In Conversation: Mike Jackson talks about Sincerity, Sci-Fi, and Second Chances with Time Helmet

There’s something beautifully defiant about a filmmaker who spends decades honing his craft behind the scenes, only to step forward with a debut feature that feels both deeply personal and joyfully unashamed of its influences.

In ‘Time Helmet’, Mike Jackson does exactly that. What begins as a zany time-travel comedy about patent trolling and battling your future self gradually reveals itself as something more intimate in a sense. It is a meditation on regret, ambition, and the fragile distance between who we were and who we become.

In this conversation, Jackson reflects on his long journey through storyboarding, editing, and VFX, the sincerity of 70s and 80s sci-fi that shaped him, and the hard-earned resilience that turned a pandemic-interrupted production into a heartfelt cinematic triumph.

1. Mike Jackson, can you share with us a bit about your filmmaking journey so far?

Mike: Time Helmet is my first feature, but I’ve actually been in the industry for a long time. I started out as a storyboard artist on MTVs “Aeon Flux”, and a concept artist on the animated series “Reboot”, back in the 90s. After going to film school, I started making shorts and music videos, but kind of slid sideways into editing (as well as VFX), and that became my main gig. I’ve cut 7 features, working as an editor on both scripted shows and documentaries, and was even nominated for an Emmy a few years back. But I always kept writing, working towards the chance to direct my first feature – Which turned out to be Time Helmet.

2. Your film, ‘Time Helmet’ feels like both a parody and a sincere homage. What specific 70s and 80s sci-fi films shaped the creative process from writing to execution of it

Mike: I love the sci-fi films of the 70s and 80s, and I couldn’t help but be inspired by them. It’s what I grew up with! They just have a fun tone, especially the films that leaned into the humor of their situations. But I was particularly inspired by films like Buckaroo Banzai, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and of course Back to the Future. Plus almost everything by Terry Gilliam, and weirdly enough, John Carpenter. None of these films were embarrassed by what they were. They were sincere, and fun, in a way that’s missing from a lot of modern genre films.

3. The film is well-layered with several themes and subtexts, Including Patent trolling, ego, ownership, and capitalism. How important was it for you to capture all of these in this film?

Mike: As a writer, I always start with story first, then figure out themes that will resonate and enhance that story. It’s a pretty organic process of discovery. But the themes that became most important to me in Time Helmet all focused around success, failure, and regret. The choices we make in our lives and where they lead us, for better or ill. What would each of us do, if given a chance to go back and change one of those choices?

4. Through it all, you presented this story with some emotionally grounded characters. What was the process of writing these characters and then finding the right actors to play them?

Mike: On the writing side – Every character in a good script needs to be emotionally grounded, and push the protagonist in different directions, challenging them as the story unfolds. But since Time Helmet is also a comedy, I wanted them all to be weird or quirky in some way. As for casting, (lead actor) Peter New and I go way back, and I wrote the script with him in mind. Between us, we know a lot of great comic actors, who were happy to come out and play.

Mike Jackson

5. Peter New’s performance reportedly (should this be ‘repeatedly’?) balances comedy with pathos. How did you ensure Donald Voltmann never became just a caricature?

Mike: Part of that was in the writing – Always making sure the character’s emotional journey (and deep pain), was clear. But most of the heavy lifting was just Peter doing what he does best. He’s spectacular at comedy, but he also always grounds it. He has a deep sensitivity and heart, and puts it all out there for the camera, even in the silliest of roles.

6. Also, with the child actors playing major roles, how did their performances influence the emotional tone of the film?

Mike: I have a tendency to get a bit dark in my writing. I think in hindsight, they pushed me to keep a certain lightness in the film. And the finished product is much more family-friendly than I ever expected, when I first sat down to write it.

7. Comedy and sci-fi both rely heavily on timing. As an Emmy-nominated editor, how did your editing instincts shape the rhythm of the humor?

Mike: Oddly enough, I actually developed comic timing long before I became an editor. Peter New and I were both in a sketch comedy troupe in our 20s, and really honed those skills. So I think it was more that my sense of timing informed my work as an editor, rather than the other way around. That said, Peter and I put a lot of time into refining the cut, making sure the rhythms were solid, and the timing was as tight as it could be.

8. The title ‘Time Helmet’ is intentionally straightforward. What did embracing that simplicity unlock for you creatively?

Mike: The title actually came from Peter! I originally had a more ‘clever’ title, but Peter thought it needed to be much simpler and more straight forward: Just say what it is on the tin. I sometimes overthink things, going down obscure rabbit holes, and Peter pushes me to keep it simple. Getting that balance was super important in Time Helmet, since time travel stories have a way of getting really complicated, really fast.

9. The COVID shutdown hit mid-shoot. How did that six-month pause change the film creatively or emotionally?

Mike: Watching what was happening in the world, all the uncertainty, and not knowing how long it would be before we could resume shooting, was obviously incredibly stressful. I was really afraid our child actors would visibly age. But it did give me a lot of time to refine our plans for the back half of the shoot. I was able to rough cut half of the movie, making it much easier to hone in on exactly what material we still needed to make it all sing.

Even better, it allowed us to recalibrate how we were shooting. The earlier shoot sometimes got pretty rough, with lots of stress and difficult challenges for the team. But when we came back, we approached everything differently. We were more organized, scheduled shorter shoot days, and had a really fun and rewarding atmosphere.

Mike Jackson

10. Looking back, did the constraints or challenges you faced in making this film ultimately make it stronger?

Mike: Absolutely. Every time you solve a problem, you learn something. And you frequently discover things that never would’ve come up otherwise. It’s hard for me to name specific examples, but Time Helmet definitely wouldn’t be the film it is, if not for the struggles we faced along the way.

11. The film deals with confronting your future self. On a personal level, what does that metaphor mean to you?

Mike: I think for most of us, if our young and old selves could talk, they’d probably have pretty heated disagreements about whether certain things we did in our lives were the right call. Did I choose the right career? Move to the right city? What would’ve happened if I’d followed a different path? That speaks to me deeply… and I don’t have the answers.

12. What other messages would you like the audience to take away from this film?

Mike: Honestly, I just want people to have a good time. Time Helmet is meant to be fun! Come join us, laugh a lot, and go on a zany adventure!

13. Also, congratulations on winning Best Screenplay and receiving the ‘Chrononaut’ Award at the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival. What would you say that means for you and the film?

Mike: It was a real honor, and it means a lot. After all the years of work that went into our movie, from so many people, it’s incredibly rewarding to see Time Helmet find its audience!

14. Lastly, what valuable advice can you offer aspiring filmmakers seeking to create a film like ‘Time Helmet’?

Mike: I’ll start with the advice a director friend gave me – Write something cheap enough that you could shoot it with your friends if you had to. Then I’d add – Do something in a genre you’re passionate about, something you love. Tell a story that excites you. Making films is hard, and you need that energy. Your passion will shine through, inspiring people to come help you make it, and then inspire audiences when they see your finished movie!

At its core, ‘Time Helmet’ is less about bending time and more about confronting it, wrestling with the choices that shape our lives and finding humor in the chaos of becoming.

Mike Jackson’s journey mirrors the very themes he explores: persistence through uncertainty, creative passion in the face of constraint, and the courage to finally step into the role he had been building toward for years. In an era where irony often overshadows sincerity, Time Helmet dares to be both playful and earnest. And perhaps that’s its greatest strength. It reminds us that even when we can’t rewrite our past, we can still laugh, learn, and move forward with heart.