Today we’d like to introduce you to Quinn Smith.
Hi Quinn, 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?
Glad to be here! Thank you and thank you dear reader for taking the time to read my story.
I’m a filmmaker and photographer. Moved to Los Angeles from Cape Cod, and arrived in West Hollywood on Halloween, 2011.
My passion for filmmaking and cameras in particular started long before I made my move out west.
As a kid while growing up on the Cape, I loved to play around with my Dad’s Olympus OM-1 35mm film camera whenever we were on vacation or out and about on a weekend afternoon. It didn’t matter what the subject was, so long as I got to be behind the eyepiece.
My high school had a great photography and media program and I was fortunate enough to have the head of the photo department, Mr. Ronald Murphy, as my homeroom teacher (though I definitely regret not utilizing him more during my moody teen years…)
We experimented all kinds of things. Processed negatives in the dark room – color and black and white – shooting everything from ‘artsy fartsy’ to editorial. My favorite was the camera obscura – it blew my mind that you could take a picture by poking a pinhole at one end of an old shoe box which allowed the light to hit the undeveloped film on the other side of the box. Amazing, it was even pretty sharp, the tighter the hole the sharper the image. So cool…
I got hooked on filmmaking while in the media class taught by student Oscar nominee Reade Whinnem. We studied everything from art house, Star Trek and films that belong solely in the Criterion Collection.
We were tasked to write our own short films, and my first films were freakin’ terrible. We edited these films with a tape to tape editing process between two TVs monitors cutting tape to tape on and VHS players. I loved how precise you had to be with that edit process and it showed me just how much planning it took to make a film the right way and even though those first films sucked, I couldn’t stomach quitting.
Since moving to LaLa Land in 2011, I’ve worked in many camera departments and on many different TV, movie, indie and documentary productions. This time introduced me to some of the most generous and talented mentors, particularly at my time at Authentic Entertainment, a
reality show production company. Do I miss 12hr+ days working for peanuts? No. But I learned how to light and operate cameras from some incredibly talented craftspeople. Mark LaFleur, Kyle Stryker, Christian Ortega, Ali Nusrat, Allison Kelly, Brent Barbano among others, thank you for your guidance and tutelage. I’m grateful to each of them for showing me the ropes on all those long days on set. That hard work was better than a graduate film program, at least on my bank account…
With the knowledge and toolset from my reality TV days, I went back to my roots and started shooting my own films again.
While sitting with my friends, Nick Psinakis and Kevin Ignatius of Four Eighteen Films, in Nick’s apartment on S Detroit St in Miracle Mile, we decided to collaborate and start shooting our own films.
Each of us would write, direct and produce our own short film. Because none of us had a ton of money, we would help each other out – whether it was DP-ing, writing, acting, composing, lighting, editing, color… didn’t matter, we each had our vision and want to help each other succeed. As artists, we weren’t going to sit around and wait for permission from some Hollywood gatekeeper or for the tooth fairy to drop a wad of cash in our lap – I’ve always loved that rebellious nature that we each have.
Since that afternoon, we’ve gone on to produce multiple short films, music videos and feature films.
My directorial debut short film, Camila (2017) (Recently released from prison to discover his wife’s long-time affair with his brother, Bruce must prove his innocence when her body washes up on Cape Cod) in which I wrote, shot, directed, edited and coloured, played in film festivals across the US, Europe and went on to win a silver Remi at Worldfest Houston. It is currently streaming on multiple platforms, including Tubi. I put this film together on a shoestring budget (less than $5k). I shot it on a Sony A7RII with a single Schneider Xenon FF 35mm lens and I couldn’t be prouder with how it came out. Thanks to my background in documentary films and reality TV I shot this run’n’gun reality style. It allowed me to stretch my razor thin budget as far as I could and to put the cash towards the incredible actors instead.
The first feature length film we did was as indie as it gets. Kevin, Nick and I produced and completed My Best Friend’s Famous (2019), a dramedy anyone in LA or New York can relate to. It features Emmy Award nominee Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers, The Goldbergs, The Grinch) and Oscar nominee Ryan O’Neal (Love Story, Barry Lyndon.) Nick starred and co-wrote with Kevin who scored and directed. I was grateful to be a part of this production as the DP and colourist, we had a blast making it. To pull it off, I shot
everything on sticks or on my shoulder and lit everything myself. I didn’t have an AC, gaffer, grip, PA — we all performed these roles. To light, my goal was always to keep it as simple as possible. I had recently watched Mudbound and took a note from the incredibly talented Rachel Morrison. For that film she lit minimally to enhance whatever natural light was already available in the space. There wasn’t time or crew to light it as perfectly as I wanted, but still couldn’t be more proud of the collective effort to pull this off this flick. Check it on Apple, Amazon Prime, VUDU or Tubi. I shot this entire feature film on a 35mm lens, the same as on Camila.
