Today. This session is with jack bender conversation with sylvia perez. And after this presentation and jacks book will be available at the expo arts poetic content. Jack bender is a lifetime painter and all around Creative Force who brings a unique vision. The canvas he uses painting sculpture as storytelling mediums, through which he explores the intersection out of spirituality, culture and sculpture as storytelling mediums through which, he explores the intersection of spirit. Excuse me, and contemporary life in ways that are both intellectually provocative and visually stimulating. His works are intensely personal and raw, what he calls emotional, exaggerated autobiography as an executive producer, director, jack has directed numerous tv movies and his episodic work includes felicity alias, ali mcbeal, carnival and the sopranos. He was of the lead Creative Forces behind the worldwide hit show lost many of his original artworks were used in the show, including the iconic hat painting one of his most recent projects, mgm pluss series from premiered its Second Season in april 2023 to critical and audience acclaim. His latest art are storybook am sorry will be released on september 20, 23. Sylvia perez is a widely recognized and respected name in the chicago news market. She is best known for looking the looking beyond the headlines and reporting the personal and emotional sides of the major stories of the day. She currently anchors the weekday editions special segments of good day chicago and wfld, tv, fox 32. As a note, we have very quick transition between events today, so the conclusion of this program, we do ask if youre not staying for the next one that you head out for, to enjoy the rest of the fest or go to the book signing. So now jack bender and sylvia perez. Events just kept on going right . And before you go, okay, jeff, where would you like . I know this was not planned. Isnt this funny we match kismet. If you want to get back to what . If you can go back to your testing to check it out . Yeah. Okay, heres the ball switch sides. Oh, they want us to switch sides. Absolutely. Here we go. Maybe we can do a few times during the event. Musical chairs here. Okay. Good morning, everybody can i just say im so excited to be here this morning to interview jack. I just a huge fan of his. And obviously were here to talk about this amazing book of yours, jack. But i want everybody, im going to name out a list of shows and i want you to raise your hand if you are a fan if youre familiar with it, you can keep your hand up until is over. Okay, so lets with lost lost fans, raise your hands. Hi. Keep them up. Keep them up, game of thrones. Raise your hands keep them up, keep them up. Sopranos toes. Raise your hands, keep them up. Keep them up. Okay. This is the impact you have on look at this room. Everybody knows even the younger know at least one of your shows. Youre amazing. Youre a renaissance man. You do it all. If someone asks you they dont know jack bender by face as they say. What do you do for a living . Your reply like the rest of us. I do the best i can can. I feel very fortunate in that i found a way in the world to be to do. I love doing most which is creating and whether its television and movies writing weird little wonderful relatable books like this painting which ive been doing since i was 12 years old, i have found a way, you know, and it sometimes its a desperate journey. You know what the heck am i going to do in the world . And we wont discuss my s. A. T. S. Cause i told them to erica last, but i did go to college and didnt graduate. But thats a story i did plenty of drama departments, Cinema Department and arts, but i, i, i feel very fortunate to at this point in my life, still be doing vital work that i love and people seem to respond to. Its a real gift. Well, i think thats important. You talk about lets not talk about our s. A. T. Scores, especially for some of the students, because i mean, look at you look at your success and, you know, its all about creativity and beyond what we learned from school, although school can be very helpful. But were here to talk about your latest book, which i am sorry, art apologies, which he has right here. If you havent a chance to see it yet, youre going to absolutely love it. So lets start with because this is book number two. What inspired you to write this book truthfully, i have also written a certain number of screenplays and because i am a little and a little out there and, a little neurotic and a little all of those things, check the boxes. I would write various screenplays and tell and and some of them got made. But most of the time my agents would say, the hell can we do with this one . Because theyre all a little out there, theyre not your run the mill ordinary slam rom com or whatever as good as those can be. And then i, i, my first book, i said, you know what, maybe if i combine, i was looking through a lot of my art and going, wait a minute, thats a person who blah, blah, blah, thats a thats, a person whos feeling this way. I said, well, what if i tell the story using art, my art and minimal words that are being expressed by the characters the dogs, the whatever they are in the book and i came up with the book actually