Ilse Will Say
Welcome to My Brain. I'm Ilse, and every Wednesday I sit down with actors, filmmakers, comedians, and storycreators to talk about the stuff that doesn't make the press kit. How they actually got here, the project that almost didn't happen, the festival story they can't believe they're telling me, and whatever weird detour we end up on. Haunted sets, folklore they secretly believe in, the best taco in town. It's part industry real talk, part group chat, and I promise I'm more curious than qualified.
Ilse Will Say
Jerry S. Gonzalez: Ideas aren’t made. You catch them.
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You know when a film title sounds absolutely ridiculous… and then somehow ends up hitting you right in the chest? Yeah. That’s this episode.
Ilse sits down with director Jerry S. Gonzalez, the brain behind The Spaghetti Man, Intergalactic Pizza Boy, and Hamster in My Head—aka films that sound like a joke and then sneak in real human emotion when you’re not looking. They get into where ideas actually come from (hint: not your laptop), why some of the best concepts start off sounding a little dumb, and how to make genre-bending work without losing the heart.
There’s also talk of Robocop as a perfect film, the struggle of waiting for inspiration vs. chasing it, and why being a genuinely kind director might be the real secret weapon on set. Plus: a brief but important detour into astral projection, Sasquatch sightings, and pitching what might be the first-ever girlypop Bigfoot movie.
It’s weird, it’s thoughtful, it’s very “wait… why do I feel seen right now?”
Follow Jerry on IG @jerrysgonz and keep an eye out for Big Spooky House—we’ll be seated.
Hosted by Ilse Zacharias Rivera. Say hi / follow along here: @ilsezacharias
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Ilse Will Say is an Intrepida Entertainment podcast, hosted by Ilse Zacharias Rivera. Produced and edited by Jacob Cagle. Music by Eric Backus. Photography by Joel Maisonet.
The views and opinions expressed on Ilse Will Say are entirely those of the host and guests, and do not reflect the views of any employers, sponsors, or innocent bystanders. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Nothing said here is professional advice. We're here for the laughs, y'all.
I keep telling everybody, and I'm gonna continue to say it, like if anybody ever needs somebody to host a food uh blog, TikTok, series, web, anything food related that you need somebody funny to just eat, um, I'm your gal. Like I just that that's the dream to like get paid to eat. I just uh deeply, deeply.
SPEAKER_00I draw the line at like mukbang content. What is that? Oh no, I don't want to educate you on this. Oh but it's like an ASMR type video where it's like you'll be like a very tiny woman with like a giant plate of food and like she just like eats it and you hear every single like crunch, and like it's like it's so nasty.
SPEAKER_01I I I Although I will say millions and bajillions off of that, and like oh man. Hey, if it pays well, I'll fucking do it. I don't. I you're like, nope. When someone makes a short film called The Spaghetti Man, you kind of have to ask questions. Like, are we talking horror? Are we talking comedy? Are we talking pasta as a metaphor for the human condition? And somehow the answer is yes. Welcome back to Ilse Wilson, the place where people told me to pick a niche, and I said, sure, I pick genre-bending indie films, Chicago directors with unhinged ideas that actually work, and stories that start with that sounds ridiculous, and end with, wait, why is this kind of brilliant? Welcome to my brain. I'm Ilse, your host, your we can absolutely shoot that with no budget. Give me two lights and a dream collaborator, and your favorite person to overanalyze a film title before even watching it. And today's guest is a director who clearly understands the power of a strong concept. We're talking Intergalactic Pizza Boy, we're talking the spaghetti man, we're talking hamster in my head, which already feels like a documentary about my internal monologue. He's part of the Chicago indie wave that knows how to take big, weird ideas and actually pull them off visually, creatively, and without losing the heart underneath it. His work lives somewhere between sci-fi, horror, comedy, and wait. Why do I feel seen right now? Please welcome the very imaginative, slightly dangerous, creatively Jerry S. Gonzalez.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness, that was quite the intro. Thank you. Thank you. Oh my goodness. I'm not used to like so many superlatives. Like, wow. Hi, everybody.
