Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Khera.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jason. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born and raised in El Segundo, went to school in La Mirada, and now reside in North Hollywood, which means I’ve lived my entire life within the vicinity of Los Angeles.
When I was eight, I tried to make a film. I drew one of my Hot Wheels on a piece of paper and tried to shove it into the speaker of my TV–because in my kid brain I thought that the drawing would go through the speaker, into the TV, and then would turn into an animation of a car racing down a speedway on the screen. I mean, there’s some logic in that, right?
No one ever pushed me to be a filmmaker–it’s just something I always wanted to do. At ten, I finally got the chance to create a video for a class science project. After that, I fell in love with the process and would use any chance I could get to make videos for everything. If I could take a presentation, book report, extra credit assignment–and turn it into some creative narrative–I would do it. This allowed me to practice, fail, and learn a lot throughout the years.
I went on to eventually study film production at Biola University, and now I direct various forms of short-form content including music videos, marketing/social media videos, and short films. I usually take on the role of director, but will also produce a lot of these projects as well. Currently, I’m working to start a production company that curates content for a number of clientele ranging from musicians and dancers to small businesses.
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?
From a more pragmatic perspective, I’d first say that film is so expensive and invasive of various spaces, and so I constantly find myself limited with what resources and locations I have available to me. The question I’m always having to ask is where can I shoot, and how do I pay for it all?
It’s a bit of catch 22 when it comes to starting a career with videography. I need to make more videos in order to make money but need to spend my money in order to make more videos. If that’s what it takes for the time being, however, then bring it on. There isn’t anything else I’d rather be doing.
From a more ideological perspective, I’d say I struggled a lot in the past with being comfortable with my own creative voice. For a long time, I just compared my work to what other people were doing, rather than understanding that the most powerful asset we have is our own unique artistic perspective of the world.
For this reason, I often held myself back from creating. When I was that 12-year-old making videos for class I didn’t care about comparing myself and so flourished. But somewhere along the way, I lost sight of that. It’s something I feel like in recent years I’ve finally gotten back.
Friday – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
FRIDAY is a full-scale production company specializing in short form content including music videos, commercials, and digital media.
I founded the company to serve as the brand which all my work falls under. It’s a one-man show for now–I serve as the sole director and executive producer, but it’s supported by all the individuals I collaborate with as well. We’re just getting started, and we’re on our way to becoming a well-established service to creatives and small business alike.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment so far was pulling off a cool project for a friend.
Josh, known as BALES, is a musician and close friend of mine, and I made a music video for one of his most recent songs called Every Other Lover.
The video involved creating a one-take scene that showed the same guy–in the same room–going through 10 different relationships at different points in his life in order to show the passage of time. This not only involved showing him disappear and reappear in different parts of the room but also had different costume changes and the movements of different actresses to accompany him each time. The show ‘Kidding’ on Showtime had a similar sequence in Episode 3.
The end result was really great, and that one video has been the coolest thing for me so far.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: instagram.com/jasonkhera
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