We recently connected with Maceo Bishop and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Maceo thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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.

Becoming a part of the film industry was the first risk I took. No one in my family had any experience working in the film business and so it was pretty much a mystery to me and my parents. The second risk I took was when I gave up a stable and well paid career as a camera assistant (with a pregnant wife) to become to Steadicam operator, with which I had a no experience. The next risk was leaving a very successful Stedicam career to become a cinematographer. Again I was leaving behind the known for the unknown, I managed all these transitions successfully.

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 career in the film business has been marked by a series of chance encounters with some very generous people, each one pointing me down a path that lead deeper into this intoxicating field. A professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where I studied, helped me get my first internship at Blackside, Inc., the company helmed by the late Henry Hampton that made the award winning Eyes on the Prize series. After graduating I moved to New York City to pursue a my career in the film. Thanks to a few chance encounters I met my mentor and friend director Earle Sebastian, who’s work creating Red, Hot and Cool and several other documentaries and music videos inspires me to this day. I went on to work as a camera, assistant, then a Steadicam operator and now and Cinematographer. I have had the good fortune to work with some of the industries most notable creators. Story telling as a craft in all it’s incarnations, is even more challenging and fulfilling than when I stepped foot in the door at Blackside, Inc. so I can genuinely say I am excited to see where the next path will take me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is that my job is to explore the human experience, the landscape that makes up our perceptions of the world and our place in it. The questions I ask myself when coming up with the visual language for film are not unlike the questions I ask myself about my own life. What is important in this moment, what is it’s essence and how do I make room for it to shine.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I don’t know the answer to this question, but I hope that we figure it out soon. There seemed to be a better balance between art and commerce in the past. But I feel like we have drifted so far away from the creators needs and so much closer to the shareholders needs that the model is beginning to look unsustainable.

Contact Info:

• Website: maceobishop.com
• Instagram: @maceobishop