4085 Productions turned a pandemic passion project into a film production machine

A student-run production company is making noise with its new film release, “The First Friday.” 4085 Productions, the brainchild of students Jordan Rice, Alex Nimrod, Kaleb Manske and Maximus Jenkins, was born out of pandemic boredom but holds more purpose than a simple hobby.

“I think at the root, [our films] are made for audience members to feel something, whether that is a positive or negative experience, it’s kind of up to the person watching and what they’re dealing with in that moment,” Rice said when asked about the significance of projects 4085 has been creating.

Recently, 4085 has been receiving praise for their new project, “The First Friday,” a “choose your own adventure” film published to the company’s YouTube channel. Rice gives all the credit to co-founder Kaleb Manske for this lofty project.

“A year ago, Kaleb came to me and came to the team and was like, ‘I really want to do a choose your own adventure,’” he said. Though little was solidified, the team got to work bringing Manske’s vision to life.

Due to the experiential nature of the project, 4085 faced an uphill climb. However, the challenges never deterred the team because they knew “The First Friday” was special.

“[A]gain, it’s this experimental form of media because it’s almost like a video game format,” said producer Charlotte Doyle, “but we’re making it even more cinematic.”

Despite the creative freedoms taken during the project, 4085 never lost sight of the audience. “[W]e’re constantly thinking about our audience,” Doyle said. “We’re thinking about how they’re viewing it quite literally, because the whole thing is shot in the first person point of view.”

With 4085′s increased presence in USC’s student filmmaking scene, it has led to the creation of a safe and open community. “[I] got to dive back into acting thanks to 4085,” Destinee McCaster, a senior majoring in film and television production, said. “It was honestly just really eye opening to see a student production company kind of get something together so fast and so quickly.”

McCaster, who is an actress involved in 4085′s upcoming short film, “Breathe,” emphasized how special it has been working with the company. “They’re always so passionate. Jordan is one of the most fun producers, but also very caring and serious producers I’ve gotten to work with,” she said.

Although the company is fresh off a successful premiere, 4085 is looking forward to their upcoming film, “Breathe.” The film follows a teenage androgynous student and their struggles with relationships, identity and addiction.

“This film may appear like it’s trying to tackle a lot, but in truth, it is really this coming of age story that a lot of people in the trans and non-binary communities have felt does not exist in the current day media.” Rice said.

Expected to release later this year, Rice hopes that viewers are excited to see what the company has in store. “I think people, whether you’re a part of the LGBTQ community, whether you’re part of the Black community, whatever community or not, really, I think you’ll be able to see some of yourself in this film,” Rice said.