We recently connected with John Barrett and have shared our conversation below.

John, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

When talking about pursuing a career in film production, there are a lot of risks. I always like to talk about how you need to invest in yourself. I personally have no interest in being some big company and taking clients, but rather I focus on marketing myself as a solo creative. So a big part of that is figuring out where you want to go and setting your intentions not only internally, in terms of how you view yourself, but also externally and how you represent yourself to the world. Part of working in film is understanding the risk of being in a project to project career. The pros are that you have loads of free time between projects to either continue promoting yourself or pursing additional hobbies. The cons are that you never know when the phone is going to ring.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is John Barrett and I am a Director of Photography based in Los Angeles. With over a decade spent as a filmmaker,
I I have shot videos for NPR’s Tiny Desk, late-night TV hosts like Kelly Clarkson, Jimmy Fallon, and MTV’s last music show called “MTV Push.” I’ve shot music videos for Silk Sonic, Young Thug, Imagine Dragons, Travis Barker, JXDN. I also have a great background in commercial work shooting for brands like for Mazda, Nissan, Hummer, Porsche, various fashion brands,

My style of cinematography shapes every frame as a photograph of its own. With a keen eye for subtle detail, I like to find creative ways to connect the audience with the characters on screen. Crafting unique camera movement and utilizing live lighting cues are two of my signature styles.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I’ve always prided myself in my ability to see any given situation from various perspectives. I think this ability lends easily to cinematography, as it is my job to shape the perspective which we are viewing any given situation. I really prefer to make content that makes people feel. I want to offer new perspectives.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During periods of slow work, a lot of creatives have a hard time existing without an outlet for their energy. During the period of the strikes in the film industry, a lot of creatives had to get ‘creative’ with how we spend our time. The paid work had dried up temporarily but like most people in this industry, we are in this for a desire to make things. One thing I learned during this time, is that when the opportunity is not present, you need to make your own. This means passion or spec work to show what you’re really capable of. Sometimes this will end up being your best work, because it’s coming from a place of needing to get an idea out. When we have paid work to achieve someone else’s vision, the passion isn’t always flowing. So just be sure to best utilize your time and never stop creating.

Contact Info:

• Website: bmcvideo.com
• Instagram: @barrett_media
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL4OrLngG0gLb3KtiQ7wdhA

Image Credits
John B. Barrett