Check Out Josh Green’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Green.

Josh, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin? 
My story starts in a different career and life as a young man out of college. I was working in hospitality and financial consulting for a global accounting firm, a career tailor-made for my college focus. But the passion wasn’t there so decided to on a lark to pursue an industry. I thought I may have more of a personal connection to entertainment. I went back to graduate Business School at Columbia University to pursue my MBA in entertainment and finance and happened to take one class in the Film School at Columbia that was about the business of independent film taught by the iconic Ira Deutchman, the first studio executive to create an independent film division for more art and character stories, Fine Line Features (a division of New Line Cinema). Of course, that class turned out to change my life. It was my fave class during my two years in school, and following graduation in 2002, pursued a job, essentially as an assistant, to Ira at his new sales and marketing and digital exhibition company, Emerging Pictures. I ended up staying with Ira for ten years and rose to VP Sales and Distribution, so working primarily on the sales and marketing sides of the film business. But as the years went on, I was offered a few opportunities by filmmaker clients to “executive produce,” in other words help find money for new projects and also help navigate finding distribution for independent projects, which had been my role. So, let’s just say I was bit by the creative bug! That led me to pursue more producing opportunities and really learn what a producer does and how. It’s been quite a journey since that time in 2008, and I had to learn by doing and making mistakes! But slowly but surely, I learned that part of the business and that craft, and I pursued it more full-time. I left Emerging and started my own production company in 2013 with a few partners, and we ran that for two years making commercials, industrial and music videos, and a few features. And then I broke off on my own in 2015 to establish Jagman Productions, my current LA-based production company. To date, I’ve represented 60 movies working on the marketing side and produced 13 films that I’m very proud of, a mix of documentary and scripted feature. And I’m working on an additional 20 projects we speak about, the latest currently in release called The League, a documentary on the Negro Baseball Leagues. Thematically, many of my projects share a connection… they are about or based on real characters overcoming incredible odds to achieve the impossible. This wasn’t necessarily on purpose, but obviously, these were the stories that were inspiring me, bringing out my passion and will to get share them with the world. In the end, as a storyteller, my goal is connection. To connect me to myself, others to themselves, and I believe there are ripple effects to others once that chain begins. I’m privileged and honored to do what I do and be trusted by my colleagues clients, and subjects, and if I can make even a small positive impact on the world, I’m happy and will have served my purpose. I believe I’m on that path. 🙂 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road! I’ve now worn many hats in the film business… sales agent, marketer, distributor, exhibitor, and now producer. All have different processes players, and stakeholders. While they’re interrelated of course, they’re all very different parts of the process, so learning each one essentially from scratch has been a huge challenge, but it’s also been an incredible gift. Knowing the big picture and the different aspects of the overall process has been a bit benefit to helping ensure successful projects and adding value across the chain in many ways. But in film, failure is something that happens regularly, many projects never move forward, and many people turn you down every day, so it’s something that makes you grow as a person and continue to learn and stay humble, and work hard. I’ve also had to sacrifice financially, emotionally, and when on set certainly physically! This is a business where you are constantly pushing the boulder up the hill over and over. it never gets easier or hasn’t yet haha, but again our passion and drive to maybe have a positive impact on the world pushes us forward. And it’s easily one of the most fulfilling things I’ve done in my life to date. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an independent film producer with an LA-based company called Jagman Productions. I liken producing to being the CEO of a start-up company, with the product just being a movie or show. All the stages are there of a startup company… building the team, developing the idea creatively, fundraising, navigating the actual production (or manufacturing) of the product, and then it’s all about sales marketing and distribution to an audience. Producers are often the first to get involved and the last to leave projects, so requires an incredible level of dedication and years of life. As I previously mentioned, I work on all types of projects: documentaries, scripted features, scripted TV shows, docu-series, and now even books and podcasts. I would say I started my production and marketing career with documentaries, so I have a special affinity for them and have especially worked on a lot of music-related projects. But I think I cross genres, and again thematically I tend to work on inspiring character dramas about characters that overcome obstacles to achieve the impossible or projects where you think you know the truth or history, but you don’t know the whole story. So positive projects to entertain but also educate inspire, and promote connection. I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve persevered through all my own obstacles and kept going, no matter what. And that I’ve been able to finish 13 films and be trusted to work on the next 20. Again, the latest is a documentary called THE LEAGUE that came out in theaters in July 2023 and is not on all digital platforms, the story of the Negro Baseball Leagues done with director Sam Pollard, Radical Media, Questlove, Nina Dobrev, Magnolia Films, Play Action Films and my good friend who started it all, Byron Motley. But I would say my most notable and fun and rewarding documentaries was Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey about the rock band Journey and their Filipino lead singer, Arnel Pineda, who was discovered on YouTube after an incredibly difficult life, and he rose to become a rock star. I can’t really talk about new projects that aren’t public yet, but one can visit my website for a clue: www.jagmanproductions.com. 🙂 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jagmanproductions.com
• Instagram: @jag289
• Facebook: @Josh Green
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-green-78363810/
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1636521/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_q_joshua%2520a%2520green