Today we’d like to introduce you to Jarnael Dabney.
Hi Jarnael , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
So when I came to LA back in 2015 I just wanted to act, I was going on a couple auditions and wasn’t booking anything, one of my roommates at the time told me “hey man Hollywood want you to already be famous before they get on you” I thought so I don’t stand a chance because no one knows me. At that point I stopped going on auditions and started writing comedy trying to find my style, I was writing all the way til 2021 now we’re in a pandemic. I felt like I had my style, I started a brand new instagram and started filming my sketches. I started to get some traction, than in summer of 22 I wrote and film a father/son sketch joined TikTok and put it out on both my instagram and TikTok and it went viral like crazy, I did it again with the same character, it went viral so then turned these characters into a series and it blew up my social media I put it on my YouTube and Snapchat. I grew all the way to 80k followers and 9 million views across my social media. As I was growing I had an idea for a film loosely based off my life so I wrote this film in 3 months called “NEWLY PARENTS” a coming of age story, Raunchy Romantic Comedy. I set on my film for awhile because my sketch series was doing so well to the point I wanted to pitch it to turn it into a series, I did pitch it a executive loved what I created. Had minor notes but when I went back I thought to myself I really wanna write and star in my movies and if they love my sketch series, my movie could be a lot bigger. So I switched gears and put NEWLY PARENTS front and center. Now I’m out pitching my film and every room I pitched in they love this story, I’m now prepping to film my proof of concept (teaser clip) next month and I just finished chemistry reads where I casted my lead Actress Catalina Cielo as Chrissy and she had a huge Splash with my Chrissy reveal with 2.7 views in 2 days and our Chemistry read just did 1200 views in just 24 hours. I just started my campaign for my film, released the teaser poster and it did over 2.6k views in 3 days along with a fan casting post that over 700 views in 2 days. The momentum is building fast with this film all leading to the teaser trailer dropping next month.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road at all. For one it’s really hard to make any movement when you don’t know anyone in LA. Then when you do you gotta make sure they’re not flakes a lot of people in this town talk a good game but that’s just what it be alot of times..talk lol you can’t take it personal, you just see it for what it is then move on. Never let anyone feel like you’re not going to move without them. At the end of the day. You have to make it happen, keep that tunnel vision specially if you’re not from here, always remember why you got off that plane in the first place. Stay focus.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a Comedy Writer/ Actor and comedian. Im known for creating my own sketch series called “Mr. Cambell” on my social media, I gained 80k followers and 9 million views in just 3 years. Now I have wrote my first feature film called “NEWLY PARENTS” a coming of age story, Raunchy Romantic Comedy that I’m also going to star in and I’m out pitching right now this movie has high commercial success potential. I’m proud of myself for never stopping and knowing that I was right about myself and what I can bring this industry. What sets me apart I can do it all. I know exactly what I wanna do, I know my brand of comedy, I have a strong voice you can’t duplicate my voice.
What does success mean to you?
I define success by seeing how far you have come to where you are now, you didn’t stop sure you had some bumps but you kept going. You find out a lot of what you can really do that adds to your value. I’m successful because everything I saw in my head is now happening because I never took my foot off the pedal, and I’m just getting started. I use to think I gotta book a tv show or a movie to become famous and have fans. I haven’t booked anything to this day and I have almost 100k people following me and getting looked at for the movie I wrote and starring in. I already made it. It’s just time to go even bigger.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officiallyjarnaeld
- Youtube: https://www.YouTube.com/officiallyjarnaeld
- Other: https://www.TikTok.com/officiallyjarnaeld
