We were lucky to catch up with Chris Crofut recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chris, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest life changing risk I have taken was following my dream of acting and filmaking. As an actor I have been turned down by many agencies, that either didn’t have time for me, others didn’t feel I was worth the risk, and then there were those that said they didn’t want to because I wasn’t a big star and wasn’t worth their time. I have also been turned down for many roles that I felt I did an amazing job at the audition(s) just didn’t fit what they were looking for in the character and their vision for their project. I just took all of this in stride and decided to take a chance on myself since others didn’t want to take a chance on me. I eventually landed roles in multiple projects from short films, commercials, to features all throughout California until I met this local director Thomas Sahagun and I auditioned for a role in his first film/ project and the rest was history. We shared similar experiences in this business, being turned down and no one willing to take a chance on us let alone not even offering any helpful advice that would lead us in the right direction. We had to figure out it all on our own. We were both willing to take a chance on each other. Not only did I star in multiple projects of his (movies) but I also became his business partner, we created our own film production company “Elite Films Production” we are a fast growing company that is starting to catch a lot of attention. In the beginning we were at a point where we did not know where to begin. Every time we started a project something would happen and we would have to restart and restart, this was becoming a repeating pattern and almost defeating at times. We took a step back and thought what we could do to kind of get the ball rolling for us, we needed a project to put out there and get us started. So we created a short film “Your Last Call” and it ended up becoming a lot more popular than anticipated. From there we started creating other short films and fan films, “Halloween, Ghost Face, The Friend 1 and 2, The Break-Up, The Deal, we also started our own sports Podcast “After Everything” and eventually we were monetized and partnered with YouTube. We recently made our first feature film which has also recently been licensed by Amazon Prime and available on Apple TV. We have made over 10 films in a year and won awards for the “The Break-In and Your Last Call” We will continue to make films and grow our production company into something big. There are films that we have that are currently in production. Its only going up from here.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Chris Crofut, I am an actor, voice actor, fight director, stunt coordinator, writer, director, and producer. I was born and raised in San Jose, CA, and reared in Fresno, CA. I got into acting by first starting as a background in a music video and a couple of other films and commercials. Since then, I starred in multiple local commercials, short films, and feature films. I have starred in multiple commercials, short films, and feature films, including the award winning series Your Last Call (Elite Films Production) written and directed by Thomas Sahagun and the most recent Unknown Caller which will soon be available on Amazon Prime and Apple Tv. I am also on the Undeniable podcast, which is available to watch on YouTube: Elite Films Production and Spotify: Undeniable Podcast. I will soon be producing and directing my first feature film production begins early 2025 which is titled “Abandon all Hope” genre: (Horror)

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Honestly, for this question the best way I feel society can do to support artists and creatives in a thriving ecosystem is by liking and sharing their projects on social media as well as with friends, and family. Same with their content on YouTube by liking, sharing, and subscribing. Especially, if it’s an artist or creative you enjoy watching. In order for them to grow and create new things is by staying up to date with their YouTube page and the key thing is by sharing. You can never share something too much. Share, share, share. I feel as an artist and creative you get more support from complete strangers rather than family, friends, and those that are quote on quote closest to you. They will look at your stories on Instagram and Facebook but neither like, share, or even congratulate you on any of your successes or projects. Again the best way to support a rising artist is by sharing their content, liking, and subscribing. It definitely goes a very long way. It helps more than you think and doesn’t cost money.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I have had a lot of situations from my journey that can illustrate my resilience, so I will go with the most recent. It was a situation involved where we were creating one of our first films and the actors involved ended being very unprofessional, trying to change the script, as well as there was even a situation that two if the individuals involved with held footage to try and get money out of it. Mind you that even though they filmed with their camera, this was footage that was not legally theirs. We decided to just leave it alone and continue, by recasting and restarting the film. Then, something else happened with another camera person. We kept having issues that would cause us to continuously restart and restart. Then, we decided to go in a different direction. We needed to put something out to get us started and we ended up making a short film titled “Your Last Call”, we didn’t anticipate it to get as big as it did. This short film led us to where we are today. We never gave up and just kept it going no matter the situation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm13923944/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriscrofut?igsh=MmVlMjlkMTBhMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100036379538288&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-crofut-148200166?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@elitefilmsproduction?si=bLKr5-DxdhEoKEAc