My name is Jeremey. I’m French and a photographer and a videographer.
I also run a company which we do digital product development for like video editing software, motion graphic templates that a video editor can use for speeding up their workflow when they’re editing video.

Why did you decide to come to Japan / Kyoto?

That wasn’t really my choice. It kinda happened.

I was traveling around Kyushu with some friends and they’re on a group trip with some friends. I met one girl and fall in love. She wanted to come to Kyoto to study tea and tea ceremony et cetera, so I just decided to move here from Bali.

I didn’t really choose to come here, it just happened, but I’m happy to have like the opportunity. I’ve always wanted to come here. Now I’ve been here for about 5 months. And it’s just great. I’ve been enjoying it so far.

How do you like living in Kyoto?

I really like Kyoto. I was worried at first because there are so many tourists and the main area is very busy, but I do enjoy Kyoto in the end.

It feels like a big city where there is everything, but also it feels like a village where has small-town vibes with river and everything.

It’s actually more manageable than places like Osaka or Tokyo. As soon as you go outside of the main area, you see no one. There are a lot of quiet cool cafes, which is really cool. 

What inspired you to start your current job?

That’s a long question…. when I was like 16, someone gave me a camera, started to shoot stuff. I was pretty good at it and I got money.

Then I started to make money doing that. I’ve invested more time in it and I got better. It gave me just a lot of freedom and flexibility in the way I wanted to live my life. That’s why I kept pursuing.

 And then a lot of different things have flourished out of that main skill. I started to do more design and marketing. I had a skillset that was enough to start my own companies and to start doing consulting with other companies.

What drives you to work?

 I’m just exploring whatever I like and trying to do cool projects.  I’m making ends meet by getting paid by project, and that’s it, so it switches a lot depending what i want to work on.

Right now, with AI coming up and I’m more and more interested in software companies. That’s something I’d like to explore more and more in the future. I’m just  going wherever my interests go and I’m trying to get better at it.

How come you chose .andwork kyoto?

The quickest answer is it seemed to be the best place in this town.

　So I started to just look for coworking space and I saw a few options but they all looked too much an office, which I didn’t really like because I didn’t work the way. 

　An open space is nice and I also liked the fact that it was like mixed with a hostel. It seems to have good diversity I can connect more with people. There is people coming in and out, so you can just potentially have more conversation with them as well. Also the internet speed was very good and the phone booths are really good too.

If you recommend .andwork to other people, what parts would you mention?

I’m a photographer and a videographer, so beauty matters. Working in a nice environment is important for me.

That’s what I mentioned earlier, I don’t want to just go to an office that just looks grey. I like to be in a place that has a nice design and light with like an industrial vibe and well thought-out.The fact that it looks nice is important because I’m spending maybe 10 hours every day.

　Also I would say the staff is awesome. They’re always super nice and helpful when I need anything. Every time I need a help or recommendation here in Japan, everybody’s been so helpful.