Jake Mckenna, better known as Jake The Shooter, is a 21-year-old director, editor, and content creator working in Los Angeles, California. After finishing high school, Jake left his hometown of Boston to study film in the industry’s capital and pursue his dream career as a director. In a few short years, he has exceeded expectations for countless creative projects and worked with numerous notable clients, including Trippie Redd, PnB Rock, Bia, and more. Jake The Shooter specializes in making top tier music videos and plans to use his expanding platform to propel new artists into the spotlight. Six months ago, he founded Shooter Co, a burgeoning music media brand designed to discover and develop up-and-coming talent. “At the end of the day, I really want to work with artists that want to work with me, want to be a part of my brand, and see the potential of what this could become.”
Sheesh Magazine was lucky enough to chat with Jake The Shooter about his initial interest in film, experience directing Larray’s “Cancelled” music video, and advice to fellow video creators.
When did you first take an interest in film?
I’ve been making videos since I was around 15, but I started taking filming seriously when I was a senior in high school.
Why did you decide to drop out of film school?
I just felt like it wasn’t helping, it wasn’t progressing me. I didn’t really learn much at film school. It’s a lot of money to go there and it takes up a lot of time so I figured if I left it would be okay.
Where do you feel like you learned the most then, if not at school?
Most of it was self-taught and through talented people I’ve met and been around. I think I’ve learned the most being behind the scenes on set for bigger stuff. For instance, when I first did a video with Bia that was shot with a big crew. That was the first time I got to see a big production and how they operated. Film is definitely something that can be learned from experiences.
How has quarantine affected your work life?
It definitely slowed it down a little. I was supposed to go on tour with Bia and Russ but that got cancelled, obviously. So I just had to figure out what else to do. I started filming more videos in LA and luckily it worked out but it could have been bad for sure.
What is a day in the life of Jake The Shooter like?
I wake up, check my texts, check my Instagram, check everything. And then usually I have a few things I need to get done for the day, which I get done. Some days I’ll have a shoot so I’ll be busy all day. Today, I need to edit a video for Bia’s Rolling Loud performance that she has tomorrow. We also just dropped a video with PnB Rock so I need to roll that out on all my socials and do other stuff like that. Then I’ll go out, get food, and you know just hang out.
Do you like living in LA? What are the best and worst parts of being here and in this industry?
I love LA, it moves so much faster than back home. Everyone in my industry is here so that’s why I’m here too, but I go back to Boston every few months. The best part of being here is probably how sporadic it is, everyday is something new. Sometimes I’ll get a phone call that’s like ‘yo, we need to shoot this video in a week for whoever’ and I’m always just like ‘yeah, let’s do it.’ The downside would be that there’s a lot of fake people here, but I don’t really care about that. There’s not many cons, honestly.
Is there anything you want to change about the industries you’re involved in?
I feel like lately everyone’s been touching on the record label situation and how record labels are notorious for screwing over artists. To combat that, I plan to build Shooter Co into a record label that houses every resource an artist would need. I hope to create a new lane for upcoming artists where they’ll be able to sign to this independent label and not get fucked over by a major one.
When did you combine your passion for film with music?
The first music thing I filmed was this concert that my friend was throwing a few years ago. I met a bunch of artists there that were all from the area and I started shooting for them. And that experience made me realize I love music, I love making videos, and it makes sense to cross them.
Do you have a favorite video of the ones you’ve directed?
I really like the “somebody, some body” video with Brevin Kim, that’s one of my favorite videos. I also love the Larray video we did that just hit like 30 million views, that was a big one.
Is the Larray “Cancelled” video the most viral thing you’ve produced?
Oh yeah, that’s propelled my career a lot further already. I literally just got a text about doing a video with Dixie D’amelio featuring Wiz Khalifa. That would be crazy.
How did you get the opportunity to direct for Larray?
I shot a video for this kid named Ty Fontaine, and he’s signed to a label called 10k, and I guess a bunch of people at 10k really liked the work I did for him. Larray is partnered with 10k projects so he reached out to them asking for a good music video director. We hopped on a call and he liked my ideas so it just happened. Shoutout to Travis from 10k, he’s the one who hooked it up.
Is there any one thing you want artists to take away from working with you?
I think it varies. When a video is premiering on my channel, it’s a growing moment for me and the artist where we brand it together. Those moments are super special because we are unveiling this new artist to the world. And when I work with bigger artists… I’m not sure if there’s any one thing I want them to to take away from the experience… I guess just to do another video!
Is there any dream artist you want to shoot for?
Yeah, I want to work with Drake and other big artists, people that I get really excited when I listen to their music. I want to do videos for Lil Baby and Gunna, people like that.
Do you have any on-set shooting essentials?
My computer, a hard drive, a fucking 42 inch monitor that I edit on, and my phone and my wallet.
Have you had any really bad experiences while trying to shoot? How did you overcome them?
Yes, there’s always issues on set. I think the biggest issue was one time I had a hard drive break and there were like three finished videos on there that weren’t out yet. I needed to fix the hard drive, so I unscrewed it myself and wired it back together and somehow got the footage off of it. But that was such an upset, I was so afraid the videos on there were going to be gone.
Is there any piece of equipment you recommend for people starting out?
Equipment doesn’t really matter, you can make anything with anything. I have a hundred dollar little VHS camera that I film stuff on and it looks sick. You could use whatever, honestly, but I’d say the best baseline camera to get is one of the Sony cameras, I have the Sony a7 II and I’ve shot a lot of videos on that. But now we usually rent ALEXA minis, which are like eighty-thousand dollar cameras.
Any advice you have to aspiring video creators?
Just go one-hundred and fifty and you’ll make it. Everyone that’s out there grinding and doing something, keep going, keep pushing and don’t let COVID stop you.
Follow Jake The Shooter on Instagram and Youtube and check out upcoming artists on Shooter Co’s Instagram and Youtube.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
