We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jason, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had started sooner?
If I could go back in time, I would definitely have started my career while I was still in college, around 18 years old, instead of when I really did, which was when I was 30. When I was ending my late twenties, I was looking for work in San Diego, always with the dream of living in Los Angeles, where I went to film school, and acting full time. I found a listing on Backstage for an improv theater in Burbank, started taking classes, and kept going and doing more improv, doing standup, and eventually leveraging acting classes into the courage to get my agent and my manager. If I had started doing free standup bookings in college when I was a UC Irvine, doing acting, I would’ve made more connections and more importantly built up my confidence to be a more successful person than I am today and now at 40. If anyone can take anything away from my haphazard journey, is that doing work takes time and work, and start that work ASAP. And listen to the voice in your heart as soon as you can, it will make you happier.
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 background and context?
I’m Jason Luna, I’m a 40 year old actor/standup comedian/writer/editor (both video and print)/director etc. in Los Angeles, CA. I’ve always been a fan of TV and movies, and got recruited into my elementary school’s drama club in Thousand Oaks, CA. I acted through high school, and while I focused on my BA in English/Film Studies for a while, being an actor/creative was always in my heart.
As a performer, I’m always looking to act in a film project, perform jokes or host on a standup show, or do whatever I can to make an audience happy. As a video editor and a writer and a generally computer literate person, I can troubleshoot a lot of problems for a lot of people. As a film school graduate, I can perform most any role on a film set with enthusiasm and sheer joy just to be there and work with cool new people.
I think I most want prospective clients to know that I am a multifaceted performer, writer, and technical expert. I host/perform standup. I have dramatic AND comedic acting training. I can edit a short film, I can type like a madman. So basically, get to know me and see how I fit most roles in the creative (or other kinds of) business.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I personally think NFTs are a commercial product that only has any value because of the artificial demand created by proprietors in the market. It’s no different to me than insiders who can game a hedge fund, or a stock, or anything that others can’t understand. I don’t think they have any value than the money they create for a select few. God bless people who make money on NFTs, but not for me, I believe in goods that have a personal value and utility in the real world. But if people are making money on NFTs, hooray, and can I get a donation of five bucks?
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I’m not breaking too much ground here, but a book that changed my life and my productivity in both art and business and any other goals/tasks is “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. There’s a lot of detailed plans and ideas in the book, but I was greatly affected by the notion of simply that if you want to do something, working on it every day counts as working toward it. Writing two words out of a 300 page novel is still working on it. The most important thing is showing up and doing what you can. And doing incremental work inspires you to do more.
For a more artistic game changer, “War Of Art” by Steven Pressfield is a book I read years ago, but seriously reaped its lessons this year. The book states a stark reality, which is if you want to write, you have to do it. It’s not about how inspired you are, or finding time, it’s writers write, non-writers don’t. It’s such a simple image, no doubt insulting to some, but if you just get in writing mode for four hours and then turn it off after that much time has past, you’ve done your writing and can move on with your day.
There is few basic joys in life like playing video games or browsing on my phone, but knowing that earlier in the day I did do my writing. Peace of mind for a creative is possible, if you’re willing to work at it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @jasonluna1vs100
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jason.luna3
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-luna-5850904/
- Twitter: @jasonluna1vs100
- Youtube: @jasonluna1vs100
- Other: “Twin Bill” movie review podcast with Jason Luna and his identical twin/engineer Marcus Luna. Audio Version on Apple Podcasts: “Twin Bill”. Video version on Youtube (@jasonluna)
