Life and Work with Jennifer Ilene Perry

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Ilene Perry.

Jennifer, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a native to the suburbs of LA-born in Whittier. I loved coming to the city growing up and knew I wanted to be in the Entertainment Industry. I moved to the city with a roommate to a humble apartment on Rossmore Ave. off of Melrose Ave. There, I started working admin jobs in the Industry placed by a temporary agency. Soon, I was working as a contract employee with Warner Bros. working for the Real Estate division in accounting. A merger happened and the contract employees were bought out of their contracts and were set free. Luckily, for me, my boss at Warner Bros. left shortly after I did and acquired an opportunity working for A Band Apart which is Quentin Tarantino & Lawrence Bender’s production company. I worked for the Controller of the company as her right hand. From there I wanted to get more into the production side. I got an opportunity to work for an amazing commercial Director Steven Ramser who’s work was super inspiring. His commercials were mostly international and were more like short films and very artsy. I loved his work so much! I was his Office Manager and later his Personal Assistant as well. While I worked with him, he became a millionaire. It was quite a moment. I loved learning about the full process of creating using film and all of the steps and the agency’s role and all of it! I have been blessed to work with A list talent along my journey and even just watching them do their thing is so inspiring. I later became an Actor and did a few commercials, tv shows, and print ads but a ton of background work on films which I took more seriously than most and even created detailed backstory for my character. I wasn’t going to let my great training at the Howard Fine Acting Studio go to waste! I even brought real tears to funeral scenes. I was always ALL IN!! I worked with the best talent and crews out there on hit shows and box office blockbuster films and what I call “janky productions” in between. All of this, I feel gave me a well-rounded education in the Industry.

I knew since I was seven that I had a message to bring to the world. I knew I could do it through tv & film. I loved photography and was shooting as a young girl. I also shot for my high school yearbook. I opened up my photography business around 2010. I enjoyed that and still love shooting I am obsessed! Wherever I go, you will see me shooting something.

I had a concept for my first film about seven years ago now. I even did a write up on it for Kickstarter and there is an article floating around on it where I discuss the concept of this film before anything had been done. It was so cool to go back and see that I executed my vision! I have been working on it for over three years now. It is just about ready for release just gathering funds for promotion. The goal is by end of this year, it will be released.

I started building up my Instagram seriously about six months ago. That is always a work in progress. I want to get more into Social Media Marketing with my content work. I have some experimental videos on my IGTV were I am starting to play with short form and vertical video. I have been enjoying doing brand collabs also and creating content for them!

Has it been a smooth road?
No, the road has not been smooth. It has been a roller coaster of barely making ends meet. I have put my time and money into my art form and have scraped to make my film happen and survive in hopes of the world seeing and being touched by my work. I have been through many moves and am currently homeless. Bouncing between friends homes, and sleeping in my car some nights. I am relentless however and even while homeless I continue to create. I cannot be stopped. My film is currently in storage and just needs some final fine-tuning. I will be self-distributing but money will be required to promote it. It is a wild ride but love & passion will make you do things you never thought you could.

I have been building up my IG in hopes to build an audience for my film and have also been doing brand collabs. I am hoping to get more opportunities from great brands that I align with and future sponsorships to help me create more films and content.

My advice to women is to build a great support system and leverage that to create opportunities for yourself. Think big think multiple sources of income and create passive income. Invest your time in worthy projects that you love that move you. Money is not the only thing that holds value but it is an intricate part of the game of life that we need to master. Get a great mentor and build business. DO NOT GIVE UP EVER!

I was thinking to myself the other day as a Rhianna song came on and got me feeling all empowered, it does not matter what is taken from me they can take it all away. I will get it all back and more! It is important to tell yourself you are valuable and worthy of the best and that you are RESILIENT. Be relentless in the pursuit of your dreams. Stop at nothing and nothing will stop you.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of. What sets you apart from others?
I am a photographer filmmaker & creator. I think I specialize in creating content that is visually compelling and inspiring. It is important that my work moves humanity to be better. There is a message in everything I do. My goal is to create a positive change in humanity.

I am most proud of the brand I am building for myself because I am staying true to my vision and ethics as a business woman and conscious human on the planet.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.captureessencephotography.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferismagic/

Image Credit:
all images shot by @jenniferismagic, b&w still from “The Goddess Within” Documentary

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