How did this Modesto filmmaker get the ‘Shape of Water”’star in his movie? He asked

They say in life timing is everything. So you could say a film it took Hughson High graduate and Modesto Junior College alum John Soares nearly a decade to make with the help of a then relatively unknown actor friend has perfect timing.

Because that friend happens to be Doug Jones, star of this year’s most Oscar-nominated film “The Shape of Water.” On March 4 Jones will see how that film, which garnered 13 nominations including best picture, fares at the Academy Awards. But a week before that on Feb. 24 he will be in Modesto to attend the free, public screening of Soares’ independent film “The Danger Element,” in which he stars as its mad scientist villain.

The actor is known for his extensive character and creature work in films like “Hellboy,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer” and on television on the new “Star Trek: Discovery.” While he is often unrecognizable in roles where he wears full-body makeup and costumes — as he is is playing the amphibious lead in “The Shape of Water” — in Soares’ film he is au naturale.

The collaboration began after they met at the San Diego Comic-Con about a dozen years ago. Soares was in a line to meet Jones and his frequent professional partner, director Guillermo del Toro — who cast the versatile actor in the majority of his films including his most recent, “The Shape of Water.”

“Doug expressed this unbelievable interest in what I was doing. The guy is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. We were in a long line and he stopped the line and asked me all these genuine questions. We kept in touch and about a year later he called me on the phone and talked about doing something together,” Soares said. “He likes to invest himself in people he believes in.”

Jones quickly became a fan of Soares’ quirky webseries “Sockbaby,” and even starred in its fourth installment. Then Soares’ feature project came up.

“After having a rollicking blast on that little web series shoot, doing ‘The Danger Element’ when (Soares) asked later, was a no-brainer,” Jones said in a recent email interview with The Bee.

The action-adventure project, Soares’ first full-length feature film, was shot mostly in and around Modesto. Soares serves as its writer, director, producer, editor and lead character, Jitni. He began filming in 2007 and worked on it when he could over the years before completing the project in 2016. Since then the distribution rights have been sold overseas. But Saturday night’s screening at MJC will be its world premiere.

But it will not be the first time Jones — whose other credits include “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Strain” and “Falling Skies” — has been to Modesto.

He came up to film most of his parts in “The Danger Element” in Central Valley city. And in the summer of 2016 he was one of the headliners at the first-ever Modesto Con pop-culture convention. He fondly remembers the city, and its people.

“Having traveled the world for work, what leaves an impression on me from place to place is the people. And all the people of Modesto that I’ve met have been so kind, creative, and fun-loving. I should also add hospitable, as I stayed at the home of Justin Spurlock (who starred in “The Danger Element” and “Sockbaby”), and we filmed in other various private homes and churches, who all greeted us with open arms,” Jones said. “I also appeared at Modesto Con in 2016, and found the fantasy hero genre fan base there to be so gracious and easy to connect with. Many creative types also appeared there — everything from local production companies, cosplayers, and even a local mermaid group. I loved all of it.”

In the film Jones plays mad scientist Doctor Elymas, who faces off with Soares’ Jitni, an agent in a secret order of crime fighters, over a powerful artifact known as “The Danger Element.” Those who look closely will recognize local locations including downtown Modesto. The film also has scenes shot in San Francisco and Sacramento.

Soares, who was born in Turlock and graduated from Hughson High in 1999, came up with parts of the idea for the project while a student at MJC in the early 2000s. He shot the very first scenes in 2007, when he was living in Modesto at the time, and most of the cast and crew are from the region. Shoots continued based on the schedules of the other actors — including Jones whose films frequently took him out of the country and could go a year between scenes. Soares said the bulk of the movie was shot in 2011.

While working on the film in 2014, Soares got a job offer from Dreamworks Animation to work in Nashville, Tenn. Then about a year ago he moved back to California, this time in the Los Angeles area, to work for Titmouse Animation which does a lot of projects with Adult Swim.

Since they first met in 2006, Soares has watched as Jones’ star has continued to climb.

“His career started taking off right when we decided to work together. But it’s neat his profile has gone up so much and it helps the film,” Soares said. “It began as just two guys wanting to work together on something.”

For his part, Jones said he enjoys the creativity that comes from small, independent projects like Soares. “The Shape of Water” had a relatively thrifty $19.5 million budget by Hollywood standards, whereas “The Danger Element” was created on a shoestring $30,000.

“I love the total freedom filmmakers have when they don’t have a big studio making decisions above them because so much money is at stake. Big studios come with the luxury of big money, but they also have big control. But when a bunch of friends get together with their hilarious ideas, their talents, their scraped together resources, and a camera, that is a pure form of no-pressure creativity that is fun for everyone,” Jones said.

Jones, along with Soares, Spurlock and cast and crew members Cassie Meder, Josh Krebs, Kevan Hewett and Ben Page will all be at the MJC screening and take part in a panel discussion afterward. Saores said the premiere will also be a chance to thank the city, which serves as the backbone of the film.

“Most of what made the movie possible was Modesto. That whole area yielded every resource I needed and it would have been impossible anywhere else. So I always wanted to come back and make an event of it,” Soares said.

This story was originally published February 20, 2018 at 3:41 PM with the headline "How did this Modesto filmmaker get the ‘Shape of Water”’star in his movie? He asked."