Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Beckwith.
Brian, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
For some reason, I always had a fascination with video cameras from a young age. I started making YouTube videos as a kid with a Tony Hawk helmet camera. When I was 14, I started working at an after school program for the youth in my hometown of Poughkeepsie, NY called Children’s Media Project where we had a youth produced TV show called drop TV.
I graduated High School and went straight to film school at Columbia College Chicago. In my Sophomore year of college, I finally quit my “regular” job so I could do freelance gigs on top of school. The final years of college, I was lucky enough to do quite a bit of freelance work. The day after graduating from college, I packed up all my belongings and drove to LA. Once I got to LA, I ate shit for two years shooting anything I could until I started to build a career. Hundreds of jobs and flights later, I’m continuing to build with my home base in LA.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
That’s a hard no. Struggles include people not paying me, falling off a cliff and breaking my leg and back, getting finessed into paying for color on a video I shot only to not get paid at all, horrible weather conditions on one of my biggest budget shoots, not getting paid for jobs.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a Freelance Director of Photography, or cinematographer, or DP, all the same thing. At the moment, I’m known for my short form work. Commercials, branded content, fashion films, music videos, etc. Anytime I get to create and not document, I’m happy, anytime I get to paint a visual style into a piece is when I’m creatively simulated. I enjoy creating a mood with unique lighting setups. On projects where there isn’t a significant lighting package & crew aka I’m working with mostly available light, I like to add bake my visual style by choice of camera, unique optics and filtration.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
S/O to my parents for letting me do what I want and not trying to control my career. Good parenting is definitely one of my biggest W’s for being a decent human being. Success as a DP directly coincides with Talented Directors and Producers. Without Producers and directors, I would be nowhere, that is who chooses to collaborate with me so s/o to everyone who has ever brought me onto a project.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bbthedp.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbthedp/?hl=en
- Other: https://www.zerogravitybtl.com/beckwith
Image Credit:
Yellow gold rings photo – Spencer Hord @spencehord. Holding camera with phone in my hand – Misael King-Audelo @ma_pelicula. Holding camera while assistant is working on front of camera – Will Lune @willynillyknowsbest. Black and white pool photo – Majd Mazin @majd_m. Last photo outdoors sunny on deck with white bounce card behind me – likes this @likes.this
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