Art vs. Commerce: Recent Episodes
Jared Levy
The Art vs. Commerce podcast is a conversation with creative industry professionals who have made a career out of their art. Our discussions range from their personal history, breaking down famous scenes they helped create and learning how they manage to maintain their personal aesthetic in an arena that demands compromise. As a cinematographer for commercials, documentary and narrative, podcast host Jared Levy enjoys these conversations and learning from these talented industry professionals.
Michael Slovis, ASC, DGA started taking pictures as a teenager and was a winner of the New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival with a photograph that earned him admission to Rochester Institute of Technology's renowned photography program. There, one of his teachers said his pictures told stories like movies and advised him to look into filmmaking. Slovis studied cinematography at New York University and began working professionally as a gaffer on motion pictures, commercials and television. He started his career as a director of photography in independent films in New York. In 1995 Michael photographed the Sundance Film Festival favorite Party Girl, which opened the door to independent films, television films, theatrical films and pilots.Returning from Europe, following the traumatic events of 2001, Michael wanted to stay closer to family and was fortunate to transition to episodic television with the series, "ED" for Paramount/NBC. In 2007 Michael completed two and a half years as director of photography on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for which he won the 2006 Emmy award for outstanding cinematography and was nominated again in 2007. Since 2008, Michael has made AMC his part-time home shooting four seasons of the critically acclaimed Breaking Bad, for which he has earned three Emmy nominations.In recent years Michael has photographed the pilot for ABC's Castle, the episodic shows Fringe (Fox), Royal Pains (USA), Rubicon (AMC), Running Wilde (Fox) and 30 Rock (NBC). In 2010 Michael was honored to join the American Society of Cinematographers.
Michael Slovis, ASC, DGA started taking pictures as a teenager and was a winner of the New Jersey State Teen Arts Festival with a photograph that earned him admission to Rochester Institute of Technology's renowned photography program. There, one of his teachers said his pictures told stories like movies and advised him to look into filmmaking. Slovis studied cinematography at New York University and began working professionally as a gaffer on motion pictures, commercials and television. He started his career as a director of photography in independent films in New York. In 1995 Michael photographed the Sundance Film Festival favorite Party Girl, which opened the door to independent films, television films, theatrical films and pilots.Returning from Europe, following the traumatic events of 2001, Michael wanted to stay closer to family and was fortunate to transition to episodic television with the series, "ED" for Paramount/NBC. In 2007 Michael completed two and a half years as director of photography on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for which he won the 2006 Emmy award for outstanding cinematography and was nominated again in 2007. Since 2008, Michael has made AMC his part-time home shooting four seasons of the critically acclaimed Breaking Bad, for which he has earned three Emmy nominations.In recent years Michael has photographed the pilot for ABC's Castle, the episodic shows Fringe (Fox), Royal Pains (USA), Rubicon (AMC), Running Wilde (Fox) and 30 Rock (NBC). In 2010 Michael was honored to join the American Society of Cinematographers.
Lauren Sick is a writer and director, known for her music video work with artists such as Chromeo, MØ, Foster the People, A-Trak, American Authors, El-P, Vampire Weekend, A$AP Ferg, Anderson East, and Pentatonix. She recently directed the first teaser trailer for MGM Studios' biopic RESPECT, starring Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin.Lauren grew up in the dark woods of suburbia, screening inappropriate horror movies at slumber parties. A lover of horror and genre filmmaking, she was a creative collaborator on the feature film SCARE ME, starring Josh Ruben, Aya Cash, and Chris Redd, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020.A multifaceted director, Lauren's work spans both the narrative and branded space, having grabbed the attention of clients such as New Balance, Nike, Garmin, Fendi, FADER, Nasdaq, Soulcycle, and Beats By Dre. The spot she directed for Zola.com provoked international attention when the Hallmark Channel removed the ad for its depiction of a lesbian wedding. The piece (since re-instated on the network) was written about in the New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Rolling Stone, and Deadline, and was parodied on Saturday Night Live.Lauren brings a youthful and adventurous expression to her filmmaking, coupling raw emotion with a cinematic style that's rooted in her background of theater, punk rock, and dance. Her work has been recognized by Indiewire, BBC Worldwide, AdAge, Shots, Little Black Book, Shoot Online, AdWeek, and more. Her experimental "short shorts", which she wrote, directed, and starred in, were broadcast in Germany and France through Souvenirs from Earth, the first cable network in Europe dedicated to video art, film, music, installation, and performances. The 2015 fashion film that she directed for the Kering Group, shot in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, had its world premiere at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Lauren lives and works in Los Angeles. She is currently developing her first feature film. Find her @laurensick
Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC photographed Bohemian Rhapsody, the exquisite portrait of Freddie Mercury, the rock band Queen, and their extraordinary appearance at the Live Aid concert of 1985.
Sigel went on to earn a Best Cinematography nomination for his work on the film at the 2019 EE British Academy Film Awards. Bohemian Rhapsody also took home the 2019 Golden Globe for Drama Motion Picture, along with Rami Malek nabbing a multitude of accolades -- including an Academy Award -- for his portrayal of Freddie.
Having completed Dhaka in early 2019, the action-packed Chris Hemsworth starrer produced by the Russo Brothers, Sigel also recently wrapped principal photography for director Spike Lee’s upcoming war drama, Da 5 Bloods.
Since the early days of his career, Sigel has earned a powerful position amongst visual storytellers starting with his work on cult classic The Usual Suspects for director Bryan Singer. The two went on to collaborate on nine more films, including the X-Men movies, Superman Returns and Valkyrie.
Sigel’s seminal use of exotic film stocks and innovative negative processing methods on Three Kings laid the foundation to new avenues of cinematography. In 2010, he photographed Nicolas Winding Refn’s Hollywood debut, Drive, which won the Best Director Award at Cannes and is universally praised for its dazzling look.
Other credits include: Bob Rafelson’s dark noir tale Blood & Wine starring Jack Nicholson and Gregory Hoblit’s Fallen, starring Denzel Washington. Sigel then went on to photograph Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Leatherheads with longtime collaborator George Clooney; Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm; Alan Ball’s directorial debut, Towelhead; and Reginald Hudlin’s Marshall, starring Chadwick Boseman as the United States’ first black Supreme Court Justice.
Notably, Sigel has also collaborated with Master Yuen Wo-Ping, the Grandmaster of Martial-Arts Cinema, on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; with Robert Redford on The Conspirator; and with Halle Berry on Frankie and Alice.
In addition to his cinematography credits, Sigel directed HBO’s Point of Origin, as well as co-directed The Big Empty, starring Selma Blair, with his wife J. Lisa Chang.
Sigel began his artistic career as a painter and experimental filmmaker while studying at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. He transitioned to documentaries while covering the Central American wars of the 1980s, which included working on the Academy Award-winning Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements and When the Mountains Tremble. Catching the eye of legendary filmmaker Haskell Wexler, Sigel got his first narrative opportunity on Latino, a film based on Sigel’s own experiences while photographing Nicaragua: Report From the Front. The documentary chronicled the front lines of the war in Nicaragua from both sides of the conflict, becoming the first film to ever capture the contras. This led to second-unit work with Oliver Stone on Platoon and Wall Street.
Sigel is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the Director’s Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is based in Los Angeles and is represented by UTA.
Zak Mulligan is an American cinematographer known for his work in film and television. His film We The Animals premiered at Sundance 2018 and was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards including Best Cinematography. His other work includes the HBO series The Outsider based on a novel by Stephen King starring Jason Bateman and Ben Mendelsohn and the film Obselidia which premiered at Sundance 2010 where he was honored with the Excellence in Cinematography award.
Zak’s TV work also includes Ava Duvernay’s CBS TV pilot, For Justice and Netflix’s House of Cards, the Showtime series Seven Deadly Sins and the FX original, The Most Dangerous Animal of All. In 2013 he lensed the Academy Award nominated HBO documentary Open Heart about Rheumatic heart disease in Africa. Zak was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2019.
Other feature film work includes the forth coming Benh Zeitlin film, Wendy, the Jessica Biel and Zosia Mamet helmed, Bleeding Heart and Custody directed by James Lapine and starring Viola Davis and Ellen Burstyn which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2016.
Mulligan’s commercial client list includes Google, Nike, Reebok, Samsung, and American Express.
