Episode 14 - Jay Alvarez // Director. Writer.
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“Jay Alvarez is someone I spent every day with in high school. We had the same advisory class, which most of you probably know better as homeroom. Over those four years, I really grew to love this dude. On the surface, Jay and I might have seemed like we belonged to different crowds in high school - him, more of the rebellious scholarly type; me, more of the social skateboarder. But the truth is, on the inside I relate to Jay on so many levels. We both come from the same small town, both grew up playing our respective sports, and at 18, we both left that town to move to bigger cities and dive deeper into our creative practices. Jay and I have that kind of friendship where, even if we don’t see or talk to each other for months - or sometimes even years - we always pick up right where we left off. Same old bullshit, same old us. It’s been incredible to watch his filmmaking career blossom, and I can’t wait to see where his work goes from here.

In this episode of BEDROOM™, Jay and I reflect on our shared experience growing up in the small town of Sonoma. Jay talks about his love of writing and how he found his way into filmmaking. He also shares the story of winning the Special Jury Prize at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival for his feature film “I Play With The Phrase Each Other” - an achievement that led to the legendary Russo Brothers championing him and supporting his career ever since. We discuss our ongoing collaborations through his feature films and we dive into the importance of visual design in filmmaking. Jay also shares behind-the-scenes stories from the making of his latest feature, “Something’s More Than One Thing”, and gives us a sneak peek into what he’s working on next.

From there, the podcast takes a wild turn as we play "F*ck, Marry, Kill," and Jay tells the story of a staged kidnapping he orchestrated as a teenager. Yes, you read that right - it's a crazy story, and if you're sensitive to that kind of thing, you might want to skip that part. We also get into a heated round of Bedroom Banter, where Jay answers a rapid-fire series of questions, including sharing his absolute hatred for a certain overrated Hollywood writer. It's a doozy of an episode, filled with plenty of laughs, and I can’t wait for a future round two!

Also, a quick heads-up: this episode was recorded earlier in the year, just before Jay was set to debut his latest feature at the Raindance Film Festival in London. Be sure to listen to the end of the episode, where Jay leaves a special audio message to recap about how the festival went, along with some other fun anecdotes.

Big shout outs to Jay for coming onto the pod. Welcome to the BEDROOM™, y’all! WORLD WIDE PEACE!” - PSG
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Jay Alvarez’s Socials & Websites:
Instagram: @realjayalvarez
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@realJayAlvarez
X ( Twitter ): www.x.com/realjayalvarez
Website: www.jayalvarez.net

Support the show

If you want to join Patrick Sean Gibson's Monthly Sticker Club, or support the Bedroom Podcast, check out his Patreon: patreon.com/patrickseangibson
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Follow Patrick on Instagram: @patrickseangibson
Peep Patrick's Website: patrickseangibson.com

Episode 13 - Syra McCarthy // Actor. Director.
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“Syra McCarthy is someone whose name I've heard mentioned a lot over the years. Within the Bay Area film industry, she is the definitive multidisciplinary unicorn who stands out from the crowd. Not only is she a highly successful actor who has starred in television shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Hulu’s The Dropout, but she’s also appeared in nearly every major company’s commercial you can think of. On top of all that, she’s a prolific film director as well. Actor and Director? Jeez Syra, are you talented much? She’s acted and directed in short and feature films, music videos, and commercials. We didn’t really get into it on the pod, but Syra is starring in an upcoming film called “Josephine”, written, directed, and produced by Beth de Araújo. Syra will be starring alongside Gemma Chan, Channing Tatum, and Philip Ettinger.

For years, I’ve been hearing about her from friends - “Syra this” and “Syra that” - all this talk about how awesome she is and after finally spending some time with her in the Bedroom Studios, chopping it up, I now finally get the hype as to why she’s so freaking special. She’s a joy to be around and an overall cool, interesting, fascinating, and super fun person. Consider me officially part of the Syra McCarthy fan club! I’m recruiting all y’all to listen to this episode of BEDROOM™ and join in on the club too. Long live Syra!

In this episode of BEDROOM™, Syra and I discuss the induction of AI in the filmmaking process, what it’s like to be an actor in the commercial world, the magical and sparkly power of collaboration in filmmaking, directing the French Cassettes music videos for their tracks “Medium Horny” and “White Noise,” directing a short film for the painter Heather Day, stories from her career in acting and directing, dealing with sexism in the film industry, the unorthodox world of hand modeling, and we wrap up with the longest round ever of Bedroom Banter, where Syra spills all of her secrets and gives a copious amount of shout-outs to her besties.

Before I sign off here, I just wanted to shout out Soft Hold Collective, a Bay Area film directory of women & non-binary freelancers that Syra helped co-found and organize alongside her pal Baily Hopkins. If you’re looking to find community or talent for your next big film project, check out softholdcollective.com.

Big shout outs to Syra for coming onto the pod. Welcome to the BEDROOM™, y’all! WORLD WIDE PEACE!” - PSG
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Syra McCarthy's Socials & Websites:
Instagram: @syranara
Directing Website: www.syramccarthy.com
Acting Website: www.syraacts.com

Support the show

If you want to join Patrick Sean Gibson's Monthly Sticker Club, or support the Bedroom Podcast, check out his Patreon: patreon.com/patrickseangibson
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Follow Patrick on Instagram: @patrickseangibson
Peep Patrick's Website: patrickseangibson.com

Episode 12 - Nico Peña // Musician.
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“Nico Peña is a relatively new friend of mine but I can say without hesitation that I back dude 100%. Although we grew up on opposite sides of the country, we did both grew up skateboarding and it always amazes me how easy it is for people like us to connect and to do so just instantly. We have a world full of relatable references and parallel experiences to speak on. Nico’s a freaking sweetie pie of a dude, a very cool guy with really great taste and is someone that I hope to spend more time with. If you haven’t listened to his music, check out his latest album “Para Ti” by PEÑA. He’s making some really groovy bops.

In this episode of BEDROOM™, Nico and I discuss the significance of embracing and asserting your own creative and personal identity. Nico shares how local San Francisco bands like The Breathing Room and Mild Universe inspired him to form his own band, while also touching on the unfortunate trend of SF bands relocating to LA once they gain a bit of recognition. We reminisce about his early days skateboarding in New Jersey and how he partly discovered his passion for music through playing the video game Guitar Hero.

Nico also gives us a sneak peek into the upcoming Title Fight cover show he’ll be performing at The Warehouse. We discuss the current music industry trend of releasing three singles in advance of an LP and share our thoughts on its impact. Nico reveals the sounds we can expect from the next PEÑA album, and we wrap up with a fun round of Bedroom Banter, where he shares who his favorite Bay Area musicians are. Big shout outs to Nico for coming onto the pod. Welcome to the BEDROOM™, y’all! WORLD WIDE PEACE!” - PSG
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Nico Peña's Socials & Websites:
Instagram: @nico.penya
Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/nicopenya
Bandcamp: www.nicopenya.bandcamp.com

Support the show

If you want to join Patrick Sean Gibson's Monthly Sticker Club, or support the Bedroom Podcast, check out his Patreon: patreon.com/patrickseangibson
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Follow Patrick on Instagram: @patrickseangibson
Peep Patrick's Website: patrickseangibson.com