Interview with Janelle Ryan, Music video director
via ReppingBeantown.com by Angella on 11/9/08
Source: http://www.reppingbeantown.com/2008/11/interview-with-janelle-ryan-music-video-director/

*Not too long ago, ReppingBeantown.com had the chance to conduct an exclusive interview with up-and-coming stellar music video director, Janelle Ryan. Besides the fact that the female director’s origins lie in Boston, we couldn’t help but to admire the poetry and hard-core truth that emerge from her work. Especially in her current piece, Hip-Hop4Ever by Final Outlaw. When a video director makes it top priority to display in those three to four minutes long, real stories such as “rape, struggling artist, broken hearts” and so forth. There is no denial that true talent is deeply present and is the ultimate proof that Hip-Hop is not dead.

Angella: I know that you’re from Boston, but what precise part of Boston are you from actually?

Janelle: I’m from Somerville, which is not too far from Cambridge, and like a two minute train ride from Boston.

Angella: Okay..yeah..it’s a little far for me though (laughs)

Janelle: Where are you from?

Angella: I am from Dorchester, actually

Janelle: Dorchester, ooh okay

Angella: Yes!

Janelle: My grandfather actually in Dorchester, I can’t remember exactly where, but he definitely lives over that way. I also have some cousins who live in Mattapan and Roxbury, so I’m a little bit familiar with your area.

Angella: Yeah..definitely. I think I am also aware that you have recently moved to New York City? Is that correct?

Janelle: I didn’t recently move. I moved about four years ago, but in New York time, which goes by really fast. I can’t believe I’ve been here for so long, I feel like time went by a little slower while I was living in Boston, but it definitely went by faster while I was living here.

Angella: You moved there to pursue your passion and your goals as a Music Video Director?

Janelle: Yes! I graduated from the New England Institute of Art with a degree in TV Broadcasting, and then I decided that New York would be the best place to go after that.

Angella: Nice!

Janelle: I wanted to continue my education, so I enrolled in Brooklyn College in their television and film department. But I didn’t like the program there, so I ended up leaving, then just started networking and stuff like that in New York.

Angella: Okay..so how has that been working out for you? How do you feel about it as far as opportunity wise and stuff?

Janelle: Well, at first it was a little difficult as far as balancing work, school, internships, and stuff like that, plus I was still kind of finding myself, even though it’s like a cliché term to use. I always knew that I wanted to do music videos, but I didn’t know exactly how I was going to go about doing it. Most people start interning at MTV/BET or become somebody’s protégé, but I really didn’t want to do that. When school got frustrating and I decided to leave, I used my tuition money to buy a camera and a computer, then started going out to different venues in New York City to film live artists and stuff like that, then I would post it for them online and it just kind of went from there. Eventually, I decided that it was time for me to start working on music videos, so I stopped filming live artists to focus solely on that. While I was working on another music video, I met Final Outlaw and we started talking about the possibility of working together. He was getting a huge buzz in the underground, so I figured it would be the perfect combination to take my video skills and his musical skills to combine and create a really amazing music video. So thus far, New York has been really great, but it definitely took some time and effort to be able to successfully direct a music video.

Angella: Looks like it, most definitely. Can you recall when and where did the whole “I want to be a music video director” thought popped up in your mind, or better yet is this something that has always been there from the get go?

Janelle: When I was growing up, I always wanted to be an anchorwoman..

Angella: Really?

Janelle: Yeah, I know that’s really random. I used to love watching the people who announce the news, even the weather people seemed cool to me. One day I asked my mom what that was and she told me that they were a reporter!

Angella: Okay

Janelle: But she told me you don’t want to be a reporter Janelle, you want to be an anchorwoman, because an anchorwoman is in charge, so I grew up with the aspiration of being an anchorwoman. Then I started seeing talk show hosts, and it looked like it was more fun, so I asked my mom what that was and she said it’s kind of similar to an anchorwoman, but they have their own platform to themselves, so I said to myself; you know what, I’m going to be a talk show host. I even said in high school that my aspiration was to become “The Janelle Show”, even though I didn’t know what that was going to be at the time, I just always knew that I wanted to do something in communications. That’s how I ended going to the Art Institute. With the help of the Art Institute, I fell in love with behind the camera, because they teach you both in front of the camera and behind the camera. Anyways, I’ve always been a big fan of music, so it just seemed like the right thing to do. I naturally combined the two. I love movies and I love music like I said, so starting out in the industry as a music video director is a great way for me to do it.

