Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Reid Estreicher. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Reid, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Vultures. Vampires. Vipers. Gatekeepers too…
Local Sets ATX was started to give indie musicians a platform to get their voice and their music into the world.
The music industry, like any other segment of the creative arts, is incredibly challenging and even more so when you factor in the amount of people that stand as a barrier to entry in being discovered. Everyone knows this and anyone that’s dipped their toes into the industry has experienced it.
When you create something great, people come out of the woodwork to “help” you. They shower you with adulation, tell you how wonderful and talented you are and promise you the sun, moon, and the stars… if only you give them some money, upfront of course, to help you get to that “next level” which is an ethereal. loosely defined concept that plays on your human emotions of excitement and want. And, in the end, none or very few of those promises are kept; you’re left feeling defeated, financially strained, and worse off before the thunderstorm of compliments that you were drenched in. Sound familiar?
It’s a story that I have personally lived through more times than I care to remember or admit to. I know what’s wrong with the creative arts. We all know what’s wrong with the creative arts. Spoiler alert: it’s NOT the artists.
Vultures, vampires, and vipers are the problem. Like true gluttons, they’ve devoured the beauty of this world, the humanity that’s supplied the aforementioned beauty, and it’s gone on for far too long. They provide little to no benefit outside of the life’s tuition payment that you make by getting too close to these monsters. We do not need these people. We never did. But they’re affable con artists and so they weasel their way into our lives by preying on our insecurities, our emotions, and exploiting our weaknesses, filthily feeding at the trough of corruption and beguilement. They leach off the hard work of artists, siphoning the rights to their creations and their well-deserved monetary gains.
Then there are the Gatekeepers. A group of ne’er-do-wells, steeped and over-marinated in the stagnant waters of nepotism, blunting the rightful advancement of artists more talented than themselves. An easily avoidable, lose-lose situation that cauterizes growth for both parties as surrounding yourself with talented people will only, in turn, further develop your own.
We aim to stop this. It is our mission to give the power, the money, and the control back to their rightful owners: the artists.
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?
I have a very odd, unfocused, mess of a background. How I became a filmmaker, podcaster, comic and music producer is extremely unorthodox and it’s a rather long story. Brief Cliff’s Notes: I moved to LA on September 9th of 2001 to pursue a career in acting and two days later the Twin Towers fell in NYC and the US shut down. I joined the Marine Corps shortly after as I couldn’t afford to live in LA or pay my bills anymore. Ended up deployed overseas in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Gun One which was the 1st HUMVEE to cross into the Rumaila Oil Fields behind Alpha Tank Battalion in Regimental Combat Team 5 (RCT5). That was a trip. I received my Honorable Discharge at the end of 2004 and went back to school.
I was focused on culinary for a time until UNLV killed the program, was a private chef on the weekends, and eventually attempted to open a restaurant in 2008 which never happened. I was unemployed and living with my parents until I got a job working for Samsung in field marketing which allowed me to move back to Chicago. I wanted to get back into acting and had a dream about starting an indie production company to make my own movies, which I eventually did.
My film, “Thank You 5”, is now on Amazon as of last year (2023) which we finished in 2019 for submission to the Indie Film Fest circuit of 2020 only to have the world shutdown because of COVID. I spent a few years trying to get that film into the world. However, after COVID, Chicago really took a nosedive which was heartbreaking. A lot of the comics that I met and performed with at Second City either left Chicago to go to LA or stopped performing altogether, plus several theaters that were dedicated to comedy shuddered permanently. It was a real kick in the gut and it was the first time I really ever felt lost in my life. Chicago felt dead to me and I knew I needed to leave so I moved to Austin. I found a place online and moved forward with the contract, sight-unseen. The first time I physically walked into my place was the day I moved in and that’s where we’re currently filming Local Sets ATX.
Like I wrote at the top, my life’s been kind of a mess. I’ve been exploring various facets of the creative arts for nearly my entire life. I started acting when I was a kid, got my SAG Card when I was 13 (in Chicago), and pursued some aspect of entertainment in one form or another, on and off, for over 30 years now. Acting eventually turned into a pursuit of theater and commercial work, then turning to modeling, runway at one point (embarrassingly), emceeing, improv, writing, sketch comedy, filmmaking, producing, directing, audio engineering, scoring film, and now standup and producing Local Sets ATX.
The entertainment industry as a whole is a love-hate thing for sure. It’s been riddled with frustrations but also with some of my fondest memories and favorite people. I truly do believe though, after all the years of focusing on myself and my career – or lack thereof – the greatest work I’ll ever do in my lifetime will be in service to the world around me and Local Sets ATX is my favorite project I’ve ever done, hands-down. I’ve never been more excited for a project than I am now. Being able to help people build their careers is incredibly rewarding and something I wish I had help with when I was younger. Plus, Local Sets ATX is getting more traction and the artists are getting noticed more as a result which I fuggin’ love.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
We started pre-production on “Thank You 5” in the beginning of 2015, a year after we finished another screenplay for a different film. We ran into too many production obstacles after meeting with potential investors in 2014 so we went back to the writer’s room and created the story for Thank You 5 and I think the insanity of our shooting schedule is a decent example of my ability to grind it out.
Once production began, I would meet all-day on Saturday with my co-creator to discuss what needed to be captured for the upcoming week. Sunday we arrived on set at noon and filmed until about 4 AM the next day at which point we would dump footage, break down our gear, then I’d head home about an hour later, get about an hour of sleep, then get up and get ready for my day job.
Immediately after work on Monday, I would get to set at 6 PM and resume shooting until about 4 AM the next day at which point we would dump footage, break down our gear, then I’d head home about an hour later, get about an hour of sleep, then get up and get ready for my day job.
Immediately after work on Tuesday, I would get to set at 6 PM and resume shooting until about 4 AM the next day at which point we would dump footage, break down our gear, then I’d head home about an hour later, get about an hour of sleep, then get up and get ready for my day job.
After work on that Wednesday night I’d go home and sleep from 6PM until I had to get ready for my day job the next day. Thursday night, questions from the cast and crew would start to come in and I’d work with my co-creator to set a preliminary schedule for the upcoming week, solidify it on Friday, then Saturday do it all over again.
We filmed this way for 6 weeks.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
This might sound (or rather read) trite or even be completely ridiculous to an outsider but most days this feels like less of something I’m pursuing and more of something pursuing me. With all the frustrations and failures, successes and small wins, it’s a part of me, it’s who I am, and I’m sincerely appreciative of this consciousness that I was given and am currently experiencing in this life. I can’t imagine being anyone else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://localsetsatx.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/localsetsatx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561470849210
- Twitter: https://x.com/LocalSetsATX
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LocalSetsATX/featured
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/40ft4pPzAynlQ8GsHyTgbx
Image Credits
Joe White (Photographer)