Dylan Powers on FROG JAM, Creative Instincts and Embracing the Weird

For filmmaker Dylan Powers, inspiration can come from almost anywhere: video games, the strange corners of early internet culture, a Sunday evening spent cooking dinner, or even a creative limitation that unexpectedly becomes part of a film’s identity. His latest short, FROG JAM, represents a significant tonal departure from his previous work, embracing low-poly visuals, absurdist humor and an intentionally imperfect dance at the heart of its world.

In this conversation with Indie Shorts Mag, Powers discusses the unlikely origins of FROG JAM, how he has learned to build projects around his strengths, the importance of collaboration, what live audiences have taught him about filmmaking, and the deeper motivation that continues to drive him to create stories.

Indie Shorts Mag: Growing up with a strong connection to movies, games, books, and other forms of storytelling, how did those early influences eventually shape the kind of filmmaker you became and, more specifically, the ideas behind FROG JAM?

Dylan Powers: We’re influenced by every piece of art we consume and I, of course, love films and shows, but for some reason video games have always inspired me more. When I dig for the most impactful and influential things when it came to creating FROG JAM – I’d say it was: The vibe of Sonic games (Sonic Rush, Sonic Riders, and Sonic Adventure specifically), meme/brainrot-style videos, and the aesthetic of the early 2000s and early internet videos. I wanted FROG JAM to feel like a work that was inspired by those things while also infused with its own elements and stylistic choices to make things unique. FROG JAM is the weirdest film I’ve ever made and is tonally a complete 180 from everything I’ve made in the past.

Indie Shorts Mag: You’ve been writing and directing films for more than a decade now. When you look at FROG JAM alongside earlier projects such as BLACK GATE, LOOM, RAVENS, and OBSERVER, where do you feel your growth as a filmmaker is most visible?

Dylan Powers: Hmmmm, probably in my ability to play into my strengths with my work.

There’s two angles to this. The easier one is how I work with my cast and crew on any project. I try to make sure I’ve communicated what we’re making, what the objectives are, and how it should feel to the viewer as clearly as I can to everybody involved. I want them to feel empowered to be creative, put a part of themselves into the work, and know that they made an impact. I’ve learned that I am actually decent at facilitating this kind of environment, so I’ve been trying to play into it more in all of my recent projects. It’s lead to a more enjoyable work environment where everyone feels like they are a team. There are still times where you have to be the Director, make the calls, and steer the ship, of course, but practicing this has helped many of my projects.

The second angle is that over time I’ve accepted that I’m not that great at writing, for lack of a better term, “normal world” type stories, unless extraordinary things are happening in them, similar to Black Gate. What I mean is like, I don’t think I would be the best at writing a family drama film, but I could write family drama elements into the characters of a deeply fictional world pretty easily because that interests me personally way more. I enjoy stories and things that lean into their fiction and because I know that’s what I like the most, I’ve been aiming to create more stories like that. I’m aware now of what I’m good at, while always still looking to challenge myself in any way I can.

Indie Shorts Mag: What was the original creative spark behind FROG JAM, and how did the idea change as you moved from writing into production?

Dylan Powers: I was drinking a couple of beers, listening to music, and cooking dinner one Sunday evening in early 2025 when I was struck with the idea. I imagined a scenario where a shot would push through a character’s ear and into their brain while they were listening to a song. Inside their mind, seemingly their thoughts during this, would be the visual of a group of dancing frogs. I genuinely thought this was hilarious so I began drinking another beer, then started typing in the Notes app on my phone as fast as I could. I was also inspired by these hilarious videos I’d seen over the years where you see some low-poly animals, or characters in general, dancing to a song in the most random, nonsensical ways for no reason. I found it so interesting that my friends and I loved these videos so much, despite them being so “meaningless.” I thought – “wouldn’t it be crazy if one of these videos was on the news for some reason? Like it has inspired the entire world, somehow.” I would take that idea, and the visual of the frogs dancing, and find a way to turn that into the story.

The core idea I reached was that if FROG JAM could make people smile, laugh, or feel anything at all, then I would succeed. It wouldn’t matter how ridiculous it was, people would love it anyways. I was also looking to continue developing my skills in Unreal Engine creating cinematics, so I felt that this was the perfect next project for me.

Indie Shorts Mag: FROG JAM takes a relatively simple premise and builds its appeal through execution and tone. As a director, what were the most important choices you made to give the film its particular personality?

