We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Oli Cohen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Oli, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I can’t name just one I’m afraid. Over the years I’ve filmed all around the world with UNHCR, Save the Children, Right to Play, Concern Worldwide, Mary’s Meals, Plan UK, Operation Smile and The Gates Foundation along with many other non profit organisations back home like the Alzheimer’s Society, Human Rights Watch, Project Stress, Amnesty International and Cancer Research. There’s been so many moving stories and I’ve met so many incredible people. It often makes me even more appreciative of my life.

For some reason I’ve ended up working in the charity sector a great deal. It was never my intent but I always find these projects enormously meaningful. It’s so humbling documenting people helping each other. I’m drawn to these kinds of stories. I feel the need to share stories of people doing positive things and to help the audience of these films get involved. I like that saying that “it’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness”. Sometimes that’s easier said than done but thinking like that gives meaning to my life.

Oli, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a cinematographer working in documentaries, charity films, commercials and narrative. Occasionally I get asked to direct. Sometimes I take stills professionally as well.

My journey has been an organic one. I’m lucky in that I’ve always been able to lean into things that interest me and to lead an authentic life so to speak. My background was in music, philosophy and the social sciences. This led me towards working in audio and in documentary filmmaking. Photography has always been a passion of mine and it still is today. After a while I became a documentary camera person and then went on to being a cinematographer.

Working in documentaries is a bit of a different space to working in narrative but ultimately, as far as I’m concerned, it’s about the same thing which is emotional, character led storytelling that makes the audience feel something. That’s what I’m interested in anyway. Stories are what bind us together.

I love collaborating with others to help them achieve their vision and I’m always excited about creating engaging imagery. But I’m equally interested in creating stories that resonate with people and increase our empathy towards each other reminding each other that we’re not alone.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are many different ways to answer this and I’m sure it’s different for everyone.

At the same time there must be some universal themes.

Being an artist or a creative type is a bit of a blessing and a curse so to speak. For me I’m never satisfied so that keeps me motivated.

You know the feeling of having an itch and then the release of being able to scratch it. It’s a bit like that.

There’s also a magic and a beauty to it. I often have an idea for a photograph or for a camera move etc When the image or the shot is better than what I imagined that’s particularly satisfying. The work I do tends to involve other people. It can be like a dance and when everything comes into sync you realize that what you’ve created is much bigger than you. The can be enormously satisfying.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Without doubt what’s been the best way of getting work in my industry, as far as I’m concerned, has been through doing a good job with the right attitude etc and then being recommended to others as being reliable, talented, authentic or whatever it is exactly that people say about me.
Staying in touch with people can be challenging but it’s so important. People often say that the film industry is all about who you know. But it’s also about who knows you. This means you have to go to events and you have to stay in touch with people. Promoting yourself and networking can be exhausting and it can feel disingenuous sometimes. So many creative people I know struggle with it but it does seem to be part of the process. The more established you are though hopefully your work and your reputation will speak for itself. So if you do a decent job and are a pleasant person to be around that will lead to more work. It takes time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.olicohen.com
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• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olicohen/
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