Notable Alumnus: Jabriel McIntosh

Name: Jabriel McIntosh

Year: Graduated May of 2015

Degree: Marketing with a Minor in Real Estate                  

Hometown: Ellenwood

Website: www.Mcintoshbros.com

Campus Involvement: Spotlight Programs Board (Homecoming Director)     

Instagram: @stylesbyjabriel     

Her Campus: What have you been focused on since graduating?

Jabriel McIntosh: Wow, a lot. First off let me say when I started college, I knew my goal was not to finish and then go get a 9 to 5. I knew I wanted to create my own businesses. While in college I created two businesses; one called Obscure Goods, which I started with my best friend Elijah. We hosted a lot of culture events around the city focusing on music and art. The second company I co-founded was with my brother. Together, we started  McIntosh Bros and I knew once I graduated I wanted to take on McIntosh Bros full force. We had a lot of goals and it was my passion was to act on them. I wanted to get my own office space and a studio and I just recently did that. I  wanted to do things like go on tour, which I will be doing very soon. I did some things with Raury, Waka, and many other notable artists. My main goal was to stay consistent and on top of my work.

HC: What were some of the goals you set in college that you’ve accomplished?

JM: After college it’s mostly been business, business, business. My freshman year I set a list of goals with Elijah for the next three years. This included things like who we wanted to work with, being on the cover of the GSU newspaper or the cover of their website, and taking leadership roles. By my senior year, we accomplished every single goal. The people we wanted to meet, we now work with on a day to day basis. We have been featured on the cover of The Signal, on GSU’s website, and had about 3-4 articles solely about us.

HC: Which campus involvement influenced you the most?

JM: When I got to GSU my freshman year I knew that I wanted to be involved with Spotlight Programs Board. Spotlight is what really springboarded me forward giving me the opportunity to work with bigger budgets and artists. Additionally, it really taught me a lot about the business and how to work with people from different backgrounds. I became involved as a Homecoming director my freshman year and I was one of the first black freshman in years, if not the first to obtain that position. I would definitely recommend joining Spotlight to any individual at Georgia State!

HC: What’s your most memorable moment at Georgia State University?

JM: I think I have two top memorable moments. The number one memorable moment was while I was Homecoming Director for Spotlight. Our homecoming during that time was really undernoticed because our football team was new and nobody was into it. So I wanted to think of ways to make our homecoming more popular. So I did a slew of videos that got a bunch of views. One of which had the theme of “GSU, We run this town.” with this little kid rapper by the name of Key Swag 3000. Then we did a lip dub video to Andre 3000’s “Hey Ya” song featuring different on campus organizations. Intially as we went into the planning for this, a lot of people were so skepticial, hetistant, and really didn’t believe in it. When we posted it, it instantly blew up. USA Today ran it, and a lot of different blogs picked it up. It was just so refreshing that I spent so much time telling tons of people my vision, and many didn’t believe in me but once it popped, everybody was watching it and everybody loved it. My other most memorable moment was when I took theater and acting as an extra class my sophomore year, to see if it was something I wanted to do. It opened me up to not being so reserved, but being comfortable on stage or talking to people. So, I remember there was a homecoming concert with Miguel as the headliner. Whoever was supposed to host cancelled and th ey asked me to host the concert. Although I didn’t really think I could do it at the moment, I tried it out and killed it. It was a great milestone because I like to be more behind the scenes but I got a lot of love from friends and Miguel and others so it just let me know that that was something else I could do. Also, winning best editor, best director, and best actor for my film “Seven” at Campus Movie Fest was a big milestone. It was the first short film that I ever made (shot/edited in two days) and I got Top 5 in the nation for editing out of thousands of films. Then to top it off they ended up showing the film at the Cannes film festival in France. So I guess that’s about three of my most memorable moments.

HC: When did your love for videography/film making begin?

JM: I really fell into it because of my brother. My brother was doing a lot of professional photography around the city while I was in high school and eventually started doing videos. One day he was backed up with editing a video for a client and asked for my help so I edited it to my best ability. He sent it out to the client and everyone loved it and I basically just had fun with it. It wasn’t like work, it was fun so I made a career out of my new found passion.

