The moment Chassidy Jade picked up a video camera, she found her calling. She was just a teenager, volunteering in the a/v department at her Memphis church. “I was always creative, but I didn’t know how I was going to be creative,” she recalls. “Once I got a camera in my hands, I knew this was it.”
She started learning more about all facets of the church’s video production, and eventually got a scholarship to the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. It was there that Chassidy learned she loved video editing even more than being behind a camera. “It’s the most creative part of the process,” she explains, “where you get to put all the puzzle pieces together and tell the story in the most creative way.”
After graduation, she quickly found work in Miami as a technical director for concerts, music festivals and tours by big-name musical acts including Big Sean and Chris Brown. “It was insane. Craziest experience I’ve ever had to this day,” laughs Chassidy. Life on the road was hard, she explains—setting up all the a/v equipment in the morning, breaking it all down after the show, and moving on to the next city with only a short break in between, and all while also editing “highlights” videos of each performance for the artists’ websites. “It was cool and probably the most fun I’ve had in my career. But very intense,” she admits.
The pace slowed down a bit as Chassidy transitioned to working for a Miami production company that had a contract with Viacom’s television networks. She began editing promo spots and commercials for VH1 and BET, and soon began freelance editing for national programs like The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Steve Harvey. However, the inconsistency of freelance work and the desire for more artistic opportunities led Chassidy back to Memphis.
In addition to her full-time editor job at Running Pony, Chassidy is very involved in the independent film and art scene in Memphis. She’s directed her own indie film, Brown Ballerina, and music videos for artists including Jessica Ray, Charles Streeter and the Tribe, the Brandon Brown Collective, Black Cream, and Taliba Safiya. She also produces a show called “Visuals and Vibes” to showcase films and artwork geared toward design and mixed media created by female artists. The show is held every quarter at the CMPLX, a space created by non-profit black arts organization The Collective. One coming attraction you can expect to see at a future show: Chassidy’s newest indie film, untitled for now, which is sure to be another big step in her creative development.
