Today we’d like to introduce you to KJ Aultman.
Hi KJ, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in a small town on the gulf coast of Mississippi. I kind of fell into film young when my uncle gave me an old Sony camcorder so me and all of my closest friends would create these skits and music videos and upload to myspace. It was fun to create and produce those things but there was no curriculum or anything close to film or television so after graduating, I went to school to get a degree in graphics even in college, I still made videos and skits with friends but still didn’t think of it as a career because it wasn’t offered at my school. So my last year of college getting my graphics degree, we had a video assignment for a mixed media course and this was where I fell in love with every aspect of film. I recorded and edited my last ever band performance and turned it into a little film. So after getting my degree, I didn’t quite know where I wanted to go next. So I started looking up film schools and colleges with film programs. I applied too about four schools and got accepted to 3 out of the 4 I decided to accept the offer to the University of New Orleans I went to orientation fell in love with the campus and about two weeks before my time to move into my dorm my grandmother fell ill and my mom had a major surgery so with both of them not able to provide for themselves I decided to disenroll and get a job to help them around the house.
I ended up taking some general courses at the local community college for about a year while in school, I took out a 2,000 loan and bought my first camera and laptop to perfect my craft. I was looking for any way to get into a good school because money wasn’t an option so I kept entering the video contest to try and when scholarships and then I heard about this Disney college program internship. I applied and got in and I looked at this as my opportunity to finally get to film school and maybe network within the Walt Disney company. So in January of 2013, I drove 8 hrs away from my hometown of Mississippi to pursue a film career, I had no idea that this move would change my life and Florida would become my home. I always say I kind of have a Cinderella story. I worked for Disney for five years in food and beverage but while I was there, I took advantage of every opportunity and honestly made a lot of them myself. I used to set up meet and greets whenever I could with producers, creative directors, communications managers, designers, etc. trying to figure out how they got to where they are and what I should do to take the next step in my career. One day I did a tour of Disney’s broadcasting building and I knew this was where I belonged within the company.
At the end of the tour, I met an editor by the name of Dan who I stayed in contact with to show my progression as a filmmaker. One day I heard that ABC was producing a few episodes of the chew in the Epcot Park so I reached out to Dan to see how I could get on set he later asked his boss and they let me shadow a PA (production assistant) the days I was on the production. From that day on, I kept in contact with Dan as I started to transition away from the company. I wanted to get hired on some gigs as a cam op or editor so I reached out to Dan to let him know I was leaving the company he said to reach back out in six months Dan had become a manager in broadcasting and helped me become a freelance cam op for the Walt Disney company. Since then, I graduated from film school (f.i.r.s.t institute) in 2016 since then I started my own production company called 5600k productions we have been blessed to shoot for clients such as joey Fatone of NSYNC, Johnny Damon, Proslide technologies, face place photo booths, the Walt Disney Company, Boyz II Men, Courtney Adeleye, Magic Jump inflatables, A Game, UCF, Florida Lottery, and the list is continually growing.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road has never been smooth for me but I think the struggles have definitely made me who I am. I used to apply job after job and always fall short or be second best after getting door after door after door closed in my face, I stopped applying and created my own door that led me to shoot for the companies I was applying for years ago under my own brand.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in promotional content. I’ve been blessed to shoot for a big dance convention called intrigue, where I travel and shoot content for their dance convention but I also shoot commercial content for small and big brands.
I think I’m most proud of my four Telly Awards I’ve won in the last three years.
I think what sets me apart from others is my speed when it comes to editing. I want to say I probably have one of the fastest turnaround speeds in Central Florida.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I would define success as a lot of hard work, sleepless nights, perseverance and the biggest one sacrifice. I sacrifice a lot of things everyday to achieve and meet my goals.
Contact Info:
- Email: kaultman@5600kprod.com
- Website: 5600kprod.com
- Instagram: kj_5600k
- Facebook: kj aultman
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM-d4UARn49IKdmvZS87ZkA/about
