Today we’d like to introduce you to Xavier Edwards.
Hi Xavier, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Originally started in 2011, which was also my Junior year in high school. Being involved in the sports world as an athlete always led me and teammates to watch a lot of highlight tapes. I would often watch tapes on mute but instead listen to my own choice of music that I felt went better with the tape. I first taught myself how to take those tapes I’d always watch and edit my own song choices on top of them for fun and then it led to the next step of teaching myself how to edit videos and create highlight tapes for myself, my teammates/the team in general, my younger brother and his teammates/youth league team. In turn, that led me to become known as the highlight man throughout the county of my hometown Cocoa, FL. I started to gain business inquiries about creating highlight tapes for people of all age groups and levels from youth league to college. Since then I continued to further embed myself into the field as it has become my passion. It eventually led me to get a camera so that I was able to capture my own footage to edit. Through the years, one thing that has always remained constant is the involvement of Music/music production into my video productions. As I’ve grown, I started treating my own productions as mini-movies and along with a great movie usually comes a great soundtrack/musical score. I’ve even included some of my own instrumental creations into some of the creations I’ve made. I’m a firm believer in music illustrating life and a great balance leads to a great creation.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Nothing is ever smooth when growth is involved. A muscle can’t gain strength unless it’s met with a level a stress it has to adjust to. With that being said, it definitely hasn’t been the easiest road at times. But those times always shaped me for the better so I’m always thankful, and I know that nothing great comes overnight. You set a big goal and a bunch a smaller ones along the way. You push through whatever obstacle that arises, hit that goal and move on to the next. That = progression & growth.
It’s a marathon, and the marathon will always continue. Nipsey Hussle”
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a cinematographer, photographer, & Music producer which is what my production business mostly consists of. What I’m mostly known for is Sports cinematography, mainly football.
What sets me apart from others is my attention to detail. I’m a perfectionist and to me, the smallest thing, if not corrected, can throw off the whole entire production. Every detail matters when trying to engulf your audience and making them feel what they’re seeing through my lenses.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Just do it. No matter what it is. Find what you love, work at it, learn it, perfect it, love it and have fun with it. If you’re truly passionate about it, let that be more than enough to light the fire for your path. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, and honestly when you really feel that pull towards it, nothing anyone says will stop you anyways. Move how you feel is right, so there’s no room left for regrets or looking back. Always remember “failure” is nothing but a lesson learned, don’t let it ever mean “stop” or “quit”.
When starting out, I wish I knew how expensive this passion would be, lol but no, it’s easy to look back and say, “I wish I knew this or that” but I think that I knew exactly what I needed to know at the time and as time went on I learned what I needed to learn when the time was right for me too. Everyone’s pace of growth is different.
Contact Info:
- Email: zayxje@gmail.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/xjeproductions
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/xjeproductions
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/xjeproductions (New)
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/XavierJEdwards
- Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/xjeproductions
- SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/xjedwards
- Other: http://tiktok.com/@xjeproductions
Image Credits
Chad Price: Instagram @cxp30 Anthony Pelt: Instagram @ap_thebigpicture_jp Shellie Hattaway: Instagram @sweetsunshine0315
