Clay Cook is one of the creative minds behind Glass Label, creative and award winning minds that is. Glass Label is one of Louisville's indie film studios. They offer professional quality films in both corporate and commercial video production. But their real passion lies in film making, specifically short films, although they hope to start producing feature length films in the next year or so.

 

THE INTERVIEW

 

William/LLM: Tell us a little about Glass Label. Who are you, what do you do, when was it founded and how did it come about?

 

Clay Cook/GL: Glass Label is a professional commercial and creative production company. After the 2012 48 Hour Film Project, filmmaker Antonio Pantoja and myself (Clay Cook) began collaborating on many projects, from commercial jobs to creative short films. We threw out the idea of merging brands and setting our focus on the corporate world to fund future creative ventures, such as a full length features. The more we collaborated, the more we knew it had to be done. After months of discussion we settled on a brand, Glass Label. The first project was for Dillard’s and NFocus Magazine, a 40 minute fashion film which played during the prestigious “Runway For The Roses”, one of Derby’s largest fashion shows. It landed with an amazing response.

 

William/LLM: Nice! Your job title is Cinematographer. What does a Cinematographer do and how did you become interested in this field?

 

Clay Cook/GL: Antonio and I share titles a lot. We co-direct many aspects of every project and it’s worked out to our advantage. I’m a photographer at heart, but cinematography is a long passion of mine, from lighting to composing a scene, it’s really what I love to do. Growing up, I used to shoot small movies with my Dad’s 8mm camera and use ketchup for blood and firecrackers as gunshots/explosions. I’ve always had a passion for filmmaking and I’m truly living it out.

 

William/LLM: Going back to your youth, what was the very first film you shot? What was the first professional film you shot?

 

Clay Cook/GL: The first “film” I shot would be either a music video of me and a few friends jamming with brooms and lip syncing to some metal back in the day or I remember a short horror film we did for a school project. It was more on the journalistic side of things but it was a fun experience. The first professional film I shot was a documentary for a fellow photographer named Josh Eskridge. I spent a lot of time with him and the short documentary turned out to be one of my proudest projects. That was nearly 2 years ago.

 

William/LLM: Why choose Louisville to set up your company?

 

Clay Cook/GL: Louisville is a very creative community. We are born and raised here and love many aspects of the city. Although, it’s somewhat of a small town there is a lot of opportunity for business. You just have to go out and get it.

 

William/LLM: What makes the Louisville market different from markets in other bigger cities?

 

Clay Cook/GL: With the Kentucky Derby being stationed in Louisville, it’s a hot bed for commercial video work. Every year, this city brings in thousands of people from all over the world. It’s a great time for filmmakers and photographers. I can’t say we won’t end up in New York or Los Angeles, but for right now we are quite comfortable in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

William/LLM: Tell us, what is "The Paper Tiger"?

 

Clay Cook/GL: The Paper Tiger is a short film we produced for The 48 Hour Film Project. Basically, you draw a genre out of a hat and then you have 48 hours to write, cast, shoot, edit, grade and render a full blown short movie. We drew superhero and decided to bring the genre down to a real level, with a twist. We took home the most awards out of the entire competition. Best Cinematography, Best Directing, Best Editing, Best Musical Score and Best Special Effects. We can’t reveal much, but it should be online within the next couple of weeks! We’ve competed in the 48 Hour Film Project for 2 years now and took home a lot of awards, but we are really excited to move forward, beyond the 48.

 

William/LLM: Yes, that always sounds like a fun venture. And usually, the place showing the films are sold out, or close to it from what I hear. What is the oddest things that you have been asked to film?

 

Clay Cook/GL: We get asked to film people interviews for reality shows all the time. We are always “guaranteed” exposure which is false and we kindly decline, unless we are paid for the job. That may not seem weird, but we like weird. What is really strange to a lot of people is probably pretty normal in our everyday life.

 

William/LLM: What all does a corperate job entail? Does it involve making training videos or films to recruit potential clients?

 

Clay Cook/GL: Corporate jobs can be anything. Training videos, 30 second commercial spots, presentations, anything. What we have learned it there is no better form of promotion than word of mouth. Do great work, put yourself out there and the rest will happen.

 

William/LLM: Is the Kentucky Derby your busiest time of year?

 

Clay Cook/GL: As a photographer, the Kentucky Derby is definitely the busiest time of the year. As of for Glass Label, that is also true. Last year we were consumed in everything Derby for 3 months, creating a fashion film for Dillard’s and NFocus Magazine

 

William/LLM: When you do a corporate job, does the client come to you with an idea and then you shoot it? Or do you go to the client with an idea?

 

Clay Cook/GL: Usually a client has the foundation for the idea and we expand on it and bring the vision to life as a collaboration. Other times, the client knows exactly what they want! Rarely do we have the creative freedom to do what we want with a client, especially in the commercial world. That is exactly why we do short films!

 

 

William/LLM: Where do you see Glass Label going in the future?

 

Clay Cook/GL: Our plan is to continue moving forward in the corporate field and eventually venture into producing a full length feature film. We’d like to start production by the first quarter of 2014. Wherever that may take us, we’re along for the ride. The future is very bright.

 

William/LLM: For full length feature films is there one genre that interests you more than any others or are you pretty much open to all genres?

 

Clay Cook/GL: I’m open to a lot of genres. I love all types of movies. But our aesthetic is definitely drama, thriller or horror. We like to step outside our box, but our first film will be something we are comfortable and confident with. It will be dark and it will be dramatic.

 

William/LLM: What is your favorite joke?

 

Clay Cook/GL: How much does a polar bear weigh? Enough to break the ice!

 

William/LLM: You get a call from a person that wants to hire you for a job. They tell you they don't care what you shot but the film has to be at least forty-five minutes long, you must bring along fifty boxes of Jell-O chocolate pudding, a carburetor from 1965 Dodge Dart and a copy of the New York Times announcing the end of WWI. What do you come up with?

 

Clay Cook/GL: When I think of anything creative, it usually involves a fashion model and a crazy cool location. It would be tough to hit the 45 minute mark, but I could definitely see a fashion film involving chocolate pudding and some vintage WWI era clothing in a machine shop!

 

William/LLM: You wake up one morning to find you are limping because of a pain in your right hip, a first edition copy of George Orwell's 1984 sitting on your coffee table with peanut butter smeared on every page and a stranger sleeping in your bathtub with his hands bound by a pair of silk stockings. What happened the night before?

 

J Clay Cook/GL: ust another night out on the town. Crazier things have happened. (smiles)

 

William/LLM: Where can people get more info on you?

 

Clay Cook/GL:

Social: facebook.com/glasslabel

 

Main website: glass-label.com

 

Fashion Pastiche

http://glass-label.com/video/64563640

 

The Paper Tiger Trailer

http://glass-label.com/video/70906360

 

William/LLM: Thanks for the time. We’re looking forward to checking out “The Paper Tiger” when it’s released and what all else you have in the future!

 

William G. Muir – Louisville Limelight Magazine