We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mason Webb. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mason below.

Mason, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

No surprise but I wasn’t the easiest kid to deal with. Definitely always liked doing things my own way, so school and figuring out what I wanted to do with my life was hard. They have been there every step of the way through every career path from business owner to filmmaker, they have pushed me and accepted me for who I am and I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. I just hope someday I can repay them for all they’ve done for me.

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 background and context?

My name is Mason Webb and I’m a film director, cinematographer, gaffer and writer. I was born and raised in Long Beach and Lakewood. I started my film career in 2021 when I transferred from Long Beach City College to California State University, Long Beach where I studied Production Management.

Production management was a great way to get into film, but it wasn’t where I saw myself fitting, so I asked around and offered myself to student sets that needed hands where I got to experience a lot of different roles. I fell in love with cinematography and how to shape an image. Because I started with a Nikon Z6 as my first camera instead of something more commonly used by filmmakers like a Sony, I started creating images that looked a little different than what I saw others doing. That’s the biggest thing about me, I love pushing film technology to their limits to see what we can get.

I’ve been able to get unique images using unique camera and lens combinations with stylized lighting to create something visually striking. Whether it’s fashion, music videos, films, commercials or live events, I can do it. The reasons I get recurring work with clients is because I have always had to be resourceful. I never had the money to rent great gear so now I can show clients how to get the best looks possible without breaking the bank.

As of now I spend most of my time working on my own films and projects. I have a short film I wrote with Quincey Szymeczek called “Puncture.” And I’ve been working on Quad V, an independent, video and audio platform dedicated to documenting and elevating DJs across Southern California through high-quality performance recordings.

Any advice for managing a team?

It’s a simple answer but I get it’s hard to always do, the golden rule is the best way to maintain a good morale for your team. Treating others how you would want to be treated goes a long way and especially on film sets help break down a lot of the toxic egotistical tendencies and behaviors on set. We’re all equal so just because there’s a role difference doesn’t mean you can treat someone like dirt.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I don’t come from any film background, it was something I always had passion for. The road to get to film was strange but definitely not regrettable. I went to high school for criminal justice where I learned a bit of law and crime scene analysis. After graduating I went to college for business, even helped start one while doing school full time. Still I felt unsatisfied with my career direction, especially since afterwards the business failed and I sucked and accounting. It took me sitting in my car after failing a test, reminiscing on my childhood of when I used to make home movies with my friends on my block. Ever since that day I’ve stuck with filmmaking with so far no regrets.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://masonwebbfilm.wixstudio.com/masonwebbfilm
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mason.j.webb?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@quadruple.v?si=5Tqgjs3keAsL-vbF

Image Credits

Jack Tang