SPEAKER_01Full disclosure, like, have not been feeling well, and I'm like a little under the weather. And I was like, Am I gonna be able to deliver this like intro in in the way that makes it you know pop? And um, it took a lot out of me. So I'm just gonna.
SPEAKER_00I'm beyond stunned. I I that was probably one of the best intros I've ever gotten. I've gotten intros from Ben Bishop.
SPEAKER_01So there you go, friend of the pod. Um, yeah, so we kind of got got into it a little bit um already, but the the the topic of food comes up comes up a lot. Um, why did you intend to do that? Like, how how does that happen? How do you get your ideas? Because they're really fun, and that's hard to find sometimes.
SPEAKER_00Like my ideas just come from all kinds of like strange places. I mean, like with Spaghetti Man, that was mostly an attempt to get back into a festival I really liked. And I was just basically on the plane ride coming back home from the festival and be like, I need to come up with an an idea quick to you know make a movie and like you know, make it in a year so I can get back into this festival. And um, I landed on well, I thought about like horror movies, and you know, the movie The Bye Bye Man came to mind and like how dumb of a name the bye-bye man is, and I was like, I need to top that in like stupidity, and I landed on the spaghetti man, and you know, I wanted it to like start off as like a typical horror film and then you know kind of you know deviate in a way that you know from the other films I saw at the festival that um they they weren't taking like that direction. And you know, I I thought it would be really funny to make a horror movie that makes you cry instead of scared. And then with hamster in my head, that came about when I was researching for another movie of mine called Intergalactic Pizza Boy, where I was looking at a lot of like 60s retro futuristic stuff, and there was a lot of these fun like pulp covers, like these like hand-painted like sci-fi covers, and there was one where there was a mouse piloting like a human, and I was like, This is really weird. It like kind of reminds me of like Pinky in the Brain. And oh yeah, I remember that. Try to bring things to like a very human place, and I was like, if this if there was like a guy walking around with like a mouse in his brain or like a rodent of some sort, like what would his brain? He's his own linguini, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I I try to bring like these weird, fantastical creatures and characters, and just try to humanize them as much as I can. I find that very interesting.
SPEAKER_01I love that, I love that humanizing like these not objects per se, because like a hamster is is it is like a little animal. Um but I really, really do love that, and and so you just get inspiration from pictures or like the goal of the film, like going back to that film festival. Um is that has that always been your strategy or or how have you developed a strategy, if there's a strategy at all?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. I think it that's just been my chaotic nature, because I just get ideas from all like all over the place. Like I know that like David Lynch at some point said that like ideas are something that you catch. And you you know you don't come up with them, then you have to catch them when they're like floating by.
SPEAKER_01So I find that very yeah. Yeah, so you're just kind of like receiving these ideas and trying to like write them down uh as as they happen.
SPEAKER_00I just uh completed another draft of the feature film that I'm working on, and that was like a slog because it's like I would get stuck for like days, and like for some reason I would just I don't know, wake up uh just be in the shower, just kind of like disassociating, and all of a sudden it's like here's the solution. I was like, where did this come from?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, isn't that fun?
SPEAKER_00Like there's nothing that inspired it, it was just like just go in this direction instead. I'm like, that's that's great, let's do that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, I I read Big Magic, and it's similar to what you said, where um Elizabeth Gilbert says, you know, um inspiration is just like kind of comes to you, and if you don't take it, it goes to somebody else, right? And I think it's that quietness. I it's so hard to be quiet. And um, I heard like a lot of the ideas come like right before bed, like as you're waking up or in the shower, because those are the only times we are not surrounded by screams or something pinging us, or you know, like add on a million things to that. Um so that that is like incredible. I'm I've started the artist way, and I feel like these next 12 weeks, I won't be talking a lot about it. Do you know about it?
SPEAKER_00The artist way, no, but it could you allow it?
