We were lucky to catch up with Johnny Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.

Johnny, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

I believe that in order for you to ask your friends or family to participate in your business you must first evaluate not only your relationship with them but also how youve seen them act in various situations. You may have a friend who is the best Cinematographer in the world but if they are a control freak in many aspects of their life, situations may arise where that character trait conflicts with your business. Talent and temperament are very important aspects when you start to consider if someone would be a good fit to support you.

Next you need to consider in what capacity you need assistance. If the aforementioned Cinematographer is only going to support you on an occasional basis and will not be directly involved in the organization then you may find that “the line” is occasional support. However, you may find that you have a sibling that has the right temperament and has the experience to help you run your business day to day. A major prerequisite for me is to have your idea solidly developed prior bringing on anyone especially someone close to you.

When I started F7 Media one of my close friends, Luis, had not acted as a producer at that time. However, after working with him on several film projects and having him assist me on some producing tasks I knew he had the attention to detail, professionalism, and the potential to be a great producer when I started F7. He worked with me as a co-producer helping me get F7 Media off the ground. Once I started F7 Studios I conducted an interview of sorts with him asking him if he was ready to take on larger responsibility in the organization. He is now the President of F7 Media! Through Luis’ journey into the company I evaluated his abilities, brought him in slowly and when I was ready to bring him in fully I had a solid conversation ensuring he knew exactly what was expected and we have been working smoothly ever since!

Johnny, 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?

I was raised in Neptune, New Jersey and got my creative start very young as my mom helped me model and work on some background acting roles. In college I took several acting classes but then decided to join the Marine Corps (serving 9 years, deploying 3 times) while still exercising my creative skills by starting a small photography business in California while stationed in Camp Pendelton. Once I left I started working at Microsoft as a Software Engineer while pursuing Improv and acting here in Seattle.

In 2022 I started a production company, called Filthy Filming Productions, to enable me and the creatives I knew to begin to create together and from then we have completed several projects one of whom allowed all of our actors to be signed by Agents due to its local success. As 2022 turned into 2023, I started a commercial video production branch of the production company called F7 Media.

Through F7 Media we focus on highlighting the stories of small and medium businesses. We pride ourselves in what I call “doing more with less”, rooted in my Marine Corps background, meaning we dont spend large sums of money getting the latest and greatest filmmaking equipment but focusing on what can bring the most value to our clients and improve our ingenuity which in turn also keeps our pricing affordable for our clients.

In 2025 we renamed the production company to F7 Studios where our core mission is to aid in revitalizing the film industry in Seattle. Starting our first year as F7 Studios we have an initiative to work with as many new filmmakers as possible to help them gain experience and start their careers! Like F7 Media we challenge ourselves to innovate and solve our problems practically instead of buy our solutions motivating those we work with that you can begin your career at any time and money should not stop you from trying. On our social media we have a strict code of “dont present as an expert” There are thousands of online filmmaking gurus and we dont aim to be another set. Instead we are focusing on showcasing our journey as people dedicated to continued learning, innovation and creating opportunities.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My two business partners, Luis and KJ, I met by complete chance! Having taken improv classes in Seattle, I was ready to get back into acting so I decided to take an acting class where I met Luis. However, we didnt interact too much during the class, it wasnt until I asked everyone if they wanted to join a team for the 480hour film festival that he and I became closer. He was (and still is) a wiz at finding unique locations which lead to me asking him to join me in my F7 adventures!

KJ was the director of a student film that I auditioned for. During the movie he had me do a specific jump/kick about 40 times to get it just right. I still have never let him live that down! But after that film we started working together more until I asked him to lead the editing shop for F7 Studios.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The hardest pivot to date would be my decision to leave the Marine Corps to follow my dreams. For 8 and a half years I was fully dedicated to being a Marine, but I knew that I wanted to do more and that I needed to take the chance my ending my active service. I took a year to plan and even though my plan was solid. It was the most scared I had ever been. I had deployed 3 times, but this, leaving the military, had a knot tight in my gut. The knot wasnt just leaving something secure into the great unknown of “the real world” but all the friends and the life I knew I was willingly walking away, mid COVID… and it was hard.

But it was the right decision. Since my departure in November 2020 I found a great job, founded 2 companies and have spent so much time with my family. So the pivot was worth it… because I planned it and went in head first.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://f7-studios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/f7studios_inc/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@F7-Studios

Image Credits

Team Headshots by: The Frederick Collection