We recently connected with Jacob Stone and have shared our conversation below.
Jacob, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is a web series called Dawn of the Dude. It’s a post-apocalyptic wasteland survival series where our main characters fight Girl Scout Cartel, Zombies, and a Plague determined to bring the end of the world. Season 1 is already available online and we are currently working on prep for season 2.
It’s meaningful to me because not only do I get to make something cool with my friends and have fun, but it came at a time during the pandemic in 2020 when everything was shut down and we just wanted to create. From that, we created a spark to create a universe with these different characters and hope to share that spark with the world.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I first started making videos when I was 14. I picked up my dad’s VHS camcorder and was playing with it. Then, I got into the high school video club shooting and editing various videos for my high school. I learned basic camera skills and learned how to edit manually on tape decks since we didn’t have working computer software.
From there, I started college in hopes of being a music teacher since I grew up playing clarinet and some guitar. When that didn’t work out, I was like, what else can I do here? I discovered the major I ended up choosing, which was Communications Media with a track in TV and Video production. I learned that you could actually make a living creating videos. I worked at the university TV station, did various projects for my classes, and had to do an internship to graduate. I completed one at Cut ‘N’ Run Studios in Pittsburgh where I learned so much on the job. I was also in ROTC and the Army National Guard. I also stayed to get my Masters in Adult Education and Community Technology.
My college career didn’t go as planned where I wanted to go into the army full time so I ended up diving into video production upon graduation alongside my full-time job as an Instructional Designer.
For video production, I started taking any jobs I could. This included weddings, events, training videos, music videos, etc. As I did each job, I would grow from each and become better.
In 2015, I did my first 48 hour film project where I met a majority of my current filmmaking friends. Through that, I started to narrow in on what I wanted to do as a filmmaker, but also continued to hone my craft and meet more people.
Fast forward 7 years later, I’ve learned so much about not only what I can do as a cinematographer, but also as a content creator.
I been told I have a good eye so I mainly offer cinematography and lighting services, but can do anything in production from my videographer background. Since I was in the Army National Guard, I not only use my creative eye, but I also solve logistic and equipment problems to meet the needs of the client.
I think the thing that sets me apart the most is my personality. I believe you can know the technical stuff all day, but if you’re hard to work with, people won’t want to work with you. I’m laid back and goofy. I like to have fun when working on a project.
Whether that’s cinematography and lighting or content creation for social media, I combine everything to give a client exactly what they need while being easy and fun to work with.
I am most proud of my work on Dawn of the Dude so far and the main things I want potential clients and followers to know is that I’m fun to work with, I think creatively, and I am able to come up with logistic plans to accomplish what’s needed in the time allowed.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist and creative is to create something that invokes emotion. I love to see people laugh at funny things I create, jump at scary things I create, cry for sad things, and act shocked when they weren’t expecting something.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I have attempted to take my business as a video production professional full-time twice. Once in Nashville where I lived for a year in 2019 and once in the fall of 2021 back here in Austin as the pandemic was ending. Both times, I could barely pay rent.
I realized that even though I have the creative and technical background of shooting and editing, my business savviness wasn’t there.
So, I decided to look more into just being a content creator and focusing on YouTube and TikTok along with Instagram. I figured that I can start to build my own audience and get better at my craft as I make my own videos. Then, in turn from that, it should bring more attention to my work where I will get hired even more to be able to make this my full-time career.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jacobtstone.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacobstone4real/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jacobstone4real
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobtstone/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jacobstone4real
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeHxFjl1VcxWbAyKbxoBfrA