Today we’d like to introduce you to Jef Holbrook.
Jef, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
First, a little context: We (Jef and Sara Lynn Holbrook) moved to Atlanta to be part of the film scene there. We work as actors on film and television and are repped by Atlanta Models and Talent, a really great agency. We’re from Columbus, GA and have a long history at the Springer Opera House. Sara Lynn has worked as an actor for NBC, TLC, Microsoft, and others and I’ve worked as an actor for IFC, OWN, Netflix and others.
On the dancefloor at our wedding reception, the Artistic Director of the Springer Opera House cornered us on the dance floor and asked if we would bring our experience working in the Atlanta film industry back to Columbus. Columbus has a new film fund that provides gap funding for film projects with budgets of $2.5 million and up, new soundstages and other incentives to filmmakers. He did, however, ask us during Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” And while we did take the job, we did miss out on dancing to that song at our wedding reception. Now, whenever and wherever that song plays, we must dance.
So, we uprooted our Atlanta lives and began Springer Film Studios. It’s awesome to get to go to work together every day at the beautiful Springer Opera House as a husband and wife team in our hometown. It’s been a wild ride so far. We’re always busy helping local filmmakers make their visions come to life while working with the big-budget films that come to town and need help finding resources to make their shoot the best it can be.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being married and being business partners is a challenge that we wouldn’t change for the world. While the hours are long and we frequently bring work home with us, it’s very rewarding to be life and work partners. The biggest challenge has been keeping up with how many film projects are bubbling up in Columbus. There’s only two of us and bouncing from set to set in Columbus and Atlanta takes a lot of energy!
Please tell us about the business.
Our mission is to build a local film workforce in the Columbus area. We want to grow local filmmakers and provide a backbone of cast and crew talent for productions that come to Columbus. The parts of our business as Springer Film include:
– Columbus Casting, the leading film casting service for the Chattahoochee Valley. We’ve cast lead roles, day players, featured roles and extras for every film that has come to town.
– Springer Film Institute, our workshop, and training division. We offer workshops in filmmaking, animation, voiceover, acting, screenwriting and editing. We also bring professionals from Adult Swim and other networks to meet our students and provide mentorship in special seminars.
– Springer Film Studios, our production arm, produces original content and works with local filmmakers to help them create their short films by providing assistance to their shoots. We help these filmmakers go from idea to finished film and encourage them to submit to festivals or pursue self-distribution so they can get a career in the film business started or take an existing career to the next level.
– Columbus Post-Production, our post arm, provides video editing, sound mixing, motion graphics, ADR recording and other services to local films that need them.
What sets us apart is that we are still working professionals in the Atlanta film market. We are both still represented by Atlanta Models and Talent and continue working as actors in film, television and voiceover projects for major studios in Atlanta and we get to bring that experience and those connections back home to Columbus. Having a foot in Atlanta and our hometown helps us bring real-world industry experience to our local community. Being a team at home and work means that we are both “all in” on making a film in Columbus succeed.
We talk a lot about what’s happening with film in Columbus on our podcast dedicated to the topic, “The Talkies,” available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify or at talkiespodcast.com.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Paul Pierce, artistic director of the Springer Opera House, is the guy who created Springer Film and brought us on to make the dream a reality. Because of him, we get to run this business the way a startup would work with an incubator. We are part of the Springer but have been allowed great freedom to make it work and take risks. That willingness to trust who he hires speaks highly of Paul’s leadership.
Ty Manns, a local filmmaker with international reach, has been a real mentor to us and has been very gracious in opening doors to his connections with other filmmakers in Georgia and beyond.
Matt Eskandari, a director in Los Angeles, brought us in early on for his film with Bruce Willis and helped us establish a relationship with him and to get our casting service, it’s early business.
Natalia Temesgen, a Columbus-based writer who now writes for Dear White People (Netflix), wrote the first original script that Springer Film Studios produced, cast and crewed locally and we credit her with kickstarting our production arm.
Contact Info:
- Address: Springer Film Studios/Springer Opera House
103 Tenth St, Studio 7 Columbus GA 31901 - Website: springerfilm.org, jefholbrook.com, saralynnholbrook.com, springeroperahouse.org
- Phone: 706-256-3494
- Email: producer@springerfilm.org, (Jef), director@springerfilm.org (Sara Lynn)
- Instagram: @springerfilmstudios, @saralynnholbrook, @jefholbrook
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/springerfilmstudios
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/springerfilm, https://twitter.com/jefholbrook
- Other: talkiespodcast.com
Image Credit:
DSoulFotoArtistry (https://dsoulfotoartistry.pixieset.com/)
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