Circa 2005 actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, with the help of his brother, created the website hitrecord.org, where he posted videos, songs and stories he’d worked on in his free time.
He then opened it up to netizens and an online community started to form.
Today HitRecord has become a prominent creative collaboration platform and a production company.
What makes HitRecord special is, it allows anyone from anywhere around the world to create and develop art together on their website. All you need is the Internet.
In the past, Gordon-Levitt has gotten Malaysians involved in a couple of projects too!
For example, in October last year, the American artiste shared a short film titled This Is Malaysia showcasing our nation’s rich diversity, which got over 4K shares on Facebook.
It features photos and video clips of places and people in Malaysia, accompanied by voice-overs. And this was the result of thousands of submissions from Malaysians, which was then created collaboratively on HitRecord.
There’s no doubt Gordon-Levitt is very proud of this platform and its online artistic community.
During StarLifestyle’s video interview with the 40-year-old, we asked him why global collaboration is an interesting venture for him.
Smiling broadly, he started off the answer with, “I love that you’re asking that. Thank you for mentioning HitRecord”.
He then continued: “One of my favourite parts about our community is that it’s (made up) of people from all over the world.
“And what better way to get to know people from different perspectives and different cultures than to make art together with them. And that’s what we do on HitRecord.”
Naturally, his ability for collaborating with lots of people also influences the work he does in the traditional entertainment programmes.
This includes his latest project Mr. Corman, which is available on Apple TV+, and the reason he’s doing the video interview with StarLifestyle and a group of Asian journalists.
The 10-episode TV series starring Gordon-Levitt, is also created, written, directed and produced by him.
He elaborated to StarLifestyle: “Filmmaking is very collaborative. It’s a different kind of collaboration than what we do on HitRecord.
“Even though I did write, direct and so many things with Mr. Corman, I was also working with other writers and another director.
“And we all collaborated together with so many other people – the cinematographer, production designer, so many great actors.
“There’s no such thing as making a film by yourself. Well, I guess maybe you could do it nowadays, but not in the way we did it on Mr. Corman.
“And, HitRecord is a constant reminder for me of the beauty that can come when you open up your creative process and you let other people contribute.
“I know that Mr. Corman is so much better than if I were trying to do it by myself because of my collaborators’ contributions.”
The self-confessed film nerd knows a lot about show business as he has been on movie sets since he was six years old.
After appearing in a number of TV movies and one Robert Redford film – A River Runs Through It (1992) – he became a series regular on the Emmy-winning sitcom 3rd Rock From The Sun, which ran from 1996 to 2001.
In the year 2000, during the series’ final season, the Los Angeles native decided to step away from the show and acting, to pursue education at Columbia University.
But the pull towards acting proved to be too strong – Gordon-Levitt never completed his studies, dropping out in his fourth year.
Alternating between indie films and blockbusters, Gordon-Levitt has appeared in films such as Brick, Looper, The Lookout, 500 Days Of Summer (which earned him a Golden Globe nomination), G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra, Inception, 50/50, The Dark Knight Rises, The Walk, Project Power and The Trial Of The Chicago 7.
Then there is his duty with HitRecord.
Besides overseeing the art done collectively, he also hosted 30-minute variety programme, Hit Record On TV With Joseph Gordon-Levitt which won an Emmy Award for Creative Achievement in Interactive Media – Social TV Experience.
He’s also behind the company’s docu-series, Create Together, that won the Outstanding Innovation In Interactive Programming Emmy Award. Its second season was also recently nominated for an Emmy.
At some point in his acting career too, this leading man got behind the camera to direct the film Don Jon (2013) based on a script he wrote, that also stars him.
Prior to Don Jon, he’s helmed two short films for HitRecord. Did we mention he sings, composes tracks and dances too?
The multi-hyphenate star confessed that he’s always been interested in every part of filmmaking.
“Ever since I was a kid growing up on sets, I’d be looking at what are they doing over there with the camera. How does that work? Or how does it work with the costumes, the props? Or the editing? Or how do you add music later?
