We recently connected with Kipp Tribble and have shared our conversation below.

Kipp, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

It has often been said that making a film is like going to war and this is true in lots of cases. Sometimes they turn out great, other times not so great. And then there are the handful of times where they turn out to bad and making it was also a miserable experience.

So when you encounter one that goes very well – and you have a good time making it – it is something special. Then, if the film gods smile upon you, you will get one that is life changing. One that has the perfect blend of people at just the exact time in their lives where they need that film. One where the locations are perfect and the atmosphere is magical. Nothing goes wrong, and in fact, everything goes RIGHT. The weather changes when you need it to change. The lunches are great. The transportation is smooth. That one project where the universe is rewarding your creative struggles by giving you the project you not only wanted, but the project you NEEDED.

This project happened for me in late 2023 on a film called BEFORE NEVER. It is an alt reality version of the Peter Pan and Hook story before they go to Neverland. I wrote the script and played Hook in the film, and I produced with three others, who are some of my closest friends. I co-directed with Derik Wingo, who I have known since 1999 and it was our third film as co-directors.

The Peter Pan story was one of my favorites growing up and when my friend and colleague, Dan Baccarini, approached me about executive producing a film right at the time the Peter Pan story entered the public domain, I knew this was the one. So we set about developing the prequel to Neverland as a psychological thriller… one where all of the characters are adults already and the Pan story we knew before was one that had been changed and morphed into a fairy tale over the years. It was our twist on the legend and one we are extremely proud of.

From the beginning it went perfectly. All the usual things that you can expect to go wrong or that we’d need to adapt to on the fly, never presented themselves, and before we knew it, we were filming the final scene of the movie. Tears were shed from the experience we all shared – and my close friend, Kenny Yates, who also produced and played Peter Pan – ended up meeting his now fiancee on the film. And she played Wendy, which also is a perfect footnote to this story!

And in case you are wondering, BEFORE NEVER is scheduled to come out this spring. We’d love everyone to check it out!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started in this business was by making a micro-budget film, which we ended up selling in the foreign market for almost three times what it cost to make. From there, I made some other films and kept learning what to do and of course, what NOT to do. Along the way, I amassed lots of contacts, and also made the move to Los Angeles with my wife, and together we run our company, MRP Entertainment.

Now after many years as an actor, writer, producer, director, and editor in the film industry, and having successfully sold all of my films worldwide – and assisted others in selling their films – I can say with confidence that there is not a question we can’t answer when it comes to development, prep, production, post and distribution. And if a problem arises during one of those phases that we can’t solve, we will know the person or can find the person who can solve it.

There is a real “do-it-yourself” aspect to what I have done from day one and now our company embraces that fully. Throwing money at a problem is not always the answer. We didn’t buy ourselves into the industry at the beginning. We worked hard and found a way in that was viable with hard work and determination. So when we approach a project or are faced with problem solving, we don’t first look at how much we can solve something with money. We consider how we can fix the problems – or create the project – as economical as possible. And with lots of elbow grease from our team.

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

There are many, but one instance comes to mind. It’s from a film we were doing several years ago and we were about halfway through production and had a very long, pivotal scene coming up for the second half of the shoot day. But before that scene, I was to film a scene where my character breaks down and collapses under the weight of his emotions. It was the first time I had done a scene like that so I isolated myself in a room and started putting myself in that headspace. I had headphones on, listening to music, had photos of my daughter, etc. Whatever it took to “go there” for the performance.

Shortly after my prep, two of the other producers came into the room and told me to pack as quickly as I could. A forrest fire we had been monitoring had taken an abrupt turn and was now quickly coming at us, so we were being evacuated immediately. We packed up the cast and crew in a matter of minutes and since the route back down the mountain was blocked by the fire, we drove about 45 minutes to the closest mountain town and luckily found a couple of large cabins available to rent for the night. So the cast and crew got settled and us producers started rearranging the living room and bedrooms so we could move the rest of our production to the cabins. And that night, we kept shooting – filmed our pivotal scene, filmed my breakdown scene, and the next day, continued shooting the rest of the movie. We just had to make some major on the fly changes and rewrites, but we kept going because the only other option was to not finish the movie.

And to top it off, a horrible stomach virus was going through the cast and crew at that time and it was a vicious 24 hour ordeal. But amidst a forrest fire and sickness, we all rallied together and finished the movie instead of throwing our hands up in defeat. If we had given up, that film would never have seen the light of day – and secured the first Netflix DVD deal for a film I wrote, produced, and starred in.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

This has changed over the years for sure. Being at this for several years, I have had the opportunity to experiment with performances, scripts, films, genres, and distribution of projects. I have also been able to fail and learn from those failures – the “what not to do”.. And I have learned to adapt frequently. since our business is a constantly evolving beast. But most importantly, I have found what works for me and for our company.

For us, it is now about becoming involved in projects that challenge us and inspire us. Something to be attached to that is exciting in one way or another. For myself, it is to stretch myself as an actor, writer and filmmaker, and to make things I want to see. It sounds so boring since that is what you hear so often from creatives – “make something you want to see.” But you reach a point in your journey where that is what comes into focus. What do you truly want to be involved with and spend your time on?

So the goal is to be inspired and inspire others along the way. Whether it is producing a project for someone – in whatever format – or producing a project that ignites someone in a certain way. The mission is to explore stories and projects that will ignite something within.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/kipptribble
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kippdiddy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialKippTribble
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kipp-tribble-2730b71/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kipptribble
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KippTribble