Film Project

Jay Alvarez & Will Hand

Jay Alvarez and Will Hand grew up together in the same neighborhood in the City of Sonoma. They went to the same grammar, middle and high schools. And now they make movies together.   

The duo’s first feature film, I Play with the Phrase Each Other, was screened at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah – a kind of alt Sundance Film Festival. There it drew the attention and admiration of Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of Avengers: End Game, the highest grossing film in history. So impressed were the auteur brothers that they volunteered as executive producers for Alvarez’s and Hand’s second effort, Dizzy Pursuit.

But for Alvarez and Hand, the first two films were mere prologue for their third and most ambitious effort: Something’s More than One Thing, a tale of modern romantic connection and confoundment on the internet. But as they launched into the editing phase of their latest collaboration, the pair confronted a roadblock all too familiar to young filmmakers: money. Or rather, the lack of it. 

“We were in New York City, and I was editing, trying to get the film off the ground,” says Alvarez, who mostly handles writing and directing, while Hand serves as producer and actor. “Will was running around, trying to drum up support.”

Hand recalls he pulled out all the stops in his effort to find funding.

“I called up every arts patron I knew,” he says. “I tried everything – lunches, openings, galas – nothing stuck.”

Finally, Alvarez suggested they start looking a little closer to home – which still meant Sonoma for both men.

“So I contacted a friend of mine,” Alvarez recalls, “and I asked who in the valley comes to mind, who’s an art patron? And he immediately said, ‘Darius Anderson.’”

Alvarez called his father – who had a nodding acquaintance with virtually everyone in Sonoma – and asked him if he knew anyone who could arrange an introduction to Anderson.

“He said, ‘Just go up and knock on his door,’” Alvarez says. “My dad had been up to Darius’ place a couple of times during Christmas parties, and he was really struck by Darius’ accessibility and friendliness – and also by his art collection, particularly his Cuban art. My dad mentioned a giant papier mâché sculpture of a baseball pitcher in mid-windup, but what really impressed him was a display of vintage typewriters that took up an entire wall of the barn.”

Those typewriters also impressed Alvarez; he thought they might be an indication that he and Anderson shared similar values.

“When I heard about them, I envisioned a man who really cared about great writing, who had the same values and cultural ideals that Will and I share,” Alvarez says. The two men subsequently contacted Anderson, who readily agreed to hear their pitch.

“We had our first meeting with Darius at a lobby in a New Jersey hotel,” says Alvarez, “and we were struck by how different that conversation was compared to the conversations we’ve had with other executive producers. With them, they’d be excited, they’d have a million questions – but the questions always centered on star power and packaging.”

Anderson, however, “Just wanted to talk about the script. He understood the importance of art and its connection to the human condition. The fact that the script resonated with him so deeply was a huge honor for us. He views film not just as an enterprise, but as a significant cultural value.”

Anderson ultimately invested in Something’s More Than One Thing, but his contribution didn’t stop with a cash infusion, emphasizes Hand.

“He stayed with us,” says Hand. “He didn’t just get our film off the ground – he taught us everything there is to know about operating agreements and securing financing. He introduced us to partners, to producers we’ll work with for our entire professional lives. His encouragement and mentorship gave us the confidence we needed to negotiate with city leaders on our film productions. He's not just a film producer – he’s a Renaissance man, a great patron of the arts, like Lorenzo de’ Medici or Peggy Guggenheim. He has a justifiable reputation as a rigorous businessman, as a dealmaker. But he also has an aesthetic awareness that’s extremely rare – especially among producers.”

As they worked with Anderson and came to know him, Alvarez and Hand grew to appreciate him on another level.

“We saw his humanitarian efforts and civic leadership following the North Bay wildfires, and that made us more thoughtful in the ways we approach our own work,” says Alvarez. “As the COVID pandemic deepened, we realized our catering budget could function as a financial stimulus. We started applying it to local restaurants where we were shooting, doing what we could to help them stay afloat. We wouldn’t have thought of that before we met Darius.”

The pandemic, in fact, threaten to derail Something’s More than One Thing altogether: it made production almost too challenging to pursue.  But Anderson assured the partners he would back them up, and that the film would get made.

“He gave us the confidence we needed to weather the shutdown,” Hand says. “Films and filmmakers need more than financing – they need belief. And Darius understands that. He has made it clear to us that his mentorship extends beyond this one film. He’s helping us move forward with our vision and our careers.”

While their professional ambit centers on Hollywood, Alvarez and Hand marvel that they had to go back to their roots – Sonoma – to find the support they needed to truly make their mark.

“My parents and Jay’s parents both worked at the Swiss Hotel,” says Hand, “and Jay and I both lived off 5th Street East. It’s strange that we had to come back to Sonoma to meet the person who didn’t just understand what we needed as artists – he understood what we had to have to take everything to the next level. What we’re doing now is an order of magnitude beyond the work we did prior to meeting Darius. He made it all possible.”