Meet Jamila Weaver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamila Weaver.

Hi Jamila, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was always a creative child. I went to Temple University in Philadelphia (my hometown) as a film major for a year straight out of high school. After a year I decided to move to Boston, MA to go to Berklee College of Music where I graduated as a dual major in music business and bass guitar performance. As I went through school, I realized I hated the general ethos of the music business so I decided to pursue a career as a professional musician. I had some success on the East Coast. I was in a prog-metal band called Kidnapkin and eventually went on to play bass for the pop singer Shontelle. I decided to move to Los Angeles in 2011 to pursue music and film further. I toured with the band Nico Vega for a while but eventually decided that I’d rather pursue video editing as a full-time career. I’ve been freelancing full-time and loving it.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My biggest struggle in the music industry was standing up for myself. The industry is filled with business people trying to make as much money as they can off of the artists. As a hired gun it can be extremely difficult to get fair pay because they’ll just hire someone else if they don’t want to pay you more. I remember doing a tour and finding out that the tour bus driver and the tour manager were making more money than I was, and I was playing sold-out shows in front of thousands of people. Eventually, the headache of the industry was no longer worth it for me. I started to lose my love for playing music, and that’s when I knew I had to switch gears.

My biggest struggle with video editing was making the switch to being a full-time freelancer. I didn’t want to commute or work in an office anymore but I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get enough clients to sustain a good quality of life. It took some time but eventually got to where I wanted to be, and I’ve never been happier!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My biggest client is BuzzFeed, so I get to work on a lot of different content for them. I work for Tasty (their food network), BuzzFeed Unsolved (true crime), BuzzFeed Celeb (celebrity content), and Cocoa Butter (black entertainment).

I’m also the Producer of a Podcast called Love Strategies. It’s two male relationship experts who help women find healthy romantic relationships.

I’m also currently working on a documentary about the culture of Aboriginals in Kimberly, Australia.

I have a slew of corporate clients as well.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think moving across the country was a big risk to take. I moved 3000 miles to pursue music and film, and I witnessed a lot of people try to do the same and then move back due to not reaching the success that they wanted. I was determined to make it a successful venture, and I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. I had to start small. When I first moved to LA, I was doing Production Assistant jobs. I was a PA on the Biggest Loser TV show as well as some smaller independent films. Eventually, I met the right people and was able to transition into what I really wanted to do.

Non career-related but the biggest risks I take are due to my passion as a martial artist. I’ve been an avid competitor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It’s pretty risky going into a fight where you may be choked unconscious or leave with a broken limb but no risk, no reward!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @bjj_jam
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamila-weaver-38134316/
• Website: https://jamilaweaver.com/