Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Mahar.
Hi Nick, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I fell in love with filmmaking when I was six years old and my dad let me use the family camera. I used to recreate tv shows with my sister and neighbors like The Amanda Show from Nickelodeon. From there it evolved into teaching myself how to do stop animation, green screen, and more. My 8th-grade book reports I put my friend in the film flying around on a broomstick during the quidich match. When I got to high school, I was lucky enough to have a film program which not only involved weekly video reports for the school but making films during 2 whole periods. It was there I learned I didn’t want to direct, I wanted to be a DP.
After high school, I failed to get into any of the Universities I wanted for filmmaking so I went to Academy of Art in SF because they still taught you how to shoot on film. But after a year of being bored in all the basic classics and not wanting to be in debt for a degree no one cares that you have, I dropped out of school and started hustling. I was doing a lot of local rap music videos in the bay and trying to get commercial clients. A couple of cold emails later I ended up joining Macklemore & Ryan Lewis to shoot their music video for White Walls. It was a crazy 17-day music video that I will never forget. I impressed them so much that they brought me on tour in Canada for two weeks to assistant edit the video. That led to shooting of their massive tour documentary in both Europe and the US. From there, I joined rapper Logic on his debut album. I did everything from tour videos & photos, music videos and even designing the interior of his album booklet. Working for Logic was a blast that was very fulfilling. It opened me up to a lot of connections and opportunities which eventually led me to going freelance full-time.
Now I work mostly in commercial and narrative pieces. I’ve been blessed to shoot with some amazing talent on some really fun projects. Ryan Reynold’s creative agency Maximum Effort has been one of the most fun. I’ve been shooting for him since before the agency ever existed thanks for my friend Bryan. Currently, I have a few films in post-production and lots of big commercials I’m excited to be released.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The film industry is not an easy one, especially early on when you have to prove yourself and you really need the money. But people that have the grit and hustle can really thrive. I think the hardest part is just having self-doubt or imposter syndrome. Taking care of yourself physically and mentally is so important and I’m glad it gets talked about more. When you’re younger you can really just go go go but eventually, you’ll start to burn out and the priorities start to change. I think the hardest thing I struggle with is finding new people to work with. It feels like I’m being disingenuous when reaching out to people, even if I have the right intentions. I also will feel like my work isn’t good enough, even when I’ve shot some really big campaigns. You just really need a support system to keep you sane and build you up.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve never really followed the “rules” of just doing one thing. I mainly DP and am a photographer but will also direct edit, and other creative jobs from time to time. I also don’t just stay in one lane and only do commercials or only do music videos. I find being diverse makes me better at all of the creative avenues. Because of that, I’m known to certain groups for certain reasons.
One thing I’m known for, above all else, is being a good collaborator and good person. I take care of my crew while also achieving whatever the final vision is. Both of these are equally important to me because I couldn’t do the job without all the other creatives. I think that really helps set me apart from some people I know with huge egos who are just nightmares to work with.
The second thing I’m known for is all my concert, music video work. It was such a staple in my career for 8 years that it’s hard to take that away. I’ve live-directed concerts with 15 cameras but I’ve also operated entire shows. My concert photography has been in publications all over the world.
The third thing I’m known for is my one-takes. I’ve done, I think 4-5 one day videos now including a 22-minute no cuts or cheats, western short film. It was an incredible project to pull off, especially with the budget we had. It’s certainly one of the projects I’m most proud of. I’m also most proud of a couple of other short films, Cohort of Guests, 2 star wars fan films, and Adult Night, all these projects were small scrappy crews and have gathered millions of reviews and dozens of awards. The crazy thing is most of these projects had very small crews and in some instances, I was literally the DP, Cam op, AC, gaffer, and key grip, all by myself.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
That’s hard to say, I’m a pretty open book about myself. I once attended a tapping of Jay Leno and accidentally took a step on the stage during the intro and blocked Jay from camera A. The rest of the week I didn’t see them use that camera.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.NickMahar.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/nickmahar
