Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Brock.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a creative. My life as a creative professional is long and started at the beginning of the 1980s. Went to Germany as a drummer in a band for six weeks and ended up staying 19 years. There I performed on stages everything from country music, R & B to “world music” * In the ’90s I discovered the creative application of MIDI enabling me to compose music with the aid of a piano keyboard hooked up to an Atari computer.
Everything from that point changed and determined my trajectory for the next 30 years. Learned to be creative utilizing technology * Started composing music and released two audio CDs with newly formed band, The River. I’d found my voice. We were actually written up in Billboard in Germany. *
Before coming back to the US, I also taught digital audio and video software in an educational institute in Munich. Once back stateside around 2000, I thought I could aggregate all my experiences into a deeper creative endeavor and decided I wanted to be a film or tv editor. Studying nights and working days I took Avid video editing courses and finally ended up as staff video editor at Slingshot Entertainment for about 4 years editing many IMAX trailers and bonus features for DVD. It is what got me on my feet professionally in LA and from there I started editing for television, Dog Whisperer, DR. Phil, E! Network shows for Discovery and Travel channels as well as documentaries.
Around 2010 I started looking beyond the entertainment industry to be my own full-service video production company. Today I focus on business profiles, videos for foundations, legacy videos, family histories, biographies, event videos, and more. There is a common thread running through the very different chapters in my life as a creative professional and I still consider what I’m doing today as not very different from when I started composing back in the 1990s. Moving people and telling stories can take many forms.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has never been smooth. From day one trying to earn money as a creative I have encountered many failures, challenges, and let downs. I had played on a stage where the Beatles once had played but had also gotten kicked out of bands not being well versed enough in a given style.
I’ve failed at some jobs in the entertainment industry while other times jobs failed to deliver something I was banking on like working on a pilot show for 9 months with the expectation it was going to be picked up to run for multiple seasons only to find in the last minute the show was going to disappear after the season.
Many victories, many disappointments too many to list.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a storyteller. I used to tell stories with drumsticks. Then I told stories composing with a MIDI piano keyboard and computer. Then I told stories as a video editor in windowless edit bays always being challenged to take footage I’d received and make something compelling out of it. Working in reality television and documentary where narrative script writing is absent forces you to be somewhat of an alchemist. Doing only that for over a period of 10 years helped me develop a skill set you don’t generally acquire in film school. ‘
Abundant life experience, perseverance, and some talent have allowed me to become a seasoned expert at what I do, which is tell stories on screen. I love working with people and most of my clients come away saying the same thing about me.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
“10% Happier” from Dan Harris as a book, a podcast, and an app. It’s all about meditation. “Yoga” – Pretty simple name for a truly great yoga app
Radiolab podcast
This American Life
The Art of the Cut podcast
In the Blink of an Eye – Walter Murch – Consummate book on film editing.
Diamond in Your Pocket – Gangaji – Consummate book on life perspective.
Beyond Positive Thinking – Robert Anthony
Jill Bolte Taylor’s Ted Talk “My Stroke of Insight”.
Simon Sinek’s TEDx Talk on “Knowing your ‘Why'” Ultimate talk on how speaking truth and being able to articulate why you are passionate about your product or service is key to successful messaging in advertising.
Ken Burns Masterclass on documentary filmmaking
Contact Info:
- Website: SlicingLight.com
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user31280947
Image Credits
Claudia Hoag
