We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacob Stewart. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacob below.
Jacob, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
The first few years of my career have felt like a grind. I fought to establish myself and get my career off the ground enough to make a living and support my family. In that time, I lost sight of the reason I got into the film/video industry in the first place; my passion for storytelling and creativity. I spent a lot of time last year figuring out how to reignite my creativity. The biggest step I took was creating time where I was away from my phone. I found that when I am on my phone, I am taking in a lot of information at once, which left little space in my brain to create. I was spending my thoughts thinking about what I was seeing, and not using those those to come up with new ideas and stories of my own. So putting down my phone and freeing my mind of information overload all the time has really allowed me to get back to being able to naturally think creatively again.
I have also dedicated more time to my artistic and creative interests. I am reading more books and watching more films. I started listening to podcasts within my industry and started free writing again. All of these things have really ignited that creative spark and passion that I have been missing. Now, while I am still finding work to support my family, I am bringing my creative edge into it. I am taking on more jobs that interest me rather than just pay well. I am finding stories that I want to tell. And I am even creating more opportunities to take on passion projects of my own.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Hi, my name is Jacob and I am a cinematographer. My professional focus is storytelling through video. Whether I am telling a couple’s love story through their wedding video, helping a business tell the story behind their product or service, or creating a film, I tell stories with a camera.
What I find most exciting about my work collaborative storytelling (which may be obvious since I’ve written the word story six times in three sentences thus far). There’s something special about multiple people coming together with their own ideas and perspectives on life to make a story. On a film set, there are so many people working on different parts of the set at the same time. If they do all of their jobs correctly, it all comes together to tell a wonderful story thats going to effect someone in the audience that watches it. That might be as close to magic as we get in this world.
On the commercial side of my job, this collaborative storytelling is more often described as branding, but branding is still storytelling. I like to find out what makes a company different than their competition. What is it about this company that will persuade consumers to buy their product or service? Being able to be find the story of a company and find creative ways to show that to the world is where I find my passion in commercial videography.
I have a couple new projects that I am excited about. One, is a film that I was able to work on called Choke (Choke – 2024 on Facebook). It is a feature length film written and directed by Zach Pike and Bradley Keith Huffman. This was the first film set I have been able to be on for a few years so I was excited to get back into the film side of my work. We had a great time filming this and I am excited to see it all come together soon!
The other project that I am excited about is I am helping to produce a podcast called The Family Business Podcast. One of my clients is picking this podcast back up after a year off and we are excited to get to work on it again. On the podcast, my client will talk with family businesses about the ups and downs of working with family and the unique perspective that these family business owners have. We’ve had some great guests on the show in the past and I am excited to see where it will go!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would say creativity, writing, and filmmaking. I am not the most skilled cinematographer you’ll meet, and that’s okay. I know these are my strengths, and I know that I am good at what I do. That’s the advice that I would give to anyone looking to get into film/video. You’ve seen these great artists already and think you will never compare to them. You don’t have to be. This industry is about creating art and all art is subjective. Find the stories you want to tell and tell them the best way you can. You may not frame the shot the way you want, or you might have a lot to learn about lighting, but you won’t learn unless you create. So go create now. These are skills that need practice just as much as any other skill.
How would you describe your ideal client?
My ideal client is someone who is passionate about what they do. I want to work with people who have good stories to tell and have a desire to tell them. Whether it’s business owners who want to change their industry, or a director with a powerful film. I want to work with people who are as excited as I am to tell the world the vision they have.
Contact Info:
- Website: Jacobstewartfilms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacobstewartcinematography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jacobstewartfilm/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobstewartfilms/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGPurx47j70AJ46KVpcGerg
Image Credits
Michael Ashcraft Photography Vixel Video