Miles Jay, is a Canadian filmmaker who directed Super Bowl commercials and was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on Leon Bridges' "River" music video, a Director's Guild of America Nomination for Best Commercial Director in 2016 and most recently he won an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial for his work on a Squarespace advertisement with John Malkovich. Marshall’s first break was on second unit for Felicity with Michael Bonvillian, ASC where he eventually took on cinematography duties for the series’ final season. Some of Marshall’s credits include Monk, CSI: NY, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. His most recent feature work can be seen in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie for Netflix.
Marshall Adams, ASC is a cinematographer who’s been working in the film industry for many years. While he started his career as a production assistant, Marshall discovered early on that lighting was his passion.
Marshall’s first break was on second unit for Felicity with Michael Bonvillian, ASC where he eventually took on cinematography duties for the series’ final season. Some of Marshall’s credits include Monk, CSI: NY, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. His most recent feature work can be seen in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie for Netflix.
Canadian Cinematographer Gregory Middleton, ASC, CSC started his career with the art house hit 'Kissed' directed by Lynne Stopkewich about a female necrophile. His feature work has taken him from the acclaimed adaptation of 'Fugitive Pieces' to the WW1 battle of 'Passchendaele'. His work has been screened at Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Berlin and been the opening Gala of the Toronto film fest twice. Most recently Greg was the cinematographer on several episodes of HBO’s hit series’ Game of Thrones and Watchmen.
Khalid Mohtaseb is a director of photography based in New York City. Khalid was born in Doha, Qatar and moved to the US at the age of nine. This significant cultural shift enabled him to see the world from a completely unique perspective. Photography & cinematography soon became the backbone to communicate his vision to the rest of the world. His fascination with lighting and its power to influence someones emotion is what he finds to be most inspiring. Khalid’s last two features, The Wolf Hour and Uncle Frank, both premiered at Sundance. The Wolf Hour, a psychological thriller film starring Naomi Watts, premiered at Sundance in 2019. Khalid’s most recent feature film, Uncle Frank, which was written and directed by Alan Ball, premiered at Sundance in 2020 where it was acquired by Amazon Studios.
Since his first breakthrough in the industry as the D.P. for Michel Gondry’s 2012 Cannes Film Festival feature THE WE AND THE I, Alex Disenhof has lensed over a dozen feature films and TV shows spanning diverse genres. Highlights include a 2016 ASC award nomination for the pilot episode of THE EXORCIST, a 2009 Camerimage nomination for the music video "Mono No Aware," and the Somali pirate film FISHING WITHOUT NETS taking the US Dramatic Directing award at Sundance in addition to being nominated at Camerimage in 2014. He's had films play at festivals all over the world including the aforementioned Cannes, Sundance, Camerimage, Tribeca, and SXSW. His most recent projects include the season Finale of HBO's critically-acclaimed WATCHMEN, FX's LEGION, and the films CAPTIVE STATE and CODE 8. Alex is currently in Mexico filming AppleTV+ MOSQUITO COAST, due out fall 2020.
Salvatore Totino, ASC, AIC is currently one of the foremost recognized cinematographers in cinema. He approaches each project with a unique visual style, and seamlessly translates each story’s unique concept into breathtaking moving images.
Born and raised in Brooklyn New York, Salvatore is a regular fixture on director Ron Howard’s team. In addition to Inferno, the duo collaborated on films such as The Missing, Cinderella Man, Frost/Nixon, The Dilemma, Made In America, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons.
Salvatore Totino began building his reputation as one of the finest commercial and music video DOPs of his generation. Today, he has over 500 commercials on his resume, having contributed to high profile campaigns like Jack Daniels, Nike, Jaguar, The GAP and H.I.S. Jeans, winning a Clio Ward for the latter. He lit the music videos for such celebrated bands as Radiohead, REM, Bruce Springsteen, Sound Garden U2, and many others.
Armando Salas is a director of photography who’s work spans features, episodic and commercials. Early on in his career, Armando won an ASC Award for best cinematography with a short film he made in college. In 2017 Armando DP’d the feature, BITCH, which got into Sundance and also The Most Hated Woman in America got into SXSW. Most recently Armando just wrapped filming season 3 of Ozark.
Colin Watkinson, ASC, BSC combines an exquisite eye for detail with a flair for colour and a sense of movement that brings a unique freshness and excitement to his work. As a cinematographer his first feature, “The Fall.” was described by renowned film critic Roger Ebert as “One of the most astonishing films I have ever seen.” Colin’s instinctive ear for dialect and nuance makes him a much sought after collaborator whether the project to hand is Film, Television or across the advertising spectrum and his willingness to throw himself into every venture no matter how bizarre is famous throughout the industry.
Carmen Cabana is a cinematographer of Afro-Hispanic descent. Fresh off a DP seat on Starz TV show "Vida S1 and S2", Netflix's show "Narcos Season 2", Amazon's pilot "Los Angeles", HBO Access pilot "Sterling" and TNT/Refinery 29 short "French Fries". Carmen's years of experience and ability for understanding story, capturing emotion and visual dynamism has catapulted her towards the top choices for female cinematographers. She has shot over 23 features around the world, with many name talents and screenings at many renowned festivals.
Carmen's work on "Vida S1" was featured in ICG Magazine (October 2018); she was also listed in the magazine American Cinematographer under the "Rising Stars of Cinematography" article (February 2017 issue); was also listed in Variety's 2016 Below the Line report "Up Next" as one of the most promising filmmakers.
Quickly to adapt and collaborate with locals, Carmen has filmed features in 15 US states and in Mexico, Cuba and Colombia.
She teaches cinematography workshops around the world as well as women empowerment talks. Her past appearances include: HBO Access; NAMIC's "Latino Creatives in Entertainment"; HRTS Women of the West "Diversity on Television Panel", Erman Baradi’s Industry Panel; "Seen and Heard": Women Empowerment Panel-DTLA Film Festival; STAGE 32 "Women in Entertainment Panel"; Arri and Film Independent Project Involve Cinematography workshop; "The 8th Annual Masters in Motion" Film Conference in Austin-Texas; Rule the Set "Cinematography for episodic TV" workshop-Atlanta; ENFOCUS Cinematography workshop-Costa Rica , Litepanels workshop-Vegas.
Carmen is a Film Independent Project Involve Fellow (2010), A Sundance Director's Lab Crew Participant (2008) and a member of the Friends of the ASC educational program.
Igor Martinovic is a Croatian cinematographer based in New York. Igor photographed the Academy Award winning documentary, Man On Wire, which also won the BAFTA for Best British Film as well as the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award of 2008. Igor was the Director of Photography for the Netflix original series House of Cards as well as Wormwood and The Night Of. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2014 for his work on the series House of Cards.
Alex Buono is Director/EP of the Emmy-nominated IFC comedy series DOCUMENTARY NOW!. He is also the Writer/Producer of the documentary feature BIGGER STRONGER FASTER*, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. In 2003, Alex received an Oscar nomination for the short film JOHNNY FLYNTON, which he produced and also shot. Alex repeated the dual role of producer/cinematographer on GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS that won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival. Alex was also the Director of Photography for the SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Film Unit from 1999-2016, where he shot hundreds of short films, including Farewell, Mr. Bunting, The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders, Santa Baby, Matthew McConaughey for Lincoln and the 40th Anniversary Season title sequence, to name a few.
Alex was educated at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he double-majored in Film Production and Still Photography. His early post-collegiate years were spent on the camera crews of studio films including Twister, Conspiracy Theory and Armageddon, learning from top cinematographers and personal mentors including Conrad Hall, Dean Cundey and John Schwartzman. Alex is a member of the Director’s Guild of America, the Writer’s Guild of America, the International Documentary Association and the International Cinematographer’s Guild.
Robby Baumgartner began his film career 28 years ago in New York City. His interest in lighting inspired him to choose the unconventional route to DP via Gaffing.
This career path allowed him to light films and learn from some of the most talented DP’s in the business: Rodrigo Prieto, Chris Menges, Robert Elswit, Dante Spinotti, Darius Khondji, Janusz Kaminski, and Emmanuel Lubezki. Some of the films include: “8 Mile”, “25th Hour”, “21 Grams”, “Babel”, “Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada”, and “There Will be Blood”.
In between Gaffing gigs he took every opportunity to DP or camera-operate on feature films, 2nd-unit photography, commercials, and shorts.
