Jamali’s eyeing success through lens of video camera

Jamali Jack’s life is lived with a passion. A passion that he wants St Vincent and the rest of the world to see through the lens of a video camera.{{more}}

And with his company, “iMaculate Imagez” and a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and mass communication from the Ming Chuan University in Taiwan, Jack does not intend to limit himself at all.

“This is what I am passionate about. I am just a passionate person. I want do interviews and documentaries on people who have a story to tell,” Jack told SEARCHLIGHT on Tuesday.

Jack is the second of five children born to retired Deputy Director of Airports, Joel Jack and accountant Janelle Jack.

The 33-year-old, who grew up at Stoney Ground, has experience in the media that spans over a decade.

He later lived at New Montrose for many years; then his family moved to Campden Park on the day before the Independence anniversary in 1989.

Jack obtained his primary education at the Petersville Primary School and then went on to the St Vincent Grammar School.

However, as many children do, Jack aspired to become a scientist. However, he took a different path while at Grammar School, as his love for computers and technology intensified.

“I was one of them who was always in the computer lab. After I finished school, I was not sure about going to Sixth Form, so my father advised me about Technical College. I went there and completed the electronic engineering programme.”

Three days after his last class at College in 1997, Jack said he received a telephone call from Tony Regisford of Island Koncepts Inc.

Fresh out of school, Jack took up his first full-time job as a digital editor at Island Koncepts Inc and sister advertising agency, Space Agency Ltd.

“He (Regisford) said he was looking for someone who eats, sleeps and drinks computers. I am there thinking, me? … Had anyone told me before, Jamali, you would be going into video production, I might have been like, I’m not really sure…”

And with his first paycheque, Jack bought — you guessed it: a computer.

In three years, Jack was promoted to senior digital editor and during that time, he has done hundreds of advertisements and several documentary films.

These include a documentary for the House of Hope Society on caring for people with HIV/AIDS; a documentary on the forest of St Vincent and the Grenadines; LIAT’s fashionable runway, which looked at 40 years of flight attendant association and the change in uniforms over the years.

“Being the youngest person working there and despite the lack of real working experience, I learned that it did not matter about age or how many certificates you had, but what really mattered was the passion I put into my work,” Jack stated.

Jack said working at Island Koncepts Inc. opened him to creativity, communications and production.

“I think at that time Island Koncept brought a higher standard to the media.”

Jack then left Island Koncepts after six years, and was employed on a two-year project in the Ministry of Telecommunications, Science, Technology and Industry as a web developer.

There, Jack was instrumental in the implementation of the official web portal of the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines, as the first web graphic designer.

Following two years on that project, Jack went to work for Right Stuff Ltd., where he was involved in visual production. After about four months, he gained a scholarship and began university studies in Taiwan.

Coming from a strong family, Jack credited a lot of his success to them for instilling in him values and lessons that would help him in his adult life.

He said Jesus was and still is one of the biggest influences in his life along with his father, basketball legend Michael Jordan, the late Steve Jobs and deceased pop legend, Michael Jackson.

Jack, however, admitted in deciding to go to Taiwan, besides wanting to gain higher education, he wanted to be closer to his then girlfriend, now wife, Jeana.

“I just know I had to get to Taiwan and besides love and all my working experience, I knew it would have been good to have the certification. Some people need to realise that there is a big difference between certification and qualification. There is a lot of people who are certified, but not qualified,” he said.

Jack revealed that despite the years of diplomatic ties between St Vincent and Taiwan and his years there, he never adjusted to a way of life in Taiwan, but rather “endured”.

“That doesn’t mean Taiwan is bad, but I always tell people that my heart was always home and I operated on St Vincent’s time, basically…”

He said the biggest benefit derived from being in Taiwan was not only the education, but also the experience.

“I got to interact with people from all over the world and got to learn so much about people from all different walks of life, which I think helped me in my time there.

“I learned to be more tolerant of people and being there has made me appreciate St Vincent even more.”

However, Jamali said being in Taiwan is not the best education he has received.

“I received the best education in my life before leaving St Vincent. Some people always think you have to go out there to get a good education. Maybe a higher education, yes, but in terms of the quality of the education, you can get it right here

“… I learned about discipline and when I was in Grammar school I was in Scouts, so that helped to mould me a lot,” Jack said.

He said he believes that people should not sell themselves short.

He added that Vincentians often look at other countries and see how advanced they are, but noted that Vincentians have something a government can’t do or build.

“We have to believe that we don’t have to limit ourselves. Coming from a small island, I’ve learnt that we are as good as others out there…”

Jack returned from Taiwan two weeks ago.

He said his first goal is to find a job and then continue to develop his own company.

“I hope that this company would be the type of company that is involved in video production, business presentations, to be the type of company that is about a higher level. Not just the regular advertisement, but rather an image that I want my company to portray…” he said.

Jack said he hopes to be able to teach others, but also stated that many people in the media don’t appreciate how much power they have, especially people in the electronic media.

“We just throw anything out there and don’t think about it. We don’t realise how we are shaping the nation. We need to understand that an image goes beyond just what you see … I want to get people to learn how they can communicate messages to their customers through ads.”

Already excited about the future, Jack is looking forward to interviewing people who have a story to tell.

“… Not just the politicians or the people who are always featured. It could be a garbage man. I don’t care. Everybody has a story to tell and we don’t know this because sometimes we just do not ask the right questions,” he stated.

He urged aspiring videographers to “be passionate” in whatever they do.

“You have to love what you do. We need to know that we can be the best at whatever we put our minds to. Don’t be mediocre,” he implored.

Jack’s work can be seen at http://jamalijack.webs.com/jamalijack.html , http://about.me/jamalijack, http://iimagez.webs.com/