Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chris Anthony Hamilton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Chris Anthony thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Any thoughts around creating more inclusive workplaces?
As the owner of BKW ImageWorks, a small film and video production company, I am often in the privileged position of making decisions about who to hire for projects and what kind of stories to help tell. It’s a responsibility that I take very seriously and with a great deal of pride because I know very well what it means to be given a job and a voice in this creative medium.
As a Black man I grew up rarely seeing positive or even multi-dimensional images of characters that looked like me in films and television shows, so when they did appear, it always made me sit up and pay close attention. I became more and more curious about who was behind the camera and what it took to get in that position. After finally getting there, it has inspired in me a passion for making sure that I use my privilege to create the same opportunities for other people from underrepresented communities and cultivate an atmosphere of diversity and inclusion, both demographically and philosophically. Race, gender and orientation do not in and of themselves determine a person’s ability, creativity or point of view, but they often play a role in shaping that person’s experience. And it’s that diversity of experience that I believe fosters an environment in which empathy, compassion and respect in turn lead to spontaneity, collaboration and radical creativity as a result of everyone involved feeling safe to share their thoughts and ideas on how to make the project better.
Over my more than fifteen years of experience in the film industry, it has become increasingly more important to me to make sure that the experience of creating a thing is positive for everyone involved, even more so than the thing itself. I believe that by making the priority the humanity of the people creating the product, the final product will ultimately be better as well. It’s a philosophy that sometimes means spending a bit more money to ensure that everyone is comfortable and safe, but the return on that investment is clear to me in the stories that get told and retold at wrap parties and screenings and on sets where we are reunited and look back on the experience shared when making that thing together. It’s also clear when I hear from people years later with whom I collaborated who may have been just starting out at the time that we worked together and have since ascended to more prominent roles and cite their experience on one of my sets where seeing the example of putting people first led them to finding success on their own path.
Inclusion is a simple, yet powerful tool that goes beyond who you hire. It means making a concerted effort to bring those people at every level of the hierarchy into the process and giving them ownership over their contribution to it. Not only does that approach foster impactful experiences for the cast and crew, it also has a tendency to lead to those people becoming evangelists for the project once it’s time to promote it because they feel like it is their project as well. That lasting sense of loyalty and community is something you can not put a price on. My hope is that the people I am fortunate enough to work with on any given project feel like they were a part of something special because of the moments we shared in making it come together.
Chris Anthony, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am an award-winning Director and Cinematographer living between Atlanta, GA and Verona, Italy.
With an education in film from Hofstra University, I honed my skills in New York City working with giants including Spike Lee, Ava DuVernay, Sesame Street and Ralph Lauren and have had the likes of such prolific people as Barack and Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey in front of my lens.
My award-winning short films have screened at festivals internationally and my content has garnered more than 17 million views online. Most recently I received the award for Best Director at the 2020 Beyond Earth Film Festival for my short film Body and Son.
I opened BKW ImageWorks in 2018 providing production services for commercials, branded content and short films primarily in the Greater Atlanta area. For those looking for amazing crew, top tier resources and people who are fun to work with, look no further!
I may be most proud, though, of my eclectic karaoke repertoire which I am more than happy to put on display at the wrap party.
www.bkwimageworks.com
www.chrisanthonyhamilton.com
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative for me is always connecting with people. It’s something that happens in different ways through the various phases of a project’s life. In the case of a narrative film, as a cinematographer I really enjoy connecting with the director to understand their motivation for wanting to tell that particular story in that specific way and developing that critical relationship. As a writer/director I love connecting with actors to cultivate the characters they’re portraying and make them feel real. I also love connecting with each member of the crew and building lasting friendships as a result of the intensity of being in the trenches together on set.
Once the film is complete and it has a chance to get in front of an audience, it is incredibly rewarding to witness people making their own connections with the piece, oftentimes connections that I wouldn’t even have thought to make myself because everyone experiences it through their own unique lens of experience.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
The biggest pivot I have made in my life and career was moving to Europe, which had always been a dream of mine. Currently I split my time between Italy and Atlanta, so being in both worlds presents amazing opportunities as well as unique challenges. Expressing myself creatively in another language has opened my eyes to just how much we rely on verbal communication to make ourselves understood. At the same time, it has also shown me how powerful and universal images can be without words in expressing ideas that transcend language and even culture.
On the business side, learning the differences in communication styles as well as creative sensibilities between the U.S. and Europe has been extremely interesting and inspiring. Having a more global mindset where I don’t limit myself or my business in terms of borders has led me to seek opportunities in every corner of the globe. The only limit now is my imagination and curiosity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bkwimageworks.com
- Instagram: bkwimageworks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bkwimageworks
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bkw-imageworks
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0XClzEqujSLWVlv9OBANvg
- Other: www.chrisanthonyhamilton.com [email protected]
Image Credits
Chris Anthony Hamilton Emily Herold Naomie Bowie Smith Aretta Baldon