Dylan Powers: The big three would be: making the “frog jam dance” look a little bad for comedic purposes, committing to the low-poly art style, and letting the composer, Marschawn Howard, absolutely cook with the song for the film.

Indie Shorts Mag: How did working with the cast and filmmaking team shape the finished version of FROG JAM, and was there a moment when someone else’s interpretation or contribution took the film somewhere you had not initially expected?

Dylan Powers: I’m so thankful for the amazing cast and crew of FROG JAM. Their contributions helped elevate this film beyond what I could ever achieve on my own and we simply had so much fun on set. The amount of times we had to cut takes because of people dying of laughter was pretty substantial. FROG JAM‘s general direction stayed largely the same throughout production, like the vision and objectives were pretty clear, so it never table flipped or anything like that. There was one notable problem midway through production we had to solve though. Originally I had a Frog Jam “record” as the thing Skurt Records in the human world found by a pond. As the film was taking shape, I realized that it didn’t make sense anymore for what they found to just be a record. A record would have only given them the Frog Jam song, not the visuals of the music video itself. I wasn’t crazy about changing the story away from JamFrog sending “Frog Jam” to the human world, so I was little stumped on this at first. Thankfully I was talking with my good friend and long time collaborator, Noah Holmes, about this and he was like “what if it was a DVD instead?” And it was like the sun bursting through the clouds hearing that. It was the perfect solution, and it even fit more naturally with the early 2000s/early internet vibe that I wanted FROG JAM to have. With a DVD they could feasibly have obtained all of Frog Jam – both audio and visuals. I was so thankful for the help on that detail!

Indie Shorts Mag: What was the most challenging aspect of making FROG JAM, and did any limitation or unexpected problem ultimately lead to a creative decision that improved the film?

Dylan Powers: There was the change from a Frog Jam “record” to the Frog Jam “DVD” that I mentioned in the question earlier, that was a big one, but another was that I’m simply not that great at animating characters. It is not my strong suit at all and I recognize this. When it was time to make the Frog Jam dance, I was struggling because I was realizing that no matter what I made on my own, it was gonna look a little jank. I didn’t have the budget to pay a professional animator, so I instead wrote into the film that the dance was kinda bad on purpose. I had the people in the real world who love “Frog Jam” do that same dance and mimic its jank-ness. I felt that this actually, really worked, and ended up benefitting the film a ton. The dance is probably the most memorable part of the film. I think if I would have compromised and paid someone to make something that was really “good”, the result would have likely been different. Probably not quite as funny!

Indie Shorts Mag: Your creative path has moved through everything from early video projects and online videos to short films and work within the game industry. Across all of those different forms, what is the fundamental thing that continues to drive you to create stories?

Dylan Powers: When I was kid, I was really lonely for a variety of reasons. Without going fully into it, I often felt like I didn’t fit in or that there was something wrong with me when compared to everyone else. The worlds and characters of the stories I’d engage with genuinely made me feel okay. They were an escape, yes, but even more so they gave me strength in life. You learn and grow from your adventures with these characters, and it means something to you – it isn’t just wasted time. During bad days, I’d so much be looking forward to playing games, watching a show, or reading a book. There was a sense of comfort that’s honestly hard to put into words… It made real life easier, still does, and that meant so much to me. As I got older, I continued to realize how amazing that was, that various forms of art could mean so much to us.

I want to create art and tell stories that mean something to people like that. I want them to be able to experience joy, wonder, intrigue, comfort, sadness, and more through the worlds and characters I create. I want them to use my stories as a break for their minds as they go through real life. Maybe even find something in them that inspires them, helps them through something, or even just makes them smile. Achieving that is what drives me to keep creating stories, and even once I’ve achieved it, I think I’ll still keep doing it. That’s a job that’s never done.

Indie Shorts Mag: Films such as BLACK GATE, LOOM, and OBSERVER have previously had festival runs, with OBSERVER screening at FilmQuest and the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival. What have those experiences taught you about presenting your work to audiences, and what are you hoping for as FROG JAM begins its own life beyond production?

