Pop-Culturalist.com

Capturing the essence and nuances of a community and its culture is no easy feat. Yet co-writer-director Nathan Tape and lead actor Scott Turner Schofield have accomplished exactly that with their genre-bending, award-winning film Off Ramp, which beautifully showcases the love and unity within the Juggalo subculture.

Part comedy, part adventure, and part drama, Off Ramp follows Trey (Jon Oswald), an ex-con and Juggalo, who embarks on a wild journey with his devoted best friend, Silas (Schofield), to the Gathering of the Juggalos. Armed with drugs and dreams of horrorcore rap stardom, they are presented with a chance to perform at the event and a shot at becoming Jugga-famous. Their plans take a dark turn when they clash with a corrupt sheriff and get caught in a dangerous scheme orchestrated by a fellow Juggalo turned sadistic criminal. As they fight for survival, Trey and Silas find unexpected allies and confront their own demons. With courage and sacrifice, they ultimately triumph over evil and discover who they truly are, setting out on a new path, bound by their unique culture and the knowledge that Juggalo family can overcome all.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Nathan and Scott about Off Ramp, how they were able to brilliantly capture the Juggalo spirit on screen, and more.

PC: Nathan, this film really defies expectations, which is one of its strengths. What ultimately inspired you to write this film about this culture and community? How did the marriage of all these different genres lend itself to the story that you wanted to tell?
Nathan: Great question. Thank you so much. One of my favorite things about this film is that it defies expectations, and people are often surprised by it. I fell in love with the Juggalo culture because it’s a very unique community, particularly in the aspect of finding your found family. Many people who are Juggalos may not feel a strong connection to their blood relatives, and they’ve found camaraderie and community among, as we like to say, “miscreants”—people who are outside the norm. I truly believe that what works and what I’m most proud of with the film is that, while it is about Juggalos and they are unique, it’s a film for everyone who feels a little bit like an outsider. We’ve found great joy in presenting this because everyone feels like an outsider at some point. If you haven’t, then good for you. [laughs] But I know I have, and I know Scott has. Most of us who are artists have felt that way, and that’s what we tried to convey.

Regarding the blending of genres, it reflects a couple of things. It emulates the Juggalo culture, which in and of itself is a mashup of genres. Musically, it’s rap and rock. If you get to know Juggalos, they call themselves the last American subculture because it’s a mix of many subcultures—you get a bit of punk rock, hip hop, hippie, heavy metal; there’s a lot happening there.

My co-writer Tim Cairo and I are big fans of movies that are more than just one thing. Some of my favorite and most inspirational films have a bit of heart, humor, action, and all that stuff. We as people are more interesting when we’re indefinable. In our last interview, someone asked me what genre I thought Off Ramp is. I said, “Can it just be the genre of genres?” We have a lot of disparate sources and different tastes, and it’s about putting all those things together. I have as much love for high art cinema as I do for genre films. You can see the posters behind me—it’s a big mash-up. I also think, “Why be one thing?”

PC: Beautifully said. Scott, it was really important to you that you represented this community authentically on screen. How did the prep work that you did before filming influence the way that you approached this character and the decisions that you made with your performance?
Scott: It’s funny because I started out not knowing anything about Juggalo culture at all. I had seen Family—the 2018 movie—but I thought it was made up. When I got the script, I was like, “Oh, this is real.” Then Nate started sending me documentaries and various materials about Juggalos. In my day job, I analyze culture from a critical point of view, especially focusing on communities that are not well represented. Being trans, I’m part of a community that’s not represented well in media, so I can recognize when that’s happening. I don’t have to be part of a group to see the tricks because they all use the same playbook.

That realization lit a fire in me. This isn’t about punching down or making fun; it’s about embodying their experiences as truthfully as possible. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s dramatic, sometimes it’s gorgeous—it can be all kinds of things, just as the movie was. The biggest realization for me was how poorly represented Juggalos are in culture, and I decided that it’s my responsibility to be exactly myself and show something that’s true.

PC: That authentic representation is so important on screen and in media. Nathan, throughout the film we watch Silas and Trey on their journey to the Gathering. You’ve actually attended one yourself. How did that experience impact or influence the overall script?
Nathan: Yeah, I’ve actually been to two Gatherings now. I just got back from one two weeks ago. It made a huge difference. Scott touched upon this a bit, and it’s true that when we first started making this script, we may not have been representing this community as authentically as we ended up doing. The journey of the film represents a bit of my own journey with Juggalos. Initially, I saw them as fodder for humor, but as I got to know them and understood how they’ve been misrepresented, I really wanted to make it more authentic.

