Get to know us! Every so often, Adult Swim.com spotlights a Williams Street employee in the effort to get you up close and personal with the people behind your favorite shows. This month, we check in with Jay Edwards, producer and editor for Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Where are you from, Jay?
I was born in Lakeland, Florida and grew up in Bradenton, Florida.
How'd you get into TV?
I went to Auburn University and majored in Public Relations, mostly because I wasn't much of a business guy or an engineer, which is what the primary choices were. In my junior year, I took an intro to video production class where we would shoot camcorder VHS stuff and cut it together with a cuts-only, tape-to-tape system. I went to work on a project at 9 a.m. on a Sunday morning and didn't leave the room except to pee for 12 hours and loved it. I figured that I should probably try to do that for a living. I changed my major to the ubiquitous "Mass Communications" and have been editing something, somewhere ever since, 15 years now. After I graduated in 1991, I moved to Atlanta where I started working for Magick Lantern as a tape op and assistant editor, then night manager. After 3 1/2 years, I went to work for Turner Studios as editor and manager of their AVID suites. After five years there, I went freelance to work for Aqua Teen Hunger Force as editor and producer.
What are you working on right now?
I spent the last 4 months working on the Squidbillies' pilot episode, but now I'm back on Aqua Teen. I spent a couple hours yesterday getting Carl to pee in a coffee can just right.
What lead to your association with Aqua Teen?
I worked with Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro on Space Ghost Coast to Coast when I was with Turner Studios. We worked on 30 or so episodes together. They approached me when they were putting together a team to make the Aqua Teen pilot.
Be honest. When Matt and Dave first approached you about the show, did you think they were nuts?
Sure, but it was an OK-I-think-you're-crazy-but-I-trust-you kinda feeling. I had just gotten married and my wife was applying to medical schools all over the country. I figured I'd go freelance and work with them for 6 months or a year, then we'd be moving. Shana got in to Emory Medical School and 4 years later, I'm still here, happy as a clam or some other mollusk.
What do you think of the way the show has been received?
People watch our show?
Do you have a favorite Aqua Teen episode?
Yes.
You're partially known around here for your Low Country Boil. Do you care to drop the recipe?
The equipment is more important then the recipe. Get the high-end outdoor cooker from your local hardware store and a big-ass 30-gallon pot with a wire/metal basket.
Boil water, about 1/3 of a pot
Add handful of cloves and black peppercorns
Add 2 packages SwampFire Seafood Boil (from Prairieville, LA-it has a raccoon and alligator on the bag)
Add 1 red potato per person
Boil for 20 minutes
Add 1 ear of corn per person
Add 1 small onion per person
Add 1 garlic clove per person
Add 1/2 lemon per person
Boil 15 minutes
Add 1/2 lb. shrimp or crawfish per person
The seafood will just sit on top of all the stuff in the pot as this point. Put the lid on and steam the seafood for 3-5 minutes. Use the wire/metal basket to lift all the food out of the boiling water. Dump it out on a table covered in a southern city newspaper (The Times-Picayune is always nice). Serve French bread and Zaps potato chips as sides. Drink Abita beer. I like Turbo dog, but the Purple Haze is good, too. Eat.
America needs to know: Is it true you rock some barbecue?
I can eat. And I usually do. Slopes BBQ is the place for me.
What's a typical day like for Jay Edwards?
I never used to eat breakfast. Now I do. Everyday. Lunch? About 12:30 or 1:00. I go home about 7:00 and eat again. The rest of the time, I'm pretty much working.
We understand you make independent films in your downtime. Any current projects?
Why, yes. .
Okay, tell us about your website.
I have two. The one above and . The Monster Trilogy is a series of short films I shot with my friends in 1998-2000.
If actual Mooninites were to attack, do you have a plan for survival?
Just wait for 'em to do something stupid, then walk away. Slowly.
Where, in your opinion, should all Freak-a-zoids report?
To the dance floor, duh.
You're one of the few people to have actually appeared in an Aqua Teen episode. What is that like? Any parental reaction?
I didn't edit that show, so all I had to do was read my lines for five minutes and get my picture taken for the animators. My parents never stay up late enough to watch the show, so the night I made my animated appearance, they just put a VHS tape in the machine and recorded 6 hours of Cartoon Network. When Aqua Teen came on, they just fast-forwarded to my scene--they didn't even watch the show--which, of course, made no sense. They called to say that I was really good, but they don't really get the show. My mom keeps asking for a Meatwad shirt, though.
What are your favorite non-Adult Swim TV shows of all time?
The Dick Van Dyke Show. Night Flight (USA Network).
If you could live in any time period other than this one, which would it be?
Fall, 1966. MODS vs Rockers.
If someone is interested in doing what you do, what advice do you give them?
Pick something you like and do it, regardless of whether it'll make you a bunch of money. Set small goals, achieve them, then set new ones. Don't be afraid to be really, really bad at something you enjoy and maybe someday you'll not be as bad at it.
Is working in TV as hard as everybody says it is?
It is hard. Any job that you do 50 or more hours a week is real work, but it helps to love your job like I do. And I got a bunch of free beer last night when the bartender found out I work on Aqua Teen.
Five Favorite CDs:
I'm a garage rock addict, so…
The Sonics - Psycho-Sonic
Les Sans Culottes - Faux Realism
The Little Killers - The Little Killers
The Detroit Cobras - Mink, Rat or Rabbit and Life, Love and Leaving
Back From The Grave series (Crypt Records)
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