SPEAKER_01Oh, wait, wait, wait, yeah, no, it's the artist journey or the artist way. Artist journey? It's that 12-week thing where you're supposed to journal every day and go on an artist date. Have you heard of this?
SPEAKER_00No, but this sounds incredible. I please, please tell me about that.
SPEAKER_01Well, it's basically what you're talking about of just like letting flow through. So you have to write three pages every morning. It's called the morning pages, and you have to take yourself on an artist date. Because we don't really like we're not alone a lot of the time. So it's like, what go go on a creative date with yourself. Um, but the morning pages are meant to just like take that like inner critic of this is shit, like you shouldn't be writing a future film. Who do you think you are? Like all those voices, the negative voices, are meant to be like tossed away um so that you can get into the creative space that you need to to finish the project or start the project or you know develop a new project. Do you do any of that? I feel like you do you have a practice of writing?
SPEAKER_00Uh the answer is no. I'm just really bad because it's like they we live in a very tech savvy age, and of course, I'm constantly surrounded by screens. I'm surrounded by three screens right now. Um so I get distracted very easily, and it's it's just hard. And like usually I just um it takes me maybe half the day to kind of get into like the writing mindset. Because like I sit at the computer, I'm like, I'm gonna write now. And then I just look at the blank page and it's like nothing's coming to me. I don't know. Until like I have to wait until like my body says, okay, you're ready to write, and then I can start writing.
SPEAKER_01And is there is there anything you do to trigger it?
SPEAKER_00Well, um, what I honestly should be doing is like going to coffee shops or something. I feel like I need to get out of my apartment, but you know, everything is so convenient here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Do you like close all the tabs? Do you you like swear off social media for an hour? Nothing like that. It just like I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I'm just so blue to my phone, it's tough.
SPEAKER_01I just picture you like sitting there being like waiting for inspiration and then immediately like then like you know, 15-20 minutes pass, and then there's just like a light coming down from the heavens being like, uh Jerry, here it is.
SPEAKER_00Sometimes it's like that. I guess it just depends like how motivated I am, and like if I like like I was mentioning before, it's like, oh, I'm taking my shower. I I got a new idea. It's like, okay, I gotta run to the computer right now. I have to stop what I'm doing. Gotta stop the shower. Well, I mean, like at that case, well, I mean, I'm uh exaggerating, but uh like if I'm like in the shower, it's like, okay, let me grab my phone real quick, let me make some like put some notes down real quick so I don't forget this, and then finish my shower, and then like head to the computer and just start type typing away.
SPEAKER_01That's funny. Um, I sometimes get that, but for like my stand-up, um, because usually what what my stand-up is is just things that annoy me. It's very, it's very Jerry Seinfeld, it's very curb, um, curb your enthusiasm, or like it's things that are annoying me, and then I'm like, how can I make this funny? Like, how can I present it in a way, can I think about it in a way that makes me chuckle? Because I think life's too short to be to be sad or to be like in entrenched. And actually, this is so weird. This is gonna be the weirdest question I ask you. It's gonna come out of nowhere. It's it's a me thing, not a you thing. But I woke up angry this morning. I woke up angry this morning because like I got like seven hours of sleep and I'm a nine-hour person. Um and I was like, why I don't like there's nothing really wrong. I don't feel angry towards like anybody specifically, but just in general, I feel like then then like I did the morning pages for the artist, artist journey artist way, and I was like, oh I feel like people are taking advantage of me being too nice. Like, just like there's this handyman, we we needed something done, and this handyman came in and I was treating him nice, and then he like uh called me his soulmate, which was very strange. And then like when I didn't reciprocate, then he like didn't come back to work then like the next day. So it's just like like I know it isn't isn't that crazy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I don't I don't know how much of this is like a visual podcast, but my jaw is like too sore right now. Like so my question I am reacting everyone.