Dylan Powers: I’ve learned so much from doing live screenings and have probably experienced every emotion possible during them haha. There’s nothing better than hearing people react positively, or how you wanted them to, to moments in your work. When someone tells you how much they loved your film and it becomes clear that everything really worked for them in a way you had hoped, it’s amazing. Simultaneously, there is little worse or more humbling than hearing an audience react differently than what you had expected. It can be outright painful haha. It is incredibly helpful and necessary to go through this, I’ve learned. Hearing raw reactions like that from people with absolutely no context gives you a better idea of where your film is succeeding and where it is failing.

To share one story, last year when I was at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival I heard someone laugh at one of the parts in OBSERVER that I did not expect. I sat there and spiraled in the chair for the rest of the night before finally accepting that what they laughed at was actually kind of funny when I took my personal involvement out of it. During one of the chase sequences there was a grunt sound effect from the voice over that was way too loud and it was making the moment funny in a bad way rather than immersive. I ended up being thankful for that person laughing because the first thing I did when I got back home was fix it, then inspect the rest of the film for more moments like that.

From live screenings I’ve also learned that no matter how perfect your film is, people are going to react differently to it, so you have to be careful when making adjustments based off of reactions. Some people will be completely lost, some people will think it is the most perfect, nuanced story they’ve ever seen. So, know what your film stands for and is aiming to achieve, and only make adjustments that help it reach that goal. Don’t try to please everybody.

FROG JAM will not have a definitive run in the festival circuit. I simply hope people will watch FROG JAM, enjoy it, and share it with their friends for years to come. It would make me really happy to see people I don’t know doing the “frog jam dance” in public, that would be crazy.

Indie Shorts Mag: Outside filmmaking, what role do personal routines play in keeping you creatively grounded—and what makes breakfast, paired with watching a good show, such an important morning ritual for you?

Dylan Powers: Oh, morning breakfast time can absolutely not be skipped! The clarity of the early morning is simply the best time of every day in my opinion. In the morning I love to drink coffee and play games, read, or watch shows. I feel like I am able to get lost in the worlds of the stories so much more easily. To be fair, I haven’t had a single original thought here with this point haha, but I am a believer in the morning breakfast and art ritual! I recommend it to everybody, even those that don’t create any kind of art. Block out a little time in the morning to enjoy your shows or games if you can!

Outside of that, I love to spend time with my friends, work out, and do all kinds of non-art-related hobbies. I’ve found that I make my best work when I am experiencing all that life has to offer and not constantly trying to think of what my next project will be. Through going on adventures in normal life and experiencing things, the mental well always fills back up. You never know when you’ll be struck with an idea. You’ll be in the most random place, doing literally anything, and something will suddenly really stand out to you. When that happens, be sure to write it down! Even if it’s barely legible, you might be able to turn that thought into your next big thing!

Indie Shorts Mag: A completely hypothetical question: if you could create a fictional world that anyone could visit for exactly one hour, but you were never allowed to enter it yourself, what kind of world would you build, and what would you want people to feel when they came back?

Dylan Powers: Easy. I would create a world where all there is to do is sit alone by a lake while the sun rises in the morning. In this world, there is nothing to distract the person from their thoughts. They would hopefully choose to sit there watching the sunrise and naturally end up reflecting on their life, the actions they’ve taken in it, and the future they wish to build for themselves. The clarity the act of that would give them would probably heal that person in some way or another.

Because this would take place in another world that is not this one, that person would likely feel “okay” to dive into their scarier thoughts that they tend to bury in reality. Maybe they’d decide to make peace with something that’s haunted them, or find a way forgive somebody that wronged them in the past and move forwards. I don’t know, but I think a world like that would be beneficial for all of us. We live in a world of information overload and hyper-speed because of how connected we are. It makes it easy to leave problems unsettled when we’re so busy and distracted all the time. It’s good to slow down and reconnect with yourself and nature, so this world would be a designated place where it’s “okay” to do that. I’ve dealt with a lot in my life, as we all have, so I would also greatly benefit from going to a world like this haha. Sucks that I can’t go!

Guess I’ll just have to find a lake in the real world.

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Powers’ answers reveal an interesting contrast at the heart of FROG JAM. The film may be deliberately strange, funny and built around dancing frogs, but the instinct behind it is deeply sincere: to make something that gives an audience a feeling worth carrying with them. His approach embraces collaboration, limitations and even imperfection as part of the creative process, while his experiences with live audiences have reinforced the importance of understanding what a film is trying to be rather than attempting to please everyone. For Powers, whether a story offers laughter, comfort, wonder or simply a momentary escape, creating that connection remains the reason to keep making them.