We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacob Balken. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacob below.

Jacob, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

For me personally the legacy that I want to leave behind is one where people can confidently say that they learned a lot from me. Followers and fame do not necessarily mean much to me in terms of a legacy; but instead the value that I was able to bring to other people within my lifetime. Whether this be through my filmmaking, photography, or my general love for Halloween and the things I have created with that in mind, I always hope that people are able to look at things that I have created and say “I learned how to do ____, ______, and ______ and I learned these techniques from him!”.

Jacob, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

How I got into filmmaking and photography is actually quite interesting. When I was 6 years old, I always would make little videos with Legos or action figures I had. In middle school I took a video production class and I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I further explored movie production in high school through classes that were offered, and I graduated with high honors in the TV and the Art of Film pathway. I picked up photography over COVID and I fell in love with that as well. I provide event photography and videography services, portrait and product photography/videography, and much more. The thing that I’m most proud of is the ability to be able to tell stories through either a series of moving images or one single image. This is also something that I want my potential clients to know about myself and what I strive for with my brand. What I think sets myself apart from others is the constant desire to learn and gain experience to better myself and my brand.

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

One recent story from my journey that illustrates my resilience is during a class I took this semester for school called Film Portfolio. Us students create a 20-30 minute short film from a script developed by the Screenwriting class. It is often considered the hardest film production class that can be taken at my college. Despite having multiple production jobs, a ton of homework for my other classes, a part time job, and a personal film that I was working on all simultaneously, I pushed through to the end of production, which included reshooting a couple of different scenes because of lighting changes, etc. It taught me a lot about time management, which is something that I constantly struggle with as a young adult.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One lesson that I have had to unlearn fairly recently is that I cannot limit myself to creating just one genre of narrative work. Horror films among other types content within that genre is my specialty, however there are other stories that need to be told with my expertise. With my film “THE CURSE” directed and produced by myself alongside horror cosplayer, scare actor, and composer Chris Hannan having its in-person premiere in April, it taught me a lot about what the people like. When it premiered in person at a local movie theater on May 8th through my college, I had a lot of people coming up to me and telling me “I usually don’t like horror movies, however yours was beautifully shot and put together”. As much as I accepted compliments like that with the highest regard, it also gave me a reality check for the types of narrative films that I would be doing in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jbalproductions.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jbalproductions/
• Linkedin: b
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jbalproductions
• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jbalproductions

Image Credits
Credit for photos 2 and 3: Sarah Enriquez All other photos taken by Jacob Balken