Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Jones.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Living in LA, you often hear people say they’re a “jack of all trades”. I guess I’m no exception, as I’ve tried just about every avenue of art you can imagine. Growing up, I loved ballet more than anything, but I hated the discipline of being a dancer. I always wanted to do my own thing. In high school, my passion was acting. I joined competition theatre and quickly realized that while I loved being a character (read: really obnoxious), I still lacked discipline. By my senior year, I pivoted to oil painting and mixed media. I started to understand visual aesthetics, and everything I learned about classical art has stayed with me throughout my career. I always loved photography as well, but it was something I mainly did for myself. Despite eventually landing a scholarship to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, I decided to take a year off to “find myself”. Seeing a trend yet? During my year off, I started raising peacocks in my mom’s backyard. The story involves a circus clown, an egg incubator, and my unending curiosity for…. everything. In the midst of chasing birds, it finally dawned on me- I should probably start making money. I enrolled in the University of Texas for Visual Communications. I learned how to design everything from magazine layouts to commercial packaging and websites.
It was absolutely soul-crushing work and extremely isolating, but I found solace in my growing side hustle in photography. I shot everything from weddings to “tasteful portraits” for sex workers’ ads. It wasn’t long before I was working weddings full time, and I started wondering how I could expand my business. I took a film class as an extracurricular, so I could potentially offer videography to my clients. It wasn’t long before I completely changed my major to Film and leaned into directing and cinematography. As a wedding photographer, I worked exclusively on weekends, so I had plenty of time during the week to pursue film. After graduating with my Bachelor’s in Film, I worked as a production assistant in reality TV all over Dallas. As you can imagine by now, it wasn’t long before I wanted more out of the work I was doing. Living in Texas, the opportunities to grow in the film were far and few, so I turned my sights on Hollywood. I applied to the master’s film program at USC, and I was fortunate enough to get in with an incredible George Lucas scholarship. Over the course of my time there, I made sure to intern everywhere I could and network as much as possible. I even said yes to crazy gigs, like working for Kim and Kanye for a year. I was so lucky to work with so many great companies in such a short amount of time, like Rogue Atlas and Project X with James Vanderbilt. I even got to pitch my pilot for a romantic comedy, Brunch.
I don’t want to mislead you into thinking all of this was a cakewalk for me. It’s Hollywood after all, and there were plenty of trials and setbacks. The hardest thing for me was navigating rejection when I pitched my ideas or that time I got fired by a neurotic (read: insufferable) Director who-shall-not-be-named. I took every negative on the chin and just applied myself that much harder- literally… I applied to Paramount eight times in the span of a year until they hired me. Within ten months of graduating from USC, I finally landed an interview and got hired for a very cushy corporate film job (read: 401k and health insurance). I’m currently working with the SVP of Physical Production and still moonlighting as an award-winning wedding and behind-the-scenes photographer (Best of The Knot). As always, I’m still looking to the future and developing my own work for the big screen.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I’ve endured plenty of struggles to get where I am today, but I don’t like to dwell on that stuff too much. I had to overcome sexual assault and discrimination pretty early on in my film career. I think one of the worst experiences was being told I had no business working as a cinematographer by a professor- not because I lacked talent, but because I have a non-visible handicap. I was in a head-on collision in 2017 that permanently damaged my spine in three places, but I’ve spent the last five years overcoming my limitations in order to pursue what I love. In spite of all of that, I’m still here.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a writer/director, I love to focus inward. My mentor once described my work as “funny, sexy, and smart” and I try to live up to that. I like everything that I create to be sexy, quirky, and honest. Translating my weird experiences into my creative work has been very cathartic. I usually write protagonists who reflect who I am and what I struggle with, and I write about my friends and everything that makes them magnetic and interesting to me. If you don’t feel a little uncomfortable after watching my films, I’ll try harder the next time.
My most recent project is Brunch, a half-hour Romantic Comedy set-in modern-day Los Angeles. It centers around Lauren, a character loosely based on myself. After an abrupt end to her long-term relationship in NYC, she runs off to LA in a horoscope-fueled frenzy to find her online crush with the help of her friends. Eccentric and socially awkward, she grapples with imposter syndrome and stumbles through her love life pretty miserably. Lauren is joined by an ensemble cast of unique and integral young women (a trans girl, a trust fund baby, and a sex worker) who are each navigating the hell-storm of dating in LA as well.
I think the most important part of filmmaking for me is to always have fun with it. There’s never a dull moment on my set, and I love to send people home after a long day still laughing and feeling good about the work we’ve accomplished.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
In my world, networking is the single most important part of working in entertainment. Show up as the best and most well-intentioned version of yourself, and connecting with the right people will be easy. If you’re surrounding yourself with people you genuinely vibe with, opportunities will find you. The most important piece of advice I give everyone is to just say ‘yes’ to new opportunities when they knock. You won’t always be offered your dream job or even a living wage, but you never know when your experiences, your relationships, and your willingness to show up will lead to the next big thing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.amberrosejones.com
- Instagram: @curiosphotography
