We recently connected with Evan Miller and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Evan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.
As a personal business of providing cinematography and photography services, scaling up was the result of multiple years of consistent work and organization. Since I was in high school, my determination to shoot more and deliver higher quality products lead me to the constant realization that the people around me and my network were the most important aspect to growth. Regardless of how much I learned from Youtube videos, school classes, and technical insight, it was always the people I knew or recently met that spurred my advancement. Filmmaking is simply one of those industries that requires departments of people and collaboration. One of the most important networking tactics I utilized was simply talking to every person on the film set. Whenever I would get on a shoot from a friend or connection through the internet, I would find moments of downtime to make more friends and find more opportunities. I think constantly having an opportunistic mindset was the single most effective character trait of mine that created a domino effect for me. One shoot lead to the next. Once I had a surplus of shoots, it was then about balance and selection. Finding the balance between my own mental and physical health, while also choosing the best projects to work on, was a skill that took many years of mistakes and learning. Nowadays, one of the more important aspects to the craft of photography is posting it on social media! Marketing is an important for any business, but especially in the business of marketing itself.
Evan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Simply put, I am an entrepreneurial artist who’s craft is to effectively capture emotions and story through the use of the camera and light. My job revolves around communication between directors and producers to achieve the specific look of every project. I am constantly searching and testing different cameras, lenses, lights on my own shoots, while also watching new movies, music videos, and commercials to understand how its all implemented together to create certain looks, feelings, and pieces of art. I have been able to capitalize on the logistics of my craft by creating partnerships with some of the best brands and collaborators in the industry to ensure high quality execution every time I work. One project I am most proud of is “Idle Speed”, which I shot my junior year at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. My great friend and colleague Yoni Azulay directed the project and after much time and work developing the script, pitching, and raising money, it became the single biggest project in the history of NYU. The action film required us to fly out 18 crew members to New Mexico and blow up a car by the end. For me, this was my largest project at the time which squeezed the most growth out of me. A big challenge is also a huge opportunity for stepping into the next level.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I think there are many goals I would like to achieve throughout my time as a filmmaker and cinematographer which can easily be named as winning an Oscar or initiation into the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), however I think what I gravitate more towards is the goal of creating a balanced lifestyle that I have more control over. My goal is to get to a level where I can only choose projects and films that truly speak to me and that I want out in the world. I desire the ability to reach a level of talent where I’m truly able to execute the vision in my mind with all the necessary tools to do so. There will always be a never ending desire for more money, more shots, and more crew, but if I can reach a point where I mainly have to focus on the creative side to the job and execution, I will certainly feel like I have had success in my mission.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
What truly helped me build a strong reputation in the field was always going the extra mile for everyone around me. While continuing to still uphold my own health, I would always find ways to slightly stand out and offer more than what was simply asked of the client. I would not only always stay kind and calm during stressful situations, but I would make sure to do at least one thing to separate me from the rest, whether it be offering bigger discounts on gear because of my relationships, or sticking with the client even after wrap to build a stronger more genuine relationship. Reputation is everything in the film business, especially for my craft, because I am reliant on crew and clients to keep shooting!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://evanmillerdp.com
- Instagram: @evanmillerdp
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evan.miller.52035/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-miller-78b441193/