one before but i am elephant in the room is the first one that was published and they very successfully told stories that people loved. And you know, im not hemingway, you know, words and language and the use of language and. Right. The art of writing is not my oeuvre. Its not what i do best. But im a visual artist, paint. Ive done that forever. And when i make shows, im also painting, telling stories. So thats what got me to write these books and i will say one thing specifically about i am sorry during the pandemic, i was laying around with our many dogs, vegetate in a little bit like some of us did during those days. And i was looking a diptych i had painted, which is in this book and its these two small paintings, the same size with a hand coming across flowers and the words, i am sorry. And i looked at it and i said, hmm, who do i have to apologize to that havent apologized to . And a few people came to mind and oddly enough, the young the kid that i apologize to at the end of the book, all the way back in grammar school, even though there are a few i probably how well many people apologized to over the years because ive learned the art of apology can make a big difference so basically. So im going to go to the back lets go to the back. Let me just tell you guys, if you have not a chance to see this book, you the book you read it, the artwork is beautiful. You chuckle at some of the apologies. Okay. And you go through it and you look at the art. You look at the im sorry. And then you get to the end and it hits you in the stomach, it punches you in the gut. I what a powerful and we talked about this its a small book about big things big things. Okay so i asked jack if he wouldnt mind reading this last apology, which he was leading in to tell you about. And here we go. And i want you to read this and then were going to talk a little more, more about hold your microphone so you can. Okay. I got it. Yeah. And you do both. I impressive. Okay. And if i cant, you can hold one of them. So this is my portrait of alan foxman, who was a kid in Junior High School and basically, i say, i am so sorry. And it shows alan with his yo yo, which he always had with him. It was his secured blanket, im sure. And hes i right a yo yo was alans companion, his best friend he could make it do tricks like walking the dog or rocking the baby. Im sure it made him happy because he could control it, but alan couldnt control how his classmates treated him. I was part of the Popular Crowd and would frequently make my friends laugh by imitating alan the way he spoke and making him the punchline of our infant style jokes. We all had our yo yos. We all have our yo yos to help get us through the challenging Obstacle Course of childhood and life. One of mine was getting laughs, but when i did so at alans expense inside, i felt more like him than i could admit. Leonard, the extraordinary artist poet, etc. Songwriter who i was lucky enough to know, once said to me, quote, we shouldnt put anxiety in the hearts of others. Looking back, thats exact what i was doing to alan. For that, i am truly sorry. Like me, all the characters in this book are apologizing to someone for what they did or didnt do. We are living through a very dark, difficult dealing with huge global issues that frequently seem beyond control. But maybe like alan with his yo, we can all do small to get through the tough times and make our tiny piece of the world a little bit. My hope for this book that it gives you some laughs, as sylvia said and a bit of a loving nudge to say those three simple words. I am sorry to someone who might need to hear them. Youll feel better too. Wow. Thats a big wow. Mm. Thats so beautiful. Okay. Im dying to know. Did you reach out to alan . Did alan see the book . What . Whats up, alan . That i have to do that and i havent done the homework to reach out. Im not, im not on facebook and that stuff. A little instagram here and there for the book and stuff and my shows but i need to do that. I hope hes living an okay life and maybe he forgave all us jerks who made the punch line. Thats why this is you know, its so simple, simplistic. If you werent alan, you were jack and. So i think we can all relate to this right . Of us just have had some kind of an experience like that. And i how you brought it across so simplistically and so it really touches you. So thank you for that. Well, my pleasure. This was never intended to be a selfhelp book because it isnt, although god knows i could use as much selfhelp as possible. But i think all of us have had the opportune to do, as Leonard Cohen said, to put anxiety in the hearts of others or, you know, youre your car and people are angry out there. Its a terrible time in the world. And we dont need to get into all the reasons. But the fact is that i think this book like i said or you said or erica said, its a small book about big things in that we can all make a little bit of a difference, you know, and its funny, which doesnt hurt. So this was born of the pandemic, so many things, i think all of us had great pandemic experiences, bad as that was, but you had time on your hands and what did you find yourself doing a lot of were you painting more . You were, yeah. Both those things going to