Meet JImmy Matlosz

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to JImmy Matlosz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi JImmy, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

Confidence is a tricky friend, to me it is a confidant born from failure and nourished by success. If I look deep into why I am confident in myself and what I do, I have to lean into dedicated hard work, education, empathy and looking around the room and realizing that we all put on our pants on, one leg at a time, but I’m gonna do it better.
I guess furthermore the key is to focus on what you are good at, what you have studied and what you are interested in. You have to remind yourself that you must excel at these things. If I were to look back on my career. Moving to California one month after graduating from college in NJ, with the dream of working in the film business. My confidence and self esteem, were born from a few people who liked me and inspired me to work harder. That modicum of success, whether it was cutting a lawn, pumping gas or running parts for a construction company fed my complete ignorance for my future aspirations.
It took me a month to land my first job in Visual FX, then within a few months I was filming Matte Paintings completely on my own, aside from the notes from our in-house VFX cinematographer. Two years later, after ascending to the ranks of in-house Assistant Camera I was laid off.
Heading into a new year, I had no idea what freelancing meant, but I had the names and numbers of two cinematographers both of which hired and referred me that year. I guess you could say what gave me confidence was that, I now had knowledge and a marketable skill, but also there was no way I was moving back to NJ.
I dedicated my free time, to reading anything I could about cameras, lighting and filmmaking. I visited every camera rental shop in LA many times, I made friends with rental managers, some I am still in touch with today, I made it my goal to learn every working motion picture camera available and even a few that were defunct. This path led me to a wide variety of amazing film jobs, from stop motion, to high speed, IMAX and live action. I then parlayed all that experience into launching my career as a Cinematographer and Director. So to wrap it up, what developed my confidence and self esteem: Showing up early, leaving late, always paying attention, working hard, self education and personal discipline.

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?

I have come full circle as a filmmaker, or at least I am in the process of closing the gap. I have been fortunate enough to achieve success as a Cinematographer, Commercial Director, Journalist, Chairman, Mentor, teacher and now my journey has set sails for screenwriter/feature film director.
When I graduated college with a student film in hand and the world at my feet, I had dreams of one day maybe directing a movie, but subscribed to the philosophy of building my career on a solid foundation. I always felt that I had one shot at most jobs, to skip too many steps would leave me feeling less confident and self assured. For me it was important to know and experience filmmaking in every way through every department, the way I saw a composer or chef.
Once I knew my path would be through my work as a cinematographer, I dedicated my waking hours to the craft, seeking out any opportunity to learn and expand my knowledge. My career as a director came just a few months after my first opportunity as a professional cinematographer. I saw it as a reward for all the research and hard work. Over the following years I continued to add bigger and more prestigious jobs to my resume’. Many first time situations as well, the first student IMAX film, The first ever stop motion film, projected on film, captured digitally, the first to film LeBron James slam dunking at 1000 frames per second to name a few.
Somewhere along that path, I was offered the opportunity to pen a few articles for trade magazines, this opportunity bolstered my confidence in my ability to write. In the mean time I was sure the opportunity to direct more narrative projects would arise, when it didn’t, I took to the keyboard and cranked out my first complete screenplay, then another and another. When agents and managers weren’t beating down my door, I took to developing one of my films. More recently, ‘Burden of the Wolf’, qualified for the Washington state, WAfilmworks small budget production incentive. At present I am playing producer, raising capital to make the film.
So this is where my energy is focused creatively…

I am also making a new pan and tilt camera head for motion picture use, filing my patents now, but since that is all under NDA’s that is all I can say.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three qualities, skills and areas of knowledge that impacted my journey would begin with my need to learn, yes I read, but I am a tangible hands on person, when it comes to my chosen career and hobbies. I am so lucky to be born with the mechanical know-how, I cannot explain it, I just know how things work, cars to computers. I wish I knew more of course, don’t we all? I have fed and nurtured that skillset, that is how and why camera, lighting and grip came so ‘easy’ to me.
As well I think my grass roots upbringing grounded me in an understanding of reality and perhaps human nature. Traveling the world and working with so many dynamic people expanded my curiosity and reinforced my ‘intrinsic’ knowledge if you will. However my travels and experiences have also taught me to be open minded to possibilities and opportunities.
I think it’s important for anyone to lean into what you were graced with and expand upon that. If there is something you yearn to do, use the innate skills and discipline you have to navigate that path and work from that foundation. I wholeheartedly believe that if you really deeply want to do something you can. Success following that dedication will vary of course, but your confidence, if you put in the work, will be unshaken.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

The question at hand is, Are you looking for folks to partner or collaborate with? Filmmaking is a highly collaborative experience, unlike any I have witnessed. I have always been striving for creative, collaborative relationships, sure we all have our own personal endeavors, but as someone who engages in multitasking, I feel that all visions can be nurtured, that rising tides raise all ships. I believe in abundant opportunity, that one success can lead to many more with a collaborative group.

That said, in describing who I would want to collaborate with: Filmmakers, inclusive of Producers, investors, Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers and so forth, those with a strong interest in filmmaking who are self starters, but have yet to have an opportunity to shine.

A self starter is a wonderful collaborator, I have found that if it is your project, you will be doing the heavy lifting. A collaborative partner may just be the voice of reason or confidant who can steer you in a ‘better or different’ direction, a sounding board. That professional who may be waiting for the opportunity to team up, support and help when the energy and opportunity presents itself.

Since I am an entrepreneur, I am curious to connect with more entrepreneurs as well, there are so many creative driven people, who have vision and drive, so many stories of founders excite me.

Investors: I’d love to be a fly on the wall of investor gatherings, to hear the stories and better understand a group outside of my world and upbringing would be fascinating.

Since I am a mentor and teacher, I am also open to sharing knowledge with burgeoning talents, willing to share my years of experience at no charge.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Marci Miller,
Blaise Basar
Matt Kirschner

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