Rising Stars: Meet Jaice DuMars of Toluca Lake/Burbank

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaice DuMars.

Hi Jaice, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My Creative Journey: From Sound to Screen

At my core, I’ve been a creator for as long as I can remember. Music became my most trusted companion and refuge early on—even as a child, I was fascinated by sound itself. I’d craft what I now recognize as primitive electronic music, assembling found sounds from records, radio broadcasts, and environmental recordings using nothing but a dual cassette deck and a Radio Shack mixer. Without realizing it then, I was creating my first soundtracks, with life itself providing the visuals.

This passion for sound evolved into a decades-long love affair with the saxophone and composition, focusing on free improvisation and jazz. I was fortunate to collaborate and record with some truly exceptional musicians in that space—a period that remains creatively fulfilling to this day. Parallel to my musical pursuits, I’ve always been a builder. In 1994, I launched saxophone.org, the world’s first saxophone-dedicated website, and taught myself to become one of the world’s most sought-after hand engravers for saxophones and other instruments. My creative explorations have also encompassed painting, drawing, writing, and stone carving.

However, a demanding tech career gradually consumed more of my time, constraining my ability to compose, perform, and explore artistically. The pandemic changed everything. Like many people, I suddenly had time—and I used that opportunity to return to my craft, dig deeper into fundamentals I’d previously avoided, and genuinely improve my technique. It was a creative reawakening.

The absolute turning point came in June 2023, when actress Julia Ling invited me onto the set of a proof-of-concept trailer she was producing set near the Palomar Observatory. While I’d been a background actor in high school, this experience was profoundly different. I wasn’t just observing—I was actively involved, contributing in multiple capacities and absorbing everything I could from each crew member. In that moment, I felt an undeniable clarity about my future in film. I decided immediately to become an executive producer for the project and compose its music. This lead to me setting up a home base in Burbank, close to the studios and my new creative family.

Since that day, I’ve been completely dedicated to this path but still walking the tightrope between my creative and tech lives. Over these two years I’ve executive produced three feature films and three shorts, with two more features and one short in development. A fundamental aspect of my mission is improving opportunities for underrepresented communities. Representation remains woefully lacking in many productions, and I see addressing this as both a personal responsibility and professional imperative. As a non-binary person who presents as a cisgender heterosexual white male, I recognize the privilege inherent in that presentation and feel it’s essential to use it in service of others.

Recently, a company restructure ended my tech career, freeing me to pursue film and music full-time. My ultimate goal is simple: to help others lead better, happier, and more prosperous lives through storytelling that matters.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
That’s a very insightful question. The road has been anything but smooth, and a significant part of that struggle, something I’ve even written about, has been a persistent feeling of being an impostor.

Professionally, the biggest struggle was a period of about ten years where my creative life felt like it was slipping away. My day job in tech became all-consuming, and it actively sabotaged my ability to create. The saxophone that had been my obsession for decades sat idle in the case most of the time. That was incredibly difficult, but the feeling of being an ‘impostor’ amplified it. I was living this life in tech, which was valuable, but it felt inauthentic to my core identity as an artist. Every day I wasn’t creating, that impostor feeling grew stronger, telling me I wasn’t a ‘real’ musician or composer anymore. Even now, I don’t have a body of musical work that is easy to point someone to. And it showed up in tech which is focused on proving your worth through technical contributions, where I was a people-first manager focusing on sustainable work/life balance, mentorship, inclusion, and advancement for under-represented people.

That feeling also manifested artistically. For the longest time, I avoided certain musical paths, like straight-ahead jazz. Looking back, I think the fear of not being ‘good enough’—that classic impostor syndrome—held me back. I was so dedicated to the ‘free’ improvisation space where I felt comfortable that I avoided a challenge where I might be judged and found wanting.

Overcoming that required a real shift. The pandemic forced a pause and gave me the time to confront those insecurities, to dive into the fundamentals I had feared, and to reclaim my artistic self.

