Today we’d like to introduce you to Hiram Borges.
Hi Hiram, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My whole career in the entertainment industry has always felt like the best accident that could ever have happened. I’m the youngest of 3, and my family immigrated from Venezuela when I was 12 years old. By the time I was in high school, I had lost interest in most subjects except for 2: playing guitar, and photography. As I practiced photography as a hobby, I was encouraged by my teachers to pursue the video production classes, since they thought it could be a nice way to include both music and photography, and suddenly I ended up in an amazing, non-profit summer school program called FilmED that solidified my love for film production. Closer to graduating high school, I was presented with two choices: pursue a career in classical guitar with a scholarship at SDSU, or attend community college and pursue film. Well, turns out most of the instructors that had taught me how to use 5D’s, a basic lighting setup, story structure, and editing skills (completely for free), were all going to USC and Chapman to pursue their own studies in production. Since they always needed an extra pair of hands for their student sets, I instantly felt the joy of being on set with your friends, making beautiful images together. So, I very quickly, and swiftly decided to turn down SDSU, and pursue what would now be an 11 year career. The one catch on their end, however, was that since my family and I didn’t have the resources for me to attend the prestigious universities, nor did I wish to put my parents and I through debt for something I could just work extra hard towards, I asked my friends to teach me what they learned at school in exchange for on-set work throughout their studies. I did this for several years until they graduated, and would subsequently work with them professionally to this day.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No single part of my experience came without its own set of massive roadblocks. I had to become financially independent very early into my career due to the melancholic feeling of your family growing and expanding. The first year of my community college experience, my parents made the choice to move back to Dallas, where we first arrived in the US, to help my siblings with their infant children, and be a more unified family system. Support for any and all endeavors has always been one of the core values in my family (evidenced by uprooting our entire lives to live in the US), so they have always been extremely supportive of my career from the inception of it. However, my dad was the sole income earner, since my mom couldn’t surpass the language barrier. This placed such tremendous stress on him to succeed and be the beacon of stability that it impacted his health in astronomical ways. Seeing how much this weighed down on him and my mom, I felt the need to live as cheaply as humanly possible, and be as little a burden as I possibly could be, even omitting a part of my life where I lived out of my car (for a few weeks), until many years later. By the time I turned 21, I was paying all my own bills, and living in an old, cheap, cramped studio apartment in Anaheim, where I stayed for years, constantly commuting to LA for freelance lighting work, and to Saddleback Community College for their amazing film production program. It was rough! But it was worth it in the end. I had the fantastic company of my beautiful feline son, Caboose, so it more than made up for the hardship.
Eventually, I had to give up my studies to keep pursuing my career. It was physically and mentally unsustainable for me to attend school, work at a professional level, pay all my bills, and still somehow make time for myself and other interpersonal relationships. Honestly, best decision I’ve made, and I don’t regret a single thing.
Nowadays I’m happy to live a very cozy life in my cozy apartment with a long-term partner and a second feline son, Neebo!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a freelance cinematographer and chief lighting technician in the film industry. I have about 20 feature films under my belt in various positions, and a countless amount of music videos, branded content for brands like Chase Banking, Crown Royal, Riot Games, and more.
I think the work I’m most proud of would be “Baggage,” a short film by director Tim Hendrix that debuted at Slamdance in 2024. Between that and an award winning ad campaign for Dr. Teal’s bath salts, featuring Aaron Donald for director Nate Simmons through BoltTV, I’d say I’ve showcased a gamut of a style I developed through the long friendship and mentorship of Powell Robinson.
I think what sets me aside from other cinematographers is my workflow. My look is a mixture of all the people I’ve had the pleasure of working with. I like to think of it as an homage to the work from my peers and colleagues that has inspired me throughout the years and that I’ve personally had a direct hand in creating (whether I’m their CLT, their Key Grip, or their Operator). If there’s one thing I pride myself in is the knowledge that has been bestowed upon me by friends to execute ideas with incredible precision.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I’d have to say that one of the more surprising aspects about myself are my hobbies. One of which was a passion for tennis and the competitive aspects of it. In my youth, I would try and do local tournaments twice a month and was on my way to make it a career. However, after a shoulder injury, and moving to California, I learned my passion for the sport was mostly born out of a love of the friends I made while competing. I felt I missed the young tennis community in Venezuela and Texas while in California, and it hasn’t really felt the same until recently, when I started playing pickleball.
Now, my hope is to bring some of the home made mead I’ve been fermenting to the pickleball courts on a very casual level and share it with the friends I’ve made there. This could develop into a side hustle if I was smart enough, but we’ll see about that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hiramborgescine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hiramborges.dp?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Image Credits
Nathan Yerian, Armin Korsos, and Nick Lennon