SPEAKER_01I know, I know was like that that those are like the insane things that have been happening in my life in the last week. Um and and my question to you is like you are such a nice guy, you're such a nice guy, and I've only heard great things about you as a director. Um, my friend Brittany was in The Spaghetti Man, and she um like raved about how professional I was and how much of a great time it was. Um, and obviously you're getting the accolades for all of your films. How do you manage to be nice and still like command like um the set, basically? Teach new ways.
SPEAKER_00Um I don't think it's easy. Um, I think it took a lot of like this life experience to kind of get to this then state. I think I was much more angrier as like a teen and like someone in college. And you know, I think you I like I've been on sets where the director like yells at people and like these are like this is like I'm like I'm thinking of like a Disney movie that I was on, and like I remember like the director like yelling. I'm like, you're not commanding uh uh authority by yelling at people. Uh I was a stand-in on a Disney movie.
SPEAKER_02What?
SPEAKER_00I um I don't know. I don't now I feel bad because I feel like I gave away too much information about who this director might be.
SPEAKER_01No worries, no. Uh we won't we won't air anything, but I will honestly uh one of my life goals is to never really work on any big Hollywood productions anyway, so I don't know. Oh, because because of that one specific interaction or just in general?
SPEAKER_00I think just like the vibe of Hollywood, I just don't really like it. It just feels a little sticky to me, and I'm like Um Someone was telling me that like this was a comment I heard from someone talking about me, and they said that I wish Jerry never gets any bigger budgets. I wish that Jerry could continue to make these kind of movies for like around this like kind of budget. And I was like, I agree with you. I I I feel like it's very daunting to work with uh larger budgets, but I feel like I I'm I'm I'm getting away from the the question of um how oh yeah, just don't yell at people on sets because then people don't respect you. And you know, I I think for me when like stress like sets get stressful, because I mean no matter what set you're on, like they always get stressful, uh I just kind of you know take a deep breath. And you know, I just remember it's like it's like the lowest sticks. It's like you're working on a movie called Hamster in my head. You you you want it to be fun, yeah. And like um, I think there's also a benefit to just like finding the right people and like you know, trying to find the best people to work with that you know that you mesh well with. And like I'm very particular and like very picky of like who I work with. I mean, hamster was interesting because like um I let like the DP and like um the art department, like I let those those um those department heads to kind of pick and choose like the people they wanted to work with, and they brought people on. So like every day, like when we were working on hamster my head, there was always like new people around. So um thankfully, I think we all mesh well, and it like not to sound so corporate, but it did feel like a family, and like we were able to joke around and like we're like, okay, we can let all right, let's stop fooling around for a second and like actually get through this scene. And I think hopefully you you'll see that when you you watch the movie, like it just feels like a very fun and inviting environment.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so what happens if like let's say a handyman tells you that you're his soulmate and you don't reciprocate, and then he doesn't show up the next day. Have you had anything? Teach me your ways. Have you had any like interactions that weren't great? And then how did you overcome that? Because I really need to learn.
SPEAKER_00Um I don't know if like I've ever like successfully overcome terrible situations like that. I'm listening I you're painting it as me as someone that's like absolutely perfect. I'm I'm not, I really am not. Um from where I was a while ago, where it was like more of like a work for hire type of thing, and like the producer had me on, like work with like um some like actors that I didn't really know that well. And they felt very um I'm I'm I'm really tiptoeing around this because I don't want to do anybody, for sure, but it was just an awful experience because like the one of the actors was very much like a diva, and like I would give a direction, and they would do something that was completely different, and like it just like kind of overtook the entire production, and I was like, I don't I like I'm why am I here? You know, you asked me to direct, and I'm not directing, and like I I asked them, it's like, hey, I don't feel proud of this project. Could you respectfully take my name off?
SPEAKER_01Oh dang, good on you though, like that those are those are the boundaries that I feel like we all need. Um yeah, I'm just like energetically releasing it and just being like, I'm good, thank you so much, but please, like this is the end of things. Um the beginning of hot cakes okay, quick pause. I gotta shout out our sponsor, Mezcla Media Collective. They're doing the work to make Chicago's film scene actually look like Chicago, supporting a community of over 750 women and non-binary filmmakers of color with resources, connections, and opportunities. Basically, they're making sure that the next generation of storytellers has the tools to blow our minds. Go check out Mescala Media Collective and support the people shaping the future of film. We're gonna put 60 seconds on the clock and are you ready? Okay, let's do this, let's do this better genre, horror sci-fi.
