My name is Jabari Clarke-Pennegan, I’m a Filmmaker and Videographer with about 15 years of experience, working in New York City and overseas. I started doing videography and making short films in my early 20s in college while I studied production, circa 2009. I became a freelancer while at New York Institute of Technology, and NYIT would in fact become one of my clients, for a brief time.
By 2011 I made my first short film, the completion of which led to me working on a low-budget feature film as a cinematographer. Before this, I borrowed cameras to film my work, but after completing the feature film a cast member of the production thought I was talented enough to have my own camera, and purchased for me a Sony EX1R, for which I am eternally grateful.
By 2014 I won my first award in the Ultimate Filmmaker Challenge for the short film “The Broken”, which had to be written, cast, directed, shot, and edited in less than 7 days. It was a very tumultuous shoot, but the film swept the challenge, winning both the main event and the audience choice award. Later in 2014, I would also make a short film titled “Not Guilty” a project that started off challenging. Still, as the cast, producers, and I persevered, the project would go on to screen in about a dozen film festivals and win best short at the Viva Latino Film Festival in 2015.
In 2017 I got the opportunity to direct a music video titled “Come On Let’s Go” which was overall well received and would go on to screen in the Global Nonviolent Film Festival, receive a feature in Daria Magazine, and win best music video at Ocktober Film Festival’s tenth anniversary in 2022.
Outside of making short films, I’ve completed over 400 freelance videography jobs since I started in 2010. I’ve worked as a one-man band and as a member of many different teams. I’ve covered fashion shows, conferences, concerts, interviews, panel discussions, weddings, and more as a camera operator for live-edited and streaming events.
Despite the modest success I’ve seen in my work, I still faced many personal challenges: difficult people, failed projects, and life hardships that forced me to take a detour from my intended path, even so, I have not given up pursuing my dream of being a full-time film and television director. Thank you for taking the time to visit my site, and for getting to know me. I hope you’ll enjoy the work that I’ve shared and the stories about my work, that I’m going to tell.
