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

Jalon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents could have been like most boomer parents: tell me to go to school, get a good well-paying job with the best benefits, work it until you hit retirement age, and boom. Done. My Mom and Dad were both in the military — and for a while, I thought that’s what I wanted to do too. I even told them so. But one day, while I was a junior in high school, I announced I wanted to go to film school instead.

I braced for the questions:
“What are you going to do with that career?”
“How are you going to make money?”
“How are you going to pay for school?”

But those didn’t come. Instead, I was met with excitement and help. I’m sure they were worried and wondered about the above questions, but they didn’t start there…they started with sharing my excitement. I did end up going to film school right after high school — and I ended up failing out. I was too young and should have taken a gap year. But even then, they still encouraged and supported me in my dream. I eventually went back to school, and they were there loving me, supporting me, watching my projects with pride, and shouting out with joy when I graduated. The best and most loving thing they did for me was support me on this wild uncharted (in our family) trip. They never let me live with my head in the clouds, but they did let me levitate enough on my tippy toes to let me know not only could I do this, but they were there with me every step of the way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Jalon Nichols and I am a Freelance Producer and Production Manager in the film industry. I went to school for digital film production and when I graduated, I became a freelance editor. I was working as an editor on commercials, documentaries, and even an indie film. But pretty soon, I was ready to get out of the dark room. I got a job as an office assistant at a production company and worked my way up to the in-house Production Coordinator and Social Media Manager. I left after nearly 10 years and went freelance. I quickly made my way to Production Managing and then Producing. I’ve worked with small boutique production companies, large ones, and with studios like Netflix, ABC, History, and A&E. I’ve produced commercials, promos for shows and Netflix comedy specials, and a TV show. Sometimes I think of my job as a matchmaker. It’s not about crewing up sets with all your best friends, it’s about matching the right folks for that particular job — if I can work around folks’ schedule availabilities. Once I hear what the job requires/needs, I can see who would be the best fit for most positions. I’m most proud of that. I get a lot of compliments from my Directors on my crews…and that brings me joy. Knowing I got the right people to the table. I’m also proud of the fact we can take an idea on paper, add some smart and creative folks, get amazing equipment, and a beautiful location, film it, and then send it off to be made real. That finished product gets me every time. All the meetings, conversations, and back-and-forths led us to the final product. Spending all night filming a rain scene with fake rain and lots of lights is tedious…but when you see the final result in the edit with music crescendoing up underneath, it’s all worth it.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Getting a start in the film industry is not easy for everyone. Just saying out loud you want to be in this industry to the wrong people can sometimes make you not even want to try. It can be daunting — especially if you don’t live in LA or New York. Saying it when you live in Ohio? Insane. And I had someone tell me that. I had just graduated from high school and a co-worker at my part-time job asked me what my plans were and I told him I wanted to be a Director and Producer. He looked at me with concern and told me that would be difficult and that you don’t hear about a lot of Black Women doing that. And then he ended it by telling me I should think about doing something else instead. Almost 10 years after that, I was working at both an editing house and a production company. And I couldn’t keep doing both. I gave my two weeks to the editing house and my boss didn’t try to keep me with a raise or more opportunities. He just told me that production was dying in our town, and leaving to do that wasn’t a good idea. I left anyway. Each time I was naive to the reality of this industry. I was so sure that I was going to make it regardless of how hard it would be (and it was), but the thought of proving myself right (much more than proving them wrong) kept me going. I wish I didn’t think of them still to this day and I know they do not remember telling me these things. But every time I finish a big or difficult project, I do think of them and smile in triumph.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I needed to unlearn was that in this industry you do not have to stay at a job and keep working hard and hope you move up. That your career was at the discretion of others. There is no one way to move up in the film industry. There are several paths. And if you want to do something or go somewhere in your career, folks can stall you or slow you down — but they cannot stop you. Not everyone needs to say yes or believe you’re ready. You just need one person to believe in you, do a good job, and be ready for the next opportunity to do it again. You’re not going to be everyone’s first call…but you will be someone’s first call. Also, each time you move up, pull someone up with you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jalonnichols.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jalondna/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jalonnichols/

Image Credits
Jalon Nichols