jason david neill

When Melody Folden met Brian Neill, it was not love at first sight but it was certainly best friends upon first meet. The two of them came together under unlikely circumstances. She was the prettiest girl in the bank and Brian was a stationary salesman who had a knack for finding the most beautiful woman in any room. They fostered a fast and easy friendship that inevitably led to dating and ultimately to marriage, made all the more rewarding when they both found themselves working for Embassy Pictures. She as a coordinator for their events and he as an office assistant. They threw all the best parties, casual though they were, and had a lifestyle that was all about dining out, enjoying life, and driving beautiful cars. After Melody became pregnant and gave birth to her first child, Jason David Neill, that all changed.

Having a child dramatically shifted the dynamic of the relationship Melody and Brian had built. She was ready to be a loving mother while he was still grounded in going out and having a good time, not yet ready to give up life at 25. After a year of trying to get Brian to buckle down and be a good father, Melody discovered he was having an affair with another woman in their office resulting in an immediate divorce and taking leave of Embassy Pictures which happened to file for bankruptcy not long after her departure.

Determined to make sure that Jason never wanted for anything, Melody did her best to be a working mother who could not only support her growing little boy but fulfill all the duties a father would as well. They played Peter Pan and Captain Hook in their apartment kitchen, chasing each other with wooden spoons and laughing into the nights, ending each one with a new Dr. Seuss or Bernstein Bears book. In the beginning, Melody tried to make it work with Brian who swore he still wanted to be in her son's life but after two back to back years of having to watch her son wait in front of the door for his father who almost never showed up on the days he promised to, she cut off all communication with her ex-husband.

That decision and Brian's repeated failures and broken promises would be what fostered a "believe it when I see it" mentality in Jason. He was a smart, happy little boy but never liked to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. He liked his friends to be honest and forthright with him and in return he'd do the same. Perhaps to a degree that was a little too honest. With Melody now working as an editor for a small publishing house, he and his mother shared a unique relationship in that she could be blunt in her expectations of her son and he would take them for what they were meant to be: motivation for him to better himself. They did everything together when she wasn't working. She went to all of his little league games, he joined her on all of her weekend brunches and dinners. He was "Mommy's little man" and all of Melody's friends adored him and how bright he was.

Naturally when Melody began to date again, it was hard for Jason to let another man into his mother's life and so they made a pact: She vetted every date by him, always bringing him along for the first and asking him whether or not there should be a second, and together they continued to operate as a team the same way they had for as long as Jason could remember. When she eventually began to see the man who would soon become Jason's new step-father, they thought they'd have the perfect little family together. George Grady worked for a magazine and he was fun, athletic, and more than that seemed to show interest in Jason and not just his beautiful mother. For a five year old boy with no other male figure in his life, this was extremely exciting.

George and Melody married while his mother was six months pregnant with Jason's soon-to-be sister. It was a lot to digest, but it was a welcome change. Suddenly, he had what all of his other classmates did: the "perfect" family. He was an older brother to an adorable baby girl whom he got to name and little Jessica instantly became the apple of his eye. He had two amazing girls in his life and a father who saw him through baseball seasons, spelling bees, and a brief stint in public theatre. And everywhere Jason went? So too did Jessica, creating a little tomboy sprouted from his shadow. Then a strange thing occurred: Melody became pregnant with her third child and for someone who was on the cusp of becoming a teenager, that didn't jive well with Jason.

He and Jessica both agreed that they were perfectly happy not having another sibling and though they couldn't have known it, little baby George Jr. was actually a last ditch effort on his mother and step-father's part to save their secretly crumbling marriage. Like Jason's father, George too had a wandering eye, and when the two of them eventually divorced three years later when Jason was sixteen, he felt the weight of responsibility for choosing a man who had ultimately broken his mother's heart just like his own father had. Melody got full custody of her three children and the house in Brentwood and just like that, Jason was the man of the house once more.