the gym and swimming, which erica and i talked about, that she was shes a swimmer, too. But you like exercise. It always. You feel better and i im much better water than i am on land. But my comfort zone. So the comfort zone of making art for me, i it the greatest hiding place in the world for me or making my shows when i can watch and just get absorb i can watch an actor doing a scene. I started off as an actor can watch them and so pulled out of everything and just get so into that. Its like looking at a a of paint that i didnt expect on something im painting. Just look at that drip of paint for a long time. So its one of those places i think its probably meditative where you go and you can turn off the Radio Station in your head thats filled with all the we listen all day and and you can just go to that other place and and everybody has that place. They can go. And im not saying we all need. Well, i think we need a break occasionally at least do. But, you know, we also have to exist and be happy, relatively successful in the world in what we do. So im rambling. Well, no, but i think we can all relate to that. Everybody has a pandemic story to tell. It is horrible as it was so many good things came out of it. And look at that. This is one of them. Were experiencing a little bit in fact, my older daughter said to me the other day. I kind of miss everyone just. It was like a snow day. Shes from chicago. Yeah, now theyre hot days. Thats how much we screwed up the world. But, you know, snow days were great fun, right . You know, you get a break and for me, there werent snow days in los angeles, but there were those fake . A sore throat day where you got to stay home, watch tv and not have to deal with everything we can all remember those. Yeah. Okay. So so youre an artist, your basically your story teller. How does one how does one of your art passions help the other . Because, you know, theres so many things i want to talk to about when it comes to some of the shows that done. And i wonder how much of your art, how much of your directing, much of your storytelling is really impacting the next thing youre doing . Well, i think storytelling is the right word because i know as a little kid id always put on in the garage and id make up rides with my bike and my tie and the wagon tied to my bike. And i always loved taking other kids on an adventure made up story wherever it was. And it can be in theater. I was a theater director for many years in my early twenties when i was acting, but also became a director in the theater and segued into and film. And i think its all storytelling. Its taking on a ride that to they recognize but maybe dont know or they dont remember and so its the joy of telling stories and making of that with a group of people. You know, thats one of the best things about making television when youre working with great people on material, you care about. Ive been very fortunate to know and work with stephen talking about writers. His new book, holly, by the way, is were going to make a show out of. All right. We have a scoop. Do we just get breaking news a little bit . Im also doing his book, the institute. When i finish from. But but stephen is a remarkable guy and like i mean hes a guy in a t shirt and a hat. Hes the least genius ive ever met. So you brought up shows. So i want to talk about that a little more because i was i was joking with jack right before we came out here that he has directed some of the most controversial style finales on tv that are packed honestly discussed. Okay. Im driving out here this morning with my uber driver. He recognizes me. He goes, what are you doing . Are you going to lip fest. I said, yes. And he said, what . Who youre interviewing . And i said, jack bender. And he goes oh my gosh. Could you ask him lost and the season and and why it ended the way it did. Then there was the sopranos right i didnt david chase the creator did that right and but what do you so i wonder i want to ask you is is how do you feel . Because you you put such passion all of your work. How do you feel when all is said and done . Its finished, its packaged, its put on tv. You cant touch it anymore. Its over. Okay. And then the kind of reaction, maybe lost is a good example. Did you feel about that . I was proud of the finale of lost and i always felt like damon lindelof, the creator, and j. J. Abrams, and that that. It was always a show about the characters who we live with, who share our time with who we die with, all that stuff. I mean, it was never about the magic moment where the cia the red phone rings in washington and they pick it up and go, oh, god, they found the island. And then you cut washington. And then america and then the globe and you boom. And theres another thats not a bad ending next year. Theres another thing about it. Theres yeah, another island out there that the other that they were always dead. It was never about that. Yes. It was always about who are these people . They were more lost before. They were lost. And they found things on that island and actually lived that what we witnessed with people and they found more of themselves there than before. They were lost. That was kind of a Fortune Cookie description of the show that damon never