We recently connected with Augustin Huffman and have shared our conversation below.

Augustin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

For me, it all started at college, where I was able to meet other filmmakers and make friends with the people I was doing school projects with. As someone who grew up in Ohio and didn’t know that many likeminded people growing up, it was important that I went to film school just to meet more people (as well as gaining technical knowledge).

Once I graduated, I moved to New York City. It was the middle of 2020, but I was lucky enough to secure an internship at Good Company, a great production company run by some of the nicest people. They got me on their commercial and documentary sets as a PA and occasionally an AC. Once my tenure at Good Company was up (about a 1 year internship), I asked my boss, Ryan, what he thinks about what I should do. I was unsure if I try to get another production company job or a rental house job or something. He simply recommended that I freelance if I was interested in being a DP. So I took him up on it.

The first thing I did was hit up all of the people I had worked with on those commercial and documentary sets and offer my services to PA or Camera PA. That got me some jobs, but it was really staying in touch with the production coordinators and meeting other people that led to more jobs. Eventually it felt like there were much more people from SCAD that were moving to New York as Covid was waning. Friends from school helped me secure more gigs and I kept meeting people and it has gotten to the point where its just a network of people working together. New York is cool like that – it’s obviously a big city, but the filmmaker community does feel small somehow. This also isn’t to say it hasn’t been extremely tough too. I do make a living but I’ve had part time jobs in the past to help supplement. New York also feels somewhat seasonal with the jobs slowing down in the winter and ramping up in the spring. So it’s been as learning curve, but it is satisfying slowly getting better at creating your own path.

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.

Sure thing- My name is Augustin and I grew up watching and loving movies. I also grew up at a great time to learn from YouTube. I became very interested in filmmaking and cinematography specifically. I was very interested in how different movie’s looks affected their moods. From there, I went to film school and got surrounded by a bunch of very creative and ambitious people and that really pushed me to get to where I am now. I’m currently based in New York and full time freelance as a cinematographer. I love bringing different projects to life visually. I’m proud of my ability to be adaptable and work to discover what the most appropriate and interesting look is for each project. I think each production brings a unique set of challenges and I love applying what I’ve learned to new experiences.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part is knowing that people are watching and responding to your work. My friends and I are in the distribution phase of an action comedy film we made, Blind Cop 2 (a sequel to a movie that doesn’t exist), and last year we got accepted into some really great film festivals. We were able to watch the movie with audiences around the world and it really reaffirmed all of the time and effort that we put into making the movie. Hearing people respond to moments that I’ve seen a million times is really satisfying. Also it playing across language barriers is so cool too.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

One way I pivoted was earlier in my freelancing career. I was truly over being a PA and was ready to work in departments more related to cinematography. I loved cameras so I worked on becoming an AC to get better paying gigs and work in a department more suited to me. Well, I slowly realized that I didn’t really like being an AC. Prepping cameras and pulling focus just didn’t suit me that well. Also the types of problems AC’s solve are important, but sometimes very technical and dependent on each camera system. I then started to consider grip and electric more seriously, curious if I would enjoy that more than camera department. I had some experience lighting from college as well as some reality TV shows I worked on here in NY. Needless to say, getting more knowledgable about lighting and rigging has been another learning curve, but already has proven much more satisfying to me. For me personally, it feels more creative than being an AC. I also just believe lighting is so important for any visual media and getting more comfortable with it has made me a better cinematographer.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://augustinhuffman.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/augustinhuffman/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/augustin-huffman-604285183/

Image Credits

Jhonny Parks

Julien Barlan

Mod Schwalbe