Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Matt Ruby. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Matt thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was in highschool I liked taking photos and doing short film skits with my friends. It was something we did for fun to pass the time. I’d come up with an idea, write it, then we’d shoot it and I’d edit it. It was fun but after highschool I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for college. I decided since I liked film work and was already ahead of a lot of other students I’d go to school for that. At first I wanted to be more of a writer but once I took more classes on lighting and camera work, I gravitated more towards DP/gaffer jobs.

Matt, 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?

I got into the industry due to my naturally liking towards photo/video work. I went to Scottsdale community college to study filmmaking more in depth. I got really into lighting, shaping light, creating a scene, making actors look good. Now I am mainly a Gaffer/DP with my own equipment rental house called 5K Cinema Rentals. I mainly rent G&E equipment including a 1 ton G&E van package. I also have a good amount of camera equipment including cine zooms lenses, wireless video options, 1stAC cart station etc. As a gaffer my main job is to make sure that I have all the equipment that the DP could want for a shoot based off of the look he wants. For big jobs its not uncommon to have to rent from 3 different rentals houses to get everything the DP wants. I’ve got to make sure we have everything, that it’s working, and that we have enough crew to make the day quick and efficient to get what the Director/DP envision.

The work I’m most proud of is when it gets played on television. Done a few promo jobs for the NFL/NBA, It’s always cool watching the tv and seeing your spot come on that you lit. Seeing it all come together is very satisfying and seeing it on television is even cooler. Feature films I’m also very proud of. We work 12 hour days for weeks on end, dealing with problems, people, issues with talent. But afterwards seeing the full cut on the big screen and how it all comes together makes it all worth it in the end.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

In school when we did student projects, everyone is helping everybody in different departments. We were there to learn so why not get a little knowledge of each and help out whenever possibly. Now on bigger projects it’s more of a stay in your lane type of job. You are there to do your job and don’t get in the way of other departments or help out unless asked. Sometimes lets say, they may be a piece of tape on the wall for some reason. Maybe you decided to pull it off the set, but art department put it there for a specific reason. Then they come back and yell who moved that piece of tape.

So what I’ve had to unlearn it to let things be. There’s always a lot of chaos going on during filming. They may be something wrong on set but it probably has a reason or it’s in the works on getting fixed/replaced. If a department needs and hand and asks for help then for sure I’ll jump in, but it’s usually rare on larger productions. Production costs are large and if everyone sticks to there job/department things usually go smoother and faster.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Being a creative can be very hard at times. Sometimes the work is plentiful and you’re busy as can be. Then the next month it can be dry as a bone. There can be big highs and lows in between them, that’s the freelancer life. It’s not a typical 9-5 job, the hours are long always changing, and you’re not always sure when exactly you’ll be done for the day. A lot of jobs go overtime.
One thing that is important is you’ve got to meet people and connect. Word of mouth is most important. It can take time to meet the right people in order to get on bigger jobs, but slowly and surely you meet new people on set each job. That being said, the creative life is not for everyone, but I enjoy it because it’s the work is never the same, always changing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.5kruby.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5kruby/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matt.ruby.12
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ruby-94093b79/
• Other: IMDB – https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10223187/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
  Equipment Rental site – https://www.5kcr.com/