Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Kohn.
Hi Aaron, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I had always loved movies and storytelling, but I was never someone that thought I would get into film as a kid. My filmmaking journey began when I was in middle school, playing paintball with my friends. We had a large group that all had different gear, so my friend Michael and I began filming videos of all the gear and putting it on youtube. Over time, our channel grew, and we began expanding our videos to gameplay footage, montage videos, a news show and much more. This eventually led to me flying around the country to film paintball professionally in high school. Along with paintball, I also began filming fashion videos for my brother, who was a photographer at the time.
As Highschool came to a close, my mother suggested I go to film school since I seemed to really enjoy creating videos. I eventually went to Chapman Universities Dodge College of Film and Television, ultimately landing my focus on Cinematography. I had a wonderful time at Dodge, created many films and documentaries, some landing at notable film festivals such as Big Sky film fest. After I graduated, I moved to Los Angeles and began my career in film professionally. I started by taking anything I could on set, mostly as a 1st AC, Gaffer, BBE or Key Grip. After about a year, I narrowed my work down to just 1st AC work and any DP work when I could get it. Four years went by, including a global pandemic, and I was lucky enough to be getting enough DP work that I stopped taking any other positions and became a full-time DP.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being freelance is always an uphill battle because every day, you’re looking for a new job. There are periods of boom and bust where you can feel on top of the world when you’re working a lot, and then things get slow and you can feel like nobody wants what you offer. I was very lucky that I was able to live at my grandfather’s after school to get my foot in the door and build enough connections as a freelancer to actually pay rent on my own.
I would say the biggest struggle along the way has always been a balance of getting enough work to survive but also not too much work where burnout can start to happen. There have definitely been moments where I’ve worked four months straight without a day off, and it can really take a toll on your mental and physical health. I’m lucky that I have many friends that I love to work with, that have helped me out and given me work when I really needed it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a cinematographer in the film industry. Currently, my focus has been more on commercial work, but I’m hoping to get more narrative projects this year. I’m known for being easy to work with and having a wonderful attitude on set no matter what’s happening. Often it’s so easy to get lost in the plethora of other creatives in Los Angeles, so I differentiate myself as much as I can by just having a great attitude. The best thing you can do in any industry is be fun and don’t be a dick. Film is a wonderful medium where you can often hire your friends to work with you and work long hours for many days with them, so you want to work with people that are enjoyable.
How do you think about luck?
I would say I am very lucky in many things in life, but a big part of life is understanding the opportunities you have and taking advantage of them. You can be the luckiest person in the world, but if you don’t take advantage of the opportunities presented to you with that luck, it doesn’t matter.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Aaron-Kohn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aaron.kohn/
