Two years after moving to the Hollywood area, the brothers released their first film, 2004’s “Squirrel Trap,” about a group of college students on a weekend camping trip. The movie was filmed in the Sequoia National Forest on a $1,500 budget.
“We learned how to do everything on that movie — writing, directing, producing and cinematography,” Ian said.
After that film garnered some attention on the festival circuit, the brothers went on to make 2013’s “Lost on Purpose” and 2015’s “Waffle Street,” which both earned awards, including Best Film and Best Director.
When working on a film, the brothers largely tackle responsibilities together. However, the brothers said they each have areas they’re stronger in. Ian enjoys the writing process more, while storyboarding — a visual outline of a film made up of a series of images — is handled by Eshom, given his art background.
“We complement each other in a lot of ways. Where I’m deficient, he has strengths, and vice versa,” Eshom said. “After all this time, we’ve picked up on each other’s speech cadence. We finish each other’s sentences. It’s kind of scary at times. We’re not even twins!”
Ian said they will do their own writing and editing and then re-write and re-edit each other’s work before coming together to decide what works best.
“We’re very different people, but we’ve curated a very similar taste. We understand what the other one likes,” he said.
Eshom said his brother doesn’t hold back his feelings on whether something works or not.
“Ian is utterly and uncompromisingly candid with me,” he said. “We can really just say what we think and not worry about hurting each other’s feelings. He’s always there either lifting me up or giving me a kick in the fanny. There’s an accountability aspect there.”
As each project can take years to come to fruition, Ian said getting to see audiences respond to his films is very rewarding.
“The most fun part of making a movie is once you finish it and you get to show it to an audience, and they’re laughing at all the right moments, feeling at all the right moments,” he said. “Even if somebody watches something of ours and gets fired up, that’s also fun because you know you’ve affected them and they’re thinking about it even if they’re upset by it.”
Looking back on his career, Ian said he is proud of what he and his brother have been able to accomplish thus far and is excited about what the future will bring.
“It feels amazing. For us, it feels like we just took these gradual steps, but when you look back, you realize how far you’ve come,” he said. “When I sit here and look back at where we started and where we hoped to be, it’s incredible. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities we’ve had.”
The brothers are currently in various stages of progress on multiple projects, with hopes to also make a sequel to “Fatman” in the near future.
“I really like the ball-juggling — it leaves a lot of room for improvisation,” Ian said. “You don’t know what’s coming, and that’s a fun thing. The possibilities are endless.”