Golden Time with True Gent’s Jordan Brady
It’s hard to believe that Jordan Brady has any downtime, but apparently he does. Between running his production company, True Gentleman, leading the Commercial Directing Film School, holding his Filmmaker Retreats out in Joshua Tree National Park and doing his insightful “Respect the Process” podcast – and of course, directing commercials himself, let’s not leave that out – it must seem like there’s two or three of him out there, doing all this interesting stuff at once. But no, there’s just him, and indeed he does take some time for himself, as it turns out.
When we launched Golden Time, we figured that for many of the industry’s busiest folks, there would be precious little of it. Not so, we’re finding out! Jordan, for example, manages to carve out weekend time to relax, refresh and renew, often surrounded by family and engaged in purposeful activities that fuel his creative spirit.
We tracked down Jordan recently, and asked about his Golden Time. Here’s what he had to say.
Where do you live? How long have you lived there? And what do you like best about where you live?
Jordan: I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 40+ years and love it. It’s a tough place to visit because you have to drive in this traffic. But I just pretend each freeway is a lazy river, surrendering to just floating along. We live on the Westside, so the beach is under 10 minutes and we have every kind of niche Asian food readily available to us within two miles. My favorite thing is the bike path two blocks from home and the many pseudo-safe bike lanes. I’ve been riding an e-bike since 2018, like 86 percent of the time. It’s a relic now, but she was once cutting edge.
How did you get into the business? And how long have you been in your current role?
Jordan: I got into show business after dropping out of college in the early ‘80’s to pursue stand-up comedy. That brought me to L.A. and got me on various shows with brick wall backdrops doing comedy, then acting on sitcoms, dramas and afterschool specials. I started directing professionally in 1992 for NBC’s “Name Your Adventure,” which I also co-hosted. It was a kids’ reality show with scripted comedy bits. I’ve been directing ever since. I launched True Gent quietly in 2018 to service my long-standing agency accounts and clients. I’d spent ten years running a production company, Superlounge, with two partners. I still directed gigs through other prodco’s, then committed full-time to my own shop in 2022.
How often do you end up working on the weekend? How much time do you spend on work-related stuff from Friday night to Sunday night?
Jordan: I rarely work Friday night, and on Saturday I like to spend time with my lovely wife, the filmmaker Jeannette Godoy, on a hike or beach walk, something fun. Saturday usually means a movie at the Directors’ Guild Theatre on Sunset, grabbing a burger afterwards. Many times Hollywood A-listers do Q&A’s afterwards, moderated by another A-Lister. For example, we saw Christopher Nolan interview Ridley Scott. Very cool for us film nerds. But Sunday night I enjoy getting ready for the work week ahead, so I spend most of the evening after dinner working. If I don’t have a treatment I’ve put off, there’s other business for True Gent to prep.
What’s your favorite weekend decompression activity? How often do you get to pursue it?
Jordan: See above. Plus a fun bike ride. Who am I kidding, the bike has a motor. It’s cruising.
How much time do you spend on your phone/tablet/laptop on a typical weekend?
Jordan: Pass. My answer will be embarrassing. It’s also unfair because I run the Commercial Directing Film School, so I’m “relaxing” by posting stuff or creating content for that. It’s my version of playing golf.
What have you been watching lately? How do you keep up on all the streaming content out there?
Jordan: “Landman” is a guilty pleasure. I did a feature film with Billy Bob Thornton 20-some years ago and just got over the BBT-PTSD. Plus we enjoy the campy characters. “Mayor of Kingston” is another. “The Diplomat” with Keri Russell is super fun.
What do you listen to? What’s on your playlist?
Jordan: Kaytranada’s new album “Timeless” has been in heavy rotation, and we saw him in concert in L.A. in October. Little Simz is a British rapper I’m loving and comically trying to sing along with in the privacy of my car.
Best weekend live experience of the past year. What made it special?
Jordan: My wife and I run the Filmmaker Retreat in Joshua Tree, where we take over a retreat center. Saturday we go into the Joshua Tree National Park, then we return for a fire circle and cocktail soiree with filmmakers from all over. It’s special because we pass the talking stick around the fire and go deep, get personal and it’s all sacred. The experience is truly magical.
So it’s Sunday night already! How do you get ready for Monday morning? What’s your Sunday night routine?
Jordan: I catch up on any emails that got pushed down the pike, look at the calendar ahead and watch any new spots. Y’all know I’m a huge Simian fan, so I might go through and clean out old spots, upload new stuff, check stats on reels. Just playing this game with a smile on my face.