Then in 2008 “There Will be Blood” shot by Robert Elswit, won the Oscar for Best Cinematography; the highest honor for any DP/Gaffing team. That event was the impetus for Robby to stop gaffing and DP exclusively.
In 2009 Robby joined the International Cinematographers Guild as a DP. Since then he has gone on to shoot 2nd unit on both “Hunger Games” l and ll, “Water for Elephants”, and “Argo” amongst other films. For the last 5 years he has been concentrating on shooting main unit for films such as “The Guest”, “Blair Witch (2016)” and now “Blindspotting”, which has been selected for competition in the US Dramatic category at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
In his 30 years behind the camera Craig Wrobleski csc has served as cinematographer on productions of nearly every description. Craig’s drama credits include the feature films In the Tall Grass, Rufus and 45 RPM. Television work includes The Umbrella Academy for Netflix, the acclaimed FX Networks series Fargo and Legion, the legendary series The X-Files, the hit series Zoo for CBS, more than 100 episodes of the popular CBC Television series Heartland and numerous TV movies. Craig has lensed documentaries all over Canada, the US and into Europe on a wide variety of subjects. In addition, Craig has photographed hundreds of commercials and promos broadcast all over North America for directors from across Canada and the US. Many of the spots have garnered awards internationally. His love of music has fused with his cinematography on music videos and live concert specials for MTV, MuchMusic, CMT, MuchMoreMusic, CBC, PBS and Bravo!. He has recently shot collaborations between the Alberta Ballet, k.d. lang and Joni Mitchell. His work has garnered Craig two wins and two nominations at the CSC Awards as well as 16 wins and many nominations at the Alberta Film Industry Awards. Craig lives south of Calgary with his wife, Monica, their three dogs and three horses. He is represented by Ralph Berge at APA in Beverly Hills.
Adam Newport-Berra is a director of photography with a reel that includes features, commercials and music videos. Most recently Adam was the cinematographer on Euphoria and The Last Black Man In San Francisco which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won awards for Best Directing and a Special Jury Prize for Creative Collaboration. In the music realm he has worked with Chance the Rapper, Francis and The Lights, Kanye West and many more. Adam’s commercial work delves into true storytelling with compelling and unique ads that can feel more like short films.
Clair is an award winning cinematographer based between NYC and LA. He works in all media formats from documentaries & films to commercials, music videos and TV series. He has shot the film “Free Solo” which won the Academy Award in 2019 for Feature documentary. His work on Free Solo was nominated for a primetime Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography. He won a critics choice award for Best Cinematography in 2019 as well as a Cinema Eye award for Outstanding Cinematography.
Clair has shot numerous other documentaries including the Sundance Audience Award winner Jim: The James Foley Story (HBO 2016) as well as Other documentaries for HBO on subjects including Warren Buffet, Bryan Stevenson, Martin Luther King Jr. and John McCain. Clair was a DP on Netflix's Acclaimed documentary series Abstract: the Art of Design.
Clair has worked on numerous narrative films and TV shows throughout his career. He has shot commercial projects for numerous brands and clients including, Target, Apple, Walmart, and Toyota
Clair is an avid rock climber, skydiver and scuba diver with extensive experience filming outdoor and adventure sports.
Stuart Biddlecombe is an award winning Director of Photography, a Cinematography graduate from the National Film and Television School.
Currently shooting features, high end television drama, promos and commercials.
A BAFTA Cymru winner, GTC winner and a two time RTS nominee, Stuart is represented by McKinney Macartney Management.
Sean Stiegemeier is a Cinematographer based in Los Angeles CA. He has shot films and commercials around the world and worked with many formats of film and digital cameras. Owner of an Alexa Mini, Movi Pro, Inspire2 with X7 camera and Zeiss Ultra Primes. He has an agility and balance rating of ninety nine with a strong passion for storytelling and collaboration.
Raised in the fundamentalist Christian subculture of the Bible Belt, cinematographer Nicholas Matthews fell in love with storytelling as a child to explore life outside the confines of that perspective. It evolved into a fascination with telling regional stories about fringe ideologies and marginalized people.Recently, he's filmed projects in Japan, France, Mexico and across the US. The Hollywood Reporter praised his use of "expansive widescreen" and "adept long takes" on the 2018 Dances with Films Grand Jury Prize winner. The L.A. Times called his work on border thriller The Boatman "more art film than action film; deliberately paced, skillfully shot, emotionally challenging." He's worked with artists ranging from Ice Cube to Rise Against, as well as brands including Jack in the Box, T-Mobile, and Specialized Bikes. He thrives on collaboration in finding each film's unique voice.
Sacha Jenkins is an American television producer, filmmaker, writer, musician, artist, curator, and chronicler of hip-hop, graffiti, punk, and metal cultures. While still in his teens, Jenkins published Graphic Scenes & X-Plicit Language, one of the earliest ‘zines solely dedicated to “graffiti” art. In 1994, Jenkins co-founded ego trip magazine. In 2007, he created the competition reality program “ego trip's The (White) Rapper Show," which was carried by VH1. Currently, Jenkins is the creative director of Mass Appeal magazine. Sacha Jenkins recently directed “Of Mics and Men,” Showtime’s four-part docuseries on Wu-Tang Clan.
Salomon is a self-taught filmmaker whose international background–––a childhood spent in Johannesburg, Dubai, and Sydney–––figures strongly in his distinctive, visual style. His textural and experimental work finds new ways of exploring visual storytelling, always with a human story at its core. His work has garnered recognition across the world, with inclusion in both the Saatchi & Saatchi and 1.4 New Directors Showcases, two Golds and three Silvers at the YDAs, shortlist for online commercial of the year over 2 minutes for Audi at Shots, shortlists for Music Video of the Year at Shots, Best Alternative Video and Best New Director at the UKMVA’s, and a music video shortlist at Ciclope. These honors are all the more extraordinary for a young director, who is just three years into his commercial film career. His body of work includes short films like “Rocket Wars,” which documents the stunning aerial fireworks battle of a Greek village, as well as commercials for Audi, S7, and Valvoline, and music videos for artists like Daughter and Young Fathers. Salomon lives in New York City with his young family.
Adrian Peng Correia is an award-winning cinematographer, who has lensed projects all over the world. Over the last decade he has shot dozens of feature films, commercials, documentaries and short filmsAdrian is known for his work on GLOW (2017), Ramy (2019) and Night Owls (2015).
We first crossed paths with Steve Hoover at Masters In Motion when he gave one of the most moving and honest talks.
His first feature, "Blood Brother", premiered at Sundance in 2013 and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best US feature-length documentary. His second, "Almost Holy", was executive produced by Terrence Malick and scored by Atticus Ross, and premiered at Tribeca in 2015, garnering numerous awards around the world before going on to a worldwide theatrical run. Steve's commercial clients include Gap, Walmart, Chipotle and National Geographic.
He's a natural filmmaker, with a strong instinct, a deep empathy, and an eye for the pretty stuff: he moonlights as a digital painter, creating otherworldly landscapes. On a personal note, he loves coffee, his son, Linc (not necessarily in that order) and is involved in a one-sided love affair with a game called Battle of Titans.
Eliot Rausch’s work reflects his long-standing pursuit of finding value and transcendence in the mundane. The award-wining filmmaker has created films for organizations and brands including The Red Cross, Tumi, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Duracell, the Veteran Affairs of America, Nike, Under Armour, Apple, and Samsung. His short film “Find Your Understanding,” created for Expedia, was awarded “Most Tear-Jerking Viral Ad of the Year” by Ad Age and one of TED's 10 Best Ads of the Year. Eliot’s short film series honoring those with Multiple Sclerosis, won a Cannes Lion and a Clio Award. “We are Greater than I,” a Samsung film, garnered awards at D&AD, One Show, British Arrows and Cannes Film Festival. He worked alongside Alejandro González Iñárritu, directing the documentary "A World Unseen,” a complimentary piece to “The Revenant.” His short documentary Last Minutes With Oden won the Documentary Award and Grand Prize at the Vimeo Festival + Awards. His recent short film “Birth Pangs,” a haunting portrait of historic injustices that continues his work documenting marginalized communities, premiered on Nowness and was selected for Short of the Week. Currently, Eliot Rausch has been developing a media platform to help those caught in the provisional life, it is due to launch in 2019.
