On the rocky, big-screen road

Paul Saitowitz

Evan Jacobs once wrote a script for his version of “Rocky VI” in a

weekend just to prove to himself that he could. He sent a copy of it

off to Sylvester Stallone’s people, who responded with a “Thank you

and good luck, but Mr. Stallone is already working on a script for

‘Rocky VI’ himself.”

He’s written, produced, directed, edited and starred in seven

feature-length films, most of which were shot in Costa Mesa. He’s

written more than 30 scripts. He’s heard the word “No” more times

than he cares to but remains undaunted.

Jacobs, 31, is a testament to persistence and the blind ambition

it takes to follow dreams.

“You have to care about this stuff more than anyone else does,

because at the end of the day, no one cares except for you,” he said.

“If you really want to make a movie, you have to find a way to do it

without killing yourself.”

Jacobs knows plenty about that. In an era where a low-end

Hollywood film is budgeted at $20 million, one of his films,

“Angela’s Home Movie,” was made for $58.

His latest project is an animated feature called “1985-1986,”

which is based on his experiences as a white, suburban kid going to a

mixed-race junior high school.

He wrote the script while traveling on the Warped Tour -- a punk

rock and extreme sports festival that traverses the United States

every summer -- in 1997 to promote a friend’s film, which he worked

on. The original script, which was handwritten and filled up five

notebooks, was more than 400 pages long.

“I was really inspired by the music that I grew up listening to

... Black Flag, the Descendents ... I was on tour with these bands,

and it reminded me of that period in my life,” Jacobs said. “I wrote

the script in five weeks, and I ended up cutting it in half to get it

to the point that it’s at now.”

With absolutely no knowledge of animation and limited drawing

skills, Jacobs ordered a computer program called Toon Boom Studio and

set out to make his first cartoon feature.

On the door of his bedroom, which doubles as his editing studio,

Jacobs put up a sign that reads “Production Office ‘1985-1986,’” with

a schedule of his editing hours pinned on the adjacent wall. He works

religiously from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week drawing out each

scene frame by frame.

“Making it a cartoon was the only way I could get this film made;

otherwise it would cost $15 or $20 million,” he said. “I’m not a very

technical guy ... if Walt Disney or Chuck Jones walked in here and

saw this, they would laugh, but I think I’m able to get it done in my

own way.”

He voices the main character, as well as a few others, and used

his friends and family to round out the cast -- some 70 speaking

parts.

After the film is made, he hopes to enter it into a few festivals

and secure some distribution, but at the very least, it will be

another piece to add to his growing body of work. He already has his

next two projections lined up and ready to go.

“I’ve always loved movies ... going to movies, watching movies,

being an extra on a movie set,” he said. “I don’t understand anything

else. I have no other choice of what to be doing.”