Publisher: Vents Magazine

1.) We’re delighted to welcome to our pages acclaimed
actor Jacob Moran; greetings and salutations, Jacob!
Before we saunter down the celluloid Q& A pathway,
how goes your 2023 thus far?

Hello. Thank you so much for having me. 2023 is off to a
great start. I am about to finish my freshman year in high
school and will get my driver’s license in a few weeks. I
was fortunate to work on an amazing feature film, Holland
Michigan, and I am leaving for Cannes next week for the
New Shoes world premiere. Then I will be in NYC to film
Regarding Veronica. I am beyond grateful to be working.

2.) Congrats and kudos on New Shoes which is making
the rounds at no less of a distinguished and fabled film
festival than the American Pavillion at the Cannes Film
Festival! When you first encountered New Shoes did you
ever think of its path ­ and yours! ­ would ultimately lead
you to Cannes?

There is a lot of excitement surrounding New Shoes at the
moment and I am thrilled. We are having our world
premiere at the American Pavilion at Cannes on May 24th
and then right onto the Berkshire International Festival for
our U.S. premiere and deadCenter the following week.
We are getting ready to leave for France this week and
while I don’t really know what to expect I know it will be an
incredible experience. So, no I don’t think I had any idea
of what direction we would be headed in when we filmed
a year and a half ago. But I have always believed in this
project and the passion behind the story.

3.) For anyone not in the know, can you tell us what New
Shoes is about and how your character of Tristan figures
into the proceedings?

New Shoes is about the troubling relationship between a
young boy (Tristan) and his drug­addicted mother. Elaine
(Tristan’s mom) supports both her son and her habit the
only way she knows how. Tristan, protects her the only
way he knows how, on the front porch with his trusty brick.
After telling Tristan she plans to spend her recent payday
on her next fix, he reminds her again that he needs new
shoes for school. Elaine angrily decides to burden her son
with the guilt of placing herself in harm’s way in order to
provide him with the shoes.
Tristan always tries to be supportive but also feels very
guilty. The overwhelming remorse he feels prevents him
from going through with buying the new shoes, only to
return home to find his mother bleeding out from an
attempted suicide. After saving her life, Tristan is forced to
examine his own life and decide whether or not he wants
to continue to be her savior, or to save himself.
The really powerful part is this is based on a true story.
The life of Thommy Kane who also co­directed the film. It
is raw and real and just a glimpse at what the feature film
will look like as Thommy’s journey took place over many
years until he found great success as a signed recording
artist and sadly lost his mother, Elaine.

4.) Did you know as soon as New Shoes entered into your
orbit that this was a production you wanted to be a part
of?
I knew I was attracted to the concept. However, at first it
was a lot of really heavy topics for me and it took me a
while to get comfortable. There was the uncertainty of
portraying a real person and trying to be my own
character while also honoring Thommy’s truth and raw
emotions. I had not taken on a role like this before and
had not been exposed to drug use or abuse so I had to
completely detach from “Jacob” in order to become
“Tristan.”

5.) What was your collaboration process like with New
Shoes directors Thommy Kane and Bojan Vanovac? Are
they what some actors might refer to as “an actor’s
director”?

They are totally both “an actor’s director.” Aside from
being super cool people they are extremely talented and
both brought a totally different perspective to the film.
Bojan has a successful background in producing very cool
music videos among other great things and brought a
visual sense and calmness to the set. Thommy lived this.
It is his life so he was able to provide insight to real
emotions to give me a better understanding of the
backstory and how he felt as a little boy. We actually had
a blast filming. After we wrapped and as tired as we all
were we had an impromptu cast party in the duplex we
filmed in and I can tell you there were a lot of laughs and
unbelievable excitement to start editing right away, even
during the party. The team was great. It is amazing that
we packed so much into a 20 min short. I can only
imagine how powerful the feature will be.