SPEAKER_00Uh horror.
SPEAKER_01Practical effects or VFX?
SPEAKER_00Uh practical. But I mean like put an extra on there.
SPEAKER_01Your directing style. One word.
SPEAKER_00Uh weird.
SPEAKER_01Scarier, woods or space?
SPEAKER_00Uh space.
SPEAKER_01More powerful. A great title or a great ending?
SPEAKER_00Uh uh great title.
SPEAKER_01You get one big budget or full creative control? I think you're full creative control. What's the perfect film?
SPEAKER_00Uh Robocop.
SPEAKER_01Ooh, I like that. Actor improv, yes or no?
SPEAKER_00Uh yes.
SPEAKER_01Your villain origin story starts with uh high school? A film idea you've never admit publicly. Go.
SPEAKER_00Um be fun to do something that's girly pop. I don't know. That's a fun aesthetic.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much for playing. See? It wasn't a bit. Yo, Robocop though? That's why it's up there. Ooh. I love RoboCop.
SPEAKER_00I loved RoboCop. Like Robocop embodies everything that I want to make in a film. Because I mean, like, like you said uh great title, a great ending. It's like, well, what's the title? It's Robocop. But like it's almost like Can you get any better? It's a it's a Trojan horse of a movie because it like sets up like, oh, this is like a sleazy, like low budget, like people are getting blown to pieces left and right. But there's also like a very strong uh uh satirical and just like deep political message throughout the entire thing. It's like that's awesome. It's like if you can start with like a dumb idea and just like make it complex and just like like elaborate and just I I I feel that's like the way to make movies. I'm like, that's that's like that's it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, huge inspiration. I totally agree. I totally agree with that because uh I need to rewatch Robocop. It's been probably over a decade.
SPEAKER_00Um also it's like so funny.
SPEAKER_01Is it? I don't remember, like I don't remember specifically.
SPEAKER_00It's not like they have like set of punchlines. I think just like the delivery and like the line delivery and everything, it's just like this is this movie's incredible. Uh I'll blaze Robocop all day if you let me.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. And then you said girly pop is one of the things. That you you went like, what does that mean? I don't know what that means.
SPEAKER_00Girl like uh like a clueless, like um like a mean girl. Okay, yeah, and like I was even thinking about like because I'm always interested because like my style is just like I like creatures, of course. I like um just some element, some whisp whimsical element. I'm like, how could I add that what you know what I'm known for and put it into a girly pop movie? I think that would be a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_01Oh, what is the I'm gonna blank on this fucking film? Um there's a girly pop.
SPEAKER_02It's called Barbie.
SPEAKER_01It's called Barbie. Oh, thank you. There's a movie, um my god, no. I can't even. It's like, remember the gigolo? The movie The Gigolo?
SPEAKER_00The Gigolo, is that the Rob Schneider movie?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so Rob Schneider did another film with Rachel McAdams, I think. Um, and it's like him trading places with Rachel McAdams, and it's like Freaky Friday, but it's Rob Schneider, and it's Oh my god!
SPEAKER_00I know what you're talking about though, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like that type of thing. I like you know, just just Rob Schneider in in this world is it was incredible to see. So maybe maybe like there's a bigfoot in uh girly pop, you know.
SPEAKER_00That'd be wild.
SPEAKER_01That would be really fun. Yeah, speaking of creatures, like are you into like paranormal stuff? What's your current rabbit hole? Do you believe in anything that you wouldn't normally admit to anybody?