Going to the Gathering, I became close friends with many of them. Scott mentioned Family. I work in movies, so I knew the Unit Production Manager for Family. I asked if they could hook me up with some of their Juggalo contacts because I have this Juggalo film. They connected me with Scottie D. from Faygoluvers.net, which is a big Juggalo fan site.

Scottie and I talked. He read the script and gave me some pointers. I told him that I was thinking about going to the Gathering because we use all that B-roll footage of the Juggalos at the Gathering—that was one purpose. But I also thought, I’m going to be a poser if I don’t go to the Gathering and get to know these folks. I felt I couldn’t tell this story if I didn’t really know them. Going there, I got to know some wonderful Juggalo folks, and they were what they professed to be—they were sweet and loving to each other. They were giving. They were trying to make their own way in society. They saw themselves as outsiders but cared for each other.

I was so touched. I was leaving the Gathering on the first day, and I met this couple outside. I started talking to them. The woman I was talking to—her life story was so similar to Eden’s in the film. I mean, her brother wasn’t drinking her breast milk, thankfully [laughs], but she embodied that character and had so many struggles—really heart-wrenching stuff—that I was deeply moved. I had two extra tickets, and I was able to give them to them because they were trying to get in. They were so joyful about it. I drove away bawling that night because I thought, “This is so beautiful.” I realized, “Okay, this is the right thing to do. We’re on the right path because this is correct.” These folks need this, and to treat them with a delicate hand is the right way to do it because these are people with hearts and souls. What they’re doing is beautiful, and we all deserve acceptance and friendship.

The phrase that I didn’t know before but we have all over everything is that “The Carnival provides.” One of my good Juggalo friends, Chris, said, “You gave back to the Carnival. The Carnival gave to you, and you’re giving back.” I thought that was a really beautiful notion.

PC: You brought the beauty of this community to life on screen. Scott, Nathan co-wrote and directed this project. How different is that filming experience when the person who helped create these characters and this universe is also at the helm directing? What was that collaboration like?
Scott: It was fantastic. That’s what you want; it’s a dream. Nate had such a clear vision of what we were doing. As an actor, I’m someone who likes to know exactly what the vision is because I want to serve that vision artistically. To be able to have those really deep conversations on so many different levels about what he wanted to do for the film and how that plays into everything that he knows about Juggalos was invaluable. We had some Juggalos come—we had some beautiful folks be there to make sure what we were doing was authentic. They were consulting to ensure that we were honest.

But then also, Nate is such a film nerd. I learned so much from him. I joke that if our film set was a drinking game where you took a shot for every film reference, it’d be dangerous. It was really such a pleasure all the way around, artistically and personally. In telling the story about Juggalos, one of the things I came to realize is that if I had known about Juggalos, I would have been one. I hope that I am one. I hope that I get to be one because it’s a culture and an ethos that I so wholeheartedly agree with and want to be part of. To be able to live inside that level of acceptance that you see in the film—and that Silas, my character, has for himself, and that Trey has for Silas and for everyone—is really special. It’s an experience I’ll never forget.

Nathan: My friend Chris, who is a Juggalo, said this line—which we put in the film because it’s so true—”You’re a Juggalo, you just don’t know it yet.” That’s what a lot of us really felt. We put that line in when Silas is having that gorgeous moment with Eden, and I think many of us felt that way. When I started this process, people would be like, “Are you a Juggalo? Is that why you’re making this movie?” I’d be like, “No, no, no, I’m not a Juggalo.” Now I’m like, “Fu*k yes, I am a Juggalo.” I’m like, “Absolutely, thank you.” I’m a person who accepts other people the way they are and passes no judgment. That’s what we all wish to be.

PC: Yeah, I feel like anybody who watches this film will want to be a Juggalo. Nathan, not only did you co-write, direct, and produce this film, you also co-edited it. How have all those different disciplines lent themselves to your work as a director and ensured you have that variation when you head into the editing bay?
Nathan: It’s not something that I necessarily intended to do at the beginning. A smarter filmmaker than me once said that the people who make the movie are the crew, but the filmmaker is the film. If you’re making a film that’s really personal and speaks about what’s inside your heart, you kind of can’t let it go. I mean, I can’t. Maybe other people can, but I personally can’t. I had to get in there. I’ve always edited my own projects—I’ve always edited my own music videos and things like that.

