We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jake Neuman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jake, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Yeah, I don’t think theres one specific story that stands alone but rather the notion of taking a “risk”. I find that in the creative universe risk is something vital to growth. The projects or moments where an individual feels like they don’t know what they are doing necessarily, that’s where we learn and grow into the next level. Risk puts you out of comfort zones and lets an individual grow. Risk is something that will always be crucial in taking the next step forward. Well I have one story or series that stays in my mind. And that is shooting dance. In film school for a cinematography class we were told to “shoot” what we had access to. While most would film their friends doing goofy skits or shorts, I had access to dance. I kept filming dance and this allowed me to get really good practice at framing and being able to predict where the action may go. Fast forward a couple years and I got to film Aliya Janell’s queen’s and letto’s heels class and from there it transformed into making more connections. Without taking the risk with filming dance, I would not have made it to the opportunities of today.

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

I am a cinematographer and editor. Which I got into when I attended film school. We had to take a general umbrella of classes the first two years and then we would funnel into a more specified route. More recently with the explosion of social media and short form content I would say, Visual Engineer. Which is some one who just constructs the visual language of an artist, creative, or brand for their audience to consume and engage with, or how do they want to be perceived to their audiences through the visual means. I interpret the lexicon of words an artist or brand wishes to portray the most into a visual timeline and start to create that language for the audience to consume.

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 had to unlearn is the notion of a linear journey. I learned through many, many mistakes, there is no one single path to the “top of the mountain” or success. Something that may seem small in the moment might have a massive impact down the line and vice versa. There’s a quote from Steve Jobs where he says “you cannot connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future” and I find this to be very true. I thought I would graduate, work my way up on sets, and funnel into the camera departments. But that was so far from how things actually went. It went from dance to short films, to music videos, to documentaries, back to dance, to behind the scenes, to walking across arena stages. I find that if you’re asking yourself “how did I get here” you’re doing something correctly. And know there is no one singular path to success, just because something worked correctly for someone else, does not mean it will follow the same formula to you.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding part of being an artist or creative, is the process itself. Getting lost in the whole mess and figuring it all out. It makes you sit with yourself and problem solve the issues. This lets me explore and appreciate the different creative worlds. Whether it’s listening to a new genre of music, watching a movie, or going outside and watching the world exist around me, it gives different inspiring moments and perspectives through means I may not know about. It really makes you get outside of your comfort zone and grow, giving me appreciation for the whole process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.youtube.com/@blackmarketdanceandfilm5696
• Instagram: @bmdf_productions
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-neuman77/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@blackmarketdanceandfilm5696