Meet James and Jules Branaman | Videographers, Photojournalists and Editors, Producer, Drone Pilot

We had the good fortune of connecting with James and Jules Branaman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James and Jules, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I always knew deep down I needed and wanted a creative career but I wasn’t sure how. In college I began taking elective courses and most were creative based, so I continued pursuing those creative possibilities and found photojournalism. I really just needed to get out of my own way and believe that I could thrive in a creative-based career and voila, here I am. James started college seeking a business degree and was literally falling asleep in his first economics class. He took that as a sign that he was on the wrong path. The next semester he signed up for classes that were truly of interest, even if they didn’t apply to my major. He ended up in the art department and was amazed to find out anyone can learn to be an artist if they’re willing to apply themselves. He earned a degree in art with advanced studies in photography and later earned a degree in photojournalism.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The old saying is true, the one constant in our careers has been change. Evolution is the better way to put it. We both started our careers as photojournalists working in newspapers and television and as we saw those industries face struggles and many journalists desperately try to hold on to their positions, we voluntarily made the leap to go out on our own, first individually as freelancers and then realizing that we could be even better working together. That journalism background of being dropped into many different situations on a daily basis and being expected to provide engaging visual storytelling on deadline is a skill that has served us well throughout our careers. Over the years we transitioned from editorial still photography to primarily commercial video and at this point have expanded our skill set to the point that we often serve our clients as a small but mighty agency, offering end-to-end services for their campaigns. We can handle pre-production, booking talent, shooting stills & video (including drone aerials), editing and graphics, or we can just as easily be plugged into our clients already existing workflow and team to provide one or two of these services. We’ve even served with the National Park Service’s Artist-in-Residence Program spending 2-4 weeks at a time living and working inside 4 different national parks on visual storytelling projects. That flexibility and openness to collaboration really sets us apart from some of the more traditional video production studios. One of our recent clients hired us in part because of our photojournalism experience which enables us to gather content and follow the narrative as it develops. We are also looking into pursuing more photojournalistic documentary film projects in the future which kinda makes it feel like things have come full circle with our careers rooted in a storytelling foundation, but on our own terms which is quite fulfilling.

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?
Hike Beer repeat? We’re nature nerds so a lot of our “best times ever” revolve around the outdoors. There are some amazing outdoor options here in SoCal that we are always raving about. The fact that you can be in one of the largest cities in the US and hop on a short boat ride and enjoy a quiet beach on a wild island surrounded by the Pacific Ocean is unique to our SoCal region. Craft beer tasting can be an itinerary on its own. So we’d recommend combining all this goodness for an itinerary consisting of a couple days for LA food and brewery tours plus galleries and museums, then head up the coast and hit Malibu and the Santa Monica mountains. Cap it off with a boat trip out of Oxnard or Ventura to the Channel Islands for hiking, kayaking and camping.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh there are so many mentors we’ve had both individually and collectively. From college professors to peers, we’ve learned from so many smart and talented fellow creatives across many industries. There’ve been incredible producers, fantastic journalists and visionary clients that we’ve worked with throughout the evolution of our careers and business. To all those people we have a deep gratitude and we have in turn given back by helping to guide others who reach out for insight. Collaboration is a wonderful thing, it’s a connective and inspiring gift we’ve received from our mentors, co-creators and clients and we’ve made it a key element in our professional approach.

Website: www.TheBranamans.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebranamans

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-branaman-52a28491 https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbranaman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBranamans

Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/branamanvideoproduction

Image Credits
Please credit Debbie Walton Photography for the portrait of the Branamans Please credit TheBranamans.com for the seven other pictures submitted