CA Green: 01:45:33

Yeah. But at the same time, once for it's something I work on every day. Like, it's not something that I'm just like, oh, I get it. I wake up in the morning, and I feel like, you know, I have to work on this concept every day. But it takes a lot of pressure off of me.

CA Green: 01:45:47

It kinda relieves me of going like, oh, like, it it if I don't do this, I'm gonna lose out on that. You know? If business isn't going so well, then it must be that I'm like, I should quit. I should do something. No.

CA Green: 01:46:01

It just means that, like, maybe I have everything I need right then. Maybe I'm gonna get a a blessing from a different direction, which has happened to us. You know? I can I have a like I mentioned, the years of kind of figuring out what I was doing, we had, you know, an inheritance come in from a family member that really helped us in a in a time? Now, god forbid, you should have people die so that way you could survive financially, but you never really know, like, where something's gonna come from.

CA Green: 01:46:27

This podcast, for example, this could be something great for both of us, or or it could just be a fun time that you and I are having. You know? Like, who knows? But it's not really up to us, like, what happens. You know?

CA Green: 01:46:38

Yeah. And we're just we just have to do in in Hebrew what's which is the word, which is, like, our effort. We just have to put forth the effort. But what's gonna be reaped from that, what we sow is not up to us. Right?

CA Green: 01:46:50

You could put you you put the seed in the ground, what's gonna come out of the ground? You there's no control there.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:46:56

Yeah. No. I love that concept. I mean, and I truly believe that. I think, you know, I think you could call it karma in a way.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:47:01

Right?

CA Green: 01:47:02

I mean, that

Dane Shoemaker: 01:47:02

and that's how I've that's how I've seen this podcast. Right? It's by basically giving you a platform to sit here and tell your story for two hours. I'm learning a little bit, but somewhere, someone's gonna watch this. Right?

Dane Shoemaker: 01:47:16

And or, you know, you you might be like, hey. I need a I need a a DP or a production company on this job, and you're gonna give me a call.

CA Green: 01:47:24

Right? I would love that.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:47:25

That's what's gonna happen. Right? Where I'm gonna be like, I need a producer. You know? I need a writer.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:47:30

Here we go. Right.

CA Green: 01:47:31

You

Dane Shoemaker: 01:47:31

know? So this is just a win win. So I think you just have to kinda that's been my philosophy since day one, especially with this business. It's just basically going overboard, if you will, and helping other people, and and then it's the universe will repay you.

CA Green: 01:47:46

So %.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:47:47

Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Cool. Well, yeah, I really appreciate the the conversation today.

CA Green: 01:47:52

I appreciate it. Well, I mean, I Yeah. You like you said, you gave me the opportunity and the platform and, like, I, I know I spoke a ton.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:48:00

No. It's good. I enjoyed it. You have a fascinating story and, really admire your business and your your business epic and everything. So Appreciate it.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:48:09

Yeah. Looking forward to hopefully

CA Green: 01:48:10

in the future, we'll work

Dane Shoemaker: 01:48:11

on a project together. So Absolutely. Let's do it. Yeah. Cool.

Dane Shoemaker: 01:48:14

Thanks, CA. Appreciate it. Appreciate it.

Intro: 01:48:17

Thanks for listening today. This is an original production by Shoemaker Films LLC. If you enjoyed today's content, please consider subscribing on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your content. Follow us on Instagram at shoemaker.films. If you're a business either interested in our services or you like to be a guest on the podcast, please get in touch by using the contact form on our website, shoemakerfilms.com.

Intro: 01:48:42

Thanks again, and we'll see you next time.