Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacob Haag.
Hi Jacob, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I got my first camera as a gift for my Confirmation and I immediately fell in love with making videos. As I got older I began watching a lot of music videos, especially A$AP Rocky’s music videos and I was really inspired by the editing of his music videos. My sophomore year of college, my good friend and music artist, Hue Hinton, asked me to shoot a music video for his debut single. We had both always talked about wanting to make a music video together but I was always hesitant because I didn’t have enough confidence in my camera skills. I learned so much from shooting that first video and there are little tips and tricks that I learned on that shoot that I still use on my sets today. Through Hue I was introduced to a group of artists that performed at pop-up shows around the city called “Philly Creators” I started showing up to their shows with my camera and at the end of their performances I would go up to the artists and ask if they wanted to shoot a music video. A lot of them already knew who I was from the videos I had shot for Hue at that point and they knew what I could do as a music video director. I will forever be grateful to Hue for trusting me with his music to shoot my first music video and for giving me the confidence to start pursuing my music video directing career.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s been a very rocky road, to say the least. Some months will be really busy with multiple music video shoots but then sometimes I may run into a dry spell where no one is reaching out to me to shoot their music video. During these slower months I’ve now been trying to really maximize the amount of content I can make from all the footage I get on these shoots.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a music video director who works with a lot of underground artists. I help smaller artists reach a larger audience through my music videos and focus on capturing strong and engaging visuals to match their songs. I am most proud of my retention rate with the artists I work with, most artists that I shoot a music video for constantly want me to shoot more for them. I think my willingness to collaborate with the artist sets me apart from other directors who want to strictly stick to their own vision. I’m always willing to try a different shot or idea on set that is proposed by the artist or any other crew members on set.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I am a HUGE soccer fan and one of my favorite childhood memories was getting to watch Germany vs Argentina in Germany when I was younger. It was such an exciting game and I got to see my favorite player, Lionel Messi. I remember as a young kid being in awe of his talents. Even though he missed a penalty that game.
Pricing:
- $500 per music video
- $100 per social clip
Contact Info:
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCktip0-n-CuBGAS2YBa1iMg
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@jacob.haag?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Image Credits
Chris Jang Pedro Vasquez Eddie Mattiko