And honestly, that feeling is precisely what makes my new path in film so meaningful. The epiphany on that film set wasn’t just about finding a new career; it was about finding a place where all the different parts of me—the musician, the composer, the tech person, the organizer—could finally come together in an authentic way. It quieted that impostor voice. I also realized that helping others is my undeniable path in life.

So, no, the road wasn’t smooth. It was marked by creative drought and a deep internal struggle with self-doubt. But navigating that is what gave me the absolute clarity I have today about my purpose, which is to help others bring their authentic stories to life.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My artistic life is defined by an endless curiosity that leads me down many different paths. I thrive on obsessively deep-diving into various creative outlets, as I believe true understanding comes from that immersive process. Here is an overview of the pursuits that currently shape my creative world.

Music: Saxophone and Composition
In the music world, I am known as an expert in all things saxophone. This reputation comes from a commitment to understanding the instrument’s deepest nuances, which has allowed me to help select the personal setups for some of the world’s top jazz musicians. I’ve had the honor of guiding artists like Terrace Martin, Ted Nash, and Kenneth Whalum, as well as rising stars like Caleb Arredondo and Peter Anderson.

For me, the greatest moments come from collaboration and the shared process of discovery. Just today, I was in a recording studio in LA with Kenneth Whalum, and it was deeply fulfilling to contribute to the creative process without even playing a note. Helping others reach new artistic and personal heights is truly core to my life’s mission. In my own composition and performance, I draw on my studies of many different instruments and musical traditions from around the world. This gives me a unique perspective, and as a result, I tend to approach composing and performing quite differently than many of my peers.

Film: Composing and Producing
My passion for music and collaboration now finds its home in film.

As a Film Composer, I get to pursue my love for the marriage of visual and audio storytelling. A recent personal triumph was scoring the upcoming feature film Bampire, directed by Taylor Morden. One of the best parts of that project was the dynamic experience of live-scoring it in real-time with Taylor in the room. I am so happy with how it turned out, and it reaffirmed how rewarding the work is for me. Honestly, I would score anything for anyone because I find so much joy in the process.

As an Executive Producer, I am honored to work with an incredible roster of creative powerhouses and help bring stories to life that you don’t typically see on screen. Providing opportunities for new directors, writers, and actors has been one of the highest points of my life. I could easily spend an hour just talking about the incredible talents of people like Yeon Jin Lee, Jennifer Zhang, Milky Tran, Da Young Lisa Park, and the dozens of other creators I’ve been fortunate to support.

Visual Art: Hand Engraving
As a visual artist, I am looking forward to spending more time on my craft of hand-engraving musical instruments. My approach is unique: I specialize in creating extremely ornate, detailed, and complex designs completely freehand. Using simple gravers that look like little sharpened screwdrivers, and no power tools whatsoever, I improvise these intricate designs in real-time, directly onto the instrument, without drawing them out ahead of time. I hope to create more videos about this process soon, and my sister, the incredible film editor Tiffany Hauck, has already started filming a documentary about my work.

Writing and New Beginnings
Finally, I have literary goals I am eager to pursue. There is a novel I started that is currently half-written, and I would love to finish it. I am also becoming more and more interested in writing screenplays.

I feel like at 54 years old, I am starting my entire life over. It is a prospect that I welcome with boundless curiosity and joy, and I am so happy to be taking on all the challenges it brings right here in LA.

Any big plans?
Looking ahead, I’m channeling my energy into two major areas that I’m incredibly passionate about.

First, I’m in the process of launching a new technology company. It’s the culmination of my entire career—it fuses my 30+ years of experience in tech with my deep love for the art of filmmaking. We’re focused on solving a critical inefficiency that impacts virtually every production, and while we’re still in stealth mode and I can’t disclose the product specifics just yet, I can say that our goal is to provide a tool that production teams around the world desperately need.

On the creative front, I’m also beginning work on two new feature films, serving as both an executive producer and composer. They are powerful and unique stories, and I’m thrilled to be part of the teams bringing them to life, both from behind the scenes and through the musical score.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4568742/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/1939Balanced
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaicesd
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jaicesd and https://soundcloud.com/score-reveal-productions
• Other: https://flickr.com/saxgraver