Today we’d like to introduce you to Vivian Lau.
Vivian, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was always fascinated with cinematography from a young age, but never thought I would pursue it as a career. When I was in high school, I ran a pretty popular Tumblr blog where I made tons of content – gifsets and photosets and photo edits. This didn’t seem like it would ever amount to anything useful but these years were actually super formative in developing my artistic eye for color, composition, balance and thematic visuals. I learned a lot through existing films and television during this time without ever really realizing it.
I was born in Queens, New York City but moved out to LA a few years ago to start my freelance director of photography career. I went to an arts high school in New Jersey even though my whole life I had wanted to pursue a career as an FBI Agent. But while I was in high school, I took some digital video classes under a teacher who became one of the most important mentors in my education and guided me into the career I ended up pursuing. He was a really tough teacher but he helped instill a creative work ethic in me that continuously forced me to push myself further and never be complacent with my work if there was room to make it even better. During my senior year of high school, I made a few films that ended up being selected to play at several local film festivals. When one of the films won an Audience Award, it was a really pivotal moment for me and my parents, and I realized that I actually had some talent at this whole filmmaking thing, and I could even pursue a career in it, which my digital video teacher had been telling me for months.
I went to Emerson College in Boston, and it was definitely the right choice for me. Emerson has a really competitive culture within the film major, so I was always working on student sets and learning from upperclassmen and my peers. I worked at both the equipment rental house and the sound stage we had on campus. My freshman year, I think I spent every single weekend on set, usually as a camera assistant. My sophomore and junior years I made a shift to focus on my own projects. My junior year I directed and shot a film on 16mm titled ‘Home’ that was selected to play at a film festival in LA at the TCL Chinese Theater. I flew out and stayed with some friends for a weekend and the film actually won in its category, ‘Innovative Use of Analog Technologies in a Live Action Narrative Short.’
I shot two of my own thesis films that year too. I was the producer and DP of ‘Hell Bent,’ which we shot over the course of 5 days in a New Hampshire blizzard. Right after we wrapped that project, I had to jump right into prep and production of ’Blue – Tales from Suburbia.’ This film was a really personal Asian American story that I wrote and decided to direct as well as DP. They were both selected to play at over ten film festivals and won several Best Cinematography awards all over the US as well as across Europe and Asia. I flew to Hong Kong for one of the festivals and it was such an incredible experience to see my film play next to so many international filmmakers from all over the world.
Being at Emerson taught me a lot about not just cameras and lighting, but about working with people from all different backgrounds and personalities. It instilled a love of collaboration in me, and I realized how important it was to me in particular to focus on telling underrepresented stories with diverse fellow artists.
Since moving to LA, I have met countless artists with such vibrant backgrounds and unique stories to tell, not just directors, but every person you could meet on set. I have found a community of female and Women of Color DPs and camera assistants/ACs that have been so supportive and great to work with and learn from. I often work as a 1st or 2nd AC on sets including feature films, commercials, web content and series, shorts, and music videos. I’m really lucky to have gotten the opportunity to work as a DP on a lot of projects since moving here, one of my favorite projects has been an 8 episode web series, ‘Sad Ass Black Folk,’ about a group of Black young adults living in South LA that deals with mental health stigmas within the Black community.
Last summer, I was chosen as one of 20 female DPs to participate in the AFI Conservatory’s Cinematography Intensive for Women. It was one of my favorite experiences since moving to LA to work and learn alongside so many talented and diverse women. I still am very close friends with the women I met in that program.
Currently, I am working in pre-production for a short film that will be shooting in San Francisco later this year.
Great, 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?
Trying to establish myself as a WOC DP has definitely not been an easy path. A lot of people are going to dismiss your experience and resume right away based on your name or just the fact that you’re not a man in a very male-dominated field. People will think you’re not capable of doing all the work and putting in the time, but this has always been an incentive for me to work harder and prove everyone wrong who doubts you. I’m also only 5’3 so lots of people take one look at me and assume I can’t lift 50 lbs of camera equipment or operate heavy cameras. Don’t worry, I can!
Often times, it’s also about what gear you own and what fancy, expensive equipment you can bring to the table if you’re hired. This means that people who have come from more well off backgrounds but have less experience and talent often get hired over people who are far more qualified but don’t own their own gear. This isn’t something you can control, so you have to learn to fight harder for every single job and prove once you get a job that you were absolutely the right choice by putting everything you have into the project.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
A Director of Photography is one of the most powerful people in the room when you’re making a film/show/piece of content. Everything that you see on the screen is a product of a decision of the DP.
The thing that I strive to bring to the table is to show how committed I am to telling the story of the project through the visuals. A DP’s job is not only to bring light and optics to the film but to put heart and soul into the image as well.
Every frame, every lighting decision, needs to be made for the sake of the story that your project is going to tell. If it’s going to be heavily stylistic, there should be a story reason behind the style. Every choice regarding the medium of the project – digital, film – the camera, the optics, the movement or lack of movement of camera, needs to be made to benefit your story or message.
The most fulfilling projects for me are the ones that focus on telling underrepresented stories. Bringing diversity both in front of and behind the camera is crucial for me. When I handpick my crews, I always try and hire as many women and people of color that are suited for the job. In an industry that is historically so white, it’s time for marginalized voices to be amplified. And working with fellow diverse voices is so much fun! Everyone brings different insight to the project and the end product is original and fresh, as the product of collaboration from so many varied voices.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is the city of dreamers, which means there’s probably ten other people within a five block radius of you that are trying to succeed on the same path you’re on. But that also means it’s a wonderful place to meet so many other creatives who you can collaborate and learn from. It’s such a diverse city too, I’ve met more fellow Asian American female DPs and ACs in this city than any other city I’ve worked in before, who’ve become such close contacts and friends. I think it’s easier to make your start in LA, whatever role in the film industry you’re aspiring to because there is such a high volume of work and productions to be found in this city. That being said, you need to work harder to make yourself stick out as a hard-working and talented individual among the thousands of other people who are also trying to make it. One thing I like about LA is that as a minority, there are many diverse collectives you can join to find fellow individuals with similar backgrounds as you in this city.
Contact Info:
- Website: vivian-lau.com
- Email: [email protected]
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