We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rosemarie Kwong a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rosemarie, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
During 2023, I took one of the biggest financial risks in my career. Looking back upon it, I’m glad I did because it reaped rewards that I was hoping for and did not expect. In February/March, I spent a substantial amount of money on 1st AC gear. I bought a wireless video transmitter and receiver, a monitor, and the wireless follow focus I had my eyes on for months. It was my belief that buying these things and becoming an owner would kickstart an influx of 1st AC work, and give me the much needed intimate experience with the gear that I wanted to be an expert at. Not only did purchasing the gear give me these things, I got extra money on top from gear rentals! Now I feel unstoppable when I bring my own gear onto set. I always know the ins and outs, and it makes me feel comfortable.
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 name is Rose, and I am a union 1st Assistant Camera in the film industry. 1st AC’s lead camera department, and they’re the ones that make sure the DP has what he/she needs to accomplish the shots. We build the camera and prep all of the gear, pull focus, keep the camera running all day, and manage camera department, delegating duties to camera team and making executive decisions on gear use and how things are setup for the day. When I first entered the industry, I knew I wanted to be camera support, and be in the role that gets the most intimate experience with the camera gear. I knew that was the 1st AC. I started off as a media manager, then slowly worked my way into being an AC, 2nd AC, then a 1st AC.
I’m most proud of the knowledge and experience that I’ve gained from 2 years of AC’ing and my 1 year of 1st AC’ing. Countless preps and set days taught me new things almost every single time. I like being the person that the DP and other crew members can rely on to ask for any camera information that they need to accomplish their duties.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Yes. The two main ones would be the Focus Puller at Work website, which has tons of resources and advice for 1st AC’s, and the AC friends and community IG page, which is a community based in LA made for ACs that has meetups and cool events!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative for me is knowing that I’ve found my life’s purpose. I don’t have to worry about figuring out what I want to do, it’s always been there since I was a teenager. There’s other rewarding things about being a 1st. You get social interaction through work, meet new friends, a sense of accomplishment when you do your job well, and you get to see your focus pulling work play out in the cut. You get to work with world-class camera gear and you get to learn how the experts in the industry do things. I could go on and on!
Contact Info:
- Website: visualsbyrose.com
- Instagram: @rose.kwong
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosemarie.kwong/