Juillie Jonz is remarkably calm for someone who has as many creative ideas bouncing around the brain as he does.
In the past decade, the one-man entertainment mogul has produced a full-length science fiction film, created a superhuman team of hybrid, human-rabbit, female crime fighters, begun work on a second feature film and written a science fiction book. All while working out of his Lea Hill home studio, Jonz Studios, and holding down a day job with the Veteran’s Administration.
For Jonz – who is known as Hollywill by his workmates – it’s a journey that started nearly 20 years ago.
“When I lived in the San Jose area, I was involved in two films as an extra,” Jonz said.
According to Jonz, he woke up one morning and heard that the movie “Beverly Hills Cop 2” starring Eddie Murphy was seeking extras.
“I woke up one Sunday morning and heard about it on the radio and decided to be involved,” he said.
“I met Eddie Murphy and (Jon) Landis,” he said. “I met both of them, not that they’d remember me. And then I did a little work on Terminator 2 and met Arnold (Schwarzenegger).”
For the science fiction buff, the brush with the movie magic machine was enough to inspire him to begin working on his own projects.
After nine-years of service in the U.S. Army, Jonz settled down in the Northwest and began calling Auburn home.
“A lot of folks are supportive here,” he said. “When they saw I was doing things like this, they wanted to partake, get involved in some sort of way. That’s what made me want to stay in the Pacific Northwest.”
Not long after making the transition, he began work on his first creative endeavor, a science fiction novel called “Phleideis.”
“It’s a pharaoh story and was published by Xlibris and Random House,” Jonz said. “I conceived of the story way back in the early ’90s but didn’t start writing it until ’98, ’99, and it was published in 2000.”
In addition to penning the book, Jonz also took to his home studio and recorded an audio book of the novel.
“The audio book comes equipped with sound effects, the whole shebang, the whole works,” he said. “So it’s not just me talking, I change my voice from time-to-time, so you don’t just get this monotone person talking at you.”
Jonz said the novel and audio book has made enough money to supplement his income and enable him to continue to fund his creative output.
“It’s done okay,” he said. “From that and my day job I saved up money and purchased a house up on Lea Hill. It didn’t do millions of dollars, so I have to keep my day jobs. But it’s in the thousands, so I’m happy with it.”
With a novel in the bag, it was time for Jonz to embark on a more visual mode of entertainment.
“I embarked on filmmaking myself,” he said. “I put together my own science fiction movie that was filmed here in the Puget Sound area.”
The movie, called “Rantoon,” features local American Idol contestant Jonathan Jackson in the title role. It was filmed in various locations in the Northwest, including Tacoma, Ruston and Moses Lake.
“It was quite interesting,” Jonz said of the experience. “It was kind of hard. When you’re on a low budget like that and it’s your first one, you have to orchestrate a lot of things,” he said. “You have to choreograph your fight scenes. You do the writing. You edit in the studio. It was very, very hard, but I was persistent and got it done.”
“The story is about an alien from the planet Okran,” Jonz added. “Rantoon’s race, the Okranians, get into a war against the Mamtunians.”
Jonz explained that Rantoon finds himself stranded on Earth and is forced to seek help from the natives to fuel his plant and fight off the evil race of green aliens.
Jonz, who did all the special effects on the movie himself, said the film featured 12 cast members and cost about $2,000 to make.
“I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “I’ve learned about lighting, working with sound and tracks.”
Distributed through Jonz Journey Studios, the movie came out in 2006 and is available at Amazon.com and through Jonz’s Web site at www.jonzjourney.com.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Jonz said he is now in the process of filming another science fiction movie, this one called “The Angelic Courts.”
“Right now it’s standing at a 40-minute short, but we’re going to go in and redo some things,” Jonz said. “It’s mostly for film festivals right now.”
Also in the works is the “Teenage Kung Fu Cottontails.”
“They are super human females,” he said. “They’re part human and part rabbit. There is one Asian, one Black, a Caucasian and a Latino.”
According to Jonz, the Cottontails were created by the unscrupulous work of a mad scientist and they fight crime in Seattle.
“What we’re trying to do with them is make a feature film and a cartoon that is in the works,” he said. “We’re also trying to do stickers and pins and a lot of different memorabilia. And we have action figures. We’re going through a lot of research and development on how to package them.”
With all that creative juice bubbling in his brain, it’s no surprise that Jonz relies on a process that helps him bring his notions to fruition.
“With me it’s all about music,” he said. “Whenever I hear music I visually see things in front of me. It’s a strange process. I’ve been driving down the road listening to music, and I’ll be thinking about them. It’s like being in two different places at the same time. You can see the real world, but you’re going between the two.”
Currently, Jonz’s future plans revolve around getting his own studio building.
“I’m hoping I can move from the house and get a building,” he said.
Jonz credits the digital revolution with providing the tools to make his creative ideas reality.
“Before the digital era, I was the guy who talked about what he wanted to do,” he said. “But I had no money, no outlet until this digital era came.
“Most people that I know have something stewing, they just haven’t done anything about it yet,” Jonz added.