Today we’d like to introduce you to William Carnahan.
William, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in the South Bay. Went to undergrad at UC Riverside and then Grad school back in LA at Loyola Marymount.
I have always been a photographer since high school. After grad-school, I became a Cinematographer.
I’ve had a couple of different companies – including a wedding photography company. The most successful and still running is my production company I co-own. Will Call, produces and shoots commercials, branded videos, and narrative projects. We have worked with Major Lazor, Disney, and Ghirardelli, just to name a few.
Personally, I shoot and produce for my company, freelance DP for narrative and commercial projects, and then I’m also a freelance photographer – shooting a few weddings a year, headshots year-round, and I have a large presence in the online teach scene at udemy.com – Video School online I have almost 1 million students all over the world. Our Facebook group “Photography and friends has grown to 60k people,” I could survive off my teaching alone and I love it.
Recently, having multiple streams and companies and income has allowed me to survive during the pandemic. Once the film industry went down my education side took off. I have also transitioned into selling prints of my art and helping beginner photographers with online one on one consulting.
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?
It has always come in waves. The biggest obstacle was learning how to live with gig work, be patient, and staying positive that work WILL come.
Staying focused, patient, grinding when you feel like you can’t anymore, and being nice is the only way to survive both the freelance Hollywood film world and starting your own business.
The biggest struggles have always been related to what film school and art school doesn’t tell you… as a freelancer and artist you still need to understand how to run a business.
As an online educator, the hardest part is just connecting with so many people in so many different ways across the world. We are getting better about that and it’s on the way up to be better and better.
Will Call Cinematic and Helio Road – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Will Call: We specialize in video production: branded, commercial, doc, and some narrative work. We’ve done a ton of live stuff with Major Lazer when they were on tour, but we’ve also done internal videos for Ghirardelli and IBM for the last five years.
I am most proud that everyone we work with on both sides of the crew and client – always seem to want to keep working with us. More then the product, we have a good time doing it and treat our clients and crews with as much respect as we would treat our mothers.
Part of what sets us apart from other production companies is that Sam (my business partner) and I have both worked as freelance DPs and crew members. We know what it’s like to carry around cable, sit around a set for 12 hours. And we bring that knowledge and love of film making to our products and that shows in the storytelling. It’s a grounded feel that companies want – which is more of an essence and vibe than just a commercial product.
Freelancer: I recently became and ASC Mentee – which is a huge honor as a young cinematographer. I specialize in low budget indie films, but I have shot my fair share of commercials and music videos: my website www.williamcarnahan.com.
Photographer/ Education: I teach photography online at Video School Online. With almost a million students with my partners Sam and Phil, we have grown an online educational community that we continue to push and grow. Over 60k students in our Facebook group and growing every day.
I also shoot about 4-5 weddings a year – still get a ton of enjoyment out of it. Something ill probably never stops doing. I’ve been a working photographer in Los Angeles for over 15 years now.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There is not an exact moment that I could give you. The proudest thing I can say is that we’ve been successful at doing something we love to do at an early age and continue to do it, be successful at it, and love it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.willcall.media www.helioroad.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willcall_media/
Image Credit:
Sara Bernal
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