A native of New York City, Eric Branco attended The Bronx High School of Science and the School of Visual Arts before beginning his career in film.
Branco has lensed several feature films including V/H/S (dir. Glenn McQuaid), EMERALD CITY (dir. Colin Broderick), and most recently, CLEMENCY (dir. Chinonye Chukwu), which took home the Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
He has also shot numerous short films, such as NIGHT SHIFT (dir. Marshall Tyler), THE RIVER (dir. Sam Handel), MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES (dir. Alfonso Johnson), and THE COMPOSITOR (dir. John Mattiuzzi), winner of a 2013 Student Academy Award.
Branco's work has screened at festivals worldwide, including Sundance, TriBeCa, Slamdance and SXSW.
He was recently named one of Variety's "10 Cinematographers to Watch" 2019.
Eric splits time between NYC and Los Angeles. On days off, he can usually be found in the upper deck of Yankee Stadium with his wife and daughter.
Jim's father Homer Plannette worked as a gaffer in the movie business from 1919 to 1969. He collaborated with cinematographers on films such as Cover Girl, It's a Wonderful Life, Duel in the Sun, High Noon, Sweet Smell of Success, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and two Academy Award Winners for Best Cinematography, Shanghai Express and The Diary of Anne Frank.Jim has been immersed in the motion picture industry his entire life. In fact, his first movie job was in 1954 when he was only 14 -- Assistant Prop Man on Land of the Pharaohs, where he was lucky enough to bring Howard Hawks a glass of iced tea! As his father enjoyed sharing many tales of his vast experiences over the years, Jim also enjoys sharing his history and decades of experience with young filmmakers.Career highlights include: Young Frankenstein, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, The Fisher King, Magnolia, Traffic, Ocean's Eleven, A Single Man, The Artist, Behind the Candelabra, Suffragette, and back-to-back Best Cinematography Oscar winners Legends of the Fall and Braveheart, both photographed by John Toll.Jim was honored to accept the Motion Picture Academy's invitation to join the Class of 2018, and thrilled to serve as a judge for both the Student Academy Awards and the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards.
Cinematographer Natalie Kingston was born and raised in a small southern Louisiana town where she ran around with a VHS camcorder on her shoulder as a young girl shooting her own movies. She quickly became fascinated with the idea of creating images and sharing them with people. Natalie has been attached to the camera’s viewfinder since and has received multiple cinematography awards for her work.
Natalie shot the feature film, Lost Bayou - a 2018 IFP narrative lab project and Duplass Brothers grant recipient, which will premiere in 2019.
She shot Sam Pollard’s grammy-nominated film Two Trains Runnin’ - a New York Times Critic Pick - narrated by Common and featuring the music of Gary Clark Jr.
Natalie was behind the lens of music videos for artists Billie Eilish, PJ Morton and many more. She was the cinematographer of the award-winning commercial - Ready to Speak Up for Boots No.7, featuring Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Natalie completed a Cinematography Residency at Maine Media College and has a Bachelor of the Arts from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is a member of the International Collective of Female Cinematographers.
Phillip Youmans is a filmmaker from the 7th Ward of New Orleans. He is this years Tribeca Film Festival winner for his feature film Burning Cane. Phillip was also rewarded for his cinematography picking up the Best Cinematography award. Remarkably he is only 19 years old meaning he wrote, shot and edited the film while in high school. As of this month Phillip just finished his first semester at NYU Film School making him the youngest director to have an official selection at Tribeca and also the youngest winner. Indiewire proclaimed Burning Cane to be the most exciting black film of 2019 so far.
In his childhood, Phillip was first introduced to filmmaking as an actor, taking small roles in productions around New Orleans. This early exposure to working on sets ignited Phillip's desire to pursue the medium from behind the camera. Before high school, Phillip began writing, directing, shooting, and editing his own short films. During his high school years at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Phillip solidified his technical foundation of filmmaking in their media arts program. In his junior year, Phillip began work on his first feature film Burning Cane. Burning Cane, starring Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Jack Ryan, Tréme, Suits, Clemency) and executive produced by Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), speaks on the rigid religious convictions that govern the black community in the rural south and the cyclical nature of destructive behavior. His most recent video installation titled Won't You Celebrate With Me premiered with Solange Knowles' creative agency Saint Heron at the end of his senior year of high school; the instillation is showcase of black female unity in an alternative future. His latest short film Nairobi, also made with Saint Heron, is about a Harlem-based family of francophone West-African immigrants. Nairobi will premiere on their platform in the Spring of 2019. Furthermore, Phillip is in post-production for his documentary about the Grammy-nominated jazz musician Jon Batiste titled The Vanguard: Days with Jon Batiste. Set release in late 2019 in tandem with Batiste's latest album, the film follows Batiste and the Stay Human Band from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to their six night run at the legendary Village Vanguard.
The Art vs. Commerce podcast is back! After a hiatus the show returns to kick things off with friend of the pod Ryan Booth. We felt Ryan would make for a great guest to relaunch as he has been through so much career change since we last spoke in 2015. In this episode we compare and contrast our previous conversation learning about his journey and what insights he has gained since becoming a repped commercial director on the Pulse Film roster.
Booth’s filmmaking career began in 2011 when his first attempt at making short film won a contest hosted by Vimeo and Canon and premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Booth was an audio engineer living in Texas at the time. After Sundance he came home and quit his job and dove headfirst into filmmaking.
He spent the next few years cutting his teeth as a Director of Photography, working on commercial projects for Fox, MTV, Spotify, Under Armour, Pepsi, and Budweiser, as well as music videos for Atlantic Records, Sony, and Universal Music. He DP'd narrative and documentary features that have screened at Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca Film Festivals, among others. In 2016, Ryan DP'd a feature documentary that was commissioned by Alejandro G. Iñárritu that explores the modern implications of the themes woven into Iñárritu’s film, The Revenant. The film was directed by Eliot Rausch and the experience working with Eliot and Alejandro proved to be the catalyst that began his transition into directing.
Ryan has always been drawn to telling the stories of real people. He naturally began his directing work in documentaries. He created a doc series pilot called Five Star, about the insane world of college football recruiting. This led to shopping deals with SpringHill Entertainment and Preferred Content. He naturally moved into branded content, directing projects for Spotify and Google. He then caught the eye of Pulse Films, the award winning production company behind American Honey and Lemonade.
In the spring of 2017 he was offered a spot on Pulse's commercial roster and within a few months of beginning to pitch, was directing national campaigns with Weiden + Kennedy for Fox Sports and Anheuser-Busch. He's currently pitching as much as possible and looks forward to collaborating with some of the best agencies in the world.
Additionally, Ryan co-wrote and directed his first narrative short, The Heights, as a proof of concept for what would be his first narrative feature. Not one to wait around for permission, he is actively developing a handful of film and television projects with writers and producers from around the world.
Joe Rudge is an established music supervisor based in Brooklyn, NY best known for his work on the feature films Room, Blue Valentine & Beasts of the Southern Wild. An experienced licensing professional and music fanatic, he works with film, TV, commercial, and multimedia directors to enhance the moving image with sound.
Recent music supervision highlights include the Amazon Studios feature film The Big Sick, directed by Michael Showalter and the Grateful Dead documentary Long Strange Trip, also released through Amazon Studio. Upcoming projects include the Sundance 2017 breakout hit Patti Cake$ which will be released by Fox Searchlight on August 18th.
Brian Koppelman is a co-creator, executive producer and showrunner of Showtime's hit drama series Billions. Over the past two decades, Koppelman and his writing/producing/directing partner, David Levien, have created an influential and diverse body of work in both film and television.
Some of their most noteworthy credits include Rounders, Ocean's Thirteen, Solitary Man, The Illusionist, Runaway Jury, Tilt, ESPN's 30 for 30 (This Is What They Want), I Smile Back, The Girlfriend Experience and Joe Berlinger's Tony Robbins documentary, I Am Not Your Guru. Koppelman is the host and creator of the hit Slate podcast The Moment with Brian Koppelman.
In this episode we discuss the block he faced in his 20s and how he overcame it at 30 to write Rounders. From there we dive into a variety of topics including having a collaborator, how to stay focused on the work and what it means to stay curious.
