Jack Buckley, Aspiring Film Maker and Producer Talks Animation and His Latest Film, A'Taka

Yvonne DiVita Chats up Jack Buckley about A’Taka, his family friendly, animation film (he also does great movie reviews on YouTube here)

What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you know when you were 7 years old?

This Smart Conversation is full of fun and laughter and learning. The learning comes from a 17-year old filmmaker I met from a Facebook group I belong to. He’s the son of the group organizer and occasionally pops in to share or comment on the business chatter in the group. He also shares his movie reviews which have been helpful in my choice of movies to watch, of late.

Jack has been making films, he says, for 10 years. That means he was doing this (on an iPhone, he tells us in the video) when he was only 7 years old. You all know I hate qualifiers very’ and ‘only’ but I had to use only, today. After all, 7… yes, only 7 years old.)

Jack easily convinced me he was someone I wanted on the show when I saw the clip shared in today’s video – about his new venture, the family friendly film about a knight on a quest, A’Taka. The story takes place on an invented world where a young man named Kuro embarks upon a journey to become an A’Taka knight.

The concept and story is taken from well known mystery stories (including Murder on the Orient Express, I believe) that were made into movies, and from ancient Japanese and Samurai culture, Jack tells us. I have to believe a great many of you are as fascinated with the idea of movie production as am I.

Hence, having Jack on the show.

To be ‘official’, here’s the short bio about Jack:

Jack Buckley is a 17-year old Virginia-based filmmaker who’s been making films for over 10 years. Starting out with short films made with friends and family, he eventually released his first animated feature film into theaters in 2019, called Remnants. Since then he’s been working on his second movie, an action-mystery called A’Taka.

In his spare time he likes to play video games with his friend and collaborator, Nick.

Jack’s backstory and his determination to not only finish and release this film, but his vision of what he would like to do with his movie making experiences and knowledge, as an adult make him stand out in a crowd. Our talk about his vision to be a movie producer was eye opening for me. I don’t have clue one what a movie producer does, do you? Jack and I talked it over and decided it might be a better gig than being the director, or the actor in the film. After all, a producer calls all the shots. Maybe. The producer certainly is one of the voices who determines how the movie is made and even who will direct it. So, there is power there.

I have to wonder if a producer has any influence over the film story line or story arc, also. Is the producer the one who decides a certain film, made from a book, will have a different ending? Or that the character playing Sal is taller, smarter, and more socially adept than the character of Sal in the book? Maybe.

Here’s a question for you – what were you doing at seven and eight years old? Were you using your mother’s iPhone to make films? Jack Buckley was. Great conversation in the show about that. About how his generation is already tuned into technology and creating online content, so movie making might just be natural for them. I think he’s far more talented than that; he gets the purpose of the technology and has the inherent imagination to take it further than just clicking a button that says record; but you can decide how talented and creative he is, for yourself. (even if you know the technology, you can’t always make it do what you want – says the woman who knows)

I don’t want to recap the entire conversation. It’s too fun and interesting to write about. You have to see it and listen to it. This young man has a lot going for him, not the least of which is an imagination that helped him envision an entire world of characters and then bring that world and those characters to life. I hope you’ll leave us some comments below and connect if you want to be part of the funding – or know someone who would be interested.

Movies don’t make themselves, folks. They cost dollars and cents. All the talent in the world isn’t enough to bring a movie to life without the actors, the script, the music, the background, the story, and the hard work to put it all together successfully. Jack has been funding this out of his own pocket, which we all do in the beginning, of course, but it’s time for us, the viewing public, to step up.

Once again, this is a family friendly movie. For 8 and up. For kids and parents to watch together. For families to get the popcorn out and queue up on Netflix or Discovery+ or whatever channel you want, and enjoy it. Yes, it would be GREAT to see on a streaming service. Jack is open to that. So, if you know someone who knows someone who is related to the powers that be at one of the streaming services, get in touch! I want to see this movie with my grandkids.

Need more incentive? Well, midway through our talk, there is a clip to watch. A sneak preview about the movie. Watch and enjoy. The music is phenomenal.