Washington Commanders defensive tackle Jalyn Holmes is stepping into Hollywood production

Like many things in a young man’s life, Jalyn Holmes’ love for filmmaking started with a girl.

When the Washington Commanders‘ defensive tackle was a sophomore at Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk, Virginia, he signed up for a photography class just to impress his girlfriend.

“So that was just an excuse for me to continue to be around her,” Holmes said. “She was my first real girlfriend, so it went from there.”

But from that one class, Holmes came to appreciate the art of taking photos. While playing at Ohio State from 2014-17, he owned a camera from Canon’s Rebel series. He eventually upgraded to a Sony Alpha 7C after he was drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings.

Five years later, while playing for the New York Jets, Holmes became aware of the NFL Career Tours, which offers professional development experience for NFL players in the entertainment industry. Through that program, Holmes teamed up with Hidden Empire Film Group, a Black-owned production company that produced the “Meet the Blacks” films starring comedian Mike Epps.

“I was able to really see the business side of everything, and also the creation process, and the different lanes that came with making the film — from the writing, from acting, directing, and producing and … the cinematographer or the director of photography,” Holmes said. “That’s when I learned all these different avenues.”

Holmes, 30, who also spent time with the New Orleans Saints, New York Giants and Chicago Bears in his eight-year career, was now fully invested in getting into Hollywood. While playing for the Jets in 2023, he met the directing duo of Julien and Justen Turner.

The Turner brothers were working on what would become “Freelance,” a comedy about a young Black filmmaker who moves into a content creation house with a group of friends hoping to break into the entertainment industry. Holmes signed on as an associate producer, and the film will be screened at the Sundance Film Festival this week in Utah.

Holmes discussed his entry into filmmaking, his experience on “Freelance,” and his future in Hollywood with Andscape.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about “Freelance.“

“Freelance” is about a young filmmaker. He’s documenting his journey towards his first movie, and he’s moving in with a friend group of ambitious creatives. They’re all trying to support one another’s dream in this oversaturated market of content creation in Hollywood. It basically shows how they’re doing these unorthodox jobs just to raise money so they can make it to Hollywood. And they’re all roommates.

You said you watched a lot of movies and TV shows growing up. What genre did you like the most?

I loved those comedies, like the “Friday” series. “Next Friday” is my favorite. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of this adult animation movie called “Bebe’s Kids”. All the “Rush Hours,” all the “Bad Boys.” Those are the ones that I used to really love growing up.

Did you have a favorite director?

Not growing up, no. I would say, kind of, now I do, and it’s probably the typical one, especially for a Black guy in America right now. I say Spike Lee, because you watch those films. I remember “Crooklyn” as a kid. That was something I used to watch with my family around the holiday times. And now, as I get older, seeing his complete body of work and understanding it is a whole new level of inspiration.

To play football, you train, you lift, you study playbooks. How do you prepare to work in the entertainment industry?

It’s kind of like the same thing with football. It’s repetition, and whether that’s watching as many movies as I can watch to learn, reading scripts, that’s like equating to your playbook. It’s different techniques, but that’s how I approach anything else in my life: Prepare as best I can, ask as many questions as I can, and try different things.

What are your responsibilities as an associate producer?

I feel like every project varies, especially on the level of the film. So when I hopped in on it, it was already written, and most of the stuff was planned, and it’s ready to go. But just being on set, making sure everybody has what they need. I got to help hold something during the scene or do something to make everything look good on camera. I was doing that. I financially invested in the film, so paying for materials and locations, permits, or wherever the directors and other producers needed the money to go, that’s where it went. And then, right now, helping produce, promote, and get the word out so we can sell it.

Can you say how much you invested in it?

I don’t want to get that out.

So what do you see as next for you after this film? What are your ultimate goals in this filmmaking entertainment space?

What’s next for me is to write and direct my own film. That’s the goal. That’s why I got into “Freelance,” so I could have the opportunity to see what it takes and what goes into it. I want to take what I saw and learned from “Freelance” and produce my own film.

If you were to write and direct a movie, what would you want it to be about?

I would love for my first film to be about my experience in the NFL and the things that I went through. And there are a lot of things that we can create content on and create a story just about my eight years of experience in the league.

If there were a movie or a show loosely based on your life in the NFL, what would the craziest scene in that movie be?

Have you ever seen the show “The Game” that used to air on BET? “The Game” wasn’t too far off about what was going on. It definitely was dramatized a lot. But just as far as relationships and the relationships with the team wives, or just things going on between coaches and players and behind the scenes, “The Game,” it wasn’t too far off.

What’s been the most surprising thing you’ve learned about working in the entertainment space?

The surprising thing for me, because I’m so new, is how surprisingly similar it is to the NFL. How competitive it is, how much of a team sport film is as well. Sometimes, when you talk about a director, you only see one actor, and there are so many different people behind the scenes who have to do their jobs at an elite level just for the film to get off the ground. And it’s people that you would probably never know. And that is very similar to the NFL because you see a lot of the star players, guys like Ja’Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson, the guys who rightfully earned that right to be the face of the franchises. But there are so many other players that maybe it’s a guy on the practice squad who gets Ja’Marr Chase prepared that week to go out there and perform the way he does. 

I see Kevin “KevOnStage” Fredericks and Lou Young III are in it. What was it like working alongside those two?

Starting with Lou Young, man, he’s hilarious. He can’t even help it. I can only imagine how he was in the locker room, because he’s a former NFL player himself and a great guy. And he’s really good at acting. He’s really good at his craft, and he’s getting better by the day. 

And then, as far as KevOnStage, I never knew about him. I knew about him just through Instagram and content creation, but seeing how entrepreneurial he is and how ambitious he really is, he’s a man of many talents.

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