We were lucky to catch up with Michael Street recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

For me the path to becoming a cinematographer was unique. I was invited to a music video set and I immediately fell in love with the entire process. I enjoyed the team work that goes behind making images come to life. On that day I knew I wanted to be the person behind the camera. I spent the next year working as a production assistant and a grip on a variety of productions. I eventually worked my way to Best Boy Electric on some low budget features. I then decided to go to the Academy of Art in San Francisco, and receive an education on how to work with cameras on a professional level. At the Academy of Art I won several awards, in particular the William A. Fraker, ASC Technicolor Award and a Special Achievement in Cinematography for the short film PEARL CHANG. The next year I was featured in Kodak Magazine’s Next Generation for the film noir short DARK DESERT HIGHWAY. I was also nominated for a Golden Tadpole at the Cameriamage Festival. At the Academy I was taught the true fundamentals of cinematography, and I understood the technical side of the craft. However I felt I lack skills in visual storytelling. So after graduation I moved to Los Angeles and I attended the prestigious American Film Institute where I experienced artists and professionals at the highest level educating the next wave of filmmakers. At AFI I developed the skills to breakdown and express stories through a visual language. I started my education later in my career and faced the challenges of putting myself through two education institutions. I have always felt if you love something with passion, then dedicate yourself to that passion. For me it was the art of visual storytelling and stories.

Michael, 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?

Since 2018 I have been working as a cinematographer in the feature film space, both scripted movies and non fiction films. In 2024 there is a documentary coming out called 35000 WATTS. This is a movie about the history of college radio. The movie focuses on a lot of bands from the 1990’s when college radio had it’s biggest influence. I also have a movie premiering on Tubi called PREPARE TO DIE. This was a fun, little action movie starring Ryan Padilla, Michael Madson, Rampage Jackson and Lorenzo Llamas. It is a fun, revenge story co-written and directed by Jose Montesinos The movie premieres December 29th.

Also coming in 2024 is the horror movie SPIN THE BOTTLE, featuring Justin Long, Ali Larter, Tanner Stine, Kaylee Kaneshiro and Tony Amendola. The movie was directed by Sundance Alumni Gavin Wiesen. We had an amazing ensemble of actors, with some great images, and we made an entertaining horror movie. This was my 3rd horror film of my career and my favorite so far! I can not wait for people to see it!

This year I have expanded my role and I started producing social media branding as well as e-commerce advertisements. This has allowed me to stretch myself as a cinematographer into a Technical Director, and I oversee post production; including editing, sound design and color. We have taken our productions into the podcast sphere as well. This has filled in my time in between feature films with commercials and other media projects. Our work can be found at HEARD STUDIO as well as STREET ARTIST PICTURES. We have a whole team that allows us to take projects from development all the way through post, and to deliverables for the clients. It has been a fun and creative process that is just getting started!

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

I believe to succeed in the motion picture industry you have to be resilient. The year of 2023 is a perfect example. We had both a WGA and SAG strike. I support all the writes and actors who stood by their brothers and sisters to negotiate better terms for their respected careers. Many of us who are not writers or actors also felt the sting of the strike. There was very little work moving forward this year. It was hard all around and you have to be resilient in this industry. 3 years ago we were in a global pandemic and our industry was once again at a stand still. I realized we have faced 2 year-long shut downs within the last 5 years. As a filmmaker, as an artist, or a production service provider, you have to find ways to pivot and adapt. For me, during the 2023 strikes I pivoted into more documentary work, as well as starting our own production service companies where we create social media branding, e-commerce advertisements, podcasts and other media productions. We work with clients from concept to deliverables. I have had to move beyond my role as a cinematographer and have become a Senior Editor, Technical Director, and more. You need to be resilient, patient and creative in any career, and especially in entertainment.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding aspects to becoming an artist or a creative is when you have the opportunity to create something ‘magical’. This magic comes when there is a strong cohesion between the director, the cinematographer, the actors, and everyone else involved. When you create a movie, or a product, that you are proud to share, and you want to share it with the rest of the world is very rare. I recently had a ‘magical’ experience on the feature film YOU, ME & HER. The movie is currently in festivals and will be available in 2024. It stars Selina Ringel, Ritesh Rajan and Sydney Park.

I had the opportunity to make this feature film with some of my closest friends who I went to school with at the American Film Institute. We had full creative control, and we really explored the characters that were being created. We had the space to refine our visual language and storytelling. For this movie we shot in Los Angeles, as well as in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This was the best time I ever had making a movie, and to make it with friends was special. On top of that, to make a good movie is such a rare treasure. The movie has already won Best LGBTQ Film at the Athens Film Festival, Best Romantic Comedy at the Los Angeles Film Awards, and premiered for the Closing Night Spotlight at Dance With Films Festival.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.streetartistpictures.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/streetartistpictures
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-street-cinematographer
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/streetartistpix
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@streetartistpictures