Adam Newport-Berra is a director of photography with a reel that includes features, commercials and music videos. In the music realm he has worked with Chance the Rapper, Francis and The Lights, Kanye West and many more. His most recent feature film, Barry, is the story of a young Barack Obama which was acquired for release by Netflix. Adam’s commercial work delves into true storytelling with compelling and unique ads that can feel more like short films.
In the episode we discuss Adam’s approach to collaboration and how he values people’s attitudes over any other attribute. We also dive into some technical aspects of his pieces learning about the challenges of a few specific projects.
Sean Porter is a director of photography with a list of feature films that include Rough Night (currently in theaters) starring Scarlett Johansson, 20th Century Women starring Annette Bening and Green Room starring Patrick Stewart. Originally an indie filmmaker from Seattle, Sean’s pursuit of a career as a cinematographer led him to New York City where he immersed himself in the indie film scene. After a few festival darlings Sean’s career has taken off with Rough Night being his first major film studio production.
In the episode we discuss Sean’s journey from indie DP shooting anything and everything to rising up the ranks by making careful decisions about which films to take on in an effort to build proper momentum. It’s an energetic hour filled with a lot of insight on both the craft and the strategy to a long term narrative career.
Walter Partos is the owner of Partos Company which represents cinematographers, costume designers, production designers, producers and editors. Their artists have won virtually every award in the entertainment industry including Oscars, Spirits Awards, Cannes Gold Lions, Emmys, BAFTAs and MTV Music Video Awards.
Walter started his career as a literary agent and his clients included Quentin Tarantino, Mardik Martin (Raging Bull, Mean Streets), Chris DeVore (Elephant Man), Rolf De Heir (Bad Boy Bubby).
After literary representation, the next step in his career was representing visual artists. One of the first visual artists he represented was cinematographer Jordan Croenenweth who taught him the importance of listening. Now the company represents a large number of cinematographers including a former podcast guest Oren Soffer.
This episode is unique in that instead of a more chronological discussion of Walter's career we dive deep into the intricacies of being an agent with the hour long discussion taking on a more Q&A form about the craft with Walter extolling advice about a number of topics including: how to get an agent, what an agent can do for you, common misconceptions about agents, how to be a professional artist…
We recorded this conversation over the course of a few discussions due to technical reasons. With that in mind, the conversation touches upon the same topics in a few different ways but it all felt helpful so the various conversations have been combined into one episode.
Joel Edwards is a filmmaker that has spent all of his adult life in the industry. Originally from Pasadena, CA Joel and his 4 brothers had moved 7 times, lived and traveled across the US as children. By the time he was in his early twenties he had started a film production business with his brother Jesse. This has grown and turned into a company that is now known as Evolve. For the past 7 years they've owned & operated the boutique content studio which is a strategic creative partner for many networks, production companies & agencies.
Their work is hand crafted, as the duo prefer to play all projects very close to the chest and are deeply immersed in every facet of creative, production & post, design, VFX, sound & score. Joel and Jesse work as a traditional directing team in larger scale sets, but also work individually as directors; or director/DP's in smaller crew roles when called upon in docu-style cinematography.
They have crafted content for Disney, National Geographic, ESPN, FOX, NBC Universal, Discovery, History, ABC, SyFy, Animal Planet, Samsung, Gatorade, Nike and many other networks & brands. Recognized with numerous industry awards. Just in the past 5 years alone, they have been nominated for 34 National Emmy Awards, winning 5 of them in Best Promo Campaign, Outstanding Cinematography, Best Sports Show & Journalism categories.
Matty Brown is a film director that specializes in his own highly unique style of visual storytelling. Starting from modest beginnings growing up poor, and at times homeless, Matty has become one of the most successful filmmakers on Vimeo garnering 16 staff picks.
Through his incredible success online he has been thrust into the commercial world directing spots for large corporations such as Chevron and Lincoln. He is currently repped by Workhouse Creative.
In addition to his art and commercial pieces, Matty is stepping into the world of narrative with his first short film Thump. Still in post production, the trailer is online and a feature script is currently in development.
Adam J. Kurtz is a designer, artist and the author of 1 Page at a Time and Pick Me Up, which have been translated into over a dozen languages. In addition to his “very personal” personal work, he’s collaborated with brands and cultural institutions like Urban Outfitters, the Brooklyn Public Library, Fishs Eddy and Strand Bookstore. His design and illustration embraces the world with optimism… and a dark sense of humor. He’s truly interested in the ephemera of daily life and creating honest, accessible work. Adam has previously held creative positions at Barton F. Graf, BuzzFeed, Houpla and others.
Ethan Goldman is a media consultant working in creative development with twenty years of experience working in television, film and digital. Currently he is consulting for Big Fish Entertainment, Anchor and Viacom. Prior to his move into freelance consulting Ethan served as Head of Development at Morgan Spurlock’s Warrior Poets. Before that he was Senior Vice President of Ish Entertainment, where he developed projects for cable tv. Ethan landed that job after working as a creative consultant for various cable networks developing show ideas and original programming for AMC, truTV, and Fuse. His start in the business began at VH1, working for Lauren Zalaznick, contributing to projects like 100 Greatest, Vogue/VH1 Fashion Awards, Pop Up Video and Vh1 Movies of the Week. In this episode we discuss the journey he has been on and dive into how a creative mind like his ends up creating on the development side of the business.
Jay Wadley is a musician and film composer with credits that include the hit series The OA on Netflix and feature films such as Indignation. His score for James Schamus' Indignation was listed in IndieWire's "10 Best Scores of 2016". Indignation premiered with critical acclaim at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival where it was acquired by Lionsgate. Recent projects include The OA (Netflix) and Anu Valia's Lucia, Before & After, winner of the 2017 Sundance Jury Prize: U.S. Short Fiction. Other TV credits include Lie to Me (FOX), Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story (VH1), The Nine Lives of Chloe King (ABC Family) and orchestrations for Doctor Who (BBC). A graduate of the Yale School of Music (MM, AD), Jay has won two Charles Ives awards from the Academy of Arts and Letters as well as an ASCAP/SCI Student Composer Award. He's been commissioned by Carnegie Hall's Ensemble ACJW, the Yale and Williams College among others. His films have been featured at Sundance, Berlin, BFI London, Rotterdam, Tribeca and Montreal film festivals. His arrangements and orchestrations for Rufus Wainwright, Mark Ronson and Calexico have been performed by The San Francisco Symphony, New York City Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, among others.
James Burns is a film director with a career that includes multiple short films in Tribeca film festival and has been working with Vice directing content for over a year. James has a unique story having been in and out of the prison system since he was 6 years old. He has spent time in solitary confinement which has shaped his perspective and current drive to bring to light issues within the prison system. After turning his situation around, his life’s story was written and produced into a Hollywood movie titled “Jamesy Boy.” Following the film James worked to create a career in film as a writer and director. Now with years of success under his belt, James focuses a lot of his storytelling on the underprivileged and marginalized trying to give a voice to the voiceless. Using his unique vantage-point, James gains access to subcultures shining a light on society’s problems in an attempt to start conversations on ways to improve these issues.
Ricky Staub is a film and commercial director as well as the founder of the production company Neighborhood Film Co. His most recent work, The Cage, was the first in a new series of works from Film Supply called Film Supply Originals. The project served as Ricky’s first narrative film that he wrote, directed and edited. In the episode we discuss this project at length going into the details behind how it came to fruition and the challenges faced from ideation to completion. Neighborhood Film Co. is unique in that it works with the formerly incarcerated through a paid apprenticeship program that teaches the ins and outs of the film business and offers real responsibilities and opportunities to those involved. With three apprentices per year in an eight month program, Ricky’s company helps create a new foundation for the participants.
Shal Ngo is a director and writer splitting his time between narrative and commercial work. He is on the directing roster at Acres having been there from its inception as the company’s first director. One of Shal’s notable projects for Acres was his work on the Bill DeBlasio for Mayor campaign. The campaign has been credited for a significant boost in DeBlasio’s polling and was viewed as a beneficial factor in his election win. Narratively Shal has been working on an ongoing short film series called Tangents. This podcast episode takes on a special approach as we recorded it on-location in Vietnam where Shal and I were filming his latest sci-fi short film. Having just wrapped production the day prior, we sat down to discuss the project, our collaboration between director and cinematographer as well as the usual podcast journey of chronology and discussion about moments throughout Shal’s life.
