The Justice Parman Reels: Behind the Scenes

Justice Parman is one of those rare fans with the ability to channel a passion for baseball into works of art.

Perhaps your phone has one of his wallpaper designs or maybe you’ve bought a hoodie or t-shirt from his online store.

His baseball hype and tribute videos have drawn thousands of viewers and are compiled on his YouTube channel. His video celebrating Opening Day for the 2020 season will drop on July 23, 12:00 PM (Pacific).

“The New Kings,” which he released in April 2019, paired his excitement for a new era of Padres baseball with inspiration from “The Lion King” trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5NMrCivZoM&t=1s

Justice’s earliest baseball memory is of being in the living room of his late grandmother’s apartment.

In many ways, Grammy raised me throughout my early childhood and, in hindsight, shaped who I am today.

She had a fiery orange afro and would often liken it to ‘98 Padres orange.

Whenever I visited and the Padres were on, we always had “The Three P’s:” Padres, Pizza, and Popcorn.

Justice lived in the Ocean Beach/Point Loma Heights area until he was seven when the family moved to the North County community of Elfin Forest.

He attended La Costa Canyon High School and played on the basketball team all four of his years there. In 2012, the team advanced to the state championship game, and they played in the Sacramento Kings arena.

We would later be demolished by a team led by Orlando Magic superstar Aaron Gordon.

In Justice’s family lore, a story is told about how somewhere there is a Polaroid photo of him at just three years of age, following their dog around the house with a VHS camcorder that was nearly as big as him.

I was always kind of a shy kid who didn’t really know how to express myself through talking but I did know how to tell stories that oftentimes were very silly, fun videos featuring my little sister and pets.

Even though I had been making these movies all throughout my childhood, I never felt fully supported during high school to pursue filmmaking as a living.

Film courses weren’t being taught at my high school and half of my household was not down with me pursuing a life in the film industry.

But, I eventually made it happen. It wasn’t until after I graduated high school that I finally said the words out loud: “I want to be a director.

Following two years at MiraCosta College studying film and working on various productions, Justice went on to graduate from the University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) in 2017.

Justice has operated his own production company – Rebel Kids Entertainment – since 2012. The name came from his mother who passed away from cancer during his junior year of high school (2011). She often called him a rebel for what he describes as his “unorthodox, creative, or very strange/weird way of going about childhood.”

Justice says that his goal with Rebel Kids Entertainment is to produce stories that “empower new voices, characters, and stories that find ways to ‘color outside the lines’.”

I’m a little all over the place. I’ve made family dramas, an indie superhero film, a new age noir thriller, a fantastical political mystery, evil child horror films, dance films, poetry adaptations, and a myriad of other kinds of movies.

I have a fascination with all kinds of film, although the anchor that can be found in my films is character and how that character interacts within the environment/genre they are placed in.

1) Directing a film at the Palomar Airport; 2) Working as a field producer for IGN Entertainment at Comic-Con; 3) Red carpet for his team’s film “Broad Daylight,” including George Coletrain (Editor), Josh George (Producer/Actor), Brianna Haeckl (Producer/Script Supervisor – and also Justice’s girlfriend!)

Justice is currently working on a feature film titled “Firework.”

I can’t tell you much, but it is an indie coming-of-age comedy that I’m very proud of, and I can’t wait for you all to hopefully see it in a couple years!

Justice uses Adobe Premiere as his editing software and says he is more than willing to help anyone who reaches out with questions or ideas.

I asked him about the creative process that goes into his videos.

My process is very spur of the moment, to be completely honest.

For example, for my “New Kings” video I was sitting on my couch watching “The Lion King” trailer, and I got SO HYPED. At the same time, I was incredibly hyped about the upcoming Padres season.

So I simply took two things that I was fired up for and combined those.

As for how he does what he does, Justice talked about the blending of technique and creative decisions. In “The New Kings,” he was careful to match narration clips from “The Lion King” with Padres video footage that fit the dialogue. For example, we hear “Life’s not fair, is it?” paired up with the visual of Matt Holliday not touching home plate.

While editing action shots, Justice finds ways to pace and synchronize the action clips he’s chosen to the various crescendos of the music.

Along with all of these technical practices, I think it’s incredibly important to know where your audience is at emotionally when you’re putting out a certain video.

I think “The New Kings” video did so well because the excitement of the city for the Padres was at a high with Fernando/Manny/Chris etc. coming up, and I tried my best to acknowledge that excitement with the way I put together the video.

Justice is always developing new project ideas and is one of the best follows on Padres Twitter. He recently provided free movie poster mashups to anyone who asked.

https://twitter.com/JusticeParman/status/1282058341401817088?s=20

Finally, I asked Justice how he views his contributions to the Padres fan community.

My intent as a fan has been to celebrate the team and allow fans – through my work – to be proud of their hometown team!

I’m trying to be objective here, but I don’t think there is a #SportsTwitter that has as talented members in it as #PadresTwitter has.

From the videos, to the bits, to the post game memes and GIFs … I don’t think anyone comes close.

It’s been amazing to be able to contribute to an awesome community such as our little corner of the Twitterverse.

The feeling is mutual, Justice. “The New Kings” was retweeted over 400 times.

Even the king himself distributed Justice’s video on social media.

You can become one of Justice’s Patreon supporters and receive early access to much of his content. Membership levels start at $2 per month (details here).

Leave a comment: