‘Spike Jones talking about ‘focusing boards’ locked in the series name’
FOCUSED
Jon Ehinger
June 2025
You came up with a story and storyboards for a 10-part series you’re calling Focused. So what is the show all about?
Jon Ehinger: Focused wasn’t originally conceived as a series. It was meant to be a feature film. But as the script began to take form, I liked playing with the idea of bookending each show. Also, with my background working at SLAP, making each chapter its own self-contained piece made more sense. Focused follows two 20-somethings in 1990s San Francisco with a Slacker, Richard Linklater-esque style of filmmaking, so it feels raw while giving a sense of actually being in San Francisco at that time. The makers of Mad Men and Stranger Things gave me the confidence to think a period piece show would even be possible. The 90s were influential and hold up in a timeless way. Focused is about historically and comedically encapsulating some of the highlights from those times in the late 90s as I saw them. You’ll get to see focus groups in action too, from the main characters who take deceptive steps as side-hustling focus groupies for extra cash. If you read the longform scripted version of Focused, you’ll notice tons of Americana, movies, and even 90s TV commercials. It might be a crazy undertaking to get permission from all those companies or just punk it, like how skateboard graphics were often done back in the 90s.
Anything that triggered the idea for this series?
It’s funny you ask that, because it was more or less derivative of my younger brother playing around with the idea of starting an avant-garde advertising agency. This was during the pandemic, and we’d pitch bizarre ideas to each other—like new ways to rebrand general items. In this particular case, the conversation drifted into creating a new consumer product for dog owners. We thought of a lightsaber dog leash and started laughing about what that focus group would be like. In Focused, viewers will be exposed to the inner workings of how focus groups operate. There will be some real items that should have been made, and even some fake items that would never be brought to life. I’ve been thinking about alternative ways of getting Focused made too…I think it might be a cool experiment to make it entirely on ChatGPT’s video generator through my prompts and direction. For example, there’s a scene where the characters from Star Wars and Star Trek intersect in spacetime —like how has that not been done before?? There are some storyboard links here https://www.instagram.com/p/DDXIof7xRfb/ that would be insanely hard to recreate without a huge budget when AI’s deepfake video generator technology could be a less expesive option to toy with.
‘Using movies without permission…just like how skateboard graphics were done in the 90s’
If you could pick any actor or director, who would they be and why?
I hope all the actors who come aboard are up-and-comers, so it serves as a springboard for them—like amateurs before going pro or bands before they get signed to a major label. The only actor I actually have in mind to play a certain character in the first episode is Jason Lee, but mostly as a voiceover part for an overly enthusiastic contestant announcer Rod Roddy from The Price Is Right. I’d also like Chris Pastras to voice a jazz radio DJ. Another actor I was impressed by is Asante Blackk, who I think would be perfect to play Ross’ eccentric roommate in Oakland. I’m playing with the idea of having 10 separate directors—guest directors who put their spin on each chapter. I took that idea from Mark Gonzales, who ran non-team pro models of guys who didn’t ride for his Krooked team. I penciled in Harmony Korine to direct a chapter since I remember hearing he and Mark lived together briefly in the 90s, so I think that would translate well.
Have you reached out to any of the actors and directors yet?
Yes, Harmony’s agent from MJZ sent him an early outline of the series. Since then, I’ve just put out the word with people I knew from that era such as Patrick O’Dell, Rich Hart, Dwayne Carter, Giovanni Reda, Anthony Claravall, and Joe Brook. At this time I’m not marketing anything—just drawing in scenes in sharpie @focused_storyboarding.
‘SF wasn’t cheap so we’d take our focus group checks and just blow them on elaborate meals’
Any other skateboarding references to share in Focused?
Keith Hufnagel is referenced as a truly respected street innovator. I always see his board around Christmas in Elf—it’s a reminder that people can be taken too early. His legacy is even in Elf, where Michael only wanted “a REAL Huf board.” His last name, too, is eerie and existential—if you flip the letters N and A, it spells Huf-Angel. Phil Shao is also in Focused at the legendary Fort Miley.
What are the next steps to bring this project to the next phase?
I imagine continuing to do things like this interview until something clicks with a production company. I really don’t know. What I do know from years as a skateboarder and artist is if you have something really good to offer, people come out of the woodwork to support you. Photographers or gallery curators—if you’re hot, they come running! I’m putting myself out there, and that’s all you can do to see who or what bites. There’s a reference to Jane Campion’s The Piano in Focused that may make the point: there’s an almost subliminal animation clip in that movie where a guy gets struck by lightning. I bring this up because even if Focused doesn’t come to light or falls to ash, that’s not gonna kill me. I think all artists have to endure the pain of potentially being a lightning rod—and be prepared to be shot down!
‘Jason Lee would play the part of Rod Roddy from The Price Is Right’
So what’s your ultimate goal for this series?
One thing I know—Focused needs to be shot more like a nature film or documentary than a feature film, since I wrote it more observationally about human beings and myself around that time. I find that movies are like dreams where we play out fantasies without real personal ownership—until we wake up.
I heard Jason Lee saying in his The Nine Club interview that TV projects take a long time from inception to screen. How much time are you giving yourself for this project?
I like that you brought this up, both with Jason Lee and Chris Roberts references, because I’ve watched almost all of their podcasts and they got me through the pandemic and resurrected my skate juices. When Spike Jonze was their guest, he was so sincere and humble about stuff he made in and out of skateboarding. That podcast unveiled a lot of Wizard of Oz moments in the industry—there’s always more than meets the eye in those pros’ stories. But to your question, I’ve learned how to wait and keep my day job. But I would say the thing that stuck out most from The Nine Club was learning that Spike essentially coined the term “focusing”—as in focusing your foot’s path downward so the board breaks clean through. I already had Focused as a working title, but hearing them talk about it made the pieces fall into place. Like I needed to hear them talking to validate the hours I’d put in with little outside interest. I also couldn’t believe the name Focused hadn’t been used for a feature film—it was an honest-to-God “ah-ha” moment. I just want to tell a few stories from that time period through Focused. I liked Jamie Thomas’ rags-to-riches story in his Nine Club episodes and also his comment— echoed by Jason Lee—that skateboarding doesn’t translate well to film. I think Jason said it comes off “hokey” , and I agree. But in Focused, the skateboarding just happens as part of the landscape. It’s not the primary story. It’s gonna be shot the same way all things that share the streets. I like the idea of the sidewalk being where all walks of life meet on common ground.
‘Sidewalks are the places where all walks of life meet on common ground’
Why are insects so prevalent throughout Focused?
I identify as an insect at times, almost as a “humant”, at least when writing Focused. Skaters were always running from security and cops, which reminded me of pests being swatted. Also, Modest Mouse was super influential around that time, and Isaac Brock’s lyrics in Medication—where he says “ants are really cavemen”—inspired me.
What’s next? Another 10-part series or something else?
Focused could easily take off, but I have other projects in mind. For example, I have an artist’s coffee table book idea I’d like to collaborate on. And I’ll continue to work as a therapist and just cruise around while my son Soren learns to skate. Thus, continuing the cycle. Thank you for your mag’s interest in this project!