Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Thompson.
Hi Justin, 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?
I am a Cinematographer, aka Director of Photography, and a proud member of the local 600 International Cinematographers Guild. At this point, I have experienced filming just about everything – infomercials, commercials, music videos, television shows, and feature films. I was excited for the opportunity to share my story with Voyage LA because my path to getting here has had its own unique challenges but the love for my craft, adaptability, and perseverance are what got me here today.
I grew up in a little town outside of Lansing, Michigan called Holt. It’s the type of place where most people stay for generations, but from a young age, I knew that this wasn’t the future that I saw for myself. I was the oldest brother of three, and when I was 13 my parents were divorced. My mom raised us from then on as a single parent and showed me the importance of adapting and persevering through life’s challenges. I developed a strong work ethic early on by spending my summers working at my grandfather’s general store, and I continued to hold down part-time jobs from the age of 15 onwards. I grew up fast and full of determination, but at times it was hard to plan for my own future because I wasn’t sure what possibilities actually existed.
School didn’t come naturally to me, and I used my free time as a means of distraction from my classwork and home life. I was constantly with friends, I loved sports, and I played travel hockey for most of my life. I was imaginative and had a knack for art and being creative. I channeled my creative energy into music. I learned guitar and wrote songs for a band I started early on in high school.
High School is where I also found my niche in film. My teacher in Health class happened to also teach film production, so when we had a project due she would let us submit short films instead. I was all in on this prospect because it meant I didn’t have to write a paper. A couple of my friends and I used whatever video camera we could get our hands on and made an “In-camera-cut” video for all of our projects that semester. I had so much fun making those videos with my friends, and we were pretty good at it. After completing the class, I convinced other teachers to allow me to submit films instead of papers. I ended up making several films for myself and also helped a few friends when they had video projects. I even took the film production elective class with my prior health teacher. On the side, I started a YouTube channel with some friends around the time YouTube had just come out. We made a handful of short films that generated tens of thousands of views, and at that time, we were pretty excited about it because we were just doing it for fun.
After high school, I knew that going to college was important, even though I wasn’t fully set on what I wanted to do. I decided to start at community college to give myself time to figure things out. During this period in my life I had started a new band that was gaining popularity, and we were booking shows every weekend. I was really into music, and I thought I wanted to be a music producer or some type of audio engineer. However, after my first audio mixing class, I realized it wasn’t really for me. It was a hard realization to learn, but it allowed me to pivot towards my other passion, which was filmmaking. It wasn’t until this time in my life that I thought about filmmaking as a serious career path. It was always just a side hobby that I viewed as a fun, creative outlet, but at this point, I needed to try something, or I feared I would be confined to a desk job for the rest of my life.
That summer in 2010, I booked my first real production job as a production assistant on a reality show for NBC. I remember when I arrived on set, I felt so green and completely out of my element, but I was instantly absorbed into this new world that I barely knew existed. It was fast paced, it was creative, people were running around with cameras, lights, or clipboards, everyone on walkie talkies, and swearing like pirates, I loved it!
After that gig, I was full steam ahead and took all of the film classes I could take at community college. Throughout this period of time, I was also working several part-time jobs, but I kept an eye out for production jobs in Detroit whenever I could. During the following summer in 2011, I landed a job on an MTV show as a PA that would run for most of that year. I moved all my college classes online, quit my job, and began traveling from Lansing to Detroit almost every day for ten months. This took a toll on me physically and emotionally because I knew this opportunity was big for me, so I couldn’t pass it up. At the same time, I was on track to eventually be the first in my family to graduate college, so passing my classes was a big priority as well. To limit my travels, I would often crash on hotel room couches with some of the producers or ACs that were kind enough to share their space with me. I worked myself so hard between school and working on set, I developed shingles from all of the stress. However, working on the MTV show validated my desire to be in the camera department, and by the time it ended, I was a junior camera assistant. I continued working on MTV shows like “True Life” and “Punk’d”, and even worked on my first feature film set for Disney’s “Oz the Great and Powerful”.
