Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlos Rafael Suárez.
Hi Carlos Rafael, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. And as the fourth of five kids, we made it a weekend tradition to go to the local “Video Color Yamin” (Home version of Blockbuster) and my Dad would let the kids choose a family film to watch as he picked one for “The Grownups”. We’d have pizza and popcorn on Friday evening watching the movie as a family and after hours, I’d listen in from the crack on my bedroom door to the “grownup one” I half remember listening in on Saving Private Ryan, Nightmare on Elm Street, Titanic, and Schindler’s list probably. My parents were not filmmakers but they sure knew how to make movies part of our upbringing.
It wasn’t until my Dad brought me to the local cinema on our neighborhood to watch Star Wars, it was the first remaster of “A New Hope” and my Dad told me he was looking forward to me seeing it “as he did as a college student in ’77” I was seven years old and after a wild ride on an X Wing, I became aware of Movies as a collective visual and emotional experience…I was hooked on something.
After dabbling as a teenage Metalhead, I started college in Media and I was gifted a used DSLR. I started photographing college life, new year’s eve bonfires on the beach, long exposure starry nights, civil unrest and anti-government protests from 2009 to 2014 (still going on to this day)
I realized I wanted to get into movies with lighting and camera and I started reading about Cinematography. I photographed dance academy recitals and portraits to save up for a Video Enabled DSLR, after I bought it, I started freelancing as a videographer but I got a taste of moviemaking by doing short films in college and interning at a grip and lighting house in Caracas .on the first week all I did was sweep the warehouse and dust lights and clean cables, it was an unexpected way to start, but I Miyagi’ed my way through, I think.
I was lucky enough to shoot my first Feature as DP in Venezuela the weeks leading up to my flight to Los Angeles in 2015, the movie was a “hot mess” but it have me the drive to dive into the craft.
In LA, I went to Film School and I got to meet amazing people I still work with today, the best thing I ever learned was that film school or not, a filmmaker learns by shooting constantly, meeting people to work with, to nurture those relationships and work hard, and keep learning.
As I made my way, some of my family members also made their way into the industry. Three of my siblings live in LA and work as Directors, Producers and Entertainment lawyers. As an immigrant, family is everything and I’m grateful to have three siblings in the same city with me.
Nowadays, I freelance as a Director of Photography mainly but I often work as Gaffer, Camera Operator, Phantom Tech and Motion Control Robot Operator. I’ve met a troupe of fellow cinematographers like myself that collaborate on each other’s projects and push each other further up to better and better projects.
In 2017, I shot a Music Video Trilogy for which I won Best Cinematography at the Widescreen Film Festival in Miami, the event was dedicated to the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas Shooting, some of which sat in front at the ceremony. It was humbling to share my work with people who had gone through such horror and stood so strong.
Recently I got a chance to work as Chief Lighting Technician on “Simon” a Feature Film about the Venezuelan migrant crisis and the socio-political unrest that still drowns Venezuela. This experience brought me back to working with incredible Venezuelan Filmmakers that are working in many levels in the film industry in LA and Miami. It was a first “Circle back” experience that I was fortunate to be a part of.
My goal is to keep working as a DP and mainly shoot Narrative Content. I believe there’s a thirst for new, current, engaging and most of all worldly stories that needs telling, I am grateful to be at a place where I can be fortunate enough to light and shoot these stories.
Today I work as a Cinematographer and a new Parent, My beautiful wife Chelsea gave birth almost three months ago and as we wade through this new stage, I can’t help looking at my baby girl and think of all the stories out there she’ll discover. I hope to show her my love for movies very soon.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The Film Industry is like the most beautiful, shiny, inspiring and rewarding meat grinder you’ll ever go through, It can bring all those good things, but it’s still a meat grinder.
Far it to be a dismissal, it’s important to point out that the entertainment industry in LA is a place with thousands of competitive, ambitious and talented individuals. So it’s definitely key to wade through it with thick skin, supportive friends, and an ever-evolving sense of self-worth, self-care and self-respect.
Moving out of my home country would be the first struggle. Getting to live in a place with a different language and culture is nothing short of challenging. But knowing that one is not alone helps keep the hard work going. There are good and not so good connections, close friends and close collaborators that need a lot of shared TLC (tender loving care). Family is everything in this industry.
2020 was the most challenging year and oddly enough, the most rewarding. Being on a different country than my own on quarantine meant dealing with family back home suffering the pandemic and only able to help by having phone calls or texting. One of my Grandmothers passed from COVID suddenly, and it made the situation almost unbearable, knowing that I was in LA unable to see her in those last moments. But part of the reward was nurturing the family that was close by, keep calling home and just persevering. Being a newlywed in 2020 made the challenges of the year worth enduring. Like said before, family is everything wherever and whoever they are.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a Cinematographer, mostly working as a freelance Director of Photography, Camera Operator and Chief Lighting Technician.
I’ve worked in Music Videos as a Motion Control Camera Robot with artists like Halsey, Machine Gun Kelly, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, E-40 and Two Short.
I’ve worked in Indie Movies, Music Videos and Commercials.
I’m most proud of my lighting work in the upcoming film “Simon” Directed by Diego Vicentini and Shot by Horacio Martinez, Shooting the Science Fiction Film “Sealed”, shooting the Horror Film “The Onymous” which won a Best Horror Feature in 2019. But mainly, I’m grateful and proud of the people I’ve been fortunate to meet, work and experience the thrill of shooting movies with, one never makes movies alone.
What were you like growing up?
I was the chubby kid with a box full of legos talking about wanting to own a dinosaur museum growing up, then it became an ancient Egypt museum, then Greek, and on and on it went. History always fascinated me.
Since I had a bunch of older siblings, I was watching their movies, TV shows and stealing their toys. So I was exposed to early 90’s pop culture and 80’s classics way into the early 2000’s. I remember watching old TV shows on Betamax and VHS tapes.
Through middle school and high school, I encountered a lot of bullying, and it was hard for a time to find a place to relate to. Fortunately, I found an outlet with music. I started learning bass guitar and joined a teenage metal band with some friends and was able to find a group of kids whom I shared interests and passions with. I became a hardcore metalhead all the say til college. This experience was important because as Bullying still is a common occurrence to kids today, I am aware of how lucky I was to find a creative outlet that gave me confidence and self-respect and allowed me to push through the challenges growing up. Other kids aren’t so lucky.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.crscine.com
- Instagram: @crs.cinema
Image Credits:
Mairi Soelseep Fransisco Dominguez