Oren Soffer is a cinematographer primarily working on narrative in addition to commercials and documentaries. After growing up in Israel, Oren studied at NYU’s film school where he spent time working under Reed Morano ASC. Upon graduating it has been a constant stream of narrative and commercial work building his chops and aesthetic. Some commercial clients include Discovery Channel, Bloomberg News, Time Inc, Refinery 29, Target, MTV, Nickelodeon, L’Oreal and Skype. In the podcast we take a deep dive into the craft of cinematography. Not just the technical aspects but the mental ones as well both in the micro view of being on set and the macro view of how to shape a career as a director of photography.
Michael Tringe is a filmmaker, business owner and all around industry thinker who has spent the majority of his career democratizing film. Working in both the creative and business aspects, Mike has seen the power of the internet as a transformative tool for creators. A tool that allows for education, monetization and of course distribution. An interesting career with stints at CAA, Vuguru and Blip among others, he eventually co-founded his own company called CreatorUp! which is a self described digital storytelling academy. In the podcast we discuss Mike’s path from teaching film to students in Morocco to his current role teaching creators globally through his CreatorUp! platform. Along the way we discuss the influence of the internet on Hollywood, the rise of Youtube and the Youtube star, the pitfalls of the early years of internet filmmaking and the steps the industry has taken in trying to create an ecosystem that works for the creator and platforms alike.
Todd Wiseman Jr. is a producer, director and the co-owner of NYC based production company Hayden 5. Having skill sets in both the creative and business aspects of the industry, Todd is that rare character who is equally comfortable and happy creating his own work or helping facilitate others. Having directed or produced works with screenings at Tribeca Film Festival and with big names such as Oscar Isaac, Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen, Todd is a true industry professional maximizing the advantages of Hayden 5’s indie-like approach to the craft. In the podcast we discuss how his time at NYU Film School helped set him on his path to owning a production company from an early age and how he navigated the early years. We also delve into how he balances his producing/directing mindsets and goals while managing big projects and talent.
Molly Kaplan is the Head of Multimedia at ACLU National. The job is unique within the ACLU in that while the majority of its employees are lawyers, Molly is one part artist, one part campaign specialist. Her job is to help captivate the American public bringing to their attention the issues the ACLU is undertaking on their behalf. Her more formal film roles would include executive producer, creative director, director, producer, editor… every project requires a different hat. I’ve known Molly for a few years now having first worked on a project with Joey L. for the ACLU. It was not until our current collaboration, the Know Your Rights Campaign, that our working relationship manifested into something much greater. To cut straight to the point, working with Molly is nothing short of fantastic. A true collaborative partner, the power of her inclusive and open minded nature is evident in the final products she creates working alongside talented filmmakers. In the podcast we discuss the somewhat meandering path Molly took to get to her current role. Having started in the food industry traveling around the world studying olives, her way in life has never been concrete or straight forward. I believe it’s important to note and discuss this fact for everyone out there who thinks success comes from clear and definite goals. We also discuss our working relationship and what makes for optimal client/vendor collaboration. Lastly, given the outcome of the election, we discuss the importance of the ACLU specifically examining the role film pieces play in legal cases that are under the national spotlight.
Patrick Lawler is a director, cinematographer, editor, motion graphics artist… the list is long. It’s honestly best to describe him as an artist who uses film as his medium. Having a background in music videos, the genre’s flexible rules allow him to try out new ideas and interesting tricks without worrying about the confines of more traditional storytelling. Having now started a production company called DECA, Patrick is looking to expand into narrative film work after spending the last decade honing in on his unique visual aesthetic. Patrick was one of the first big users on Vimeo back in the platform’s infancy. No coincidence that social media is how we first met and it’s fascinating to see how being a part of that first internet wave influenced and helped shape our careers. We discuss this interesting time in our lives and the industry in the episode along with Patrick’s approach to internet relevancy and how he likes to engage his captive audience. Patrick has worked with bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Run The Jewels, Big Sean, Riff Raff, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Raekwon and DJ Shadow among others. He's worked on commercials for LRG x Star Wars, Audi, Honda, Cadillac and Intel among others and has been teaching courses and giving lectures for the RED camera company for three years.
Ezra Cimino-Hurt is an artist, craftsman and small business owner. He is the proud mastermind behind Case of Bass, a shop that turns vintage luggage into beautiful boomboxes. Ezra grew up a capable carpenter without a real understanding of what he wanted to do in life. He spent time in the film industry as well as construction before stumbling into what would eventually become a dream job he made for himself. I first met Ezra in 2012 at the Portland Design Week screening of my documentary Graffiti Fine Art. Case of Bass was only a year old at that point but the idea and execution felt like an obvious hit. It’s been a long road since then and this episode delves into the trials and tribulations any creative faces when committing to their ideas. Straight up, Ezra is an inspiring guy. His positive attitude and zest for life make him a pleasure to be around, the good vibes are infectious and they are clearly the foundation of his company and the cases. This episode is slightly different in that we are not speaking directly with a filmmaker but I’m encouraged by the conversation we were able to have and draw parallels from one type of freelance life to another. We recently collaborated on a short film about Ezra and Case of Bass called Updating Philosophies - There Is No Away, please check that out beforehand to get an even better sense of the products and Ezra’s life philosophy.
Tiffany Chang is a film and commercial producer currently living in Vietnam. Originally a commercial editor at a boutique post production house she felt the need to get out of the edit bay and have a more varied working environment. Transitioning into freelance producing she found consistency working with production company Acres (previous guest Matt McLaughlin co-owns Acres). From there the desire to branch out even further has resulted in her moving abroad where she nows lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City. I’ve known Tiffany for 3 years originally through Acres and it’s creatives. Her wit and sharp commentary have always been a joy to witness. Now that she lives abroad it has been great getting to hear her stories and compare/contrast with the experience I had living in Brazil for two years. Our similar experiences were the reason why I wanted to sit down for an episode as I know many freelancers who have contemplated working and living abroad.
Joe Simon is a cinematographer and director based out of Austin, Texas. Originally a sponsored BMX rider, Joe took his need to film himself biking and turned it into a full blown career. From there he dominated the wedding film industry filming celebrity weddings such as Tony Romo’s as well as global destination weddings for high end clients. After reaching the top of the wedding world Joe transitioned into documentary and narrative filmwork. He started a production company called The Delivery Men and freelances as well, most notably for the CNN show The Wonder List with Bill Weir. I’ve known Joe for 6 years now having first met at the original Masters in Motion, hosted in his home of Austin, Texas. He has always been a laid back guy who never took himself too seriously. He’s simply a hard working talented dude who puts in the time to execute at a very high level. A real pleasure to be around, it is easy to see how people gravitate towards him for freelance work. In the episode we discuss his path from BMX to weddings to proper filmmaking. Within that journey we chat about the value of having a collaborative partner, his new passion project “Everything has a Feeling,” and the ins and outs of working on The Wonder List.
Timur Civan is a cinematographer working on commercials, documentaries, scripted narrative and experimental. Working his way through the craft and the New York film scene for over ten years, he sets himself apart with his experimental work. A notable example of this style being the music video for Nigel Stanford titled Cymatics. I’ve known Timur for the past 3 to 4 years meeting and hanging out in the same NYC film circles. We both frequent Vincent Laforet’s poker game where Timur acts like he doesn’t know how to play but miraculously ends up winning rather consistently. Somehow I felt this information was relevant and helps paint a picture for you all. In the podcast we discuss Timur’s current transitional state as he finds himself very close to joining the union as a DP. Reflective and thoughtful, this conversation provides insights into the lesser discussed aspects of craft building, the ways in which our talents and opportunities can feel cyclical and how to anticipate these cycles and make them work for you both artistically and financially.
Jason Wise is a film director and the driving force behind notable documentaries SOMM and SOMM: Into The Bottle. Both films take a deep dive into the world of wine, documenting the perspectives of the master sommelier and wine purveyors. The cultural impact of the original SOMM reached full strength after it’s release on Netflix becoming one of the go-to films on the subject. I’ve been speaking with Jason for a few years now on social media following his rise and his continued efforts at both documentary and narrative. He has always taken an inclusive approach with his commentary on various social media platforms creating a friendly vibe that makes you want to root for him. It comes as no surprise that our conversation continued this sentiment resulting in a discussion that went deep into the honest reflections that come from finding success. In the podcast we discuss his early career, how SOMM came to be, an incredible story about how it entered film festivals and distribution as well as his mission to switch back to shooting his next projects all on film and why.