I fully realized my love for filmmaking but didn’t want to give up on my college aspirations, so in 2012, I transferred to Columbia College in Chicago to be a film major in Cinematography. I immersed myself in film school and took advantage of anything and everything they had to offer film students. I filmed short films and collaborated with classmates on various projects. I even met my future wife while at film school, where she was studying editing. I was paying my way through college and working several part-time jobs within the film industry. I worked at a rental house, started a production company, and worked at my school’s camera cage. This gave me a unique edge in my overall education and skills because I had access to a lot of different cameras and gear. I would learn how to make minor repairs, build out camera kits, and even use them to film my own projects, which includes a handful of work I shot on super 16 and 35mm film. Every so often, I would work as a Camera Assistant or a grip on productions that would come through Chicago. I was doing everything I could to cast a wide net of possibilities to set me up for after college. At this point, I was in the hole of nearly $100k in college debt, and in this industry, I had already learned that the next gig was never a guarantee.
By the time I graduated in winter of 2014 my path was now set I was going to be a cinematographer. I had four years of industry experience under my belt and the unique opportunity of not being rooted in one place. I applied to every DP job I could find all across the country, and after countless applications and cover letters, I got called for an interview. Before I knew it, I was packing up my life to go be an in-house DP at a studio in Clearwater, Florida.
I was thrilled to get the job that I wanted right out of college, but it was a steep learning curve from DPing student films to now filming widely aired commercials and infomercials that featured celebrity chefs and name brands. Not to mention I was the youngest and newest employee in a company that had the same core production team since its founding. I experienced imposter syndrome at times but overcame these feelings by immersing myself in my craft and following my instincts. I had to adapt to any situation that came my way, whether it was interviewing CEOs in their private jets or filming on the road across the country, I never stopped pushing myself and my abilities. However, I knew that in order to progress into narrative filmmaking, I would need to move to Los Angeles.
After a year at my job in Florida, in the summer of 2016, my girlfriend (now wife) and I decided to move to Los Angeles. We saw most of the United States that summer, camping across the country until we got to LA. Neither of us had a job lined up or had any sort of network out there, but we decided to take the chance anyway. We used up every last penny we saved to get ourselves established. It was an extremely challenging transition for me because I had to basically start my career over. My first LA gig was back to being a PA on a reality show. However, on day two I was quickly promoted to being a grip. I would continue gripping and ACing for a little while until I got a full-time contract to be a tech manager at a studio in Santa Monica called Tastemade. I was grateful for this job because I started connecting with more and more people and got my first opportunity to shoot in LA through this studio.
At Tastemade, I climbed the ranks from working in the gear cage to DPing a multi-season, multi-hosted branded cooking show that streamed on Hulu. My career was at a new high with work booked out for the next six months, which was a pretty great position to be in as a freelancer. However, then the pandemic hit out of nowhere, and all of my future prospects were canceled. As for many this was a very hard time, it was difficult to think about doing anything else but film yet here I was with no options. I had a lot of unused creative energy that I put towards developing a board game which is a hobby that I might not have discovered otherwise.
When work finally opened back up, I hit the ground running. I started 2021 off with a bang by joining the union to open myself up to more opportunities. This felt like a huge milestone because it had been a goal of mine for a long time, and I was now one step closer to the career I had always envisioned. I started working as a camera operator on “America’s Got Talent” and Food Network’s “Girl Meets Farm”. I was a gaffer on a feature film which led to my biggest accomplishment of DPing my first feature film called “A Social Contract”. Our lead was Sean Astin, who I had seen in countless movies growing up, like “The Goonies,” “Rudy,” and of course “Lord Of The Rings.” Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be filming a movie with an actor that I recognized, but I was doing it. At this moment in life it felt like everything I had ever experienced in production, everything I worked on, all the hours, the investment, all the pains, and all the joy, led to my biggest test of all. I gave it everything I had, and I prepared myself with the director for months beforehand. Every day on set was its own challenge, but It was the most fulfilled I had ever felt in my career. I was lucky to have a crew of passionate people on my side because we pushed every scene to its limit and did the best we possibly could with what we had. I was very proud of our work on this film, and I am eagerly awaiting its release in 2024.
