Tell us about yourself. Whats your name? Where are you from?
-My name is Damon Jamal and I'm from the Bay Area. I was born and raised in Berkeley but lived in all different parts of the Bay from the East Bay to the South Bay. I've been living in Oakland for the past 7 years so that's what I represent.
What does the word "based" mean to you?
-To me, being Based is about doing creative things on your own, and doing those things well.
How did you get into the directors chair/behind the camera? What inspired you and still inspires you?
-Originally I wanted to be a screenwriter, so I wrote a few screenplays and shopped them around Hollywood. There was some interest, but I couldn't get the greenlight that I was looking for. During this process, which took a few years, digital video began to get better and cheaper. I was in the music business, and some of the artists I was working with needed commercials and other webmedia to help promote their projects. This was back when myspace was crackin. I looked for affordable companies with good quality that could make this happen, but I couldn't find any, so I just took the same $ that these companies wanted and bought a cool little 3-chip (SD) camera and started doing it myself. That turned into it's own business and eventually artists from all over the Bay were asking me to shoot music videos for them.
I'm inspired by things that are visually different like how Spike Jonze had Pharcyde rapping backwards (in order to later play it forwards for a dope visual effect) or creative execution like how George Lucas took miniature models and turned them into space stations and other interstellar spacecraft. I'm also inspired by business minded film models like how Tyler Perry has his own compound in ATL and writes/produces/directs everything himself and does not need to go outside his compound for anything except to deposit checks.
What upcoming projects are you working on, any particular one special to you or one your excited for?
-Upcoming projects includes the next edition of In Yo FACE TV, which is a DVD we're putting out every quarter which is simply a collection of music videos that I directed. 27 music videos back to back. No commercials, no interruptions. Also I'm working on my first feature film. After having won many awards for my music videos and short films, I'm finally in a position where I can create an actual 90 minute original motion picture so I'm extremely excited about that. I am directing/producing a modern day version of the 80s hit "The Breakfast Club".
Overall, whats your favorite video that you've ever created?
-Very difficult to pick my favorite video. I've shot over 175 so how do you say which one of your 175 kids is the best one? My favorite hood video is E-40 "He's a Gangsta" because I was able to incorporate all the cameos into the storyline. That's one of the hardest things to do because artists always want their homies to get their shine on but it messes up the storyline if some random cat is suddenly popping up on the screen with a peace sign. It's like "ummmm where'd HE come from??". My favorite video visually was Shake da Mayor's "Reality Show" because we were able to show everything Shake was rapping about succinctly and make it look TVish. Other then that, my favorite simple studio video is Philthy Rich f/ E-40 "Feeling like Pac" because I was able to capture the mood with some nice lighting techniques and although it's all shot in a studio it keeps viewers glued to the video for the entire time.
-There are a lot of artists that I'd like to work with but honestly I'm not really trippin. Although I love shooting music videos and it's the most fun I've ever been paid for, my goal is movies and that's what I'm focused on. If I only worked the same artists I've been working with I'd be perfectly happy. That's not to say that I wouldn't want to do a video for Jay-Z, or Kanye, or Snoop -- that'd be dope. But it's not something that I'm actively trying to do. Every video I've shot is because the artist came to me and said they wanted to shoot so I'ma just keep rockin with that same energy and we'll see what happens...
Besides your own videos, whats a video out right now that really caught your eye?
-I can't think of any music video that really caught my eye recently but I'll say the production quality and look of Belly is something that I aim for in the future as I make high quality movies for the new generation of moviegoers. How come Hype Williams never did another movie? Belly was dope. He should be doing a movie every year. I guess it's coo though ... I'ma try to pick up where he left off..
What is something that people don't know about you?
-Something that people don't know about me is I'm a nerd. I guess cuz I shoot so many hood/gangster videos people think I'ma a certain type of way but most of my videos don't really reflect my personality. Science fiction and fantasy is my favorite genre but I just don't get offered projects that have a budget which can take advantage of that...
Whats some advice you can give the people that want to get behind the camera and into the directors chair?
Advice for future director's is this: shoot/edit every week. Study and improve your craft. Read up on lenses and lightning. And please don't get into it if you're just tryna hit a liq. Do it because you love it, otherwise you're just messing it up for everybody else like what happened to rap.
Where can people find more about you?
-Our website is www.InYoFaceFilm.com and that has EVERY SINGLE video I've ever shot as well as a couple short films I did. My email is damon@InYoFaceFilm.com and my twitter is @DamonJamal & Facebook -- although my facebook recently got full so you can check my other facebook page here.
