Meet Dennis Fyffe | Filmmaker & Cinematographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dennis Fyffe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dennis, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important contribution towards my success has been my faith. Believing in the vision I have for myself, and my brand. This belief, and level of faith plays part in my success over the years. If I didn’t believe in the vision, then I wouldn’t have worked so hard towards it. It’s the foundation upon which all the other characteristics like determination, hard-working, discipline, good work ethic, passion, and drive are built on. Without having faith in what I do on a daily basis, I wouldn’t be doing it in the first place.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a creative. I was born this way. I run a production company called Denni Visuals. We assist small business owners, artists, other creatives, brands, and cooperations to tell their stories through compelling, high quality visually stimulating digital mediums like video content and photography. Helping others grow their business and brand through storytelling is quite rewarding to me. I however didn’t always want to be a creative. During my earlier years in life, I actually wanted to be an automotive engineer. There was just something about drifting a car on the side of a mountain at high speeds that felt so good to me in 2006 with the release of Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift. Seeing different tuner cars and how beautifully built they were and of course how fast they were was the hype and fun for me. The thought of building my dream car was all I could think about and working with cars every day. I even went as far as applying to University Technical Institute in Florida. I was super convinced. But, as life would have it, I didn’t make it into the program and I studied at the Jamaican-German Automotive Engineering School in Kingston Jamaica. I did a level 1 course in automotive engineering. After completing that course I worked at a garage for a few months. I no longer felt the love I had for what I was experiencing on screen. I wasn’t passionate about changing car tyres or spark plugs. I have huge respect for mechanics. It just wasn’t my calling. During that time in 2010 however, I was messing around with photography and I always had a love for music and live events. Especially live music events. I was a serial networker. So I went to concerts, with the intention of enjoying entertainment but also networking with other creatives, musicians, and artists. I also was borrowing a friend of mine’s (Nickii Kane) camera at the time to take photos at concerts just so I could practice and provide the same artists with photos to get some recognition on social media. Over time I got familiar with people in the space and people started to take note of my work. So much so that I got recommended to go on a music tour with Romain Virgo and his band in 2017. That whole experience was amazing and I had the opportunity to visit different countries like Germany, Wales, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, and Switzerland to name a few. Over the years I’ve worked with so many different artists and brands to create content. In 2020 I wanted to make a different step in my growth and that’s when I legalized my creative business. My mindset shifted and I wanted a company. Not only to be a single operational creative. This had it had new sets of challenges that I had to address. Running a company is no easy task. Doing proper accounting, figuring out how to scale a business and marketing your business as a company. Persons may find it difficult during your transition period from sole proprietor to a production company. It becomes difficult demanding more of your clients financially. It also means you have to generate new strategies for management and operations. We do live in an age of tech and information is at our fingertips so finding courses that help to develop these necessary skills are easy to find and often free. This journey has not been easy but it’s worth it when you love what you do and find joy in bringing value to others. Some valuable lessons I learnt include these things: Overcoming challenges takes determination, focus, consistency, and discipline. It will require making sacrifices as well. Financial sacrifices, social, and other aspects of your life that you may need to adjust. One other thing is to keep believing in yourself. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen. Sometimes you may not see a way but just believe and keep pushing forward. You may never know when something is about to change for you. Another lesson I learnt was that not everyone will want to support you, and that’s okay. Find your tribe and work with those people. Keep your circle small. If they aren’t adding value to your life, then maybe you want to consider where that person ranks in your life and how much energy you give to that relationship. The final lesson for me is personal and depending on who you are, you may, or may not agree; but trust God that he ALWAYS has a plan and a way out for you. No matter the circumstances.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Kingston Jamaica. Jamaica is a very diverse culture and can be described as a cultural melting pot. There’s so much to see and do here. If I were to invite anyone to visit here for a week there are a couple of places I know we would have to go to. Jamaica has a lot of beaches but one very popular one is Frenchman’s Cove in Portland. Portland is a parish in Jamaica and is one of Jamaica’s best gifts. It’s surrounded by vegetation and rivers and waterfalls can be tucked in hidden crooks and crannies. Reach Falls is one such place and I would highly recommend it. We would definitely have to make a stop by the world-famous Boston Jerk stop in Portland as well for some of the best Jerk chicken you can find on planet Earth. One other place I would go would be the Bob Marley Museum. Bob is an icon and a legendary force in music and one of the greatest musicians that ever lived. They turned his home into a museum where you get to explore and see where he would play his guitar at times and also where his assassination attempt happened and learn a lot about the impact he had on the world through his spiritual and revolutionary music. They also host a cafe where you can get some great coffee and beverages. Another food spot I would take that friend is Hellshire Beach which boasts some of the best seaside, seafood local restaurants. Nothing like a good plate of fish by the sea with good company. Another recommendation is the world-famous Dunns River Falls in Ocho Rios. You are able to swim by the beach or climb the falls for a good workout and dip in the naturally made pools on the way up to the top of the falls. If you’re an ice cream fan then Devon House would be on the list for sure for some award-winning ice cream. Fun fact, it was a former slave plantation. I would also recommend a walk through our outdoor mural museum in downtown Kingston which is known as the Kingston Creative Art Walk. You can see murals painted by some of Jamaica’s most talented visual artists that portray various Jamaican cultural references. Some of the murals are also augmented reality designed where you can see the artwork come to life using an app called Artivive. Those are just a few places I would recommend and there are many, many more.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I believe a lot of people credit their parents for their success simply because of them being a parent; but for me, my mother was that person who really believed in me and my dreams. Of course, there are a number of other persons of influence that played a role in my development and contributed to the success of my career and business. However, my mother has financially bet on me and has also been there for me even when I told her I was gonna drop out of university to develop my photography business. I’m sure that there are parents out there who would catch a fit hearing their child saying they want to drop out of university to become a photographer and videographer. After all, being creative isn’t taken seriously sometimes. Especially when you’re unknown and can’t financially sustain yourself. It’s because of her consistent belief in me that I am able to fulfil my full potential which helped me to push even further in developing myself and by extension my business. I am also extremely grateful for supportive friends who challenge me, support me, and a few are also like mentors who provide sound wisdom in times of the low tide. No man is an island and no man stands alone. So surround yourself with people who add value to your life and reciprocate that and don’t forget to pass it on.

Website: www.dennivisuals.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_denni/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisfyffe/?originalSubdomain=jm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dennivisuals

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ykC2JnVzcNqaAjx6-MNnA

Image Credits
Bwoy Pedro, Randall Richards, Kadane Cespedes,