The old adage, “if you want something done, give it to the busiest person in the room,” could not be more apt when describing John Condne. A member of the faculty at Oak Park and River Forest High School, where he has taught film and media for two decades, Condne also juggles the demands of operating his own thriving film production company, Take Care Productions. In essence, he’s grinding out two full-time jobs, and then some.
“I know so many people my age who hate their jobs. They don’t want to get up and go in the morning. I’ve been teaching for 23 years and I’m running my own film company. And I love every minute of it,” Condne said.
Condne’s enthusiasm for his job doesn’t jibe with the storyline of his newest film, Kombucha, which was released in December. The horror-comedy, described in marketing materials as a cross between a David Cronenberg film and The Office, follows a struggling musician trapped in a tedious office job at a start-up called Symbio.
He is gruesomely transformed, at a cellular level, after drinking the free kombucha in the company break room. The mind-altering drink, intended to make employees more productive, literally makes them work themselves to death.
The film started as a seven-minute short written by Jake Myers, Condne’s former student teacher at OPRF, and Geoff Bakker. The short was a huge hit at film festivals across the country so Myers turned to Condne and Take Care to expand it to a long-form feature. It’s been shown to sold-out audiences at influential film festivals in Los Angeles and Provo, Utah as well as in London, Brussels, Italy and France.
As producer, Condne was responsible for all aspects of the production, including the hiring of the cast, most of whom were from Chicago’s Second City, paying the bills and overseeing the final product.
“I steer the ship behind-the-scenes, make sure everyone is eating and happy,” he said.
A cadre of Condne’s current and former students worked on the film, including Kristopher Rey-Talley, who served as executive producer and is co-owner of Take Care Productions, which they launched three years ago. The two first worked together on Blood. Love, Kryptonite in 2007. Rey-Talley graduated from New York University before returning to Chicago. The two make a good team. Condne oversees the business side of their company and Rey-Talley handles the creative side.
Condne often brings current students to his film shoots. He estimates that over the years he has paid more than $4 million in salaries to 50 or so former OPRF students, many of whom have gone on to careers in the commercial and film industries. The students get a unique introduction to the real world of filmmaking.
“When I bring students to the set, they don’t just hang around. The crew members talk to them about their jobs and explain what they do. Everyone on my crew is very chill—it’s important to be able to put out fires without causing panic. We’re like a family.
We take care of our people—it’s part of our brand,” Condne said.
Although he was always interested in filmmaking, Condne was inspired to pursue a career in the industry through a high school class much like the one he now teaches.
After getting a bachelor’s degree in communications at Oakland University in Michigan, he moved to Chicago and earned a master’s degree at Columbia College. He dabbled in filmmaking but wasn’t making much money so he did a number of odd jobs before landing a position as an elementary school substitute teacher. He enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to get another master’s degree in teaching at Concordia University Chicago. He taught one year at Elmwood Park High School before an opening as a film and TV teacher became available at OPRF.
In 2018, Condne served as series producer for Steve James’ Academy Award-nominated documentary America to Me. The 10-part series depicted the daily lives of 12 OPRF students and explored the school’s efforts to deal with racial, class and equity issues. The experience was indelible.
“I owe my career to OPRF,” he said. “I’ve felt really at home here. It’s given me the opportunity to meet people like Kris — and if I hadn’t met Kris, I wouldn’t have started my production company, and Steve — and if I hadn’t met Steve I wouldn’t have had the experience of working on America to Me. I’m still learning from people who are better creatives than me.”
While Condne has been very successful creating commercials for companies including Nike, Woodford Reserve and Weber Grills, he maintains that he really wants to focus on long-form features, particularly in the horror genre.
“Horror fans are very enthusiastic. People like to be scared and on the edge of their seats. I really enjoyed watching audiences watching the film to see their reactions to certain scenes. The genre has relatively simple concepts and doesn’t require A-list actors. Oftentimes all or most of the action takes place in one house — think The Exorcist, The Shining, Halloween,” he said.
Condne and Myers are already planning a sequel to Kombucha and expect to start filming this summer when they’re both on break from teaching. He advises that the film will take place during a corporate retreat. And he promises it will be scarier, more disgusting and funnier than its predecessor. You’ve been forewarned.
In the meantime, you can watch Kombucha on DVD and Blu-ray through Google Play, Apple TV, Amazon Prime and YouTube.
