Today we’d like to introduce you to Cameron Dutra.
Hi Cameron, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve always been an artist. As a kid, I spent hours drawing and knew early on that I wanted to do something creative for a living. In high school, I fell in love with photography and started filming skateboarding and surfing as my friends’ skills outpaced mine. I realized I was more comfortable capturing the action than throwing myself down a ten-stair. I decided I wanted to be a filmmaker and never looked back.
After a gap year traveling, I enrolled in community college, where I met a lot of people I still collaborate with today. When it came time to transfer, I was accepted to several top film schools, but a teacher and photographer gave me advice that changed everything. He told me if I really wanted to direct, I should save my money, go to an affordable school, and spend my time volunteering on bigger film sets to meet people. I took that to heart, went to CSULB, and started working on USC and Chapman student films. Those connections eventually helped me launch my professional directing career.
After graduation, I landed a camera internship on The Hangover Part III. During one of the big night shoots in Las Vegas, a 2nd AC told me a story that stuck with me. His college best friend had become a successful cinematographer by staying broke and shooting low-budget music videos, while he took steady, well-paying AC jobs that made it hard to move up. That conversation changed how I thought about my path. I realized I’d rather take risks and keep creating than play it safe.
Not long after, some high school friends started the band Foxygen and asked me to direct a no-budget video. The song took off, and suddenly I was getting calls from music video reps. From there, I focused everything on directing. It hasn’t always been a straight path, but it’s led me to a career I love.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road definitely hasn’t been smooth. I don’t think I realized how stressful freelancing could be until I was deep in it. It’s a constant cycle of feast or famine, and since I didn’t have any family support to fall back on, I had to figure out how to make a living doing what I love. My dream was (and still is) to direct films, but I quickly learned that commercial filmmaking was the most realistic way to pay the bills and stay behind the camera.
The tricky part is that the commercial world likes to put people in boxes. You’re either the comedy director, the lifestyle director, the emotional one, the tabletop guy, the dog whisperer… whatever fits. My challenge has always been that I genuinely love doing it all. I try to approach each project in the style that best serves the idea rather than forcing my own look on something that doesn’t fit.
Because of that, my reel is all over the place, which makes it harder for my reps to market me. But I’ve come to embrace that. I’m still defining my voice in the commercial world, and I’m drawn to classic filmmaking; clean composition, emotional honesty, and restraint. It’s been a constant balancing act between creative fulfillment and financial stability, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a director, creative director, and photographer, and my work usually lives at the intersection of emotional storytelling and visual craft. I’ve always been drawn to real, human moments, the kind that feel lived-in, but I also love finding cinematic or playful ways to bring ideas to life.
Most of what I do is commercial and branded work, though I started out directing music videos. Over the years I’ve been lucky to collaborate with brands like Google, Johnson & Johnson, Target, and Away. I’m proud that I’ve been able to move between different tones and genres while keeping a consistent focus on honesty and visual precision.
Outside of that, I make horror films for fun. My most recent short, Shiver, had a great run on the festival circuit, which was a reminder of how much I love storytelling in its purest form, creating something from the ground up with a small, passionate team.
My wife and I also run a landscape design studio called Fig & Co Studio, where we design native California gardens with sustainability in mind. It’s a completely different kind of creative process, but it shares the same goal: to make something that feels natural, intentional, and alive.
I don’t really believe in having one “signature” style. I try to let the story shape the work, which keeps every project fresh and personal. At the end of the day, I just want to make things that feel true and stay with people long after they’ve seen them.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Be humble, be nice to everyone, work hard, and follow your gut. In this industry your reputation is everything and please for the love of all that is holy treat your crew well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.camerondutra.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camerondutra/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-dutra-7330772a9