said i just said it, but i think so. I was very proud of the show and i didnt realize how slammed we were going to get. But i will tell you something about finales and i was asked to do game of thrones from the beginning and for a million reasons. I couldnt go to the wonderful city of belfast, ireland for five and a half months and do thats how long it takes to do two of those shows and. But i finally caught up with it season five. They asked me to do that extraordinary script called the door, which, you know, its when youre directing Episodic Television and not a part of the show, the creative fabric of the show doing many episodes like i was on last i did over 60 and and mr. Mercedes stephen king in this from now when youre when youre dancing around and just going as a director you know its the luck of the draw what cards you get you know. And they did want me to do door because i had directed this iconic episode of lost with penny and desmond and boy, this sounds arrogant, but i think i may said it. Go for it. Go for it. I think entertainment weekly, two years ago, a year and a half ago, did the best episodes that have ever been on Television Going way back. And i had the magazine. And im looking through and i go, i start, you know, way up there and im looking and i go, oh, 40, thats not bad. You i look, i see something i did and something i did and something i did. And now im getting down to 20, you know, and then theres and you i think it was pregame of thrones i think it was or pre game thrones for me the talk that was i think season five all the way down to and then i get to one and its an episode of lost called the constant which was voted by this magazine. These people, whomever to be the greatest episode of television, which frankly, i wouldnt im repeating to guys. But you dont to quote me on that, because i really dont believe it. I dont even know if there is the greatest episode of television ever, and it may be gunsmoke. Who knows . See you laugh. You remember it. No, you dont. Its definitely. Yeah, its definitely gunsmoke. Either that or lassie, but nevertheless it was ridiculously flattering and. But i that got me off track. No, but this is good because its still. I have more questions about. So you answered the last thing. So i will say finales are impossible. Thats what game of thrones. The game of thrones. I didnt watch the last few episodes. I heard a lot of criticism of them and i dont know if its justified, not justified. What i will say is when a show is beloved like lost, like game of thrones is considered the greatest thing ever on tv at the time. To end it is really hard and youve got strikes against you because people dont want it to end. So, david chases finale, i like everybody who was watching it, and i dont know how many of you were then i did aired, but i was out of town doing something nobody me about it. They said it was great. I get back town and im home and im watching it and im watching that scene in the diner and im on the edge of my seat going, oh my god, is david going to kill him . Tony soprano whats going to happen . Is meadow going to come in and be there when they get slaughtered . Oh, my god. Whats going to happen . And then my tv goes out. Yeah. And i go, what the f g series . And i yelled to my laura, what the hell . Then i see the credits roll and i go, david chase are a genius. That was brilliant. Its, i think, the greatest although i hear there, there are a lot of good finales but i hear but that was genius never to be repeated and he got a lot of from his other producers. So youre saying david, you cant do that. Youve got to make a commitment. He said, i cant. I dont know. I dont know. I mean, whos going people are going to hate. Half the people are going to hate it. Half the are going to love it. If i make a choice. So everybody hated it and. At the end of the day, everybody loved it because left room for you to imagine. And i think as time goes on it gives us time to let it seep in a little more, doesnt, right . Its kind of let it air. And im lucky enough to have you up here. I have to ask you. So game of thrones, hold the door. Oh, my gosh. That episode hodor was just one of the most beloved characters. And what an ending his life. How did you how did you imagine how you were going to put that together . Because what he was facing, i think, could have been a lot worse on tv than it actually was. Well, we knew. Yeah, well actually, what was written was that hes at the door holding the door. We see the girl taking him away and all this. And i knew the end of the show was going to be about sacrificing for the people he loved and protected. Because i had done certain amount of horror. If were going to call that genre a horror, not that genre, but others i had done i thought thought, you know, when those monsters cause the dead are his face and pulling it apart, you know, you get very graphic with that stuff, right . We could have seen flesh and blood and skin and underneath and an eye hanging and all that stuff and had this idea for of you who have heard of polanski, the roman polanski, the brilliant director who made some great great films and still alive, still makes some there was a film called the deneuve was in this is before all of