Currently, I’m writing a feature film, it’s a horror-thriller called The Feast that I plan to shoot on a Sony Venice paired with compact Angénieux Optimo DP zooms and direct in New England later in 2023. Stay tuned…
Outside of my passion filmmaking projects, I’ve worked with Getty Images, the NFL and have covered every major award show in Hollywood. I just wrapped coverage on Super Bowl LVII, the SAG Awards, Film Independent Spirit Awards and the Oscars. I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented photographers in sports and entertainment – it’s been a wild ride!
In 2020 I also landed a VO agent. Absolutely love acting silly in a VO booth. I was taught by Mick Wingert and Susan Palyo in my first few years in LA. My first audition was for a Disney Cars movie that I completely blew it on… But hey, that’s just how it goes! It’s part of the process. My best friend Tommy Dadmun and I used to mess around voicing random characters when we were growing up. Before we had smart phones, yes I’m that OLD, we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves. Thank you Jerky Boys, Group X and South Park.
Through my experience as a multi-disciplined creative has led my company, Might Eskimo Film, to produce multiple photo and video campaigns for Lagunitas Brewing Company, Athletic Brewing Company, AMAWaterways and others. You can see some of my more recent photography work for Athletic Brewing Company in stores all over the country with their “Give Dry A Try” campaign. I also voiced the end button for a co-branded commercial I also edited for AMAWAterways and Ancestry.com.
I just got married to the love of my life Babs in June 2022, at a ceremony with family and friends on Cape Cod, at the house I grew up in. We have one son, a food obsessed cat with velvety fur whom, in between singing cat parody songs about, we tell “good job being soft today” named Ace.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
In late 2011, I quit the job that carried me through college at Lenscrafters because I had finally booked a gig in TV! When Patrick Pablico, over at Authentic Entertainment called, asking, “Can you drive a van in the snow?” “Yup.” I lied… I hadn’t driven a van in the snow, but as a New Englander, I’ve driven through plenty of sh*tty weather. Fake it ’til you make it.
Call time was 11:30pm in Burbank… I drove this old, beat up equipment van named “Moe” up the 330 to Big Bear in mid—December for a segment on the ski slopes for the show Off Limits. I didn’t hear back for a while, and I’m thinking, Oh F— I’m gonna have to leave and move back with my parents, a thought that I couldn’t bear as a newly independent 23 year old. I took jobs as a caterer, a waiter at Eric Greenspan’s The Foundry and hustled my way through various day playing PA gigs.
As a freelancer, it’s tough to break in. I didn’t hear back from them for a while, like a 3-4 months, and PA money was and still isn’t enough to get by in this city. It’s definitely a feast or famine lifestyle, not for the faint of heart. You must be compelled do pursue an artist’s life, if you’re not, don’t bother.
Because I hadn’t booked any other TV gigs, I remember sobbing driving home after getting laid off after 3 weeks from this Italian restaurant in DTLA because my money had all but dried up from the nest egg I had moved west with. Holy sh*t. I can’t afford rent, food, gas, I can’t even afford TO SLEEP…
Literally the very next AM, I got a call from Patrick, “We need you as a PA for All on the Line, it’s a three month run, you in?”
Yup.
In my mind, I had “made it.” Whatever that means.
Today, it’s still a struggle at times to be consistent and produce quality. One step at a time. One day at a time. Just breathe.
I look at the struggles that I’ve had as learning opportunities, each as a teachable moment. You simply cannot grow without some struggle, that’s what drives me.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
I just want to tell compelling, unpretentious stories about normal people going about their lives. The struggles of the everyday man.
I’m a history major. These types of stories are the ones future generations will look at to find out “what the heck was going on back then.”
All of my films have been shot on practical sets instead of entirely on a green or blue screen. While VFX is absolutely an incredible tool, it should be utilized tastefully so long as it serves the story. I’m pretty tired of fantastical superhero blockbusters and if this condemns me to never shoot a Marvel movie, so be it. I’m here to craft stories that come from a more realistic and grounded place. I’m here to move you dear reader. I want the audience to be able to truly connect to the subjects, and I know that comes with a “less is more” mentality to filmmaking.
If you find yourself struggling, remember to look back at what it is that drives you.
Stay tuned… Q
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mightyeskimofilm.com
- Instagram: @mightyeskimofilm
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinnpsmith/
- Other: https://tubitv.com/movies/655502/camila
