Jason Dundas: Life behind the lens
He’s got the looks of a star and the tenacity of a social activist, but Jason Dundas’ most admirable quality might be his fearlessness.
Whether he was effortlessly serving cover-worthy snapshots while hosting a reality series or unabashedly revealing his first-ever audition tapes, Dundas earned every ounce of his glory with guts — and that’s the same way he plans to approach innovating the media industry with his new title in tow.
“Times are changing, and the world is changing with the times,” Jason announces. “We’re in this exciting era where it’s the Wild Wild West of content. The young generation have the ability to shoot anything and sell it to enormous brands around the world because really, everyone is their own media channel. It’s just a great time for content production — and that’s all very important.”
In a frank interview, Dundas talks about coping with the pressures of the industry and his choice to focus on his video career for the time being.
“When I was 18-years-old, I studied a Bachelor of Design and Communications,” Dundas says. “Then I won a contest to host a show on MTV Australia. From the very beginning, I was passionate about behind the scenes and then I became this dude hosting TV shows. It’s crazy!”
Dundas soon moved onto other projects, one that saw him working alongside the Seven network as host of ‘X-Factor.’ But as a passionate champion, the media guru feels that it’s his responsibility to break barriers in the cutthroat world of ‘digitalia’ that he proudly manages and produce video content with the likes of former employer David Jones, Gumtree and Air New Zealand.
“After X-Factor, I took a step back and looked over the media landscape. Everything is just exploding!” Dundas admits. “Living in Los Angeles, my company Dundas Media works with great brands to help produce some amazing promos — my team and I are constantly stimulated for what we want to do and achieve. And we work in all sorts of markets, from Europe to Australia.”
“I look at where I can be the best version of myself and right now, there’s a lot of entrepreneurial culture in L.A,” the Penrith-born native says. “From the age of 21, I kept putting myself in awkward environments, at the deep end of the pool. Just trying to engross myself and learn from intelligent people. Most of them fail and that’s part of the journey. It’s great to return to Australia and bring those ideas here.”
It’s perhaps that ability to plug himself into real situations in a contentious climate and reach beyond the page of a magazine to expand the standards of beauty that tickled David Jones’ fancy. Jason, who says he always finds a purpose in his work and life, plans to better the lives of others with his motivation and experience.
“I look at my life and think, ‘What do I want to do?’ ‘What do I love?’ and ‘What’s my purpose?’ Then I pursue it 24/7. I don’t start and stop,” he adds.
“For 15 years, anything I conceived in my mind I’ve gone after it. From designing a fashion line to modelling for one of Australia’s biggest department stores to hosting X-Factor, I see myself as an artist who yearns to create while providing extreme value and satisfaction to the world.”
Patrick Tadros
