In 2012, Trigger Street Productions teamed up with Jameson Irish Whiskey to create Jameson First Shot, which was the unique opportunity to give three up-and-coming filmmakers a 'first shot' in the movie business by producing their short film starring Kevin Spacey. The First Shot competition had thousands of applicants, and only one was selected from each of these three territories — the United States, South Africa, and Russia. The resulting films were a success, and screened online on Jameson's YouTube channel. The films were The Ventriloquist by Benjamin Leavitt, Envelope by Aleksey Nuzhny, and Spirit of A Denture by Alan Shelley.

As a result of the success of the first year, Jameson opened up submissions for a second year competition with Trigger Street with Willem Dafoe as the lead actor.