Prepared for Katherine Forbes and Josh Wand at Force Brands, November 2026

A Founder Story for ForceBrands

The story behind the brand builders at Force Brands

About my work

I’m a director and photographer working across commercial, lifestyle, product, and documentary projects, for clients like Carvana and Cometeer and in my own original work.

Whatever the format, I care about the same thing: making people and the brands they build feel real on camera.

Trusted by
Hilton logo in black and dark red
Logo of Carvana with a stylized 'V' and the name 'CARVANA' in uppercase beneath it.
The word "Cometeer" written in a cursive, dark brown font.
Logo of Thor Industries featuring stylized mountains, a sun, and a winding road alongside the company name. 
and more

Recent projects

  • Carvana — Branded content, a customer campaign series, and nonprofit storiesCommercial film

  • Cometeer — New brand photography and video assetsCommercial photo + film

  • Rituil — Product and lifestyle photography for a new line of yoga propsProduct + lifestyle photography

  • Unreasonable Hospitality — Event and product photography for a new book releasePhotography

  • The Langham, Pasadena — Hotel photographyHospitality photography

  • Vanderbilt University — Veteran highlight film and Salute to Service recapDocumentary film

Selected Work

CRAFT - Unsung House — Short Brand Film

Carvana - New Car Test Drive Center, Commercial Launch Video

A founder film I love, for tone: watch the reference

Behind the scenes: how I approached a recent Cometeer commercial photoshoot 

Photography is where this path began, and it still shapes how I see everything I shoot. A few recent favorites:

A man in a workshop looking at a piece of paper, surrounded by tools, materials, and furniture, with shelves and a window in the background while being filmed on a cinema camera on a film set.
COMETEER HOLIDAY 20262214(2).jpg
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Untitled-1.jpg
DSCF1881(1).jpeg
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A man smiling and holding two cameras outdoors in front of autumn-colored trees, wearing a gray beanie, glasses, and a white sweater.

Meet Your Director

Jakob Wandel

I picked up a camera after four years in the Navy, then spent years touring the country with musicians learning to capture people in their environment.

Today I work on commercial film and photography projects for brands like Carvana, Cometeer, and Unreasonable Hospitality.

Alongside client work, I keep building an original body of work: documentaries, short films, and photography.I t’s where I keep sharpening my craft and how I tell stories, especially the ones people tell in their own words.

Based between Los Angeles and Nashville.

Next Steps:

Once we land on a direction, we’ll start concepting and get a shoot date on the calendar.