Dynamic Director. Granola Guru. We wake up with Wild Combination’s Jacob Krupnick at his Greenpoint apartment.

“I have a weirdly high tolerance for repetitive eating.”

“This is the first great task of my day,” Jacob Krupnick jokes. We’re standing in his Greenpoint loft as he uses a hand grinder to grind coffee beans for his morning brew. The churning and crunching sounds he’s producing match the buzz of the construction going on outside his large windows. He half-yells over the noise: “It’s not the most restful start to the morning.”

Krupnick, a director and photographer, grew up here in New York. “Having been a kid here, and now living here as an adult, I have all these overlapping narratives in all these different locations,” he tells us. “From running around in a park somewhere when I was 12, to going on a date at 17, to trying to find a spot to smoke a joint at age 20… And I filmed a dance movie set all over the city recently, so now the locations we shot for that have special meaning, too.” The film Jacob is referring to is Girl Walk // All Day, a Kickstarter-funded, feature-length dance movie set to mashup musician Gregg Gillis (a.k.a. Girl Talk)’s 2010 album, All Day, that Krupnick directed. His wife, Youngna Park, produced the film.

Jacob’s mornings usually start one of three ways: “I’m either at a photo job that starts really early, on an early bike ride to Prospect or Central Park, or just headed towards my studio,” he explains as Youngna breezes into the kitchen. She’s just watered her tomatoes on the roof. The pair chats about the day’s schedule (“May I inquire as to your plans this evening?” Jacob asks), as their cat, Paloma, stretches out comfortably on the dining room table. Jacob prepares yogurt and granola – “We have a very strong granola regimen here. We make a new one every 10 days, switching up the spices and so forth.” He laughs. “I have a weirdly high tolerance for repetitive eating.” He adds a dollop of almond butter to his creation and swallows a spoonful.

When it comes to grooming, Jacob is admittedly low-fuss. “If I was left to my own devices, I’d just grow my beard out as long as I could take it, and then shave it all off, but Youngna likes me with scruff… As for my face – I’m low on product, high on sunscreen.” He gestures to his pale skin. “I’ve finally listened to doctor’s orders not to fuck around with SPF.” After a few emails sent from the dining room table (“I sit here because the light is pleasant. It’s the best place in the apartment to work from”) Jacob gets dressed (“I have a penchant for funky hats”) and packs his tote bag.

As we walk towards Jacob’s office (“my studio – Wild Combination – is in this awesomely dilapidated building that is really trying to get its shit together”) he realizes he has misplaced his wallet. (“Forgive me, unfortunately this is often part of the routine, too.”) 

“Having been a kid here, and now living here as an adult, I have all these overlapping narratives in all these different locations.”

We make a pit stop at the popular local bakery, Ovenly, for an iced coffee and some treats. Jacob explains the wallet situation to the friendly barista and she agrees to let him pay next time. Jacob walks, smiling, in the sunshine with the complimentary coffee in his hand. “Hey, one thing about not having a wallet… it’s a good test for how much people like you.”