your time called repulsion. And it ended up with this long shot, a zoom, a slow in on her. So so so so so so so from a wider shot. And i had this idea that thats what i wanted to do with hodder. And eventually we just see all the horror. He was experienced in. And even though we could have one of the dead, as if, you know, covering his face and all that which, you know, in the world of digital and magic, you know, were stunt guys with green gloves that ended up being claws of flesh. And but also knew in talking with the show creators david and dan that we wanted the moment to be emotional. We wanted it to resonate emotion really what his sacrifice was. And if we made it too graphic, that would have been what we saw and we might have won some horror award. But the humanity, the emotion of that sacrifice, i wanted it to play and it was my idea to intercut with that high shot of him as a young man boy, you know, just moving in. So wanted the parallel moving in straight down on him as he was seizing and coming up with older hodor along with the camera moving in on him and cutting with the friends, getting free, the snowy woods. So thats how we came to that because it could have been, as you said perceptively it could have been a lot more graphic and horrific if you havent seen it again recently and youre fan, go back and watch it again. Its powerful. Okay. Okay. We have were going to open up to questions in just a minute. So i have a few minutes, five more minutes to talk with you. Im curious, have you have you ever then seen one of your finished products and said, oh, if i could go back and do this, i would do it this way . Sure. And the wonderful thing about is you can either paint over it or you can change it until, in fact, de the master, the abstract expression, his master, they used to his his gallerist, whoever it was then had to drag the paintings of his studio because he never felt they were done or wanted to admit they were done. And and im not de kooning, not a master. So im not saying that. But its wonderful because. You can keep working them or changing them or finishing them. Erica says, that you got to ship them. You got a show coming, which will be sometime toward the new year, which ill be thrilled to do and send them on their way, like putting babies on the freeway. Goodbye. See you. And so television and movies are always imperfect, you know, you never really finish them. You just say, okay, you know what its like . Its like having been in a lot of classes, Certain Television shows, especially in the days when we did 24 to 26 episodes of lost a year. Wolf, who does chicago fire and all those shows now named chicago, something that all new york hes a master at. You know, reproducing himself with hit shows. He how did i get to wolf . I dont know. We were talking about how do you ever wish you could do something . What its done. Yes. Well, wolf actually says something very funny, that his shows are on at ten at night. So no one knows how they end because all go to sleep. So people watch them over and over again. My daughter all the genz people, they go to sleep watching svu or something. I would screw my dreams up, but i think that its like sketching in an art class of you. Who ever did art . You know, the models. Theyre whatever youre sketching, you sketch it boom. Next sketch it again or the model changes position and sits in the chair and you sketch it again so theres a little bit of that when youre doing television. But oh, i know it was 26 episodes. You have a lot less time now. The Way Television is made and streaming, which even though everyones on strike, although the directors arent, we settled, but its a terrible thing. But they are the streamers need to reinvent how television is made and compensated people appropriately for the work they do, but its different than it used to be when youre making ten episodes or even create lovely, its better than having to unless youre doing a wolf show where every week is a different story with the same characters solving the crime. If youre doing something different, which is what a of Television Great storytelling is now ten episodes you have more time so part of the good news of the streaming universe and you get to episodically tell a story like stephen king has sent a couple of galleys for books one was mr. Mercedes which i was thankful to do was a great show starring brendan gleeson. But not enough of you saw it because was on this thing called direct tv whatever the heck was on. But its actually coming on disney plus now even though its not a disney show, the point im making is he says to me, stephen writes these 800 page books that are full of characters. And he said to me, do you want to make this a series or a movie . And in the case of the institute, which is about these kids in this place where, theyre trained to whatever i, i said youve written 700 pages that are full of character and youre so involved with these people. If i have to make this squeeze, this to a movie, its going to be the x kids. And that movie weve seen. You know, its got to be about relationships and caring about. I think all good television, all good storytelling. You have to invest in the characters and be in an actor. Originally thats very