Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan Moore.
Jordan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
From an early age, I’ve always been fascinated with the arts. I used to play out characters by myself or with my friends, make up random games, and glue my eyes to the TV whenever my favorite shows were on. I began writing in middle school and started taking it seriously much later. I guess you could say my journey truly began in the summer of 2014. At the time, I was a student at the University of Alabama double majoring in Drama/Theater and Criminal Justice. During that summer, I was temporarily living in Atlanta for a law internship and discovered I did not love the law as much as I initially thought I did. While interning, I worked on a few sets as an extra on the weekends. I instantly fell in love with being on set. It was literally the last week of my internship when I met a director named Michael Coleman. He offered me an opportunity I could not refuse – stay in Atlanta, have him teach me everything I wanted to learn for free OR go back to college, learn all the same things but pay for it. I dropped out without hesitation and began my career in the film industry. I have to give a special shoutout to my cousin/manager, Micah because without his sacrifices and mentorship, I would not have been able to last in Atlanta during my first years here.
Initially, I started off as an actor, but my creative exploits led me back to writing and eventually directing. Honestly, I never enjoyed the waiting part between gigs that comes with acting. Telling stories has always been my first passion, so it was not hard for me to make the jump. There is nothing like coming up with an idea, writing it, and bringing it to life with a team.
My business partner Luis Lopez and I met in the summer of 2015 and began our production company IAF Media, LLC in 2016. In our early days, we made a ton of short films (some good and some we won’t ever talk about) thinking that we would become the next hottest things as soon as they dropped, but the industry quickly taught us things don’t always happen overnight. Some of our films were able to premiere at film festivals and others had successful launches online; however, things were still utterly slow and it felt like we were stuck in the same place. Despite the lag, we just kept working. The best advice we were told during those slow periods was to invest and believe in yourself – so we did. Separately, we changed our perspective on what working in film looked like and made it more universal. Specifically, we looked at it from the perspective that you don’t have to always work on set to necessarily work on film, there are companies all over that can use people with a camera.
Adapting that mindset, I picked up 35mm film photography and I began interning at the Atlanta Film Society as the Business Associate in the summer of 2017. My job was to help the Business Director with the wrap reports for the sponsors of the ATLFS and help the outreach for existing and potential sponsors. While interning there, I noticed the Atlanta Film Society did not have their own in-house video department, so I began bringing my camera with me to all of our events. Long story short, I went from an intern to creating the Video Lead position, establishing the first ever Video Department in the 43-year history of the Atlanta Film Society. Through my position at the Atlanta Film Society, I’ve been able to spotlight indie filmmakers working hard in the industry and promote their work on larger platforms while also helping the next generation of filmmakers. Through my photography, I’ve been able to work with artists like Quentin Miller, Travis Porter, and some other Atlanta legends that I never thought I’d have the opportunity to work with.
I also got to start a new CBD catering company with some of my best friends called The Hotbox. We specialize in CBD infused edibles like lemon pepper wings, hot lemon pepper wings, and macaroni. We started just a month ago and things have been picking up. When I was in college, I got in trouble for possession and was facing 40 years in prison as a first time offender. It’s crazy now that I’m a part owner of a cannabis company. We want to change the culture surrounding cannabis and offer more opportunities for people of color in the cannabis industry.
My journey has been a rollercoaster ride, but I’m thankful for every twist and turn. I have to thank God, my family, my friends, and my team for helping see me through. When I first started working in the industry, I always doubted my every move and held myself back. Back then, if you told me a college dropout from a small town in Alabama would be doing the things I am doing today, I would look at you like you were crazy. But, here I am. I quit doubting myself and my dreams came into fruition. I want to show others that despite where you came from or what you’ve been through, you can make your dreams a reality.
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?
There have been more struggles than I can count. I would not have it any other way though. Each struggle, each setback, every breakdown, has helped me to become who I am today. Each time that I fell down I was able to get back up (thanks to my support system) and keep moving forward. Instead of focusing on the struggles specifically, I’d rather introduce the mindset that helps me through when I’m in a rut.
In life, everything is truly a matter of perspective. No matter what, things happen and sometimes, it seems like the world is going to end; but then, tomorrow comes. When life happens, it is just that life. How we perceive it makes it good or bad. I believe the universe works for us and never against us. Everything helps us to move forward and become better us. You just can not give up, even when it seems impossible.
Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
So, I am the co-owner of two companies, IAF Media, LLC and The Hotbox, LLC. I also do photography under my pseudo name Scott Moon.
