We were lucky to catch up with Kris Sims recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kris, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

As I continue on in my career as a creative in the video production & photography world, I realize that this whole journey has been one big never ending project. It changes shape often but in this realm of thinking, the project I’m capturing in this very moment is the most meaningful. Though it is satisfying to reminisce on projects that I’ve been part of that garner attention from the masses or have celebrities involved, I find that the next project will bring more meaning. This meaning and effort is still valued to me even if it is a small passion project for a friend.

Currently, I just wrapped on a national commercial for Arby’s that is to come out soon. I was hired as a 2nd assistant camera and learned so much about certain pieces of gear from the 1st assistant camera, whom I was working very closely with. Then, because we were working with robotic cameras both me and the 1st assistant learned much about the process of controlling our cameras with robotics. Now I am eager to continue learning this knowledge to see where I can take it with other work.

Personal growth from project to project is something I value more than anything with my work. Thanks to many mentors who have become good friends of mine, I have grown in many technical aspects of filmmaking and photography. Starting off as a production intern at Coca-Cola 7 years ago instilled these ideals in me. Being at the bottom of the food chain trying to earn respect anywhere possible proved to introduce me to creatives that I never expected to meet at that stage of my career. Now I keep a similar humbleness even when leading productions of my own.

Kris, 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?

My name is Kristofer Sims, I am a filmmaker and photographer based in Atlanta, GA. I have aspirations of reaching the top of my industry and will do whatever it takes to get the job done. I do freelance work and also work at a studio called DDC Studios, which is a subsidiary of a video production company called Digital Dinosaur Co. Through my work I am associated with agencies that have connected me with brands like Coca-Cola, Chic-Fil-a, Complex, Baskin Robbins, Arby’s & more. I enjoy the artistic parts of the job the most, which leads me to paint on canvases and even paint on skateboards in my spare time. The artistic world is the world I choose to live in and if anyone in that space wants to collaborate I am more than happy to do that in search of the highest quality result.

Through the studio I work with, I have access to some of the highest quality equipment. If there is something that you need that is niche or something that you can not find in order to get any visual that you are looking for, I can guarantee that I can find it through the many connections I’ve made over the years.

I started my career in a video production class in my sophomore year at Marietta High School and stuck with it naturally after finding the people that I connect with the most in these video production classes. It wasn’t until my first year in college at Auburn University that I realized that I wanted to go as far as I could in video production. As an underclassman I looked to the upperclassmen to give me opportunities so when they graduate I could step into their roles. This lead me to be president of Auburn’s multimedia club, video editor at The Auburn Plainsman (Auburn University’s student newspaper), & ultimately a photographer for Auburn Athletics. My work at Auburn led me to land a internship with Coca-Cola in production right before I graduated and since then I have stayed close to the connections I made during that time to grow with the mentors that entrusted me.

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

The goal of my creative journey is to positively impact the world and primarily the environment the best that I can. So much of the way we live, think, eat and sleep relies on our environment. I personally hope to create fun ways for people to happily spread the message of sustainability. With my work with corporations I can’t control the way that they affect the world, though I hope it is positively. It is hard to make real change by yourself in relationship to the environment but if corporations consider the health of the planet and sustainability, they can make much bigger change at large scale.

I hope to invest in stories that promote a positive voice toward nature. I see documentaries that try to share the truths of what the world has become as a result of bad decisions by some large corporations but these are typically sobering and somewhat depressing. The vision I have is to create nostalgia and curiosity for what this planet can do with proper care. What if we didn’t harm the one thing that we were created to protect? What if we protect each other as humans and what if we could unite to protect our planet?

Have you ever had to pivot?

Like many others in my generation, the hardest moment in my business and career was during the pandemic of the year 2020. There were business deals that fell apart, partnerships that were no longer possible and connections that no longer made sense due to travel. I did bounce back to a position where I was stabile and, thanks to my family, my mental health was still in tact. Unfortunately, my best friend ended up struggling with his mental health during the pandemic for various reasons that I became aware of. I created many creative and visual projects to help him and show support for his struggle. I didn’t realize how serious these mental health struggles were until it got to a point where he reached out to me for advice. I told him how much I value him and, without getting too personal, he fought for his life before my eyes many times.

As the pandemic came to a close, me and my best friend made it through a good amount of tough moments. I never thought I’d experience such topics but I am so happy that I went through that with him because it gave me such a different perspective than I ever thought I would see. I thought I experienced mental health problems in the past but it was nothing like the person I called a brother experienced. His struggle caught up to him after I thought he was healed and now he is no longer with us. This is the most impactful experience I have had to change the way I am and the way I work. Now I work harder than ever in his honor and live life to the fullest in his honor as well. I am almost two years into life without my closest friend but I have even higher aspirations now because of the things I learned from him.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @kristofro