Angella: Yeah, I think it is also. Do you have any special inspiration from certain people that are actually in the music video directing game at the moment?

Janelle: Not necessarily! I get more inspired by the artist themselves when I hear a great song. I also believe that music videos have gotten worse as time has gone by.

Angella: Oh..Yes! Of course!

Janelle: So, when I hear a great song, I’m just like wow! I can make a really great video that I know people are going to enjoy. I immediately start envisioning scenes, characters, etc. So that’s what inspires me… great music!

Angella: I want to touch base a little on your video “Hip Hop 4ever” performed by Final Outlaw; when I saw the video, I can sincerely say that the view being demonstrated in this video is very poetic, street, but yet powerful all at the same time! How did that come about?

Janelle: Well, we started meeting in March, and it just started with initial type of things, mostly just loose ideas. It’s really difficult to be able to take an idea that you have in your mind and get it down on paper, then get it onto the big screen. So what I did was, I listened to the song, then I wrote down key words and key things that came to mind immediately. As you can see, with the video, there is a lot going on. Some of the people that I worked on the video with were even concerned about the amount of imagery that I wanted to put into the video. Normally, you would see that kind of thing in a movie.

Angella: Yes you would

Janelle: But I just stuck to my guns and said “You know what, I really want this video to be amazing and blow people away”

Angella: It is..

Janelle: There are like six different stories going on in the video, which Final Outlaw and myself crafted together. After we figured that out, we did casting, got a crew together, basically just the normal flow of a music video or movie. But on an independent level, so it takes longer. Basically you just have to get your ideas down on paper and find the best way to translate it onto film.

Angella: I think, well the six stories, they’re like really types of stories that anybody could relate to right now, from what I’ve seen

Janelle: Broken hearted people, rape victims, being a struggling artists, we wanted everybody to feel something from the video.

Angella: So, that leads me to my next question which I think you already answered it, but upon hearing the lyrics from Final Outlaw, that’s when those train of thoughts, imagination came to your mind, like “we need to have six stories to go with this, to go with that”?

Janelle: Umm, when I heard the song, actually I seen the song being performed before I actually heard the track. Like I said, I was going around to different venues and recording live artist, so while I was recording another artist, I actually seen the song performed. I saw the response he was getting to it, and I was like “wow, that’s a really cool song!” I wasn’t sure if there were even a track recorded for it at the time. I do remember when I heard the track for the first time and I realized that the track itself was just as powerful as the performance.

Angella: Okay..

Janelle: Like I mentioned earlier, I was working on another video when I met him. He was actually supposed to make a cameo in it. We started having initial conversations about how great it would be to do make a video together and it just kind of went from there.

Angella: Okay..so just to clarify this is your first video?

Janelle: Yes! It’s the first video that premiered successfully. The other video that I worked on had so many unprofessional problems with it. When you work with independent artists or unsigned artists who are trying to get their buzz up, a lot of them don’t know what they’re doing and they are not ready to make the kind of commitment that a more professional and well known artist would make. It’s a shame for them because they’ve seen the work I’ve done with “Hip Hop 4ever” and the gigantic buzz I’ve been getting from it. (Laughs) I’m sure they wish they were a lot more professional at the time. I may finish the video for them at one point, but that’s not what my focus is. I will take this time to announce that, I am actually going to be working on another video for Final Outlaw in the next couple of months.

Angella: Nice! So who are some of the people, artists that you would love to work with in the industry so far? Have you seen… like this is it, I want to be able to work with him or her, are there any people like that in your mind?

Janelle: Somebody that I really want to work with is MIA, I think she is amazing as far as her creativity goes and she really strives to do innovative things. I don’t think I have ever seen a video of hers that I did not like. They are always different, so I definitely would like to work with her. I would say Kanye West, although I don’t like the new song he just came out with, I think it’s horrible.

Angella: (laughs) with Janelle in unison

Janelle: But as far as his previous stuff goes, especially his Graduation album, I would have loved to direct one of the videos on that particular album.

Angella: Okay

Janelle: I would also love to work with some of the artists that I grew up listening to such as Brandy and Monica who are both coming out with new material soon. I also really enjoy No Doubt. I heard they are finally working on a new album, so I better hurry up (chuckles) and get my name out there more so I can have an opportunity to work with them as well.

