Jason Elm, executive creative director at Barkley, talks bringing the Super Bowl to KC, nearly brawling with Matthew McConaughey and more
Name: Jason Elm
Occupation: Executive creative director at Barkley
Twitter handle: @JasonElm
Hometown: Canoga Park, California
Current neighborhood: Fairway-ish
What I do: I’m responsible for making sure that everything we make for our clients is rad.
What’s your addiction? People. I love being around people. Friends, strangers — it doesn’t matter. I have this constant curiosity about people — who they are, what they’re thinking. It makes me crazy to be alone.
What’s your game? Words With Friends
What’s your drink? Rieger’s whiskey with one giant ice cube. A square one, not a round one.
Where’s dinner? Riding shotgun in a ’97 Subaru. We’re right in the middle of moving in, so we order a lot of delivery.
What’s on your KC postcard? A URL to this video.
Kansas City Lights from Dan Wood on Vimeo.
Finish this sentence: “Kansas City got it right when …” They approved tax abatements for creative businesses in areas of town like the Crossroads.
“Kansas City screwed up …” With the freeway exchanges around the downtown loop. WTH?
“Kansas City needs more …” Bike lanes.
“In five years, I’ll be …” Creating something that helps us bring the Super Bowl to KC. Or bring KC to the Super Bowl. (Is it greedy to ask for both?)
“I always laugh at …” People who take themselves too seriously.
“I’ve been known to binge-watch …” Breaking Bad.
“I just read …” Changing the World Is the Only Fit Work for a Grown Man. It points out the modern-day relevance of the work of ad pioneer Howard Gossage.
The best advice I ever got: Remember, life’s a comedy, not a drama.
Worst advice: To open an online trading account and invest one-third of my savings in dot-com stocks, in January 2000. Luckily one-third of my savings wasn’t much at the time, but when it all went “poof,” it still hurt.
My sidekick: @BarkleyScoop
My dating triumph/tragedy: While in portfolio school, I offered to walk a classmate to her car after a night class. She refused and acted insulted, as if I’d implied that she couldn’t take care of herself. Twenty years later, we’re still together.
My brush with fame: In 1998, Matthew McConaughey tried to start a fight with me after his entourage overheard me saying he was a dick.
My 140-character soapbox: If you’re drunk at midnight in the Las Vegas airport, don’t start shit-talking drunk celebrities with big entourages.
What was the last thing you had to apologize for? I stepped into the Barkley Innovation Lab to see how their most recent invention was coming along, and I accidentally knocked one piece off the table, breaking it.
Who’s sorry now? I’m legally prevented from saying.
My recent triumph: A ’67 Bonneville 650cc. It’s a small die-cast one. I collect Evel Knievel toys.
