Behind the camera: Jimi Falin

By Erin Dostal

Monday, May 23, 2011 | 3 a.m.

Every eight years or so, Jimi Falin reinvents himself.

He worked in construction for eight years before taking his current job as assistant manager at celebrity-hotspot-cum-destination-restaurant Nobu at Hard Rock Hotel, where he has worked for, well, eight years.

Now, he says, it’s time to take the next step: Making his side job and passion of videography into a career.

“Right now, I’m specializing in commercials for businesses,” he says of his company, Jade Star Studios (jadestarstudios.com), which he started with the help of three friends from Nobu. “I’m working with a lot of artists and DJs. It’s a ton of fun.”

Falin says one of his favorite projects, to date, was following a DJ through his day on the Strip. “At night the thing just comes alive,” Falin says of his high-tech, specialized camera, which brings the Strip’s colors into vibrant action. Filming was fun, he says, but the icing on the cake was when the DJ was so touched by how well the video turned out, he got tears in his eyes.

He says that’s what makes videography a passion, not just a job — the emotional connection.

“I’m just so passionate about videography,” Falin says. “You get caught in the moment. Explaining something in a new medium.”

Jade Star Studios is named after Falin’s two daughters, Skylar Star and Nixon Jade, who, he says, inspired him to try videography in the first place. He started filming their baby videos for fun about a year and a half ago and realized he loved videography.

But when was the moment he knew this hobby was his calling? When he couldn’t fall asleep because he was thinking about filming and editing.

And working at Nobu helped shape his video career, too, Falin says. That’s where he aquired plenty of people skills, which helps when he’s creating personalized films.

A year from now, Falin says, he’ll be working full time as a videographer for Jade Star Studios and his latest endeavor, Something New, a wedding videography company. They’re starkly different, he says.

“Jade Star Studios is the edgier one,” he says. “Everything we have for Something New feels light and clean.” But, he says, they’re both fun to work on with friends.

Falin says he’s still learning, but that he’s good and getting better. Besides, he hasn’t been at this all that long.

“Every project, I come out with ten times the knowledge I had before,” he says, with a giant smile on his face. “People look at it and say ‘Oh my God; it’s awesome’.”