comfortable for me. Not only figure out what its going to look like surrounding the actors, but also the focus on the characters. So having said that, all stop, okay . Because anybody questions first of all, if anybody has a question, feel free to to come up to the microphone or you can even just talk very loudly, mention that we have jacks works at our ones here for two years from the first. However. Okay i just wanted to mention that we do have jacks works, his paintings at the printers. So lets first hear in our and when i noticed when he unrolled his paintings you had paintings on both sides of the canvas. Can you us a little bit about that. Yeah. I mean, sometimes especially the on stretched canvases and in fact many of the canvases have been sold over the years and are stretched on the other side through the stretcher. You see a whole other painting because its its not even the economics. Like why buy a new canvas . But its just its there. And i want to paint something now. And so i, i do it and its and some of these that are unrolled, which is what we brought to the fair, i did both sides. And one or two of them are new paintings. The girl who says, one day ill write my story. And then this woman whos sitting in a chair on a rainy day thats outside our tent. And she says, or we say. Liked reading. She liked to read in the rain, to read on it. She liked to read on days. So the point being is that there both sides because i use the other side or painted over something to do a painting or two for us. So yeah i love that i wouldnt which side to to frame right. Okay so we have a lot of young people and well people of all ages are interested in publishing may be writing screenplays is maybe doing a novel. You are in a very cruel industry as far as its tough. It is very hard. So the fact that youve accomplished all you is very impressive. So got to ask, whats the most simplistic advice that you can give to people who are trying to break to this world. I think the best thing you can do, find your voice, find what you want to say and say it on whatever canvas that is, you can make a film on your phone. These my short film, which got me started was 16 millimeters short film. And the guy who produced it, i a little over budget shot too much film back then it was 16 millimeter film but you know the the medium is the message and the message is the medium. And now the intimidating thing is everybody on tik tok and everybody here and everybody there are making little films. So its a very freeway. But you can be seen and you can be heard, which is the good news about all that. And if youre passionate about telling a story and want to write it, god bless you. If you want to paint it the same, if you want to film it, film it, tell the story and bang down the doors and probably always a too polite when i was coming up. Not as a person i would hound people. I could talk for half an hour about people i drove crazy until they let me direct at their theater or whatever so im saying you can drive people crazy and say no, youre wrong. Listen to me. Listen to me. Ive got ive got something want to share thats really cool, really unique. I would say everybody gets insecure. I will end saying whatever ive accomplished every i say. Okay, you better have your game on, you know, because i fluctuate between our audacity as an artist and insecurity depending on the day or moment, you know. So youre going to feel all that stuff. Like, what do i have to say . What i know . But you know what . You know what . Someone else doesnt know because youre you and just put it out there if you want to. Its good. Hear someone like you with your resume has insecurities. Finally, what does the future hold. Oh, its been so great talking to jack today and getting to know him and some insight into how hes done of the things hes done. What can we expect next. When you leave today, were going to try youre going to start following up he up to next. So what are we going to see . Well, get the book, its called the gift book because. Its the kind of thing you could pass on to. And its not that expensive actually. But i would say a season three of this show from which stephen king adores, its a human horror story. And i think im proud of it. Its pretty darn good. And of its the most watched on amazon prime last summer. It is mgm plus if anybody gets that theres a way to see it the two seasons have been on and its a big deal in a. Well its a big big big fish and maybe not the biggest pond its not on netflix or anything that i would say im going to do season three of that. Im excited. Have an art show here some time. January, february ish at the hilton gallery contemporary gallery. Oh yeah. You guys all know shes a big deal and, and and. And then stephen kings institute. Were going to doing. And thats going to be really, really provocative and exciting and terrific. So thats kind of my dance card for the near future. And and ill keep writing, painting and doing what i do because. Thats the way i live. Thats the way i survive. And i dont mean the money i make from it. Even though, you know, directing and producing tv, im very fortunate. But certainly you know, yeah, these books are are. Their ticket to i love it. So thank you all for being here