Yaphet Jackman

Yaphet Jackman is a cinematographer, born in Brooklyn, New York to Guyanese parents. His parents took him to Guyana, only after a few weeks of birth, and there, he was raised. His education spans attendance to schools in the city, Georgetown: Sacred Heart Primary School, and St. Joseph’s High School of which he is a proud alum.

Yaphet was eight years old when he discovered his interest in the arts. At that time, he watched an HBO trailer, and began asking himself questions about how this is done. It was from this experience that his curiosity was nudged. He became involved in the First Assembly of God Church at a that time when the church saw a need for the creation of Children’s Christian programming. This developed program, that focused on gospel for children was aired on the then, Guyana Television (GTV), now called National Communications Network (NCN). It was through being a member of the church that Yaphet became a helper to the technical crew which included Michael Gordon and Nigel Abrams. At age 12, Yaphet with his connection to Nigel Abrams, was introduced to Spotlight Productions, in Guyana. He was a production assistant who helped with the cables, along with equipment cleaning and management. From this experience, he gained exposure to many live shows. He learnt how to set up cameras and prepare the stage for events. This experience set the platform for the production aspect of his learning. He was afforded opportunities to shoot stage productions, which turned out to be his passion.

As a late teenager, Yaphet was hired as a cameraman for GuyEnterprise, an adverting agency in Guyana. A few months later, he was promoted to studio manager and became responsible for the oversight of general productions. His work at this agency required participation in international projects of World Bank, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Following this stint with GuyEnterprise, he became a contractor with Guyana Telephone & Telegraph (GT & T) where he worked with the Public Relations and Marketing Departments in creating ads. He played a critical role in addressing marketing strategies, while creating advertisements, and producing any visual presentations required by clients.

In 2006, Yaphet was offered employment overseas as a television editor at Karib Cable in the islands. He relocated from Guyana to St. Vincent, in the Caribbean, and was required to travel between St. Vincent and Antigua because of the company’s location in these two islands. After one year, he moved on to work for St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ Broadcasting Corporation (SVGBC) as a studio manager. He spent one year at SVGBC before returning to Guyana.

Upon his return to Guyana in 2008, Yaphet decided to attend the University of Guyana (UG) - a logical thing to do, considering the wealth of practical experience garnered most of his life. After completing his bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies at the University of Guyana, he migrated to the United States, specifically to Athens, Ohio where he attended Ohio University, and earned his master’s degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in Cinematography.

Since living in Ohio, he has worked on projects for Urban Movie Channel (UMC): Amazon Prime video channel, and Prada Foundation. In addition, he has worked for several television shows such as, A Crime to Remember, Bronx Special Investigation Unit (SIU), A House Divided, and City Inside the City. To his credit, Yaphet has been a recipient of awards. In 2014, he won first place in the Best Amateur Documentary category in a competition hosted by the Loyola Film Festival. Later, in 2018, he won the second prize in the AT&T’s 48-hour film challenge.

As a free-lance filmmaker, Yaphet has always had the dream to own a business. In 2019, Bent Street Films, his Media Consultancy and Production Company was established. Bent Street Films is a company that creates, consults, and advises clients on visual works of interest. Currently, he is a free-lancing cinematographer and an adjunct at Columbus College of Arts and Design. He credits his parents for being principally responsible for his accomplishments.