Since the feature film, I have continued working on a variety of TV shows and small commercials, I got married to my film school sweetheart, and I continue striving to stay adaptable and inspired and not take any opportunity for granted. My path hasn’t been a straight line, it’s been full of uncertainties and leaps of faith, but looking back each step has played an important role in where I am today. I am proud of my journey, and I am excited for what’s yet to come. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The path that got me here today was definitely not a straight line. I decided on a career path and an industry that I had a very limited connection with. There was the added pressure of being the oldest of three and my mom being a single parent trying her best to raise us. Financial hardship has always been a theme of my life, and I always had to work towards the things I wanted and find my own way. It felt like I was swimming in the middle of the ocean without a lifeboat, but somehow I managed to keep afloat. I constantly had to try to put myself in the right place and take jobs as part of an investment in more knowledge and building a bigger network.
Patience was one of the more difficult lessons to learn in my career. I have often felt like I take 1 step forward and two steps back. However, patience has taught me that hard work and time really can pay off. Nowadays, I try to look back at my progress in five-year increments. I realized when doing this I could really see how much I’ve grown, even if it feels like I’m stuck. The jobs I worked on as favors one year turned into some of my biggest opportunities the next year. I think of my career like an open field, and I’m just out here planting seeds for eventual harvest.
I feel like I still have a long way to go in my career, but I feel more and more confident with myself, my skills, and my determination as a cinematographer as time goes on.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I love being a cinematographer because the camera becomes an extension of me. I get to craft the viewer’s experience and take them on a ride. It always amazes me how the coverage of a story can evoke certain emotions through lighting, movement, and composition. I get to tap into people’s subconscious and make them feel a certain way, and it’s a powerful feeling but also a lot of responsibility. It can sometimes feel like the weight of the entire production is on your shoulders the second you press the record button, which can be a little daunting but also exhilarating! It’s hard to describe the kind of rush you feel when you get through a scene that feels like poetry.
I love the camaraderie and teamwork involved in a production. You’re only as good as your crew, and I enjoy seeing everyone come together to create a shared vision. Being a part of a strong network and keeping close with trusted people has always been my biggest benefit because I could never do this alone.
My favorite aspect of cinematography is lighting, and I am grateful that I spent some time in rental houses with knowledgeable gaffers and working on set getting experience in grip and lighting before being a cinematographer. Being a cinematographer is more than just about knowing cameras; you need to be able to speak the same language as your lighting crew, wardrobe, set designers, AND camera crew to make it all happen. Luckily, I tried to keep a balanced footing in both realms, working sometimes as a grip, gaffer, or camera assistant. These skills helped give me confidence, and I brought everything together when it was my turn to be behind the camera.
My greatest accomplishment to date is having the opportunity to be the cinematographer on a feature film. We had notable talent on set, a decent budget, crew, gear, and all of the things. For the longest time I wanted to be in that exact position, however it took nearly ten years of hard work for me to finally get to that point. Rather than feeling frustrated or upset with my slow progress, I realized at that moment in time I had the knowledge and confidence from all those years backing me up that allowed me to make calculated or quick decisions with the utmost confidence. I don’t think I could’ve approached that amount of responsibility without having all those years of prior experience.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I have lived in Los Angeles for almost eight years now. I knew only a couple of people when I first moved out here. It was a huge change for me coming from the Midwest, but I’ve realized most of the people I meet are also transplants from the Midwest/East Coast, so making friends and creating new network circles got easier over time.
LA isn’t necessarily the easiest place to live. Obviously, you have your traffic, the oversaturated job market, and the expense of it all can be tough. However, I have grown to love this city for more reasons than just trying to get work in Hollywood. In a 3-hour drive in any direction, you’ll be in a different terrain you can only find in California. There’s nothing like the solitude and vastness of the Mojave Desert; I go camping out there as often as I can. Sequoia National Forest is another favorite of mine, and there’s nothing quite like backpacking among giant trees at 8,000+ feet of elevation.
For anyone thinking about living in LA, or for anyone still trying to find their place in this big city, I strongly recommend finding group activities, sports, or other events that you can go to in your free time to make friends and develop a love for your community. There are endless things to do here, and meeting people can be hard but when I tried new things or showed up for activities that I enjoy, I found that it can be easy to find relatable people all over this city. Personally, I love going to bouldering gyms, and since I made it a regular routine, I’ve become acquainted with a lot more people. This city can be exactly what you make of it, and there’s a lot of opportunity here.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jtexposure.com
- Instagram: jtexposure
