Jun 9

Jun 9 JJ Every Day

Written by Jules Weissman

"Sometimes when we're cleaning up from the party, there's just, like… weird, random stuff." Local filmmaker Jennifer Jordan Day grabs the bag she brought to lunch. It's one of those cold, wet May days, and the mostly outdoor Meiners Heritage Table is empty. "Some kid will take one thing and, like, stamp it in some really weird way or glue a bunch of stuff to it," she says, emphasizing the word 'stamp' in a way that really sells it. Jordan Day speaks in a way that animates her words, an actor's trick. She reaches into her bag, pulls out a manila folder, and opens it to reveal a thick stack of handmade cards. "Sometimes I'm like, 'Woah,' they're, like, 'wrong and cool.' Then, they abandon them."

The owner, Chelsea, comes to take our order. "I really like my coffee wrapped in chocolate and sugar," confesses Jordan Day, "Can I get that?"

She shows me more treasures from the folder. "Joel made this card for me." On it is drawn a figure with way too many arms, each with a very grabby-looking hand. It might be a self-portrait. "He used to hug me too hard," she giggles mischievously. "He really likes to be squished."

Often people will make cards to thank Jordan Day and her partner Joel Fox for hosting their annual Valentine-making parties in which the Smile Mountain production studio is opened up to share its meticulously-labeled bounty. There is a vast spread of food, much of it potluck. Kids may be distracted by Pecky, the couples' emu, and a rented bounce castle, but I get the feeling that's the point. "Parents can get some crafting in." She has been hosting these get-togethers since 2000, when she first moved from San Francisco to a tiny apartment in North Hollywood. "I think there were twenty-six people who stopped by that year which was quite a lot for my little space." In those days, the parties were adults-only. "I hadn't missed any years of the party since then — until the pandemic."

As the years have gone by — the party has grown along with their friends' families. "Since Joel and I moved to Ojai, each year we have had 100 plus people stop by," some even driving up from Orange County because it is their kids' favorite party of the year.

"I have always said that everyone has someone to give a Valentine to — it doesn't need to be a 'romantic' partner — think how tickled a distant relative would be if they got a valentine, or a co-worker, or a neighbor, or just your BFF — I can't think of anyone who would complain about getting a handmade card even if it just has a few ink scribbles as decoration. We always have the party in advance of February 14 so that people have time to mail out their cards. Hopefully, we will be able to safely gather a crowd of crafters next year."

Chelsea brings our coffee, and I insist she looks at one of the cards. "Aww, are you a teacher?" Chelsea coos.

Jordan Day chuckles, "No."

We both order the avocado toast.

Jordan Day comes from the greater Chicago theatre world, where she learned the art of Jumping In and Getting Stuff Done. Her BFA in Theatre is from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. She studied acting, but the program included everything that goes into putting on a show — lighting, set design, props, and wardrobe. "It made you get your hands wet in all areas, which I think is really helpful for any career in the arts." To her, a producer's main job is problem-solving — how can a team achieve what the director wants or the project needs with the available resources?

"I think understanding the basics of all elements of a project is key. You will treat the wardrobe/lighting/editing team better if you have helped out in that department and understand what they are doing. I would get hired as an actor or spokesmodel for a project and just pay attention to everyone else's jobs and help when I could. Then I started getting hired to do more of the coordination jobs and over time moved up to producer."

JENNIFER JORDAN DAY, WORKING AT HOME, PHOTO BY JOEL FOX

For a few years, Jordan Day worked at Ashton Kutcher's production company, Katalyst, coordinating all social media and branding projects. "We had one of the first premium YouTube channels called 'Thrash Lab.' I can't find any of that content on YouTube anymore, but we made some great stuff." One of her favorite pieces was about the Junior Society at the Magic Castle. "It was a great team of amazing kids who had found their place and crew."

Jordan Day then moved over to Oxygen which is part of NBCUniversal. They are historically known for making reality series like Bad Girls Club, and True Crime shows like Snapped, "But when I was there, we were trying to make shows that had women in more positive roles. I didn't have any say about what was happening creatively — I was in a purely production-focused role." She thought of herself as the 'Mama,' overseeing all third-party production companies making the content. "I dealt with everyone's budgets, schedules, and deliverables and made sure they got legal and insurance questions answered. It was a good learning experience, but my crafty, creative side was being neglected."

While at Oxygen, she and Fox bought their house in Ojai, and she kept working in LA for another year and a half. "I was in Ojai Friday night to very early Monday morning and LA the rest of the week. It was exhausting." Fox booked two big jobs for kids' shows, so Jordan Day was finally confident enough to leave the 'real' job with the 401k and health benefits and move to Ojai permanently in 2015. "Thankfully, we have been getting plenty of freelance work ever since. I have been using my producing, budgeting, and scheduling skills — but also my crafty side."

I met Jordan Day after her first year in Ojai full-time. She and Fox had just been tasked to create a video of a crawfish riding a unicycle, which was proving to be a little more challenging than expected. As she explained her frustrations with the fishing line, I stopped her, "Wait. What do you?"

