By Nick Smith
Chris Jadallah is a busy man. He has recently worked on a music video, a short film, episodes of Cold Case Files and has a feature film coming up in Mobile. He heads a media production company called Calliope in Pensacola and he founded the sketch comedy group Kitty Get a Job. Despite this impressive workload, multiple awards and growing success as a filmmaker, he remains modest and appreciative. ‘I feel so lucky that I get to do this at all,’ says Jadallah, who grew up in Pensacola.
Luck doesn’t have much to do with it. ‘I’m living proof that you don’t have to be a genius to do what I do,’ he says. ‘You don’t have to be best or the smartest. But I will work my hardest to make a project happen.’ There’s something inside him pushing him to do the things he wants to do and tell the stories he wants to tell.
Some of those stories are very silly. Fart gags, movie riffs, pandemic satires and bad puns have all been produced under the banner of Kitty Get a Job, a sketch comedy group that Jadallah describes as the key to his work. ‘It represents the balance of doing what I love versus doing what I have to do to do what I love.’ Kitty was created to make comedy videos and help actors and crew to develop their skills. ‘They grew into what they wanted to be,’ says Jadallah. ‘I’m lucky to be surrounded by people that are better than me, who elevate me.’
Jadallah’s more serious company, Calliope Films, was founded in 2015 and has steadily grown ever since. ‘I don’t have to be somewhere from 9 to 5,’ he says, ‘I’m in control of what I get to do but I still have to pay bills.’
Running any business is incredibly tough and time-consuming but a film business specifically has to educate its clients about cost and value and convince them that we live in a world of visual communication.
‘People don’t see the struggle behind the scenes,’ says Jadallah. ‘I wasn’t sure if Calliope was gonna work. Some friends and family told me it wasn’t going to. I ate ramen noodles for two years. I bought my first camera on a credit card. But I saw a vision of what it could be in an untapped market like Pensacola.’
Working as a salesman, Jadallah decided that he was going to make films and videos. ‘I had a bit of a lightbulb moment deciding to do it,’ he recalls, ‘back in 2011 or 12, I said no matter what, I was going to do this for a living.’ Before the company was official, he stood up in a network meeting and introduced himself as Chris Jadallah with Calliope, I make video commercials. I thought, I guess it’s real now. I just said it so it’s real.’
Jadallah made his first video for free, then charged $100, then $500, then $5000. ‘I kept building up, maintaining confidence but trying to stay humble at the same time.’ Now Calliope is fully equipped with an excellent reputation in the area. There will always be challenges though.
‘You have to accept that it’s gonna suck sometimes, it’s gonna be challenging. That part’s never going to go away. The saying “more money more problems” is all true.’ Jadallah believes that in the midst of the frustration and eternal problem-solving that comes with running a production company, ‘there should be some freedom not defeat. You get better at managing and handling your work if you’re willing to go through moments of suffering. It won’t get better but you’ll get better.’
Jadallah genuinely appreciates that he gets to make his own schedule and tell stories for a living. ‘They can make someone feel better, or make them feel anything,’ he says. ‘I feel so grateful that I get to do this at all, even a talking head or a corporate spot, I get to call this my life.’
