Barry Jay, founder of the fitness franchise Barry's Bootcamp, is also a filmmaker of horror/thriller movies.

I first interviewed Barry back in 2019 when his horror film Ashes was released.

I’m so excited to catch up with Barry to discuss the making of his newest thriller, The Way Out, starring Sherri Shepherd, Mike Manning, Jonny Beauchamp & Ashleigh Murray.

In this interview Barry reveals:

• How his real life influenced the writing/directing of The Way Out

• What scenes were the hardest to film

• Which scenes were easier

• Casting the film

The Way Out follows Alex, an aspiring singer/songwriter, a drug addict who’s been damaged from childhood abuse. After the death of his father and inheriting the family home, he takes in a roommate, a fighter, who takes Alex under his wing, teaching him how to fight back and stand up to abusers. But soon this leads Alex down a dark path that threatens his sobriety and his life.

The Way Out will be released on Friday, February 10, 2023.

Connect with Barry: Instagram

*This interview discusses the sensitive topics of alcoholism, sobriety, abuse, loneliness, and suicide*

Barry Jay

More on Barry Jay:

Barry Jay moved from Monsey, New York to Los Angeles, CA in 1983 to be a songwriter. Aside from being a songwriter, when Barry was a kid, he loved making his own horror movies on his Super 8 camera. This passion followed him into his adult life and in 2015, Barry penned his first horror film, The Chosen, produced by Terror Films. Barry wrote the wraparound story for another Terror Films production in 2016, the horror anthology Patient Seven.

Barry made his directorial debut in 2019 with a script he wrote, Ashes, followed up by Killer Therapy.  The Way Out is another film for Barry under the Terror Films Banner.  

And prior to all this, in 1998, Barry founded the popular workout, Barry’s Bootcamp with over 90 studios worldwide. Currently he resides in Nevada with his husband and 4 rescue dogs.