HC: Tell us about McIntosh Brothers.

JM: We’re a very well rounded production company. We do both short and full feature length films, commercials, music videos, and much more. We recently produced a movie called Breathe (with our partner company in Hollywood, Phoenix 4 Productions) that was shown in the northside theaters of Georgia, and we’re also doing a tv pilot called “Make Time for Love” featuring reality star Africa Miranda, co-starring Brad James, and Carl Anthony Payne II. I  also was hired (around June) to run the video production side of Sprite for Atlanta. We have a series of short documentaries coming soon featuring: Zonnique, Exquisuite Eye, Bahja, Elhae, and Danger Dave (to name a few). We’ve just been building as much as possible, my brother does a lot of work with the bigger clients on the corporate side, and I handle a lot more of the urban side with artists and festivals. Just for being in the business for 3 or 4 years we’re doing pretty good for ourselves.

HC: What is the hardest thing you’ve had to overcome?

JM: I would say life in general. My freshman year in college, I did my numerology and it basically told me that this year, 2015, would be one of the hardest years in my life. I didn’t know what that meant at the time but this year alone I’ve lost family members and had tons of obstacles to overcome. There’s just been a lot going on in life period but as an entrepreneur life hits you at different times and you still have to continue to work, continue to grind. I have to push forward because I don’t have anything to fall back on. I can’t go back to a 9 to 5 because it’s just not me. Film and video is my life, this isn’t just a hobby.

HC: What are you excited for? (Looking forward to)

JM: The first thing is our studio space. It’s in South Atlanta and I’m super super excited to get it up and  running. Right now we’re just doing a lot of photo shoots, with one of our partners Bre aka Exquisite Eye. It’s been a goal of mine for a year and I finally got my own space.

HC: Describe your ideal future.

JM: I love the unknown, but my ideal future would be to continue to travel the world. Traveling gives you a different perspective on life and who you are as a person. Also, in the future I would like to have a really chill home, not a mansion or anything but a comfy home in Atlanta because this is where my heart is. Additionally, I want to have a second home in the Bahamas where my cousins live.

HC: What has shaped you into who you are today and what keeps you going?

JM: My family is the main thing that pretty much pushes me everyday to chase my dreams. Not to take anything from my father but I would have to say mainly my mom. My mom is like my angel, she’s bae, she’s the greatest human being on Earth in my eyes, she’s a queen. She taught my brothers and I at a young age to follow our dreams and do what we wanted to do. She was cool if we wanted different types of dreams. One of my older brothers is a painter and she was supportive fully in that. She would say “Make sure you’re a leader because the world is built around sheep, they will follow anything you do.” She always taught us you have to be someone to push the boundaries with art and never settle for mediocracy.

HC: Who’s your role model?

JM: Besides my mother being my first, I have a few. My second role model is Jamie Foxx. People are always thrown off when I say that but I always loved Jamie Foxx because if you look at his interviews and his story, it’s phenomenal. He’s another one of those people who others didn’t necessarily believe in. I admire him because he is one of the few idols of our time who has been great at every form of entertainment such as acting, comedy, and music. You don’t have to be amazing at just one thing like many people preach.

HC: What are some words (or a quote) you live by?

JM: My grandparents were a huge influence on me growing up, and they were apart of the civil rights movement. My grandma was a really strong woman and she also writes poetry. She randomly wrote me a poem one day when I was 17 and sent it in a letter by mail, and it said “Temptation leans on the doorbell, but opportunity only knocks once. Be thankful for what you have and never underestimate the possibilities”, and that’s pretty much what I live by. You can have tons of people hounding at you but you really have to be precise in what opportunities you take and you really cannot underestimate yourself and what you could do as a person.

QUICK TRIVIA

–          Biggest Pet Peeve? People taking advantage of my work (not wanting to pay for services) & people that walk slow

–          Favorite Films? Do the Right Thing by Spike Lee, City of God, and the Matrix

–          Favorite Book? Monster, the Alchemist,

–          Favorite Album? The Love Below / Andre 3000

Stay tuned, in 2016, you’ll definitely be hearing more from Jabriel McIntosh.

• alumni
• art
• creative
• entrepreneur
• film
• Videography