We recently connected with Jon Mack and have shared our conversation below.

Jon , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I grew up in the theater because my mother was a both a drama teacher and theater director. As a child, I used to watch my mother direct productions and often got to spend time with students much older than I was. I developed a fascination with performance and story telling from then on. The theater always held such magic for me because it was incredible to see such stories go from words on a page to a full blown production in front of an audience. I guess that also touched the side of me that wanted to connect with strangers in such an intimate way that was being open and vulnerable on stage. My father also owned a video store back in the video days so I remember watching a wide variety of films from the time I can remember. I had a steady diet of block buster, independent and foreign films and always knew that I belonged to this world; the world of making movie magic.

Jon , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As I mentioned, I started doing theater at a very young age. The first play I performed in was when I was 5 years old. I just remember always feeling at home on stage or when performing. It was never a question for me if this was what I wanted to do. My greatest memories are on stage performing or working in front of the camera. I was blessed to have a parent who fully supported and nurtured my creativity. She was my biggest cheerleader and fan. When I was 17, I graduated high school and couldn’t wait to leave the small town I grew up in for much bigger things. I auditioned at several performance art colleges but had my heart set on NYU which I auditioned for and got accepted to. Once at NYU, I had the opportunity to work with some amazing acting and film teachers at the Tisch and just immersed myself in that whole experience. I realized that the film industry that I longed to be a part of mostly existed in Los Angeles so I moved there full time when I finished school. I started young doing background roles, stand in work or anything that I could do to gain experience and be on set. It really was just through gaining knowledge and experience that I improved and slowly worked my way up. I am no nepo baby so all of what I’ve accomplished really has been from trying, failing and trying again and again. Sometimes there are no shortcuts and there is nothing that beats the wisdom of experience with passion for what we love to back that up.

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

For me, the most rewarding aspect is seeing a concept or seed planted as just a simple idea and watching it grow like a beautiful flower into something that is often beyond what we anticipate. I love working with others and the whole family environment one gets from being involved in a project. It is always inspiring to see people from all backgrounds with a wide variety of experiences come together to create a story or work of art to share with the world. Team work is something that we need more of in this world and I always love to be part of a hard working group of creatives with a common goal. The whole process always excites me and is always such a fascinating journey of discovery.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I first started in a time when the internet was just developing so we didn’t have the amount of resources that young people do now at their finger tips. A lot of what I learned was from trial and error and I often felt very alone on my journey. Now, it’s amazing to see so much support that creatives can offer each other in forums or groups online where we can share stories, advice or information so easily. I think this makes the process so much more bearable. Creatives often feel so alone in our own personal journey that we forget that many others are going through the same moments of doubt or uncertainty. I wish I had more of this when I was starting out because it’s wonderful when we can all support each other and not feel so isolated in our moments of doubt or going through our biggest challenges.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.officialjonmack.com
• Instagram: itsme_jonmarie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialjonmack/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jonmack
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AURADRONE
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDdeU8uQPjdGFeH7VuH01aw

Image Credits
Editorial images by Brent Castro