Jess Kazamel
Q What do you do?
“Within my extensive history as a customer experience specialist, the real drive behind my success is the opportunities I’ve had to expand the voices of brands through creative content production.”
Within content production, I start at the beginning with organizing shot lists and schedules and bring these tools to set to ensure a productive collaboration. Beyond my type A pre-production brain, I am also a food, prop, and wardrobe stylist, and hand model.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I began working in the client-facing industry at the age of 14 as a florist. Since then, every step in my career has brought me a job where I climb from being their go-to sales and customer experience hero to working with leaders and executives on creative ways to improve customer engagement. I take any opportunity to offer my production talents as a flex, and am always excited to use my skills with clients to create impactful mediums of communication.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
As a skilled collaborator, I offer transparency along with my loyalty and personal investment in a project—I also write a really stellar email. On a personal level, I'm Canadian, so very easy to get along with, eh!
Q What are you working on right now?
Content production for D2C and CPG products and brands, as well as continued work specializing in customer experience.
Q What’s your style?
Bright, bubbly, and queer. Pastels mixed with neons. "Dopamine" hair and outfits. My Instagram @jpkazamel and website www.jesskazamel.com are great representations of my personal style.
One of the projects I'm most proud of is HPV Barbie.
Check it out here!
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Styling branded content—wardrobe, nails, food, and props.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
The "who you know" aspect has been difficult. I didn't go to a university where you build connections that connect you to other connections. When I first started in the industry it was for acting, and found I was being boxed into the dream queer female player, meant to offer my skills for free to male directors. This prompted me to write my own scripts, and produce my own shorts, finally leading me to my happy place—producing branded content. Resources like ilovecreatives and Whohaha.com are wonderful, and I'm so excited to share my talents and continue to grow my network. Something that keeps being pushed to the bottom of the list is networking and industry classes, things my imposter syndrome avoids like the plague!
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Create structured and unique portfolios based on the work and templates I provide them.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I would have tried to convince myself that my value to men in my industry is more than sex. I spent a lot of years trying to navigate where I stand with my talents and worth in relation to the men leading the industry. Also, as much as it hurts to say, I would have spent less time producing theatre, and more in film and photography.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
I would love to talk to an expert about how to best build and organize a portfolio and cover letter/email to present my talents to project managers.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Branded video and photography content, D2C and CPG brands, humorous and relatable copywriting, small businesses, and start ups. Working with non-men is a priority.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
Ideally, I would love to work with a group of creators to produce content for small businesses and startups. I currently work regularly with a photographer producing branded content for CPG companies and we collaborate beautifully—doing so full-time would be the absolute dream.
Q What is your rate?
For freelance work, my current day rate ranges from $500-$800/day depending on the scale of the project. Alternatively, I like to offer a flexible scope that includes my partnered photographer:
(15) Photos + (3) 5-second stop motion videos = $1000.00
(24) Photos + (6) 5-second stop motion videos = $2000.00
For salaried positions, my rate begins at $70K annually.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
I am best reachable by email, jkazamel@gmail.com, and kindly request folks to include their budget along with the scope of the project. If a potential collaborator feels comfortable, I would also love to know their pronouns. Mine are she/her/hers.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Caitlin Elgin is an incredible leader within the digital content + lifecycle marketing industry. She is a fierce advocate for equal pay for equal work, life balance, and consumers. Caitlin understands the importance of customer facing teams and how they can lead a company to greatness.
Veronica Sage is my wonderful and whimsically talented partner in photography. An absolute treat to collaborate with, an ally, and an overall beautiful person.
James Kautz & Morgan Ruaidhri O'Sullivan have been making waves in the film industry creating a path for non-binary and transgender talents through their production company, Red Seed Films.
Jordan Orion is an honest, transparent, and unique influencer. I've worked with Jordan on campaigns for Min and Mon in the past, and she more than delivers. Also, her style is badass.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Rainbow hair, nails, & craft nights—ohmy!
This member profile was originally published in October 2023