Today we’d like to introduce you to Mego Lin.
Hi Mego, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Taiwan, went to Oregon for college and came to LA for grad school (Art Center College of Design) for film major. Although narratives are my true passion, music videos are the ones really kickstarted my DP career. My dear friend and talented director, JJ Augustavo, invited me to shoot several music videos with him, and two of them were “Same Love” and “Can’t Hold Us” from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, which were the big winners of that year’s MTV VMAs. That really widen my horizon and got my “professional” career rolling. After years of grinding out music videos, I crossover to commercial world, and finally started to get chances with narrative works. And here I am, with 4 feature films, 2 episodes of a docu-series, 1 pilot, and a few short films, still shooting commercials and waiting for my next project!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think I went through a lot of same struggles that people who’s passionate about filmmaking go through. Like learning how to survive as a freelancer, not to freak out when you run into a slow month, or how to make more connection, how to learn more after you’re not a student anymore…etc. I came from an ordinary family with parents working 9 to 5 jobs, whose lives are so farrrr away from the entertainment business. So learning all that and figure it out a career path on my own is a must.
However, I do considered myself very fortunate. As a foreigner, a woman, who works in a male dominated industry, I am so lucky that I met some incredibly talented filmmakers along the way. They are also some of the most generous people I’ve ever met. They accepted me and we trust each other.
I think finding your group of people can be one of the hardest things in this industry.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a cinematographer, I shoot commercials, features and documentaries.
I guess I am best known for my music video works: “Same Love”, “Can’t Hold Us”, “I Took A Pill in Ibiza” and more. I also shot commercials for brands like Nike, Puma, Mazda, Toyota, Sony, McDonald’s, Folders…etc., list goes on. You can also find the docu-series “Pride” I shot on Hulu, and hopefully you’ll be able to see my latest documentary feature “We Are Pat” somewhere soon.
If I can humbly say what sets me apart from others, I might say versatility in shooting style. Since I started my career with music videos, I had a lot of opportunities to make bolder choices with framing, color and tonality, really experiment them. And I think that gave me confidence later on to utilize them in narrative works. And also because of music videos, I am very used to working fast, because as we all know music videos, especially low budget ones, are brutally rushed, and you have to be flexible with changes and surprises, and that has, to my surprise, prep me for doing documentary works.
I am very proud of being a cinematographer/DP that can be trusted with different filming styles. But I guess I am most proud of my work ethic. I may not be the most gifted DP in the world, but I doubt there will be anyone I worked with saying I didn’t get my 110% effort on every job.
How do you think about happiness?
Work related: When I see what I shot being out in the world, especially on big screen, that’s really something special. It makes me happy because it is truly a group effort to make it happen from beginning to the very end. And to see everyone’s hard work finally paid off, it’s very fulfilling and indescribable feeling.
Non-work related: My dog makes me happy. It’s the purest form of loyalty and love. My dog can be over there doing nothing and my heart is warm.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.linmego.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linmego?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
