We were lucky to catch up with Jake Reardon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jake, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I’ve lived in LA for over 7 years, and I’ve been full-time freelance for over 6. I moved here without knowing anyone or having any connections and started from the very bottom.

I worked a part time job for a little less than a year. I was a cook back home at a golf course for 4-5 years. So, I looked for a similar job when I moved here. I worked there for a little while while getting my footing in the film industry. The golf course was nice to me, letting me take off with little notice for film jobs. A lot of those early jobs weren’t great, quite a few weren’t even paid. But they helped me meet contacts and eventual friends.

The part time job got a little mundane and in the way, so I quit, deciding I had to sink or swim in the freelance world. I tried Lyft for a bit around then, just to help with a little income, but that didn’t last long. 6 plus years later I’m still doing laps around the pool. I didn’t do it alone. I have a great group of friends around me, we all look out for each other. I couldn’t have done it alone.

Everyone’s path is different. I’m not sure if I could have changed anything. I think everything had to happen the way it did. I think I had to take this path to get where I am. I feel like this is the best outcome.

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 kind of fell into the film industry. I had a bit of an interest but was really pushed by my community college counselor. She suggested a different 4 year school to transfer to, gave me a packet to look at and consider. I left her office and walked right down to the transfer office without looking at the packet and switched schools. And that was one of the best decisions I ever made. I met a lot of great people at SUNY Fredonia. I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now without doing that. It’s kind of funny though, I left school without knowing the role on set that pays my bills now (Key Grip).

I consider myself a writer and director. I’ve written and directed a few short films, and a handful of music videos. I like to write for myself, and want to produce the things I write. I’ll direct for anyone that asks – I can do narrative, music videos, and commercials. I’m always on the lookout for new clients to collaborate with.

I also work as a Key Grip on other people’s movies, TV shows, short films, music videos, or commercials. This is what pays the bills and lets me self produce my own short films. I have been the Key Grip on 9 feature length films so far, a few of them have been released in theaters. The first one I ever Key Gripped was released last April, and I got to watch it at a real AMC. I would say I specialize in car rigging. I get a lot of calls for that, probably because I own a kit to rig a camera to a car. I can get the camera pretty much anywhere on a car, setting up standard and unique angles. I also own a little bit of other grip gear.

I’m most proud of the connections and great friends I’ve made along the way.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to write and direct a feature film. I want to make something I wrote. I’d love to make a career of it, but I really just want to get at least one shot at it. I wanted to do the first one before I was 30, but the clock is running out on that.

I work at this goal by writing scripts in my free time. I have 6 different feature scripts all at different points. A few are close enough to being able to shoot – the issue is funding. I have one I’m writing now that I think would be a fun and unique movie.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

To me, I think it’s the collaboration. It takes a lot of people to make a project come to life, whether it’s a music video or a feature length film, and everything in between.

It’s really special when you make a fun product with a group of good people. It’s cliché and overused by some people, but I’ve been on a couple projects where this happens, and you do become a “family”.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jakereardon14