Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacky Cheng.
Hi Jacky, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Cinema has always been something I’ve been interested in throughout high school and college. I would always find myself needing money in college so I sold all my camera gear. I graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems right when the pandemic started. Roughly around the same time, I visited my brother-in-law in Connecticut. He had a studio with all kinds of camera equipment. I was stuck without a path because I knew I didn’t want to go the corporate route. I knew it wasn’t for me. My brother-in-law, Han, asked if maybe cinema could possibly be an option. He told me if this is something I truly wanted to do that, I’d need to go all in. When I got back to Atlanta, I took all the money I had saved up working as a warehouse manager throughout college and spend all of it on courses and camera equipment. I researched and studied for about three months making sure I was capable of doing this professionally. I started with doing gigs for free from friend’s weddings to fitness promo videos.
In the beginning, gigs were really hard to get. I quickly realized that I needed to focus on the business side of running a media company for more than just getting the shot right. I joined a co-working space shortly after to network and collaborated with other creatives. The place was called Space Crew and I owe a lot to that community of creatives. Space Crew is no longer a co-working space but the friends I’ve made from there are one in a million. I got my first director gig filming a mini-documentary for an AAPI coloring book highlighting AAPI artists all over Georgia while I was at Space Crew. Since that documentary, I’ve positioned my company to be able to do anything media related. Whether that’s wedding videography or a full-feature film. Han checks up on me all the time and asks if I’m happy and enjoy what I do. I tell him I love what I do and thank him for pushing me to do this. I’ve been a professional doing freelance videographer/photographer for a little over a year now. I really appreciate all the help I got from fellow creatives and for simply giving me a chance. They know who they are! It’s been a full sprint the last couple of months with all the different jobs I’ve been doing and I have no intention of slowing down.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has been pretty bumpy. I think a big part of being a cinematographer is problem-solving. There’s always something that goes wrong at a shoot and it’s my job to solve it as quickly as possible. I focus on pre-production with clients in depth so it’s definitely more manageable.
We’ve been impressed with Chengyourlife Media Inc., but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Chengyourlife Media Inc. is my media company I started a little over a year ago. We focus on creating the visions our clients have in mind and more. We’ve done quite a bit this year amongst the AAPI community. As an Asian American, I put fellow creatives in their business with media content. As a brand, I’m extremely proud of what we’ve been able to deliver to clients. When we hit it right on the nail and the client is happy with the process and deliverables, that’s what I’m most proud of. Chengyourlife Media Inc. works with the client throughout the whole process from pre-production to the end product. We offer wedding videography/ photography, product videography/photography, founder videos, documentaries, and so much more!
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I have a twin brother name Jason. We used to stay up all night talking about what if’s and dreamt of ridiculous futures. It was a simpler time and some of my favorite childhood memories. He moved to Connecticut with my brother-in-law to pursue being a jeweler. Han really did everything in his power so we could chase our dreams!
Pricing:
- Wedding Videography Starting At: $3500
- Wedding Photography Starting At: $3000
- Founder’s Video Starting At : $1000
- Camera Op Day Rate: $800
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chengyourlife.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chengyourlife/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chengyourlifemedia
Image Credits
The two photos with me in the yellow jacket were taken by Rachel Kim. The other three were taken by Sunny Sin.
