Private Project

I'm The Quarterback

  • Jeff Schubert
    Director
  • Jeff Schubert
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Music Video
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 49 seconds
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Jeff Schubert

Jeff Schubert was born and raised in New York City and now resides in Los Angeles, CA. He believes in the sentiment of the late college basketball coach, Jim Valvano, in that you should aspire to think a little, laugh a little and cry a little every day. In the projects Schubert creates and works on he figures if he can help the audience accomplish two out of those three, that's not bad!

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Director Statement

So, what's a dude my age who looks like me; Whose mother would never let him play football because it was too dangerous, performing a rap about quarterbacks and the money they make?  

Painting within the lines has never been my thing. Let's say I've got a little Han Solo in me. I'm not going to let the odds stop me from doing what's in my soul to do. Years ago, a spiritualist said to me the obstacles don't get in the way of the path.

The obstacles are the path. Embracing that allows me to create unbound from expectations.  Creatively, that initially took the form of acting, later writing and directing. But singing was my first artistic love. When my voice changed as a teenager, I felt like I ran into my own personal iceberg. 

Thank God for rap and improved recording technology. I've been writing poems and lyrics since I was a kid. The films I was acting/writing/producing inspired a little song writing and gave me a reason to go for it. Just prior to I'm The Quarterback, I recorded a rap for the first time in years for the end credits of my short film, Like, Comment, and Share (LCS). That got the bug in me about music again. I had scribbled lyrics for I'm the quarterback down at some point, thinking it's probably one of those ideas I will never get back to. But I liked it enough to at least write it down.   

As we're finishing up postproduction on LCS, I'm getting ready to leave my social worker job I had for ten years. I'm thinking LCS could be my last short that I self-finance. I'm thinking I'm getting older and the turnaround time on these shorts is a while, and they're hard to promote. I am long past trying to be famous or rich. I would like to be able to make a living being creative.  
I'm The Quarterback popped into my mind. I looked up the lyrics. It made me laugh. I worked on them some more. And said yeah this can work! It would be much shorter than my short films, cheaper to make, faster to turn around and get out there. And fingers crossed, the best chance to go viral of anything I've done.

Another thing about the LCS rap was that it educated me a little on what's out there. I googled for Jamaican rap beats, cause that is where my spider sense took me, and guys, when I found the beats I eventually used? It felt like fate. Hell to the yeah, it was on! I was able to perform the lyrics exactly as I was hearing them in my mind!  

As for the target and inspiration of my humor - A quarterback is my favorite athlete of all-time (Phil Simms in case you're wondering) so it's nothing personal - But the money QBs make is out of control relative to what other players on the team make - (it's not like I'm saying the owners should get the money.) I think the sports media has enabled this runaway train for a long time but now finally you do hear leading voices on ESPN, FOX, etc., commenting on it. Well, I commented on it in my comedic rap, and I hope you like it. Big thanks to my DP/ Co-Producer/ Co- Editor Jonathan Cocco and everyone who worked on it!