Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamar Rivers.
Jamar, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started almost a decade ago in New Jersey. My passion began with taking theatre as an elective at a community college. That was where I fell in love with the process of storytelling. I began to involve myself with as much relevant work as I could; plays, web series, and short films. During that time, I was making active steps to produce a professional acting career in the industry. That’s when I found out how challenging this industry really is. The catch 22 threw me off quite a bit. I began researching places to live in other than NY and LA, which the business was already primarily thriving in. I came across the tax incentives in the south. Louisiana was ranked #3 at the time. After continuous research, I found that Atlanta was projected to outgrow Louisiana within a couple of years. So, I decided to give it a shot and moved to Atlanta, GA.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth, ha– no way! One of the first major steps was to secure representation. After a years of plenty rejections, investing into workshops and literally non-stop active growth toward my dream, I finally secured a rep. The rejection process has taught me how bias the business can be. We (actors) are judged at every step of this process. Some reps turned me down, because I looked like their ex-husband or, I was too tall or, for whatever personal reason they felt about me deemed to be unfit at that time. However, once representation was secured, the fun part began… auditioning time. This is the gateway all actors, expert and novice, must pass through. This will test your perseverance, courage and really is the epitome of the grind it takes to succeed in this business.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am currently represented by Houghton Talent Agency. My agents are all phenomenal! They treat the business like a family and push for you (the talent) to succeed. Through Houghton Talent, I have been given the pleasure to work on 15+ commercials and a couple of films. You can catch me recently on Doom Patrol, a new DC tv show. That project was fun to work on. Unfortunately, my character was killed off. Ha! Other than that, I have my own production company called Farmin’ Dreams Studios. I am partnered with a couple of great friends of mine. We create and produce our content from the ground up. I’m talking from writing to casting, to producing and even packaging the content. It’s tough work, but I love it. Creating your own projects teaches you a lot about the business. It has blessed me with a new perspective and plenty of hard-earned knowledge on what it takes to complete a project. Our short film “Heart Of A Child,” was recently nominated at the 168 International film festival in LA. We were one of the many finalists, out of 50k contestants worldwide. That was so amazing! We had eight nominations and competed with top talent and professionals in the business. That moment inspired me to trust the process more.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Creating my own content. Envisioning from inception to completion is where my passion truly lies. Nothing is more rewarding than that. It’s challenging to create a project in the independent film industry. Utilizing limited resources to create a vision for the audience to connect to is more difficult than you think, but its where the creative in me really comes to life. Georgia really has cultivated a fast-growing film community. The people are passionate and love collaborating on each other’s projects. I have been very fortunate to connect with many of the passionate minds in this community and am looking forward to more.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.farmindreamsstudios.com
- Instagram: @_Jrivers
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6501452/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Image Credit:
Doom Patrol
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