We recently connected with Christopher Cunningham and have shared our conversation below.

Christopher , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

One of the best investments I ever made in terms of filmmaking was buying a decent cinema camera. Even though I mostly direct and edit now, it’s so valuable to be able to shoot test footage and proof of concepts whenever you want. Or even just decide to film a specific project by yourself and have it look good. I’ve always had buyer’s remorse with big purchases; it’s hard for my brain to give itself permission to shell out huge sums of money like that. Maybe it’s like that for everyone, but it’s especially difficult for me. But once I made that particular purchase, I never looked back. Having a solid camera at home is completely invaluable, even if you don’t consider yourself a DP by trade. Come up with as many ideas as you can and shoot them to see if they work. It’ll build confidence and a depth of knowledge that will help you later.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I got into the film industry through music. Since I was 13, I wrote, recorded albums, played shows and toured with bands all over the place. Through that I met a lot of filmmakers who directed music videos for us. One in particular comes to mind – Blaine Ludy (a founding creator of Cut.com). I was always infatuated with the craft, but felt like the opportunity to learn had passed me by. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I bought a DSLR with some fast lenses. I started experimenting, which lead to me filming a couple music videos for my band Ravenna Woods. Another Seattle artist – Lotte Kestner saw one of the videos and reached out to ask if I’d consider directing a project for her. That was the first “real” music video that I directed, and I never looked back. A couple years after that, I got laid off from a job that I had been working at for almost a decade (not in the creative field). By that point, a few friends who worked at creative agencies had taken note of my editing, and threw me a couple freelance gigs. It was scary, because I wasn’t sure if I should find another day job, or throw all my cards on the table and try freelancing as a creative full time… I chose the latter, and it was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. Now my full time job is directing, editing, and composing custom music for different agencies, companies and artists.
I’ve spent the last 6 years building up a specific brand of visual content for artists under my pseudonym Dark Details. I conceptualize, direct, and edit music videos that typically lean to the more surreal, dark end of the spectrum. A long standing sleep paralysis affliction has colored a lot of my visual sensibilities; it’s a type of parasomnia that occurs when your body is awake but your brain is still in a dream state. Often characterized by seemingly paranormal events that defy reality and logic, it’s an intensely bizarre and alarming experience. But sometimes it can be sort of peaceful too, in an odd way. There’s a lot of beauty that can be found in weird, surreal imagery; especially when it’s paired with the right music.
Since there isn’t a ton of money in music videos, one of the prerequisites of me working with an artist is that I get full control over the concept. It makes it worth the immense amount of work to me, because each video is another chapter in this weird little book I’m writing. I’ve found that more and more, the artists that reach out to me are doing so because they want that specific type of true collaboration; just as a songwriter might do with a producer in the studio. Sometimes combining ideas from separate sources makes the most spectacular piece of art that you can imagine. Bigger than it ever could’ve been on it’s own. And that’s what drives me to make music videos; my goal is to augment the impact of a song. Build it a world to live in. The two more recent projects that I’m most proud of are a music video that I directed for Danny Elfman (ft. the Locust), and an official promo I co-directed & edited for this year’s Seattle International Film Festival that’s going to play before every film at the festival.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect about being a creative for a living is being able to rely on what I feel like is my greatest asset – my imagination. Every damn day I think about that. And every damn day I’m grateful that I was able to make it work (so far).

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think my goal is probably the shared goal of artists everywhere – to make people feel something. Just like a painting, or a song, or a comedy routine… To get people to have an experience that evokes emotion – whether that be fear, wonder, sadness, or even confusion. Art is this amazing, wondrous, intangible esoteric…THING. It can help people understand their place in the world a little better, or come to grips with something bad that happened to them. Or simply inspire them to make art of their own. All I know is that I want to produce as much of it as I possibly can before I leave this earth. It’s what I’m here to do, for better or worse. (Probably worse).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.darkdetails.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darkdetailsphotog/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-cunningham-66108445/
• Other: https://vimeo.com/darkdetails