Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacob Ferrufino.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
During the summer of 2017, I watched a YouTube video called “Hawaii 2.0” by the travel creator Sam Kolder. I was insanely inspired by the visuals, editing, and story behind the video, and for the rest of the day, I binged through his entire YouTube channel becoming more and more engrossed in the world of content creation. After doing some research, I discovered that Sam was a paid travel videographer. The idea that I could actually get paid to travel around the world and make sick videos of my adventures piqued my interest, and I immediately wanted to get involved.
After getting my hands on my brother’s used Canon Rebel T5, I taught myself how to shoot and edit videos through YouTube tutorials. Later that year in October, I shot my very first video of my high school’s Homecoming dance. Being the very first of its kind at my school, the video went viral throughout my campus, and students began voicing their excitement for the next event to have a chance of being in the recap video. Seeing the impact and success of my work, I decided to film my school’s Winter Formal dance in January of 2018. This video was an even bigger hit and found the recognition of students, staff members, and families throughout my community as well as other nearby high schools.
The video also attracted the attention of my school’s ASB (Associated Student Body… it’s like the student government). Seeing my talent, they recruited me to be the class videographer, and for the next year, I documented over 90 videos of my school’s events, sports teams, dances, and creative groups. By the end of my senior year, I was practically a celebrity at my high school, but I was left wondering how I would manage to top off the achievements as I transitioned into college.
However, during the summer of 2019, my life was changed drastically when I was reached out to by a content creator named Donnoven Nguyen. He introduced me to the world of TikTok before it was the global sensation that it is today and brought me along to some of his photoshoots. Then one day, he invited me to come with him to Vidcon to meet some of the influencers he worked with. During the event, I made a viral video with the influencer Chase Hudson that gained the attention of many creators at Vidcon as well as the manager of his talent agency, Vivid Management. The manager, Trent Kelly, gave me the opportunity to be the lead content creator for the Lights Out Tour, a social media influencer meet-and-greet lasting two weeks long traveling through Boston, NYC, Philly, Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas. The tour opened so many doors and exploded my social media following as well.
Since then, I have been actively working with some of the biggest influencers on TikTok such as Charli D’Amelio and James Charles. I also spent my freshman year at Loyola Marymount University filming for as many sports, organizations, and events much like I did in high school. Currently, I am working on extending my reach and impact in the travel community as I want to transition into becoming a full-time travel filmmaker.
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?
It has definitely been a long journey to get where I am today. I’ve invested thousands of hours to reach the level I’m at and for a while, my health was in jeopardy as I was barely sleeping and practically sitting down all day editing away. Trying to balance my academic, social, and creative life was pretty tough, and I did lose some friends along the way because I wasn’t able to give them the attention they deserved. However, this coming year I’m planning on taking a gap year to focus all my time on my craft and video career while being to enjoy life a little more and keep my health in check.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Well, I am a freelance photographer and videographer, and I go under my brand name of Ferrufilms. Some of the services I offer are photography and videography of any type (wedding, senior portraits, concerts, travel, event recap, music videos, etc.), social media management, and data analysis to maximize audience reach. As of right now, I am the sole worker in my company, but later on, I hope on expanding my business to a full-blown video production house. I definitely pride myself in perfectionism as I will make sure every one of my clients receives high-quality content with spot-on visuals, flow, composition, sound design, color grading, and overall emotional vibe.
In this industry, there are so many other young videographers aspiring to be the next biggest travel filmmaker, but I feel like a lot of them get caught up trying to recreate and match the work of their favorite creators instead of developing their own look and style. Personally, I try to diversify my skillset in many different types of filmmaking and techniques so that I never have to say no to any of my clients simply because of my lack of experience in the product they’re requesting.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
With each video, I’m always trying to top the last one I made. I make sure I never get too comfortable with where I am in my career, and I am always actively learning new skills to enhance my work or making connections within the industry to build my network. However, even more so, I always want to make sure there is the meaning behind my work. Of course, I want to be able to make a living off the work I do, but I never pursued videography for the money or lifestyle. I chose this path because I love what I do and I love knowing that I’m making a difference in the world every time someone views my content.
Pricing:
- Half-Day Rate: 4-5 hours of filming + gear + 1-2 shooters – $650
- Full-Day Rate: 8+ hours of filming + gear + 1-2 shooters – $1300
- Hourly Editing Cost: $100
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jakesterf591.wixsite.com/ferrufilms
- Phone: 5623943391
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ferrufilms/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sheriff.ferruff/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ferrufilms
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