Today we’d like to introduce you to Colin Bressler.
Hi Colin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In high school I feel in love with filmmaking. I attended school of visual arts in NYC. There i feel in love with the art of cinematography. I worked on any and every student film I could. My senior year I won the dusty award for best cinematography at school. After leaving school I worked as a production assistant on larger budget projects but also working as an assistant camera on small indy films. I also spent any free time shooting films. Music videos and commercials learning my craft. My career as a cinematographer was launched and I never looked back. I still work professionally as a DP full-time. 14 years ago I felt the pull of directing. I shot a few short films. Then I knew I was ready to direct a feature. Since I have directed 10 feature films. All of my films are on streaming.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No its been a road filled with pot holes. In the early parts of my career i found that it was hard to break through into areas of the film industry. Back then there was much less TV and no streaming so there were less jobs. Which meant less access to oppurtunities for young people starting out. I had a ton of experience where older more established people would explain how difficult it is and how its unlikely i’d make it. There was also very little room to make mistakes. I had been fired a few times for minor things that i think could’ve been resolved with conversation. I also refused to be pigeon holed into being a specific thing in my field. I made it my aim to diversify my skills so I was flexible when things changed. As I got older more experienced I found the new hurdles were forming relationships with the right people over the actual quality of your work. I’ve never been a good smoozer which I learned as i got older that relationships trump talent in my industry. Need to network a ton and I was focused on improving my skills. Go to parties, mingle etc… I was focused on working and learning as much as possible. This to be honest is still an issue I stuggle with.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I make very low budget Independent films which are uploaded to amazon prime, tubi and more. My passion is truly about telling stories. Since i was a kid I loved telling stories, making stories up, worlds. I love the begining of an idea when a new world or characters reveal themselves to me and the imagination starts going. So much fun and why I do it. As of now I mostly work my day job as a professional Cinematographer in TV working for History channel shows, PBS NOVA, and many more. And now I’m an independent prodcuer, director for low budget films. I specialize in development all the way through film completion. My work is available at these links.
https://tubitv.com/person/650adc/colin-bressler
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Colin+Bressler&i=movies-tv&ref=dp_byline_sr_dvd_1
What makes you happy?
My happiness truly comes from the struggle of living. I have been diagnosed with OCD anxiety and ADD. My mind thinks its helping me by creating an incredible amount of stress. So in learning to live with this I have learned that any moment of peace is a magical beautiful thing. My happiness is just simply having peace.
Contact Info:
- LinkedIn: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Colin+Bressler&i=movies-tv&ref=dp_byline_sr_dvd_1
- Other: https://tubitv.com/movies/100034669/into-the-gravel-pit