Angella: What are your views on the Hip-Hop scene? I know you previously stated that it was horrible, but what can you actually say when you look at these videos?.. Because when people take time to view these videos that are premiering on MTV and BET at the moment. It is quite fair to say that they are the normal; lots of women, big cars, parties, clubs you know, lots of jewelry and all that.

Janelle: My number one priority as a music video director is that I try and stay away from that kind of stuff, even clichés that are kind of Hip-Hop references like rapping in front of a graffiti wall or you know having a blank black and white background. To you guys, it looks like a black and white room with a whole bunch of rappers inside of it. Naked women, flashy jewelry, all that kinds of stuff.

Angella: Very common.

Janelle: That kind of stuff is not helping nor inspiring anybody. All it is I guess, is portraying lies, ironically something that Final Outlaw is very passionate about. They portray lies to the viewers and the listeners that admire them so much. It’s been spilling downward since Hip-Hop started unfortunately. I am still a Hip-Hop fan though, and always will be. Based on the success of this video, I’ve gotten a lot of response from Hip-Hop artists wanting to do videos with me and it’s been horrible! The songs they send me are so bad. There was one artist that sent me a song about women who think they’re cute, but they’re not, so he’s making fun of them in the song. I mean it’s just ridiculous sometimes.

Angella: Oh my god…

Janelle: I don’t even really know what to say, expect that it’s sad. Although, I know that there are still good artists out there, so I’m not worried.

Angella: Looking ahead at your career right now, say five years from now, where do you see yourself landing?

Janelle: I definitely would like to make movies in the future, but I don’t want to do it until I’m better known. I have been to plenty of film festivals, I’ve volunteered and even done filming for them. Unfortunately, many of those filmmakers don’t go anywhere and just end up only working on that movie. No matter what it is, your blood, sweat and tears go into a project. If I were to sit there and work on a movie that’s like an hour and a half long or two hours or whatever and then not gain any success out of it, that’d be really traumatizing to me. I want to make my name known as much as possible so that when I’m ready to release a movie, I will have an audience ready to watch.

Angella: That’s understandable

Janelle: As far as the near future goes, I just want to make as many music videos as possible. It’s all about consistency; I have to consistently be able to show people new material. So my goal is to ultimately make movies, but right now I am concentrating on music videos.

Angella: What are your current plans as of now…any upcoming projects we should look forward to or are you still in the route of promoting “Hip Hop 4ever”?

Janelle: I am definitely still promoting “Hip Hop 4ever”, but a mistake that a lot of people make is that they ride off the small success they get from something and then they never do anything else. I am working on another video for Final Outlaw, as well as videos for two other artist that I don’t want to mention because they haven’t been solidified yet.

Angella: That’s fine

Janelle: So, you will be seeing three more videos from me this year. Next year, I want to do more videos in a shorter time span, but when you’re an independent director, budgets are very hard to come by, so you have to do as much as you can. I have no interest in working with artists that don’t want to make a commitment to do something great. Which of course includes some kind of budget. I don’t want to make videos that people are just going to play once and then never look at again.

Angella: Yeah

Janelle: The one thing about “Hip Hop 4ever” is that everybody replayed it after they’ve watched it, which is a testament to my work and a result of Final Outlaw’s commitment to creating an amazing product.

Angella: You definitely look like you’re really focused and you have your hands full and to tell you the truth, I like that because some people, some music video directors from what I’ve seen they’re like “Okay..we’re gonna do the same things over and over” and I can tell that the audience is growing tired of it, there are lots of degrading women in these videos and when I watched “Hip Hop 4ever”, I was like “wow” you know, like the colors, surrounding and everything all were very catchy to me and it’s like somebody standing right in front of me and reciting a poem, but at the same time it gives you that rhythm you can bounce to. In closing, I really love that video! You did a great job.

Janelle: Thank you Angella! I am so glad you liked it, and I just want to say that I think it’s so awesome that somebody from Boston started a Hip-Hop site, you know, to bring Boston closer to New York as well as other towns. Like I told you earlier, I found your site through a site in New York, so I thought that was really cool. I did not realize there was a blog site out there that was “Repping Beantown”

Angella: (Laughs) that’s what so many people say! Do you know how many messages I get saying that! We are still working on the site though, especially for artists from Boston like you to get their shine on. I want to thank you for this interview, and I wish you all the best with your work and I will be looking forward to seeing more of your work because you’ve done a great job with this video and I love it so much!

Janelle: Thank you! And ReppingBeantown.com will definitely have first views of whatever my new material is.

Angella: We hope so! Thank you very much and you have a great day

Janelle: You too.