Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Billard.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jake. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My story starts in my sophomore year of high school, the year I began the Audio Video Production class at my school. I had always been interested in filmmaking since I was young. Little did I know this would propel me further into the passion I never knew I had. Over the next three years, I learned filmmaking and editing skills needed to make videos and movies. Doing small class projects along the way helped me become familiar with the process. In my senior year, a few friends and I decided it was time to take on the production of our very own short film! As ambitious as new creatives are, we decided to write a story about a group of teenagers making a bank heist movie. We called it “Behind the Scenes”. Over the next four months, we wrote revisions of the script and made plans to film. We decided to enter the movie into the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival because we were as stated before: very ambitious. I was proud of the film but despite our efforts, I did not count on getting accepted into the festival since it was our first shot at anything beyond a class project or Youtube video. My expectations were turned upside down one early morning when my crew told me Behind the Scenes was accepted into the Texas High School Shorts category of SXSW! We were all incredibly ecstatic at the news, but for me, this served as a push in the right direction. It felt right like this was the path for me. After my SXSW run, I immediately began writing a short film script called “The Great W” which did not see production until two years after. This film saw two screening dates and is now on YouTube. To this day I continue writing, directing, acting, and just about anything I can do to stay creative with a camera!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My path has definitely not been the hardest around, although I did run into some roadblocks of my own. I started off having skills in editing and writing, but almost no clear idea of how to actually go about creating a project from the ground up completely on my own. Topics like cast/crew organization, location scouting, and cinematography rules were nearly a mystery to me. Throughout my first independent short The Great W I taught myself the basics of directing, producing, and cinematography as I was on set and during pre-production. Since I was mostly a one-man crew, I had many responsibilities to cover to ensure the film can have the best quality as I can get it. Experience can be a great teacher and, in my case, it certainly was and continues to be. I have learned a lot of knowledge and insight from just that one project, and it has fortunately made future projects much easier to approach.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about SFTA Productions – what should we know?
SFTA Productions is my own production brand my friend and I came up with on set of The Great W. We specialize in filming and editing any kind of endeavor that needs recording. Whether it is a film, a music video, a wedding or an advertisement, it is SFTA Productions’ motto to “Suffer for the Art” meaning we will do everything in our power to create the project to its fullest potential!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Persistence and Open-Mindedness. I believe no one can achieve their dreams unless they are persistent in improving themselves as a person as well as a creator. One must also be open-minded to new ideas and cooperation between colleagues to capture different ideas or methods that can be used to help blossom the project. Personally, I am open to suggestions from anyone I know. Whether you are a castmate, crew member, or even a friend uninvolved in the project, I always love to listen to other people’s points of view. Even if I am directing a film, I don’t like to consider myself the mastermind of the crew. Anyone’s perspective is just as important as mine and can have the potential to open up ideas I could never have come up with, ultimately improving the project as a whole.
Pricing:
- Videography: $60-$150 per hour
- Photography: $150-$1,500 per gig
Contact Info:
- Email: jakeclarencebillard@gmail.com
- Instagram: @itsJakeBillard
Image Credit:
Andres Hernandez, Demetrius Frazier, Betsy Medina, Sabrina McMullen, Evan Michael Glover, Roman Brion, Cameron Pavlovsky, Matthew F. Davis, David Romo
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