Working as a filmmaker and business owner since 2004 has taught me the true value of connecting with people and the world around me, to see every interaction as an opportunity to learn and grow.
Though I often carry productions from conception to deployment with my full-service production company, Voortex Productions, I’m also often a cinematographer and/or director of photography on various productions. Additionally, I’ve found myself teaching and speaking in front of audiences about my experience as a filmmaker and business owner way more frequently than I ever thought I would.
What’s my niche?
Good question. First off, I work well in precarious situations up high or going fast. I maintain a low heart rate and a clear head, so all that tends to lean me towards adventure filmmaking. Additionally, I consider myself to have a fair amount of empathy and can easily find myself swept away in the depths of a conversation while interviewing somebody which has connected me to countless, beautiful, heartfelt stories.
But, what really is a niche? When I think about my work, I think about the commonality I find from one thing to the other. Taking everything I’ve learned from past experiences and applying it to the current task at hand. Identifying the connective tissue between my skillset and telling a compelling story. Over the past 20 years, I’ve found myself documenting and capturing humans doing all kinds of things. I mostly work with natural light or go to extensive lengths to shape light to look natural, even in my commercial work. Running a soup-to-nuts production company since 2004, I’ve worn every hat necessary to get the job done, so for me to niche down too tight, too narrow, would be a disservice to what I can offer as a working professional. I suppose, from my perspective, niching down means to share the load and focus on a specific set of tools. For me, I have chosen the camera, my lenses, grip, and lighting. I pride myself in solving problems, logistical hurdles, to accomplish ambitious ideas. So in some regards, I’m not necessarily the guy that does the thing. I’m the guy who adapts my thing to the story in front of me. A very specific set of experiences have got me to where I am today. So at risk of sounding trite, I find the heart in the story, align it with the characters, and capture it using the tools at my disposal.
Client Courtship Metrics
Gender: Male
Height: 5’10
Build: Athletic / Average Build
Favorite Things: Coffee, Sunrises, Sunsets, Dynamic Weather, Chili Cheese Fritos, Cameras, Heights, Dad Jokes
Personality: Passionate, Easy-Going, Light Hearted
Work Ethic: Driven, Hard-Working, Dependable
Notable Mentions: Good Listener, Eye for Beauty, Resourceful, Efficient Problem Solver, Can Whistle Like a Red Tail Hawk, Can do a Kick Flip, Ride a Motorcycle
Gear: Sony Burano, Sony FX3, Various Lenses, a bunch of grip and gaff gadgets i.e. sliders/jibs, a boat load of lighting gear, wireless system, a coffee maker that mounts to a baby pin and some cute little cupholders that connect to C stands, etc.