Director Christopher Macken On Making Art That’s Personal and Raising Awareness About OCD

Creative Space with Jennifer Logue

On today’s episode of Creative Space, we have the pleasure of chatting with Christopher Macken, an award-winning writer-director, based in Los Angeles. Having graduated from Emerson College in 2015, Christopher broke into the industry assisting actor-writer Charlie Day on projects like Fist Fight, Pacific Rim: Uprising and Cool Kids. This year, Christopher served as a Co-Producer on Fool’s Paradise, Day’s feature film debut starring Day, Ken Jeong, Kate Beckinsale, and many others. Apart from his work with Day, Christopher recently released his own short film that he directed and wrote, For the Safety of Theo, which is currently in the festival circuit. He also co-created The Gamer and the Mouth, a video game/stand-up comedy show, releasing in Cinemark theaters Oct 7th.
We cover so much ground in this episode, including how Christopher worked his way up from actor’s assistant to Associate Producer to Co-Producer on Day’s feature film debut. We also talk about the importance of getting personal with the art we create. As an example, Christopher’s latest short film, For the Safety of Theo, raises awareness about OCD and sexual intimacy, a topic that most are too scared to talk about. As someone living with OCD, Christopher hopes to raise awareness through the film as well as to help others living with OCD know that they’re not alone.
Finally, we also talk about the origin story behind, The Gamer and the Mouth, which stars Youtuber Jacksepticeye and SNL’s Chris Redd.
For more on Christopher Macken, visit: directorchrismacken.com.

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SHOW NOTES:

0:00—Introduction

2:00—The writer’s strike and life in LA

3:50—Growing up in Massachusetts

6:58—The influence of Kevin Smith, Todd Phillips and Lonely Island

9:27—What writers can learn from standup comedy

11:31—Deciding to become a film director

15:40—Chris’ definition of creativity

19:11—The role of a film producer

22:30—Have a good attitude and be of service to the project.

25:13—How Chris initially connected with Charlie Day

35:09—It’s not overnight success, it’s a marathon.

36:03—Working as a Co-Producer on ‘Fool’s Paradise’

37:56—J. Todd Anderson and storyboarding

44:34—‘For the Safety of Theo’ and raising awareness about OCD

49:45—The importance of making art that’s personal

52:05—”I can help people through my art.”

58:00—What’s next for ‘For the Safety of Theo’

1:00:59—What is ’The Gamer and the Mouth?’

1:03:49—Partnering with Jacksepticeye and SNL’s Chris Redd

1:06:00—What’s next for Chris?

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1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. The writer’s strike and life in LA (00:02:00)

3. Growing up in Massachusetts (00:03:50)

4. The influence of Kevin Smith, Todd Phillips and Lonely Island (00:06:58)

5. What writers can learn from standup comed (00:09:27)

6. Deciding to become a film director (00:11:31)

7. Chris’ definition of creativity (00:15:40)

8. The role of a film producer (00:19:11)

9. Have a good attitude and be of service to the project (00:22:30)

10. How Chris initially connected with Charlie Day (00:25:13)

11. It’s not overnight success, it’s a marathon. (00:35:09)

12. Working as a Co-Producer on ‘Fool’s Paradise’ (00:36:03)

13. J. Todd Anderson and storyboarding (00:37:56)

14. ‘For the Safety of Theo’ and raising awareness about OCD (00:44:34)

15. The importance of making art that’s personal (00:49:45)

16. ”I can help people through my art.” (00:52:05)

17. What’s next for ‘For the Safety of Theo’ (00:58:00)

18. What is ’The Gamer and the Mouth?’ (01:00:59)

19. Partnering with Jacksepticeye and SNL’s Chris Redd (01:03:49)

20. What’s next for Chris? (01:06:00)