IAF Media, LLC stands for ‘Indie As F*ck’ Media or professionally, Independent Atlanta Films Media. It was co-founded with my business partner and best friend Luis Lopez. Our goal is to create great independent content and create a platform where independent artists can create without limitations. We also offer services like photography & videography for weddings, events, commercials, etc.
The Hotbox LLC is a CBD catering company founded by myself and three of my good friends. We specialize in our homemade smoked deep fried wings. We have options like lemon pepper, hot lemon pepper, classic style, and many more. Our macaroni and cheese is the top five of all time. I’m very proud of this company because despite us having negative experiences with the law and cannabis, we were able to make something positive out of it and create a company we can give to our families in the future. We had a pop-up tasting at the Atlanta Film Festival with 300 wings made and were out of for in less than 20 minutes. Our goal is to create a unique cannabis consumption experience for our consumers and new possibilities for people of color looking to get involved within the Cannabis industry. So, if you have any catering needs or questions about the industry please let us know. Note, we also do non-infused food and offer vegan options.
Scott Moon Photography is my therapy. I shoot 35 mm film and capture aesthetics and portraits. I believe film is the best medium to properly capture aesthetics and human expression. Through my film photography, I’ve been fortunate enough to make some dope art with a lot of great human beings. I’m thankful for that.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Love, mindset, and perspective -those are the three skills I attribute to my success. For me, I had to figure out what my biggest fear was in life and make peace with it.
In the early stages of my career, I used to doubt myself all the time. I constantly set myself up to these high expectations and standards that no human being could ever live up to. When I would not meet those standards or expectations, I was even harder on myself which did not work well with my mental health. I felt even more down on myself because I felt like I was overlooked and doubted by my peers despite my hard work and efforts in my career. In the fall of 2017, I had an ego death, where I learned to change my mindset completely. Two of the skills I mentioned were love and mindset. My mind was constantly working towards goals, but the problem is I could never fully envision myself living that lifestyle or being successful. Pretty perplexing right? I would say and think, “Man, I can’t wait to be rich!” But then moments later, I’d be like, “Are you really going to be rich? You didn’t even do anything today.” It really messed me up when I looked at it because I learned that I had a deep fear of success where I would purposely sabotage myself or get so full with anxiety I wouldn’t allow myself to even try. My fear of success was birthed from my mindset – I didn’t really love myself. I learned in my ego death, that for me, it was easy for me to tell myself I love myself but still have doubts about what I was doing. If I was going to make it anywhere in life, I had to change my mindset and how I thought of myself. So I began to do the work.
I learned to love the eff out of myself instead of just saying, “I love myself.” For me, unconditional love is positive and never negative. I quit allowing myself to talk negatively about myself or anything that I was doing. I instead began speaking words of affirmation and positivity into my life, truly believing that they would come to fruition. Once I learned to love the eff out of myself, I was able to work on my mindset and my vision. The things I dreamed about before, I could now actually see myself accomplishing them and slowly but surely those dreams manifested. I changed my energy to positivity and developed a perspective on the things happening in my life. Ultimately, I learned that good and bad really are a matter of perspective. I now believe, the universe works for us and never against us. The things I thought were failures in my career turned out to be my biggest blessings. For instance, I used to boast to all of my friends that I would start a platform that would allow indie filmmakers to display their work and have more than just their Facebook friends watch their content. I had several meetings with investors, producers, and nothing came out of it. I was rejected and even got scammed for my idea. Defeated, I thought everything was over and that I was a failure – a year later, I’m living out that dream and am now in a position to help many others. Once I changed my mindset, everything that I thought was out of reach manifested before my eyes. Now, I have new crazier goals that I can’t wait to see happen.
To me, success is not a destination but a mindset. Once I changed my mindset and believed in myself, a gateway of things became available. I believe through love, mindset, and perspective, you can achieve anything that you put your mind to.
Pricing:
- Scott Moon Photography Special – 3 looks, 3 locations $200.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://m.weddingwire.com/biz/iaf-media-llc-atlanta/457cf5bdc35df0d9
- Email: indieafmedia@gmail.com | thehotbox@icloud.com | scottmoonphoto@gmail.com
- Instagram: @indieaf_media | @thehotboxatl | @itsfilmbro
Image Credit:
The profile photo is by Kevon Pryce, The images of the food are by Luis Lopez, all other photos are by Scott Moon
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