Meet John-Jonne Smith | Actor | Comedy Multi-hyphenate

We had the good fortune of connecting with John-Jonne Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John-Jonne, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?

When you’re starting out, all of the weight of what you’re trying to accomplish for yourself all starts with you. In my case creating weekly cinematic comedy sketches and a two season web- series where you’re the person that everyone looks to for a final answer can be nerve recking. I’m the creator, writer, producer, lead actor, editor, sound score person, colorist, location scout, craft service guy, set PA, office PA, marketing strategist and thats just to name a few all done on my own, most of which were self taught.

Everyone doesn’t see that when you’re working for yourself, you have to be your strongest support system because everyone is looking to you for the answers. There are times when I’ll take a break from creating so I can mentally tolerate the workload of content I just filmed. Taking a step back to collect yourself has been my saving grace because it’s very easy to run yourself into a hole.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

What sets me apart from others is that I truly turned my insecurities into creativity. I’m most proud of the work I’ve set aside for myself by creating a web-series that tells the story of the hair-loss journey from a guys point of view and to building an entire audience across all social media platforms. I got to where I am today because I held myself accountable and showed up for

myself everyday. There was a time right before the pandemic that I would work with big creators and I was still trying to figure out my “niche”. That’s the hardest part. After seeing a film produced by Meagan Good and Datari Turner called “A boy, A girl, A Dream,” which told story of wanting to have a voice for people in the black community given current circumstances, we are worthy to put our creativity/flaws out amongst the world because we aren’t the only ones going through similar things.

Once I saw that film in 2019, I started writing, “Bald” the short film to try and see if I could really make something that the entertainment industry would be interested in. Once I created it in early 2020, and released it on my Facebook business page (John-Jonne TV) that following summer, people wanted more. This is when I started creating more sketches on instagram that gears toward the hair-loss community. I have friends who are development executives encouraging me to continue to turn the short-film into a web-series and in the fall 2020 is when I started writing “Bald: The Series”. I later premiered the six episode first season in May 2021. To promote, I posted small clips from the web-series on TikTok and that is when I started to gain recognition from “Snoop Dogg, The Shade Room, people on the street, etc”. The lesson I learned in this process was to not rush my journey because I didn’t know when I was fighting to keep my hair when I was losing it, but God had a plan to turn my insecurities into creative success.

I want the world to know that my brand is about taking the power out of other people hands and controlling my own narrative.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

My favorite places to take my friends or family when they come to town are “The Grove”, Monday Night Vibes karaoke, Highlight room on Wednesday nights, Crack em’ Thursdays at The Comedy Store, Runyon Canyon if they don’t complain about it, and depending on the specific weekend, Black Market Flea – which is a day party vibe but black owned vendors can sell there merchandise.

One of my favorite restaurants is Bossa Nova – they always know my order which is the lemon garlic chicken with two sides of fries and mashed potatoes. Please don’t judge me, my diet is childish but shoutout to my trainer DC for getting me together over the last few weeks. Oh, and that’s with a margarita on the side, just an added razzle dazzle.

Monday Night Vibes, the adios drink will get you put out the club.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I like to first and foremost shoutout God because without him, I would NOT be here. My mother Bertha Smith, who has never turned her back on me. My favorite actor Lee Thompson Young also known as “The Famous Jett Jackson” because it wasn’t until Disney Channel was put on basic cable that through watching his show at 9 years old, that was when I realized that I one day want to play a super hero. Daphnique Springs who I’ve watched grow over the last four years in the digital space and to see her continuously capitalize as a friend and black woman in entertainment, has truly been a social media masterclass.

Website: https://www.johnjonnesmith.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnjonne7

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS42AZT8hchcm_r-vzD9Cog

Other: Web-series: Bald: The Series – https://www.facebook.com/watch/1982236518679572/237013168273565/

Image Credits
Black Card Revoked – BET Networks – 2017 Bald: The Series – Facebook Watch – 2021