Meet John Ariete of J5 Media in Tempe

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Ariete.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
After spending much of my early life focusing on drawing and painting, and being recognized for it, I always felt like my career trajectory was naturally leading towards being a concept artist. I’ve always had an appreciation for the gaming industry and a lot of my friends were also pursuing a career in it. It wasn’t until an elective course that I took early in college that I learned how to use video editing software and found myself getting more and more fascinated with storytelling.

During that time, I would often film little skits with my friends using my iPhone 4 and even created a little documentary about it for a final project. I felt a substantial tipping point when it came to my real passion when I picked up my first video-capable DSLR.

When I first realized that I could achieve that ‘cinematic film-look’, I was hooked. That is when I realized that filmmaking was my calling. I’ve been doing this for about 7 years now, and that addiction has only gotten stronger.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not at all. There were plenty of challenges in my journey as a cinematographer, and there are many more along the way. Early on, when I was learning about manual settings for filming with a DSLR, I faced many challenges in adjusting exposure, color science, editing techniques, and other technical aspects. I took up filmmaking relatively late in my young adult life and never went to film school, so I found myself watching tutorial after tutorial on YouTube when it was picking up steam.

Also, despite finding a passion in filmmaking, I often faced doubts over what I would make of this medium as a profession. I used to think that the idea of being successful in filmmaking was to put yourself among the likes of Stephen Spielberg or Martin Scorsese. I found myself being overwhelmed with things like screenwriting, storyboarding, and thinking that I had to be generally good at everything if I even wanted to be successful in this field.

Since then, I’ve focused more on collaborating with other creatives while fine-tuning my skills. I’ve embraced the idea that filmmaking is about creating what’s meaningful to me and not get caught up in the pressure of becoming successful.

Please tell us about J5 Media.
J5 Media started out in 2013 with a focus on graphic design services. Over time, I have slowly shifted that into video production for small businesses and start-up organizations. In my current full-time job, I’ve had the opportunity to go out in the field and create ‘customer stories’ that encompassed the struggles and passion behind running a small business. I was given the creative freedom to fully produce these short documentaries, which I eventually took elements of and cultivated it into a service for my freelance business. I have also specialized in wedding films over the past year.

Regardless of the type of production, what I feel sets me apart from others is my focus on cultivating an engaging narrative out of the conversations I have with my clients. My experience in interviewing a wide variety of small business owners combined with my own experiences has allowed me to continue getting better at what I do.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a reason. However, if there is anything I would have done differently, it would be to pursue filmmaking a little earlier in college.

For what felt like the longest time, I struggled in thinking I’ve come too far as a fine arts major with a focus on the illustration to change my mind and focus on film in my early 20’s. I felt that my indecisiveness during that point in my life resulted in many of those doubts I had creatively.

Pricing:

• I currently offer Wedding Highlight Film packages starting at $1,700.
• I also offer logo design services starting at $250

Contact Info:

• Website: j5media.net
• Phone: (480) 282-7195
• Email: john@jfivemedia.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/jfivemedia
• Facebook: facebook.com/jfivemedia
• Twitter: twitter.com/_jfivemedia

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