Must Watch: Teaser (2015) Short Film

If you have eight minutes, be sure to check out Adam Jones LGBT themed short film Teaser. It's a poignant and somewhat disquieting look into the surreal world of addiction and the road to seeking help. Those who have been through something like this will surely relate. Those who have never been afflicted by addiction may be left scratching their heads, but hopefully will still be able to take something away from this film.

Here's the description Adam sent us:

"Teaser" is an LGBT themed atmospheric 8 min silent short film, based on a young gay mans journey into the drug scene. The story is inspired by my experience in the gay scene and the path to destruction in a 9 month meth binge. The video captures the LGBT community in a darker light through montage and surrealism. I've been volunteering at local LGBT community centers and I know that a lot of young gay men are suffering from addiction. The message of " Teaser" is making a dark time of your life into something good and beneficial. Whether it be music, art, writing, film, or performing. There are so many outlets to making something great out of a shitty time. 1 year sober as of May 27th. I want to inspire our LGBT youth.

But, we wanted to know more, so we reached out to Adam Jones and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about his film.

Q: What was the breaking point that made you decide to get sober?
Adam: Like any other young man (gay or straight) we are searching to find ourselves. We all want to be happy, try new things, explore life with a care-free attitude at some point. In my road to discovery I ended up loosing touch with who I was. I came from a middle class family, life was good growing up. There was no reason why I chose to live in a crack house, or smoke meth everyday. I decided to get sober when I realized my mental state was becoming a problem. Physically and mentally I was very sick, I escaped to a beautiful world in Napa,CA and found myself again.

Q: Has making the film helped with your recovery?
Adam: It's therapeutic to me and has helped push me in a good direction. Its nice to go online and search "drug addiction in the LGBT community" and dozens of links to the short film appear. It's nice to get recognition for my success, it's personal... it represents my experience as a whole. The opening of the film we revisit an apartment complex I used to hang around a lot. Everything in the short film is symbolic and has a meaning. I created a video that represents my path to darkness, and redemption. My recovery turned into a creative video project that shaped me as an underground experimental filmmaker.

Q: What kind of feedback are you getting from others battling addiction?
Adam: To be honest, I'm blacklisted from most pages on Facebook supporting gay men and recovery. My film's trailer was misconceived into something negative earlier this year. As recovering addicts, we immediately turn our heads the minute we see a trigger. "Teaser" is full of them. But I've built to a group of artists who completely understand the messages of addiction in the video which makes me happy.

You can expect a trailer for Adam's next film with a full crew coming up in September. And, be sure to subscribe to his Vimeo channel to keep up with all of his latest projects.