I had a lot of help from a great friend, Brandon [Kotfila], who did a lot of great work. But if I wasn’t able to get in there and do it myself a bit, I probably would have never felt satisfied with it. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a little controlling about that. As a director, if you’re making your film, you want to have that control. But at the same time, I’m very open to suggestions. Scott can speak to that too. There was a lot of collaboration. I’m a big, big fan of collaboration, but when it comes to what I want to say, I know when it’s right.

I think it all worked out really well. Being collaborative is essential for filmmaking, and you end up with something better by doing that. I’m also a cinematographer by day, but I hired a really talented guy named Bron Moyi to shoot it. I’m so grateful I did because our combined efforts made it better.

PC: I agree; having that hand in the editing process ensures that you get your artistic vision across. The friendship between Silas and Trey is so believable on screen. Scott, how were you able to build that with Jon so quickly?
Scott: It really just happened. It was a miracle. We love the song “Miracles” by ICP (Insane Clown Posse). We liked each other pretty instantly. We got our hair done together for the characters, which was very drastic for both of us. We felt like we had gone through something together. Then we found out that we have birthdays a day apart. Naturally, it just happened that way. It was great.

From an acting perspective, Jon always says that he’s so glad that he liked me because it’s so much harder to act when you don’t like your scene partner. For both of us, my favorite thing is how we held space for one another. The best part of our friendship was that we fully supported each other through every scene. There was just this sense of generosity and that feeling like, “I’m not going to surprise you. I’m not going to work against you. I’m completely here for what you’re putting down.” That’s what you saw on screen.

Nathan: It also helps that they’re both wonderful folks. We were really lucky because they’re both loving people. Truth be told, we all knew going in that if we did this right, it was going to be something cool and pretty special. We got a chance to say something that’s pretty special. We all bought into that idea pretty strongly.

PC: One of the beautiful things about indie filmmaking. Chosen family is such a running theme within this film and within this community. Who have been the people in your own life who have held space for you in a similar way with your artistic endeavors?
Scott: That’s a great question.

Nathan: It is. Making a film is a lot like a family. A lot of folks worked on this film, and we had a great crew of people who were very supportive. I do have a loving and supportive blood family personally, and I’m very thankful for them. They were very instrumental in helping with this film as well. But outside of that, the genre community, for instance, is very supportive. When we started doing the film festival run, a lot of the genre folks would talk to each other. Your one film gets into the ear of another, and it’s interesting how that all happens. There are so many people that this movie has opened up to us. There are so many people that I now count as friends that I didn’t know before starting this—not only the actors, producers, crew members, but also the people who have seen the film and connected with it. That’s another level of support.

Scott: For me, I’m a trans man. I’ve been a professional actor for twenty years. Until 2015—so for the first ten years of that time—no one would hire a trans actor—no one. It wasn’t a thing, especially for trans-masculine people. We were so invisible. During that time, I had to lean in on my community where I was. I started out touring with Athens Boys Choir, where T Cooper became a very good friend. S. Bear Bergman has always been a huge support. I hate listing names because then I’m always like, who am I forgetting? But there’s this really core group of trans-masculine writers like Cooper Bombardier—and I could go on and on—but it’s people who shared this experience and who were all out there doing our thing invisibly, having the impacts that we could have but knowing among ourselves how important what we were doing was, and yet how starved we were, in a way, for recognition and the mechanisms of what it takes to impact culture writing in a larger way.

On top of that, there were the allies—there were the people who gave me my shot, like my director of my one-man show, Steve Bailey; the National Performance Network; the casting director of The Bold and the Beautiful, who gave me my television break and gave me that historic first in television and set me on my way. These are allies who understood that I had talent, it deserves to be out there, and it’s unfair that it’s being kept in the shadows. Off Ramp was the culmination of that. It was because of all of that that I got to go into a situation where Hunter McHugh, our casting director, really got it and saw me and put me in this role that I’ll forever be grateful for because it’s simply such an amazing artistic role that I could have never been as good at if I had not had all that support and those trials and tribulations along the way.

Make sure to follow Nathan (Instagram) and Scott (Instagram). Off Ramp is out now On Demand and digitally.

Photo Credit: Joanna DeGeneres Photography (Scott)