SMILE MOUNTAIN’S CRAWFISH ON A UNICYCLE, *PICKLE AND PEANUT*

PICKLE, TRAINING THE CRAWFISH, NBCUNIVERSAL

One of the shows they booked was Pickle and Peanut, an animated television series created by Noah Z. Jones for Disney XD. It is about the adventures of two friends, an actual pickle and peanut. Mostly 2D animation, the show spontaneously transitions to live-action, and that's where the Smile Mountain magic comes in. The couple was given a storyboard or character reference, and Jordan Day would sculpt, sew, or otherwise craft it into existence. This could be anything from a crawfish on a unicycle to a life-size Pickle costume, complete with perfectly matched mauve high-top sneakers.

"I already knew how to sew because my mom had a 'sewing room' when I was growing up." Jordan Day comes from a long line of midwestern quilters. "I am not a pattern-maker or great person for doing alterations — but I can sew a straight line and am not afraid of the machine." Her father had a workshop in the garage and made much of the family's furniture. "I am not a furniture maker, but I am not afraid of those tools, either."

She uses both of those skills in her prop-making. One of her early solo projects was a stop motion animation film called Make a Mate (2009). "I had been working on other people's films for years but hadn't made my own." At the same time, she was volunteering at Outfest and AFI as a screener and assistant programmer for the film festivals. "I was watching hundreds of mostly not-great films, looking for the gems," she explains. "Oh, the gems are soooo exciting to find! But the bad films might have been more inspiring?" Jordan Day figured she could make a film that was better than most of those she was screening.

"I was also inspired to make my film after working on Were the World Mine...a beautiful queer musical made by my friends Cory James Krueckeberg and Tom Gustafson. It was a very ambitious film, on a very tiny budget, with so many moving parts." In response, she wanted to make a tiny film she had complete control over. "I already had most of the crafting supplies needed to make the props. I think I spent a little bit of money on magnets to make my characters stand up… but that was it." Right around the time she started shooting the film, she met Fox, and he told her about a guy he grew up with in Ojai, Jamie Caliri, who was creating software called Dragonframe. "I was an early user/tester of the new industry-standard animation software."

She is still proud of her 'little film,' which played in festivals worldwide for two years and was on a DVD compilation, AniGAYmated, by Frameline. "I am so thankful for my friends Printz Board and Tim Izo Orindgreff for doing the soundtrack. I met them when I was working on the Black Eyed Peas tour, and they were and still are in the band. Two great humans."

Our lunch arrives, and Jordan Day shifts to local business. "VORTEX should be in the parade." Fox is on the Ojai 4th of July Committee (he loves fireworks) and even picked this year's theme: ‘America's Birthday Party.’ "I try to let that be his thing," she says, "but I do somehow end up getting involved a little bit most years." In 2019, Jordan Day oversaw a grant from the City of Ojai to bring more art to the parade. She worked with the Ojai Library to host a workshop for local kids to help create a giant paper mache owl puppet named Luna, after the Library's owl mascot. Fox and another friend, Atma Cornelius, took turns wearing and operating Luna in the parade. I remember how sweaty they were at the end of the route while considering Jordan Day's suggestion.

LUNA CONCEPT SKETCH, IN PROGRESS, AT THE PARADE, AND ON JENNIFER JORDAN DAY

This year, she is again participating in the parade with the Ojai Valley Museum, whose board she recently joined. "I don't remember exactly how I got involved with the museum initially, but someone suggested they needed some younger people to help out, and they do! I am not that young — but I am younger." She volunteered in the Visitor's Center for a few years before it closed for COVID, and she and Fox were on a committee for the Museum Gala fundraiser in 2017. "I like the museum — it's small but mighty, doing its best with a tiny budget and a historic building that was not built to be a museum. The more people that get involved, the better it will become."

She officially joined the board in April 2022 and is excited to see how they can get people back out to events. One of the first she had a hand in was the Treasures Sale, by all accounts a success. "People were lined up outside the gate at least an hour before it opened. A lot of treasures were dispersed, and a good bit of money was raised to help the museum," whose annual budget is relatively small, with one full-time and three part-time employees. Everything else is done by volunteers. "This is a small town with so many creative people. I would love to have more people feel at home in the museum. It is the town's only museum. Come on out and get involved."

"We need more volunteers for all kinds of different things: become a docent, answer questions in the Visitor's Center or log items in Collections… If you have ideas, we would love to hear them."

One idea she brought to the board is for the museum to host a BYOB: Bring Your Own Beamer (projector) event. The first BYOB was organized by Anne de Vries and Rafaël Rozendaal in Berlin in 2010 as a low-budget and inclusive way to show art. The museum was game and identified a window when the gallery would be empty — between the current exhibit, Ojai at the Crossroads, and the Ojai Studio Artists' group show Perception & Persistence. So, on July 15, from 5 PM - 7 PM(ish), as part of the monthly Third Friday happening in town, anyone is welcome to come and show some work. The museum will provide power and various heights of pedestals for the projectors to sit on. Participants should bring their own projector, extension cord, computer, or whatever they will show their work from. "Spread the word!" says Jordan Day.