Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Kelley

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

I currently run Empire Builder Productions, a film/media production company, and 399 Partners, a real estate investment company, as well as advising a number of other companies. Empire Builder was started about 10 years ago with Hollywood actor John Ruby, and 399 Partners was started a few years ago right as I was moving back to the US from Europe.

Before the present era, I spent about half a decade in Los Angeles on the film front, producing “Solver” and working on various scripts, some of which are now in the process of being developed. The move to LA came in 2014, before which I’d been in NYC for a solid decade, primarily working in the investment side of commercial real estate and structured finance.

I graduated from Yale in 2002, and spend my first couple years living and working abroad in Italy and South Korea.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

None of this has been smooth. From essentially ages 18-34 I worked almost around the clock, whether for school, jobs, career-related, or creative-related projects. In NYC I’d sometimes get home from the office at 10:30pm on a Tuesday night and then write until midnight to try to advance the ball on creative projects, then get up at 6:00 to get to the gym.

No one lives a life exactly as they expect. You can try to control certain variables, but ultimately we are all quite small in the face of the scope of the universe. I caught pneumonia while in South Korea, for example, which quashed my Olympic dreams for Tae Kwon Do. My career in real estate struggled through the years of the financial crisis, which a lot of people seem to have forgotten. The stress of watching literally hundreds, if not thousands of people, walking out of office towers with their desk stuff in a box really lit a fire under you to keep your job – if you could.

I’ve dealt with crooked borrowers on large commercial loans, and on every film project I’ve worked on, someone has stolen money or cheated the project in some way. Every film shoot always is teetering on the edge of disaster: locations drop out at the last minute, actors get sick, lights fall on directors’ heads, props or vehicles suddenly don’t work for no obvious reason – you name it. All we can do in the face of these things is to control our own responses.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

We just completed the feature-length documentary THE ATLANTIS PUZZLE (2024) – a project that took nearly four years from the start of the original research to achieving global distribution. This tested my team and myself in unprecedented ways: from the difficulty of the subject matter (I re-read about half of Plato’s books in preparation), to filming in multiple countries during the pandemic.

The film is emblematic of my approach: I like to wrestle with extremely difficult, complex topics that hold an element of mystery. Whether in real estate, finance, or in film, I’ve been able through hard work and consistency to establish myself as a person who never loses their cool in the face of pressure, complexity, or setbacks. That’s something of which I’m proud. If someone has a difficult project or problem to solve in the investment world, the more complicated it is, the greater value I bring.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?

I’ve never been a fan of Los Angeles and recently relocated to New Mexico after some time in Europe. As a writer, you need space and quiet to concentrate. Go out and live, have adventures, gain life experience, but it’s also valuable to have a retreat where your focus is seldom interrupted.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://empirebuilderproductions.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empirebuilderproductions
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0D7ZCHMM6/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

Image Credits

Bryant Marcontel
Mysterious Universe
Empire Builder Productions
Anders Bolling