We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Darryl Jones a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Darryl, 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?

I’ve been working as a film producer for the past 8 years, and I can tell you that the entire profession is a risk. If you’ve been paying attention for the last few years, you can imagine why: Covid, recessions, corporate consolidation, strikes, AI and even climate change, like the January 2025 firestorms in Los Angeles or Hurricane Helene here in NC. Freelancing has never been a stable path, but in my experience things have become even more uncertain than when I first started. I love film producing, but the film business is in an existential crisis. I feel this, as do many others, but paradoxically I’ve never had more hope about the future.

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?

After working for years as a landscape designer, I started over as a freelance videographer and editor in 2016. Since then, I’ve been a stop motion animator, writer, photographer, production coordinator and actor. I consider myself a true self-taught filmmaker, and I’ve found my way in the industry on my own terms while championing and supporting other filmmakers along the way.

Currently, I’m the co-founder and lead producer of the Carrboro, NC-based production company High Dive, a boutique film brand that produces short films and music videos. Our first feature film, Ruthie Joins a Death Cult, is currently in production.

I’ve written and directed three short films: Surprise Me, All of This!!!, and The Cave (currently in post). In 2024, two short films I produced, A Son’s Wedding and Hi, Friends!, played at the Newport Beach, Austin, Cary Beyond, Rehoboth Beach and Big Apple Film Festivals across the US.

I started this journey in Oakland, CA, then went to Los Angeles, and now I’m back in North Carolina (where I’m from), eager and excited to make a home in the indie film community here.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Last year in 2024 I was hired to produce a “TikTok soap opera” for a global audio entertainment corporation. My creative producer was downright awful to me during pre-production, their demands gave me a panic attack while on set, and I was verbally abused over email during the edit phase (to set the record straight, a higher-up gave me a genuine apology on the company’s behalf after it was all over). And then a few months ago I discovered an entire YouTube playlist of laughably poor AI content ripped from our hard work, published on their channel. Our original video was very high-performing, and even caught the attention of the company’s CEO, and the final outcome was…AI junk? I never heard from them again, perhaps for the best. I’m certain I’m not the only producing professional with such an experience. I hate to sound gloomy with these stories, but it’s important that people understand the upheaval in entertainment, media and tech happening right now. It should be a bigger story.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Right now, I’m in a very vulnerable place creatively. I’m questioning the entire purpose of making art under capitalism. Just today I saw the new film “The Brutalist,” written and directed by Brady Corbet, which expertly wrestles with this dilemma of art and commerce. I highly recommend it. In an emotional interview, he said “this film is very personal in the sense that it’s about how many obstacles are put in my path,” which really resonated with me. Any artist, or creative, or entrepreneur can attest to the challenge of being on a “creative journey,” which is a tame way to put it these days. But it’s true, being a creative in America today is a path of struggle and there are some glorious wins along the way, but they can take years. I’m learning to be content with that.

Something I’m very excited about right now—speaking of architecture—is a new opportunity I’m working on with the Carrboro-based West End Building Company. I’ve recently joined their team as a “brand builder.” West End is a design and build company specializing in residences, ADUs (accessory dwelling units) and tiny homes, and I’ll be working on growing the business into their next chapter. It’s a perfect fit for my producer brain, and a full circle return to my previous career as a landscape architect. To quote Corbet again, “architecture isn’t so different from independent film-making…it follows the same basic principles, throws up the same problems and provides similar levels of agony and ecstasy.” I’ve learned that it’s the making of things that really drives me, a hunger that transcends film, or design—it’s in everything I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.highdivestudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrrrryljones/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darryl-jones-producer/
• Other: West End Building Company: www.westendbuild.com

Image Credits

Photo credits: Cole Fremed, Hans Ole Eicker, Minnie Dosh
Film still credits: A Son’s Wedding & Hi, Friends!