INTERVIEW: JOE WALKER (ACADEMY OF YOM)
Web site

interview conducted 2/25/2003

My first fan film was with my high school pals, shot at a high school, about a high school. It was called Young Jedi: High School Student. It sucked. But I learned a lot and had fun.

That's why I'm cheering the Academy of Yom crew on.

I'm talking with "Joe Sunrider", as we call him on the Fan Films Forum. Obvious connection to "Skywalker"? Perhaps.

Okay--basics. Name, age, location, favorite Star Wars movie.

My name is Joe Walker, 18 years old, out of Roseville, California. My favorite Star Wars movie is A New Hope.

Hey—his real surname, Walker, ain't far off. We've got a lot to say about names, in fact:

So what's this "Yom"? Where'd the name come from?

That's a long story. Most of our cast and crew worked on the Woodcreek High School newspaper here in Roseville, and when planning an event a few years back, someone said "We can't do it then! That's Yom!" in reference to Yom Kippur. It kinda stuck. It has no religious meaning, we just liked saying Yom. Matt Pyers (the director and star, "Mattes Krymsod") and I started a clan for the PC game Jedi Knight called "The Academy of Yom." After seeing some fan films on TFN, we decided to make one about a Jedi Academy, and named it "Academy of Yom" as a tribute. It also ties into the master's name, Cloud Yomveil.

Good enough for me. Hey, Lucas flung religious influences around with wild abandon. Speaking of names, I'm pretty impressed with your character naming choices; they all sound plausible. Though I note that a girl named Amanda is playing a character named Manda, a guy named Matt is playing a character named Mattes... Did you base the characters on yourselves outright?

Yes and no. The names for the four main characters are plays on the actor's names (Joe Walker as Jakobi Sunrider, Amanda Burford as Manda Rayner, Matt Pyers as Mattes Krymsod, and Devin Crocco as Diz Crizzco). As far as personality goes, Jakobi is kind of a "by the book" kind of guy, a lot like me. Matt is a really optimistic guy, and that came out as I wrote for Mattes. Amanda was the youngest of the cast, so she came out as the innocent one (but she's also my girlfriend, so I see her that way anyway). Devin is kind of a "do what I want" girl, and I made sure that Diz reflected that.

A Star Wars fan with a girlfriend. I want this on record, people. In case it never happens again.

This brings up a good point. Where'd you come by all the females? I've never seen such a balanced male-female ratio in a fan film of this cast size.

It came about because I wanted a group of main characters, not a single one. I wanted four distinct personalities that could bounce off each other, but also make the perfect team when they were combined, and I didn't feel that a group of four males could achieve that. Amanda and Devin were both very excited when we approached them with the idea.

As far as fans go, I think plenty of girls and women are Star Wars fans, just not to the extreme geek lengths that we guys tend to go to.

I've met maybe one or two. Maybe I need to move to California... what the hell were we talking about? Say something about fan films, I'm too busy thinkin' 'bout women.

I like to see original ideas. Reciprocity and Art of the Saber are two recent films that I saw as creative... even though [AOTS] was simply a saber battle, the Ho brothers bring a unique flavor to the Star Wars universe, and I really enjoy watching it.

I never noticed before that these words are a little loaded. Original vs. creative.

No fan film can be original, 'cause, let's face it, Star Wars got there first. But we can be creative... Meditate on this I will.

So why this whole fan film thing? Original, creative, what have you. Why do we watch them and make them?

I think what drives the fan film community is the desire for more. So many people love the Star Wars universe, and having an "end" is just something that people don't want. Fan films are a way for that universe to grow and expand in the ways we want.

The Star Wars universe, you say. Why do you think there are far more Star Wars fan films made than other kinds?

Everyone is familiar with Star Wars. It revolutionized filmmaking, and many people who are interested in entering the film business seem to have a love for Star Wars. I think George giving us permission plays a large part in that as well. Nobody wants to start a film project only to get a cease-and-desist letter.

Well, how the hell else am I supposed to get some autographs from the Lucasfilm higher-ups?

But Joe's got a point, a point I agree with.

Besides ones you've worked on, what's your favorite fan film and why?

I know it's almost cliché now, but Broken Allegiance is my favorite. It just feels like part of the universe to me.

The world "universe" has popped up a lot. It's on the Academy of Yom Web site in at least one place, too. Hey, I notice things. I was one of the first people to post about the overuse of the word "nightmare" in the AOTC forums. Sue me.

Reciprocity really showed how far a great story can take a fan film, and I really enjoyed it. That's what we're doing with Academy of Yom. I wrote it without a single Sith, and the fight at the end is more character-driven than anything else... use [special effects] as a tool to enhance your tale rather than the storytelling device.

When we decided to make a fan film, I didn't want to rely a lot on bluescreening because we didn't have a lot of experience with it. One day at school Matt and I were like "Hey, we could use the school as a Jedi Academy!", and the plot came together around that. There was a forest nearby as well, for one scene where we were away from the academy.

I've learned that if you don't use what you have, you're going to make yourself miserable trying to find what you need. We were fortunate enough to have everything come together so well.

Robert Rodriguez followed this sort of advice when he made El Mariachi. The Academy of Yom folks know what they're doing. I like this. I've been following fan films for years, and part of me dies every time I see some idiot deciding he's going to make a seven-part feature film trilogy premiering that Thursday if someone would just do the CGI for him.

Joe's being breezy and casual about this, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. I wonder if he realizes what a simple, profound statement he's making, one that even I have trouble grasping in my own zeal.

Why the decision to tie this so strongly to a series of novels that might not end the way you think it will?

I was reading a lot of the "New Jedi Order" series, and I wanted to do something that would fit in with the EU. I think I'm one of the few people who actually enjoy EU, anyway, but I digress. I would read the novels and say "You know, I'd like to be part of this." A lot of how we say the story will end is based on pure assumption, but in all reality I doubt the Yuuzhan Vong will destroy the galaxy. And if they do, well... this is an alternate reality.

"Alternate reality", Joe? You're not just talking about your own movie there. You're talking about filmmaking.

It's a lot harder than it seems. I wrote the script, helped Matt plan everything, paid for half of everything, and worried myself sick when things went wrong. But in all that, I learned that it's one of the most fun and rewarding things you can do.

Exactly.

This interview taught me a lot. I can't possibly just think of Academy of Yom as "that one fan film with the Web site on piece-of-crap Geocities" any more. There's heart and love behind it. There's prudence (keeping things feasible) combined with passion (he said he enjoyed paying for things!).

Was this what I was like making my first fan film at this age?

God, I hope so.