Dallas Taylor is a sound designer and business owner of Defacto Sound, a sound design and mixing house based in Washington D.C. The shop takes on projects from a wide variety of genres including commercials, video games, network promos, short docs and feature length films. Clients include National Geographic, Audi, Redbull, Fallout and Skyroom (video game trailers). A recent feature doc they did titled Blood Brothers won Sundance and another titled Almost Holy is currently in theaters after screening at Tribeca. I’ve known Dallas for a few years now since he began working with fellow film collaborators (and podcast guests) Jon Bregel of Variable, Ryan Booth and Andy Baker of National Geographic. Dallas is always inquisitive, eager to steer conversation away from the mundane, diving into deeper discussion about the craft, the industry or life in general. I think this approach to people, wanting to get past the surface pleasantries, is at the root of his continued success. In the podcast Dallas takes us on his journey from aspiring jazz trumpet player to high end sound designer. Along the way we pick up advice and insight on how to make big life moves and how to build a successful company.
Johanna Kelly is a production designer with 7 feature films under her belt. Beyond her main role on set, she has undertaken a feature documentary as a director and producer diving into the world of the insect food industry. Her documentary The Gateway Bug is currently in post and is being prepped for a festival run. This is my first episode with a guest with whom I’ve had no prior relationship. It was an inevitability I suppose and I’m excited for the future of the podcast. Great to sit down with Johanna and learning about her from scratch, on air. It added new elements to the discovery aspects of the conversation and I found Johanna’s rise in the industry particularly fascinating since production design was not her first career.
Craig Ormiston is a renaissance man. He is a consultant for multiple tech and entertainment companies, a film producer, writer, craft beer enthusiast and hails from the great state of Colorado. His eclectic list of interests, hobbies and professions serves as a defining characteristic about him and his career. We first met on the set of a worldwide travel show based out of Dubai. Craig produced the impossible and managed a crew of 10 circumnavigating the globe. The project was logistically one of the most challenging of our careers and Craig made it’s success possible. Unlike many of the podcast guests we’ve had on, Craig is hard to define by one role, industry or passion. Our conversation is founded on this and discusses new topics to the show such as how to know when to leave your current job, how to assess your career and how to deal with a shifting career trajectory.
Matt McLaughlin is the co-owner of the production company Acres in New York City. He serves as both executive producer and media strategist working with brands, political campaigns and organizations. Their work on the Bill de Blasio mayoral campaign in NYC is notable as it helped transform his poll numbers and gave Acres large scale publicity. Now a young and successful company, they support a small roster of directors out of an office space in TriBeCa. I first met Matt when working with Acres’ director Shal Ngo. Matt’s a warm and welcoming guy with a sharp wit. Always eager to get into deeper conversation about complex issues, it has become clear to me that these interests act as a guide for where he sees Acres going as a company. Always interesting speaking with people who are more on the commerce side of this ongoing discussion. Matt is unique in that he straddles the line, truly making art out of the commerce. Speaking with him I hear the same passion akin to a director or cinematographer, except our conversations are about brand identity, financial distribution models and the importance of relationships.
Christian Schultz is a freelance Film and Commercial Director. He recently left his staff job as a Film Director for The Musicbed, a music licensing company. He was part of the inaugural film team at The Musicbed and helped craft their aesthetic and setup the foundation for a strong collection of films ranging from stylistic marketing materials to short online portraits of musicians to feature documentaries. I first met Christian at the filmmaking conference Masters in Motion. At the time Christian had just started putting out work with The Musicbed and it was clear they were focused on changing the way brands made films about themselves and their collaborators. Gone was the commercial tone and in was the thoughtful moody atmosphere more akin to heartfelt documentaries. Christian is a soft spoken thinker. Never the loudest in the room, he tends to let his work speak for himself. It was great to meet him at this time of transition from being on staff to going full time freelance. It’s a challenging time for anyone and I believe he provides solid insight into his process and how he is evaluating his success.
Jeremy Leach is a Director of Photography and Director specializing in documentary films and travel television. He is an Emmy Award winner for his cinematography work on Mind of a Chef, a program created by Zero Point Zero, a production company famous for their work with Anthony Bourdain. Through this relationship, Jeremy continues to serve as a recurring DP on Bourdain’s CNN show Parts Unknown and was a DP on Bourdain's previous show No Reservations. All three of these shows, along with many other projects, have taken him all over the world. Like previous guest Ethan Mills, I met Jeremy on the set of Mind of a Chef. Both Jeremy and Ethan worked on the program since its inception and have been an integral part of the development process as DPs helping craft the look through four seasons. Jeremy’s impact cannot be understated as Zero Point Zero DPs are given a lot of artistic freedom. His leadership in time-pressed situations is something to behold and his creative quickfeet help guide the multitude of decisions made every day on set. Jeremy is a humble and thoughtful guy often downplaying his overall impact. Having worked with him in the field, his clear vision sets him apart as someone who tries to always stay one step ahead and keep his cool even while under immense amounts of documentary pressure. He’s a blast to work with and I believe his personality and demeanor shine through in this episode.
Josh and Jason Diamond are filmmakers, entrepreneurs, geeks... you name it and they’ve probably been involved somehow, someway. Having started with an interest in practical special effects, their careers have taken them in every possible direction from MTV to music videos to feature documentaries to post production, software development, commercial directing to everything in between. To understand the scope of the work they’ve done is to understand the eclectic nature of their personalities and interests. I’ve known them for a few years now as we run in the same NYC indie scene and they have a solid presence in a similar social media crowd. From day one they’ve come across as genuine, tell you how it is, stand up dudes. Just a ton of fun to be around. It becomes obvious that this is also their business strength. From a networking standpoint, it feels as if they know everyone from Midtown to Hollywood, and a lot of that comes from their openness, affability and a penchant for having a good time while working your ass off. They are an excellent example of how this industry and lifestyle can be meandering, slightly confusing and yet still successful. Conversations like this reinforce how important it is to stay self aware, embrace the world around you and to trust your gut. It’s something the Diamond brothers have done for over four decades and it’s proving to be a solid plan.
Porter was born in New York and raised on the coast of Maine. He lives, writes, teaches and edits the literary travel writing journal Nowhere. His fiction, essays and nonfiction have been published in The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, Outside, Men's Journal, National Geographic Adventure, Powder, Salon.com, Narrative, The Literary Review, Northwest Review, Third Coast and Conjunctions, among others. In 2013 he published DEEP: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow. The book was featured on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Review, CBS national news, NPR and in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. I first met Porter while searching for a new work space in Brooklyn. He owns Nowhere Studios in Bed Stuy, along with his wife, providing an ideal enclave for freelance creatives of all backgrounds. His open and supportive personality was immediately clear. Easy to talk to and knowledgeable on a diverse range of subjects, it is no surprise he’s had a successful career as a journalist and writer. As the podcast continues these are the kinds of conversations I hope to have with creatives working outside of the film industry. I believe there are many similarities and parallels that can be made with other freelance roles. This discourse provides the type of perspective needed to appreciate the universal nature of our needs, problems and solutions.
Agata Alexander is a director and editor best known for her unique music videos and music festival recaps. She has an ongoing relationship with HARD festivals and events which allows her to take the genre in new, creatively insane and hilarious directions. A genre often known for music heavy montages, Agata writes her own skits bringing a short film/narrative style that is simply unique to her. Utilizing Hollywood cinematographers, her approach and overall production quality level far surpass anyone else in the scene. In addition to these short film recaps, Agata utilizes her connections in the EDM world by directing music videos for the heavy hitters; most notably Dillon Francis, Bloody Beetroots and Destructo. I first met Agata working for her as a cinematographer at one of HARD’s events Holy Ship, a music festival that takes place on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. It is a fitting place to begin a professional relationship, I assure you. Agata’s charisma and trust stand out as she gives freedom to her DPs but instills a distinct aesthetic within the crew; one focused on beauty with a hint of debauchery. Whether she likes it or not, her approach and style raises eyebrows both for the concepts on display as well as the fact that they are coming from a female. Instinctive or carefully calculated, Agata cannot shy away from the reality that her work sparks conversation about feminism, misogyny, chauvinism and the male/female gaze.
