NYU alum Jack Haven is tired of dishonest art. They have been acting as long as they can remember, and their career has been on the rise since graduating from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2015. They’ve played roles in a wide variety of projects, from Netflix’s “Atypical” (2017-2021) to recently starring in the critically-acclaimed “I Saw the TV Glow (2024).” However, despite their success in Hollywood, Haven has become dissatisfied with the industry. While they have been able to branch out into more independent work like “I Saw The TV Glow” and their magazine, Waif, Haven began working on their directorial debut and most uncommercial project yet two years ago: “October Crow,” which premiered on Oct. 30.
These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: Can you explain ‘October Crow’ for us?
Haven: ‘October Crow’ is a movie I made with my friend Alex McVicker, who was also the star of the film, and my upstairs neighbor Peter Nolan-Smith, who is a poet and an ex-bouncer […] We made the movie on an iPhone X, and [it] was completely improvised other than 30 pages that were immediately thrown out when Peter started making stuff up.
The movie was a complete fluke. We would shoot based on where the story needed to go and the convenience of whatever location and whoever was available to be in the movie. We finished the movie over two years. I edited it using only free software — so “iMovie,” “GarageBand” and some AI trials for audio compression that I found online.
The film, made on a budget of Uber rides for cast members and one emergency visit to Brandy Melville, follows a young woman from Kentucky named Bella (McVicker) who escapes her life in the countryside, moves to New York City and cuts her teeth as a dominatrix under the guidance of old low life James Steele (Nolan-Smith). In making “October Crow,” Haven, the cast and crew wanted to reach toward something truthful and distinctly punk in their filmmaking, avoiding typical Hollywood structures and conventions without a care for what would be profitable.
WSN: What feels different about filming a very punk film like ‘October Crow’ compared to some of your Hollywood projects?
Haven: It’s completely different. I feel like I’ve always felt totally terrified and suffocated on big sets, mostly because of the power dynamics between the people who have a lot of money and the people who have fame. The sole intention is to make money. Even if something has so much heart and creativity, there’s always this intention [of], ‘What can we manipulate to get people to want to see this,’ which I think I noticed being a queer actor. I was shown all these films that were being made with the intention to exploit the curiosity around queerness, but the filmmakers, [even if] they thought they were making something transgressive and new, it’s just taking trends, reformatting them and making them clickbait.
We didn’t even think about how this was going to do. We thought, ‘How are we going to finish this day?’ And then tell each other, ‘Can you believe we actually did that?’ I think that’s how so many filmmakers start.
The prevailing sentiment Haven and their crew zeroed in on was one of the artistic freedom that was afforded to them by this low-budget, free-form style. Realistically, a film this transgressive — featuring kink, queerness and unfettered craziness — would usually not get financed, but through the work of a small community of peers and loved ones, Haven was able to get this film produced and premiered to an extremely receptive audience of fellow queer people who typically wouldn’t be able to see a movie made just for them. All this should encourage any prospective filmmakers to not worry so much about backing and finances, but rather pursuing their truth and voice. This was succinctly articulated by lead actor Nolan-Smith’s final comments to WSN.
“You wanna make movies? Just make it!” Nolan-Smith said. “These [young filmmakers] go, ‘No, we have to do this.’ They don’t have to do that! ‘We’ll never make this movie.’ What’re you waiting for? Money? Signage? ‘Is this ok?’ Just make a simple story, and make it!”
Haven will tour “October Crow” across the US before releasing it to digital formats. You can find Haven on Instagram at @briiiiiiiiiig for more information on further showings.
Contact Max Vetter at [email protected].