It was a tumultuous last few years in high school for Jason. He had a momentary crisis of self. Not wanting to be a big brother or a responsible son to anyone when he felt he was just as betrayed as the rest of them, Jason spent his junior year partying and going on wild trips into Downtown LA. A pseudo-intervention was staged before his GPA could plummet from it's outstanding 3.9 to something impossible to salvage for university, and all it took was his very vocal mother's disappointment and his sister's too for Jason to clean up his act. Senior year was spent making up for his six months of binging and neglect, both of his family and his studies, and miraculously he somehow managed to still graduate with distinction, allowing him entrance into USC's writing program.

His quick wit and unapologetic humor pushed boundaries that were ripe for comedy, an avenue he knew he was bound to take even if it wasn't of the stand-up nature. He lacked the desire to be in the spotlight that would allow him to present his own material, so he and a group of fellow students started a YouTube channel that produced short, comedy sketches and in between studies, he frequently submitted to McSweeney's, hoping for one of his articles to be published amongst the other distinguished writers on the site.

The writing and entertainment industry proved to be a difficult one for Jason to navigate, however. For all his talent, his lack of tact and his inability to pander or pull punches prevented him from getting very fair. He constantly bickered with his writing partners whenever they tried to get credits they clearly didn't deserve and was an overall pain to work with because he had no problem shooting down ideas that were unworthy of their time, blind to the fact that though he expected the same of his peers, everyone else preferred to be handled with kid gloves. An infuriating thought since he assumed working with adults would mean treating them as such.

Disenchanted by the way things were run in the industry he had his heart set to work in, Jason began to shift his attention to column writing instead. A form less dependent on cooperation and outside influence. He still attended classes for screenwriting and even went to lectures and seminars, but needless to say his heart just wasn't into it.

When he met Christian Claire, the screenwriter was visiting his alma mater to speak with the upcoming graduating class of 2015 about his experiences in Hollywood and his own personal works. It was at that seminar that Jason distinguished himself as an asshole according to his friends and peers. His buddies whispered across the aisle that he needed to keep himself in check, but Jason had questions and had been raised in an environment where they were always welcomed. His needling and downright interrogation of their speaker, earned apologies from everyone but Jason himself who was pulled aside by Christian after the seminar. Prepared to defend himself, Jason didn't even realize the man was offering to work with him until he was being given a card.

After graduation, he called the man up and they struck out into the wild as a way to bond. Jason apologized if his passion was misconstrued as haughtiness and he made it clear to Christian that he wasn't under the impression he knew more than the decorated writer. He just didn't believe in beating around the bush. Finesse and patience two things Jason hadn't quite perfected in his arsenal of talents. Christian seemed willing to work around those things however, taking Jason on as his personal assistant and helping with his move to New York City where the man was based out of. He'd teach Jason how to "play the game" and in return Jason would provide his assistance by way of notes and the occasional errand.

It's an opportunity that Jason has relished in the last couple of months being in Christian's employ, even though his connections in New York are few and friends even fewer, he hopes a few rounds of Tinder and Grindr will open up doorways to friendships and connections and whatever else can come of being in the greatest city in the world.

Film

Heroes of Hall H(In Progress)
 

Traffic Controllers (In Progress)
 

Bloody Arizona (Optioned in 2014)
 

Speaking From the Mouths of Strangers (Senior Project, 2015)
 

Internet

The Irish Bug (2010) YouTube - An American wakes up with an unshakable Irish accent that gets under the skin of everyone he knows, ruining his life over the course of a day.

The Fist of Chuck Norris (2010) YouTube - While waiting in a Starbucks, a man's beard begins to channel the power of Chuck Norris' fist and punches anyone who gets out of line.

Adventures With Dave (Episodes 1 - 9) Funny or Die - Starring Arrested Development's Steve Holt, the web series chronicles Dave's many attempts to become Las Vegas' next big act.

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Title Magazine
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Title Magazine
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Title Magazine
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