Jeffrey Hagerman is an on-set colorist and camera technician/operator working on everything from major Hollywood blockbusters to high end commercials. He assists in creating the look for world renowned cinematographers such as Spielberg’s DP Janusz Kaminski. His credit list is quite impressive and includes the newly released Tina Fey/Amy Poehler comedy Sisters, Marvel’s Daredevil, Philomena, Victoria Secret Campaigns, Olympics Telecast and much more. The list is long and eclectic, an opportunity made possible by the genre agnostic nature and universal need for on-set color and data management. I first met Jeffrey on indie film sets in New York City 5 years ago. At the time he was dialing in his technical expertise but had yet to join the union. It has been quite the experience watching him join the union and catapult from indie features to major summer blockbusters. Sitting down and chatting about these rather abrupt changes in his life proved interesting and totally on point for the larger Art vs. Commerce discussion. Hearing him talk through the decisions he’s made along the way, and the general risk involved, made for an intriguing and thought provoking hour.
Andy Baker is the Senior Vice President and Group Creative Director for National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD. Having worked at the National Geographic channel since it’s inception in 2001, he has overseen its growth and set the aesthetic for its promotional materials. The past few years have turned towards a cinematic approach which has garnered widespread appeal and is raising the bar for television show promos across the industry. In addition to inspiring beautiful work Andy also expresses a unique view on the business from the client side with his blog The Client Blog. Here he shares his views on everything from execution to relationships and how to manage it all. Creatives rave about him as he has a keen sense of self awareness and uses it to approach delicate situations with the utmost care and respect for the artists and the creative process. Having worked on a few of his sets, I can attest that his candor and attitude provides the foundation for a successful shoot. Andy was an interesting choice for the podcast as he seemingly sits on the other side of the Art vs. Commerce table, or at least it appears that way from the outside. I think the more we discussed the realities he faces the more it became apparent that he is an artisan of his craft. When you realize that, it comes as no shock that he cares for and treats everyone in a way that feels inspiring and meaningful. Andy’s openness allowed for interesting conversation about the client/artist relationship and how to foster positive growth, not just for the sake of the product but for actual happiness in your life and in the workplace. This episode is sponsored by Masters in Motion, a filmmaking conference that takes place in Austin, Texas. Speakers include the DP of Game of Thrones, the editors of Breaking Bad and Birdman, production designer of Master of None and many more. Andy was a speaker at this event and we recorded this episode during our time there.
Ethan Mills is a Director of Photography for documentary television, promos, commercials and narrative. An industry veteran, he has been working in production for almost 20 years. During the earlier stages of his career, the creative environment was much different than today. The Internet had not yet become a place to showcase personal work and editing a passion project was simply impossible without access to an editing suite. In the episode we discuss this challenge and how he dealt with it. In addition we discussed his work shooting Mind of a Chef, the Emmy award winning television series that airs on PBS/Netflix from Zero Point Zero, the makers of Anthony Bourdain’s shows. I met Ethan working on this show and find his personal relationship to it quite interesting. We discuss how it has helped his career and what perspective he has gained from 4 seasons. Ethan is one of those guys on set constantly teaching. Every opportunity presenting a new moment to pass on a helpful trick or philosophy, his positive vibe is infectious and often a saving grace on a grueling day of production. I’ve seen it firsthand. My favorite part of the conversation is our reflection on the difficulties of freelance life and the realities of coming to terms with the inevitable ceilings of one's own success.
When thinking about people in the film industry who inspire me I think it breaks down into two groups of people: Hollywood level stars and people I view as peers. Ryan is a friend, peer and complete inspiration. Not only in the way he motivates me to be a better filmmaker and person, but on a more technical level as well. I love his style and try to learn from it. His eye is top notch and given the right opportunities I really do think his career is limitless. In this episode we cover his background and how he eventually became a filmmaker. Unlike a few of the other guests, being a director and cinematographer were not things he wanted to be even into his early to mid twenties. It’s always interesting when someone with such raw talent does not tap into it initially. I think the conversation about how to find it and stoke that fire can be beneficial and applicable for anyone regardless of craft or trade. In addition to this realization we discuss his current transition into directing and his desire to continue pursuing cinematography in tandem. Process and approach are big themes and I loved hearing what goes on inside his head including his beliefs about how to deal with the facets of filmmaking as well as life in general. His portfolio is strong with a recent commercial campaign for Spotify as a highlight. A lot of his work is in the music space, creating a project called Serialbox Presents which showcases up and coming musical acts. He also directs and shoots cinematic music videos often turning them into short films with Hollywood level actors.
This conversation holds a special meaning in my heart. Eliot is a profound human being. A past filled with addiction and excess, he has pushed himself to the brink and back, now working as a sought after commercial director with a humanistic/documentary style. His life blindly air dropped into the fast lane after the meteoric success of a short film he made about his friend putting his dog down. What was supposed to be a simple ode to a dog turned into the spark that exploded his career. In the episode we discuss what lead up to this moment and how it impacted his life in the immediate and long term. This kind of rise can be a dizzying thing to navigate in every way possible; mentally, physically, fiscally, socially, politically - the higher you go, the bigger you get, the more complicated it all becomes. Eliot’s honesty is something to behold. He shares his heart with anyone who is open to accept it. After we finished recording we kept discussing these topics for another few hours, it’s a conversation that never ends for him. He’s a unique soul and I hope you get as much out of it as I did.
Vincent Laforet is a professional photographer turned commercial director and cinematographer. He was the youngest staff photographer ever hired for the New York Times where he shared The Pulitzer for his international coverage in The Middle East documenting events unfolding post 9/11. After years of success at the paper, the need for creativity and artistry prompted him to do the unthinkable, he left what most considered to be the job you held onto forever. In the pod we discuss his upbringing and how he managed to become the youngest hired staff member of the famed NYT photo dept and the journey he’s been on ever since. Vince is well known in the photography world as a teacher through his prolific blog. This side of him is impossible to turn off and comes through during our conversation. He’s always trying to extoll advice and share what he’s learned. Contrary to the first two episodes, Vince is older and brings with him a different perspective. I’m hopeful that the podcast can continue to bring in a variety of voices either because of age, experience, background, artistic genre - with each new voice the conversation becomes richer.
Joey L is a wildly talented photographer working on everything from top tier commercial work to thoughtful documentary work. Living every young photographer’s dream he headed to New York at a young age and found critically acclaimed success quite early, he was still a teenager. His work has been featured in top magazines, billboards in Time Square and wrapped around double decker buses in midtown Manhattan. Clients include Lavazza, National Geographic, The U.S. Army and many more. When he is not shooting for a client, he’s usually on the road working on his travel photography. Differing from photojournalism, he brings his commercial aesthetic to far flung places mixing his technical ability with a dive into human exploration. One of the more interesting notes is that he routinely visits the same tribes, forming relationships over years, which grants him unique access. Now entering his mid-20s, he has accomplished more than most people do in their whole career. For that reason I enjoyed our discussion on how to stay engaged when many common photography goals have been achieved so quickly. He’s well spoken, articulate and has a keen sense of self awareness. At the time of recording he had just returned from a personal trip to Syria and Iraq. He went to document the Kurdish resistance. It was fortuitous to catch him in such a fresh state of mind about the experience as it was his first formal discussion on that project. Those photos have now been seen the world over and achieved international acclaim.
Jonathan Bregel is an accomplished commercial director, cinematographer and personal friend. Finding success at a young age, he started a production company called Variable at 22 years old. That company now boasts a growing roster of directors and houses a full staff taking on large scale high-end commercials and doc-style campaigns. Some noted clients are National Geographic, Cadillac and Tiffany’s. Speaking with Jon is always an inspiring experience. He’s a thoughtful and deep guy who is constantly analyzing the world around him and his participation in it. In the episode we discuss how he came up in the industry embracing his friends help and creating a film family from the very beginning. We dive into the importance of having a team and how he dealt with the transition to large projects that came with an exponential rise in responsibility. His views on the industry and how to stay grounded really resonate with me. For someone who has accomplished so much, it’s exciting to see him still curious and inquisitive. He’s about as egoless as they come. It was a great conversation and even though I’ve known him for years, it opened up a whole new appreciation for him and his outstanding work.