Meet Jabari Marshall | Director & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jabari Marshall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jabari, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
One way my work-life balance has changed is by no longer overestimating how much work I can handle. I’ve had to find out the hard way what burnout looks like and how it affects those around me. There are
working relationships and friendships that have been built by my ambition to make films and learn more about the business. As well as, some relationships that have been cracked and damaged because I was doing too much simultaneously, and I dropped the ball and let some people down by not fulfilling my promises I made. Those moments deeply affected me and I wish I could take them back, but I’m grateful for the lesson I’ve learned about slowing down, doing one thing at a time with intention and letting myself relax.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
So, growing up I was always more aligned with art, making stories and stretching my imagination. My mom always told me I was more left brain than I was right brain. Some of my earliest memories are of me making up random movies with my action figures and eagerly showing them to my mom and sister, I’d say that was the foundation for the career path I’m currently on. Throughout elementary school, middle school and high school I was always told I’m “overly-sensitive” and that I’m “too emotional”. Growing up especially as a young naive black kid, that was always used as an insult against me. It made me feel ashamed and confused on who I was or who I thought I was supposed to be. I was impressionable and trying to figure out how to maneuver in the world and it was pressed down on top of me that feeling things so deeply is a weakness and can only hold you back in life. Now that I’m a little older and a little wiser I am more grateful of how much strength there is in empathy. To understand Sonder and the importance of treating others how you’d want to be treated, is a concrete foundation to being a creative.

Since being at SCAD I’ve had the pleasure to meet so many hard-working and wonderful people who I’m grateful to call friends. I’ve learned how much of a core value being reliable is to me. To be the type of person people can depend on, and be there for support when they need it is who I want to be, I’ve made the mistake of not being that person more times than I’d like to admit and experiencing first hand how that can change people’s perception of you I don’t want to make that mistake again. I have learned so much about self-forgiveness. Accepting my flaws and still trying to be someone I can be proud of anyway. I’ve been in a transformative phase for the past couple of months, I feel different-a good kind of different. I’m moving forward, one foot in front of the other and I’m optimistic about my future.

A project I’m excited about is the release of a short film I wrote and directed last summer called; Dinner For Two. It’s based off of a script I wrote in class and I knew I wanted to make it into a reality. It took a while to get the film through the Post-Production process but I’m not only proud that I made a film simply because I was passionate about it but also because I edited it myself, I taught myself how to color grade for this film and I had to do the sound design myself which is a field I’ve been wanting to get into for a long time now. So I hope this film is the first of many.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Some of my favorite places to visit in Atlanta; One is the Ponce City Market, there are a number of wonderful shops there, outlets, and any type of restaurant you can think of Ponce has it. I’d also suggest the High Arts Museum, it’s a beautiful museum to see any number of different pieces and portraits and creations that have a rich history to them. And lastly of course there’s the Georgia Aquarium, this might be an easy one but the Georgia Aquarium is a staple in Atlanta. I don’t think you can say you’ve been to Atlanta if you haven’t visited the Georgia Aquarium. I never get tired of going there, there are so many adorable creatures there with awesome events going on and it’s about as close as you can get to the ocean in Atlanta.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shoutout my Mom, Dad, and my sister. Those are the three people I can always count on for guidance and advice, even the hard things that I may not want to hear. They have always been supportive of my goals and ambitions and since enrolling in film school they have been my constant anchor of love and care. I don’t think I’d be where I’m at now without them.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshall_arts2003?igsh=MTRxcDZzaTFoajRxeQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Marshall_Arts101

Image Credits
Rhiannon Shakir

Tyler Buffaloe