[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: When you and your brother started making movies, what was your business model?
Jake Jalbert, Cinematographer/Filmmaker: I guess we didn’t have a business model. We didn’t think about it as a business, we just made movies.
When we were kids we would just run around having fun. We would steal my dad’s camera. We would go shoot little movies after school and it was just enjoyable. We just enjoyed doing it. We took karate classes so we would make little fight scenes, put the camera on a tripod, it was just us. We didn’t have any actors. I’d film him, he would film me and then obviously as we got older it was kind of the same thing.
A guy presented us with some projects, my brother would act in it, I would shoot everything. So I just kind of got stuck behind the camera…got stuck, I love it. I’ve gotten really good at it. We would do that and then we would just create projects.
Then the first feature that we did House Guest was just to see if we could do it. It wasn’t to make a good film. I guess that’s kind of…people probably might not like that I said that but we just wanted to see if we could create a feature. Can we get through a feature because we did a short film but it’s different when you’re trying to do an hour and a half movie. It’s a lot different.
I don’t think we really were thinking about it as a business until we started the studio and you know what that part I didn’t like as much. I enjoy the art of it. I love filming. I’d much rather just get hired. Hey, I have this project. Alright, I’ll come shoot it. Do what I love doing, do what I’m good at, but I do get roped into producing unfortunately because I am pretty good at it. I’ve done it over the years with my own stuff.
Film Courage: So the business model was you and your brother were making these films and you were putting most of them on Amazon Prime?
Jake: Yeah at the time Amazon Prime…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
Jake Jalbert began his journey into producing and cinematography 14 years ago, shooting his first feature film, *House Guest Massacre* (2013), starring Alex Vincent from the *Child’s Play* franchise (as Andy Barclay). Over the years, he’s worked his way up by contributing to numerous films and TV shows, collaborating with actors such as Burt Reynolds, Amy Smart, Sean Astin, Michael Shannon, Alexander Ludwig, and Charles Melton. From 2020 to 2024, Jake served as Director of Photography on several films, beginning with *Mind Games*, starring A-list talents Robert LaSardo, Jim Fitzpatrick, and Michael Paré, as well as *Soulmates*.
Jake was later hired to shoot two studio films, *Megaboa* and *Shark Waters*, both of which had small theatrical releases through The Asylum, the studio behind the *Sharknado* franchise. In addition, Jake was the cinematographer for the Tubi original film *DC Down*, directed by Geoff Meed and starring Eric Roberts and Sean Young.
In 2023, Jake produced and shot his most ambitious project to date, *Off Rip* (Sports/Drama), directed by and starring Jadon Cal, which is currently in post-production.
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