SPEAKER_00Uh a little bit. Well, the thing is, I I I look into that stuff. I don't do I believe it. Probably not. Shame. Yeah. I mean, like, I'm very much like, I want to believe. Like, I don't really believe in ghosts, but I do believe my my friends tell me they believe in ghosts. Uh so I mean, like, the fear in their their voice is real, and like in their eyes, I'm like, you saw something.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, so I don't know. Like, I I there's probably stuff out there that we don't fully understand. And I mean, I have a very scientific brain and I'm very logical. Um, I remember there's one time I I came home and I was like a little drunk, and um at that time we had like a cat tree that was like right next to the door, and it was like kind of dark, and like I just walked inside my apartment and I look over and I see that there's this figure, and it's like it doesn't look human, and my brain registered like this is not human, and then I immediately did like a fit to cup. Like I was ready to fight this thing. And I, you know, I it took me a second to realize, oh, this is just a cat on top of a cat tree. But I guess like I learned something about myself that day that like with my fight of flight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, your fight.
SPEAKER_00I would fight, I would, I would punch an alien. That that was like such a huge revelation to me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're you're one to take uh during like the zombie apocalypse. Like, should that ever happen, you're you're the you're the one friend to to include.
SPEAKER_00I guess I I didn't know I had that in me.
SPEAKER_01No, it's fair.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like stuff doesn't really like freak me out as much as like I think it would. Like um, there was like another time where I I woke up too quick quickly and like I looked above like my bed and there was just a floating head there. And like I didn't freak out. I was like, well, I can't move my arms and legs. I'm having sleep paralysis, and there's just a head here.
SPEAKER_02Get out of here.
SPEAKER_00What kind of head was it? Uh I don't know. It was just like a mushed up face. Ooh.
SPEAKER_01Just a mushed up face.
SPEAKER_00But I I don't know. I'm like, why isn't this scarier? This this should be this is a cosmic horror in my in my in my my my my bedroom, and I'm not freaking out or anything.
SPEAKER_01And you just like waited to wake up and that was it. That was that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was like, well, okay, I'll just like try to go back to bed then.
SPEAKER_01That's pretty creepy though. Like that that is that that I would include that in the paranormal stuff. What is what is the thing you're currently like googling or going down the rabbit hole? Because you said you do research these things, but you don't necessarily believe in them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, I mean it's when I I I have terrible sleep, so it's usually like 3 a.m. Uh TikTok, this like, oh, it's 3 a.m. Here's your daily content of just very off-putting things. So it's uh I do get some cryptid stuff. Um mostly it's been stuff about like consciousness and like having like uh like uh what astroprojecting?
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm like I don't really believe in that, but I also don't want to try because what if like I astro project and I can't get back into my own body? Like I very much Yeah, I'm not I'm not brave enough to do that.
SPEAKER_01That's funny. That's funny. Uh somebody on the podcast has come and like they're like, we I don't do it, like I don't believe in any paranormal stuff, but I do astroproject, and I was like, whoa! Um yeah, I was like um that they just kind of like go out of their body when when they dream and then they just kind of go like to other people and check them out. Um I also listened to this other podcast. Yeah, I know. I don't think you know this person. Um I also listened to another podcast and like a comedian was talking about how they uh a roommate in college astroprojected to Jupiter, I believe. Um yeah, so apparently you could go really far.
SPEAKER_00Um I find that so interesting to like hear other people's stories about things like that. Right? Um not related to like astroprojection, but like I was at a uh festival in Atlanta and I was manning a booth trying to sell posters, and this one person came by and she was like, uh, you mind if I put these like flyers down just for my my Sasquatch hunting group? And I was like, Oh yeah, go right ahead. I guess you could put these on this booth. I guess it's free real estate. And I was like, Have you ever met a Sasquatch? He's like, Yeah, I saw a Sasquatch once. We we we encounter them all the time.
SPEAKER_01What did she say? Did she show you the video? Like, I need to know this. No, dang it.
SPEAKER_00Like a heat camera or something. They just caught one of them squatches.
SPEAKER_01I think we need to do a girl pop Sasquatch movie.
