Jake Simkin is a wandering Shooter/Producer who has come home after 15 years of being on the road having worked in the Middle East in the humanitarian and commercial sector.
Having studied and worked as a cinematographer, he formed a company called Dork Films and worked for the companies as a Producer, Director or as Cinematographer mainly in music videos.
Jake found a calling to travel and see the world and what it meant to be a human being on this earth after the Boxing Day Tsunami tragedy in 2004. He has been to most countries in Africa and the Middle East covering conflict.
Jake Simkin has worked for the UN and ICRC as a Communication Director and several NGOs as well as production companies setting up the better production teams and studios.
Later on he decided to work more as a freelance photojournalist covering the war in Syria, Iraq and working more as a shooter producer for documentary productions.
He now returns home to Melbourne where he uses his life skills to be a much better story teller in books, films and in media content work. If he is not working you will usually find him tinkering on motorbikes and or hiking trips.
SAM FRENCH
An Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Sam's work has appeared on HBO, BBC, CNN, Channel 4 News, Al Jazeera, National Geographic, and other broadcast outlets.
Sam spent five years in Afghanistan, where he directed the Oscar-nominated narrative short film “Buzkashi Boys.” Most recently, his documentary With This Breath I Fly, about two heroic Afghan women fighting for their freedom after being imprisoned for “moral crimes,” won the Special Jury Award at the Salem Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival.
Sam has directed episodes of the Emmy-nominated documentary series Religion of Sports, the Emmy-nominated series Why We Fight, and the Red Bull series All In and Life of Kai. He is currently adapting Richard K. Morgan’s epic fantasy series A Land Fit for Heroes for television.
Sam believes in the power of storytelling to connect people across different cultures, and that if we share our stories, we can change the world. He lives in Los Angeles.
Experience
Vlog Content Creator at Adventure Machine
June 2018 – Present The World
Video Blog on Moto Travelling the world.
Shooter Producer – The Fighting Season at Shroeder Productions
2014 – 2015 Afghanistan
Shooter / Producer on a six part tv series for Direct TV and Netflix on America’s longest war overseas in Afghanistan and the troop draw down.
Communications Director at United Nations Development Programme
2009 – 2010 Kabul, Afghanistan
Directed video and worked on capacity building with media staff of UNDP’s program NABDP with the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.
Producer / Cinematographer at Development Pictures
2011 – Present Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Kenya, Sth Sudan, Syria
Producer of television, commercial and corporate videos for humanitarian and development aid agencies as well as corporate clients.
Education
Cinematography at AFTRS
2000 – 2001 Sydney, Australia
Learnt everything about cameras and cinematography
Exhibitions
Head On Fesitival Group
Bondi Beach Sydney, Australia
Exhibited photos from my Afghanistan Taliban collection