Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to John Keough. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

John, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

I submitted poetry through the mail for years, to magazines and periodicals found in the PEN America annual listings. For a long time, I got rejection after rejection. Then I started to get acceptances, first from college presses and then from larger magazines. For years, this was without pay, just copies of the various publications.

Until one magazine that I never expected: America, a weekly run by Jesuits. The poetry editor at the time, James Torrens wrote me a note: “This poem stays with the reader. I am publishing it.” With that note was a check for $25. That money, although small was a step towards my belief that I could be a creative professional.

John, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Today, my work is mostly as a film producer. My start in the film industry, other than my love of film, was as a warehouse worker at Westerman’s Prop House in Worcester, MA. It was not glamorous, I helped to load and unload prop trucks that were going to set. From time to time I would make a small delivery to a set, but that was it.

I gained a ton of knowledge just walking around the prop house with set designers, and art directors and props masters taking notes. Watching as a film came to life in their eyes, differently than a film director. It was only a matter of time before I got larger opportunities and left to start my own production company, HollyWooot Film Group.

Making films as an independent producer requires a ton of patience, and cannot be done alone. My best asset is that I know what I do not do well, and I find people who can do those things and empower them. The whole time, I try to foster a working environment that lifts others up, and creates not only a safe set, but a set where creatives can run free. HollyWooot has put out several shorts and features now, and there is no better feeling than seeing the full vision up on the screen in front of an audience. When that audience laughs where they should, or is scared where they should be, I feel like a champion. I know my crews feel the same, and that is what makes HollyWooot and me, special.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think we are in the era where creatives are being undervalued because of the advent of AI. In the moment, AI seems easy, and even efficient, but the taking away from creatives, who each have an individual path, puts stress on the most vulnerable of our society.

The people whose art will be devalued first, and this has already begun, are the poor, children and the elderly. They don’t have the resources or the physical capability of pushing through like an adult, so we will lose those special things that come from a child’s song or an elder’s painting.

We need to put real, immediate guardrails on what AI can use, because non-creatives like judges and lawyers very well may interpret the law to give AI and those who preach it whatever they want. Protecting the voiceless so they can still sing may be the only way a creator economy can be sustainable.

Further, because costs have risen exponentially, we need to find efficiency in creative work. Yes, that means we might have to take pay cuts to survive. Which means manufacturers and suppliers might need to make less profits (I am looking at you camera companies!) in the immediate future or what we call Hollywood may cease to exist.

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

I am striving to create a sustainable film infrastructure, primarily in New England. That sustainability is rooted in a value system based on people, and not output. To that end, I have risked it all to build up relationship capital as my primary asset versus commerce based assets. In the beginning, this seemed insane to both myself, and those who have come with me on this journey.

Now however, because of our ability to deliver high-quality films with depth and substance, that are also beginning to gain widespread audiences, I have found people with commerce based assets are investing in me. Not just small amounts of money, but trust in my ability to deliver films on-budget and on-time.

In the end, my goal is that people who work for me and with me come away saying that they feel valued both in their relationships, and in their ability to clothe and feed themselves. Healthy in body, mind and soul after investing for me their innermost spirit.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hollywootfilmgroup.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john.keough.980/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.keough.980
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-keough-429a951b0/
• Twitter: https://x.com/JohnKeough20
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HollyWoootFilmGroup

Image Credits

All Images are owned by HollyWooot Film Group.