SPEAKER_00The more I think about it, that's what I think that's what the masses are calling for. So we have to be able to make that real.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I think I think so. It's like a a Bigfoot, because Bigfoot is female. Um, I don't know if you knew. Um, but you know, she comes out of hiding and she's just like the girliest girl ever. Um she goes to college, you know.
SPEAKER_00I imagine oh, like that's her big secret. That feels very Disney channel, like but she goes to know you have to put on so much makeup so the hair you don't see all the hair. Oh, there's so many fun, like my my brain is already like thinking about that.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, hell yeah, that's uh Jerry, this will be our second feature film. So but speaking of your first feature film, um Big Spooky House. Uh I mean tell us as much as you'd like. Uh because I don't, you know, copyright infringement and all that good stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I could talk about a whole bunch of stuff. What are they gonna do? Sue me. Uh no, I there there's certain things I can't talk about. But um right now we are in the development stage. I I think I mentioned earlier I submitted another draft. Um, we already probably one or two drafts in, and I think you know, we really are just honing in on the story at this point. We we have a lot of characters that we like, we have a lot of oh yes, so I'm pairing up uh with a production company this time around called uh Candy House Productions. Um they have years of producing experience, and now they're finally forming their own production company, and uh I'm very lucky to be one of the first people like on their slates.
SPEAKER_01Um, it's been a fun experience.
SPEAKER_00I mean, it's very uh educational. We've already kind of toured um some sound stages because um I guess I should talk about what the film is about. Uh to boil it down in a very simple terms, it's about a anxious guy who's trying his darnest to not fumble his goth girlfriend, and in doing so, he uh ends up inheriting a haunted house that she likes that he doesn't like, and it's kind of a journey of this guy kind of learning to get over his fears and just be a better boyfriend to um his girlfriend.
SPEAKER_01Oh that's nice. See, it's like, yeah, it's a wild premise, but at the at the end of it, at the at the you know, root is heart. I and that that I think is uh a theme in all of your films.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but of course, there's all the fun aesthetics that I'm trying to go for. Like I'm trying to make it feel like it's a Disney Channel original while also trying to, you know, for a more adult market.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um you know, there's a little bit of hocus pocus in there and like uh the Casper movie from the 90s, and so I'm you know, but there's a lot of like gauntlet sequences that are that will feel like you know, like a 19 like a trippy 1940s cartoon.
SPEAKER_01Ooh, that's very, very fun.
SPEAKER_00So a lot of fun cartoony uh action and horror, um and blood and puppets and creature suits. So it's it's gonna be a fun time.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's so cool. I can't wait to hear more about it. Um, and thank you so much for being on the podcast. This was way, way, way so thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_00I I'm glad that we could finally like give in to like the the fans they they've been sending the mail to us.
SPEAKER_02I've got to be emails, Jerry Gonzalez, Jerry Sebastian Gonzalez.
SPEAKER_01Um that was so much fun. Oh my gosh. Uh, someone who is uh fighting a cold right now, that definitely gave me a pep in my step. Thank you so much, Jerry Gonzalez, for being on the podcast. You were so great, so much fun. Folks, if you laughed and giggled, uh thought it was super creative of him to make all these awesome films with cool titles. Um please follow him on Instagram at Jerry Sagonz G-O-N-Z. Uh very fun. I'm sure he'll be posting more stuff about Big Spooky House. Um, and we'll definitely be supporting him from our end. So thank you so much. Go drink some tea, y'all. Go, go, go take your vitamins and drink some tea. Ilse Will Say is an Intrepid entertainment podcast produced and edited by Jacob Cagle, music by Eric Bacchus, and photography by Joel Mysenet. And I am your host, Ilse Sacharia Rivera. The views and opinions expressed on Ilse Will Say are entirely those of the host and guests, and do not reflect the views of any employers, sponsors, or innocent bystanders. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Nothing said here should be taken as professional advice, expert opinion, legal guidance, or a reason to DMSU conspiracy theories. We're here for the laps, y'all. Carry on.