“I’ve always just been fascinated with all these different tools that filmmakers have to tell their story. Getting to direct allows me to play with all those different tools. So that’s, that’s really a joy for me.”
He added: “For me, directing and acting, a lot of it comes from some of the same muscles and sensitivities (which is) does something feel real?
“When you’re acting, that’s what you’re trying to do, to just feel real. And when you’re directing, that’s what you’re looking – those same moments. Does this feel real?”
On Mr. Corman – which marks his return to television as a series regular – Gordon-Levitt is searching for the same truth as well.
The half-hour comedy-drama centres on schoolteacher Josh Corman (Gordon-Levitt).
Although Josh loves being a teacher, he often finds himself thinking about the career he gave up – that of a musician.
This unfulfilled ambition then translates into unhappiness, anxiety, loneliness and self-doubt.
Adding on to his troubles are his imperfect relationships with mum (Debra Winger) and an absent father (Hugo Weaving).
Watching the show, regardless of age, gender and profession, viewers will recognise a bit of themselves in Josh and the situations he sometimes finds himself in.
The familiarity is because it's inspired by an alternate version of Gordon-Levitt – a life he might be leading if certain things had worked out differently.
According to Gordon-Levitt, he’s become self-reflective since becoming a husband and a father. (Gordon-Levitt is married to Tasha McCauley, the founder and CEO of technology company Fellow Robots. They have two sons.)
“I feel so grateful for so many things, my kids and a partner who I love so much, two wonderful parents, getting to do work that I like to do. I feel so lucky.
“But I am very aware that it didn’t have to go this way,” he stated in the production notes.
He’s talking about that never-ending niggling thought we all get at our lowest moments. That feeling of “if only I had made that decision” or “if only I hadn’t messed that up, I could be more successful or happier”, described Gordon-Levitt.
He mentioned during this video call: “I think I’m mostly a very positive person. But now and then sometimes my brain does go to negative places.
“I try to stop it, you know, I try to say, ‘Hey, brain don’t do that.’ But, um, it doesn’t always work.
“And I think that’s pretty human. I think a lot of us experience the same thing. And I think it’s kind of universal. So that’s part of what’s gratifying about telling story about this character.”
He divulged that writing this character “who is sort of like me and sort of not, was an exercise in expelling some demons and finding gratitude”.
Gordon-Levitt went on to share the episode he felt most emotional while filming: “In the ninth episode of Mr. Corman, we finally meet my character’s dad. And he’s a problematic father and very different than my own dad.
“My dad has been such a healthy and reliable positive force in my life. And I feel so lucky to have my parents...
“I myself am a father now. So, the episode about Josh’s dad was a really emotional one for me, thinking about fathers and sons as now I’m a father with two sons.”
But far from tackling just heartfelt topics, Mr. Corman offers a lot of humorous moments too.
Try watching the episode in which Josh frets about the pandemic with a straight face.
Oh yes, Gordon-Levitt wrote the pandemic into the series and, to be honest, it’s hilarious.
He disclosed that it was important to him that viewers find meaning, connection, humour and catharsis while watching Mr. Corman.
Explaining further, Gordon-Levitt spoke on what he wanted to convey with the character and the show.
“This is a story about a character who has a lot to be grateful for. And he does his best to be happy.
“While he’s happy much of the time, he’s not always happy and he sometimes feels insecure.
“He sometimes wonders if he’s doing the right things in his life.
“And, you know, those moments can be stressful, they can also be funny. I have found in my life that in some of the hardest moments I end up laughing.
“And that’s one of the takeaways for me with this show – you can find a sense of humour, even in the middle of hard or uncomfortable moments and thoughts.”
In the show’s production notes, Mr. Corman’s co-writer Bruce Eric Kaplan echoed Gordon-Levitt’s words.
He said: “For me, laughter is everything. It’s so important to embrace the truth and the darkness of life and still find the humour in it.
“I would hope that people watch this show and feel connected, and see their lives in this one person’s life, even if they have nothing in common with Josh Corman.
“He’s a person in this world trying to do his best, as all of us are.”
The first two episodes of Mr. Corman are available on Apple TV+. One new episode premieres every Friday.
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