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

Spencer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?

Just like any other skill-based profession, it takes hours of learning, applying what you learned, and experimentation in the field in order to grow. A lot of the skills you learn as a cinematographer are obtained by studying other cinematographers’ work, as well as making mistakes and seeing what works. I learned majority of what I know from online resources such as YouTube. Understanding the “why” has become a focal point in my growth and development. Being able to defend your creative decisions and explaining why you chose a certain lens, composition, lighting set up, etc not only helps others trust in your vision, but it also acts as a constant self-check and reminder to yourself as to why you make certain decisions. If I could go back, I would’ve probably taken the same course of action to obtaining my skill set, but I would’ve done some more internal searching on what it is I enjoy shooting. However, usually you have to shoot all types of stuff in order to figure out what it is you like. You also have to understand that everything has been done before in a creative sense, so it’s okay to draw influence from your peers and role models. Just as long as you add your own touch to your own work and make it your own! The most important skills I learned early on were not necessarily camera-focused skills, but rather how to communicate my ideas to other people and also how to build relationships. This industry is 90% relationships and being someone who is pleasant to work with. You obviously have to have talent and a creative eye, but being a hard worker and never being above a certain job on set will take you far! That’s a skill set in its own that takes time to learn and develop. A few obstacles that stood in my way were mostly self inflicted. I think a lot of creatives deal with self confidence issues or imposter syndrome. It’s natural to doubt yourself and your judgement at times, but I wish I was more confident earlier on and had a stronger voice.

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?

I am a content creator and cinematographer based out of Los Angeles, California. I have had a career in film for about 4 years and have learned a ton throughout those years. I began shooting photos and videos back in 2017 during college after a relative bought me a Nikon D5500 as a gift. I was balancing the life as a student athlete (NCAA lacrosse player) at Christopher Newport University based out of Newport News, Virginia. I began watching creators such as Rory Kramer and Sam Kolder and immediately became hooked to the idea that a camera could lead me to a career filled with travel and adventures. I began making the trek up to Washington D.C. where I would shoot DJs and musicians for free in order to build a portfolio. As expected, my photos and videos weren’t very good, but this was such a crucial part of the learning experience for me. Some of the largest DJs in the world would come and play at Echostage, a venue in D.C., so every once and a while one of their managers would respond to my cold email and give me an opportunity to come out for free. I am most proud of my hustle back then and my willingness to learn as I went. No one at my school was doing anything similar at the time and so it really forced me to set my own path and believe in myself early on in my career. I made a lot of mistakes along the way and maybe took on too much at times since I was also playing a college sport. College lacrosse was a full time job and we had practice/workouts twice a day with games during the week and weekends, so I would find any time I could to hone in on my craft and make the drive three hours to DC to shoot for DJs. It all started with just a passion for music and wanting to have a camera in my hands. I never really approached it as a way to make money initially, it just kind of turned into that once my senior year hit and I had to decide what I wanted to do after college. At this point, I was traveling most weekends during the off season, working with a company called BeatGig. They would throw large scale music events at universities all over the country, so I would fly out cities all over the country for under 24 hours documenting and creating recap videos of these wild events. My teammates didn’t always understand what I was doing or why I cared so much about making videos, but they were always supportive and believed in me. At times it got me into trouble with my coaching staff since they felt I was distracted and wasn’t fully committed to the sport, but I never let my passion for videography get in the way of my commitment to my teammates or coaches. During June of 2020 (in the middle of Covid), I moved to Los Angeles and lived with some friends of mine. I had no money at the time. Just enough to pay rent for the first few months but I worked my butt off ahead of time reaching out to directors or creators in LA who would give me a chance to work for them. A guy by the name of Ari Abraham (@Rariesthetics on Instagram) responded to a few of my DMs and put me in touch with a few YouTubers who needed some filmers for their videos. He also brought me in for an interview for a freelance editor position for a massive influencer’s podcast, and from there, I began shooting and editing their podcast for about a year and a half. I was probably making $2500 a month while working 4 days a week editing this podcast. It doesn’t sound like much (which it wasn’t) but it enabled me to get my roots set up in LA and it was a great retainer so that I could pay rent. I began working my butt off trying to meet creators in LA, utilizing anyone in my network who could open any doors for me. I slowly began working with brands in LA, as well as working on set as a PA for music videos. Working as a PA on set ultimately sparked my interest in starting the journey to pursue a career as a Director of Photography. Something about creating high quality, high budget, and well thought-out videos for brands or artists was attractive. A part of me didn’t enjoy the life as a “videographer” (someone who does every step of the video process themselves, i.e. pre-production, shooting, editing, coloring, etc). At this time, I was also contracting with an agency called Kursza, who I began working with back in college doing some music gigs. They hired me during this weird pandemic era for some camera operator jobs for festivals and livestreams. The whole industry was evolving since live events weren’t happening as much. A lot of people had to move out of LA since they couldn’t afford to pay rent or they were laid off from their jobs. Moving to LA during a pandemic was probably the biggest risk I have ever taken. There were some months where I barely scraped together enough money for rent, but I lived frugally and it taught me how to make things happen for myself. When you’re in a mode of survival, you are willing to do anything to make your dreams happen. Anyways, in October of 2021, I was given an opportunity to tour with a DJ by the name of Alesso. This was my first “big break” in the industry and I immediately felt things changing for me. I toured all over the world with him and it was a lifestyle I wasn’t used to. I toured with him for about 8 months but eventually realized that touring wasn’t a lifestyle I wanted for myself. You are pretty much a nomad and it is an incredibly fast-paced lifestyle. You are staying up to 4 or 5am after a show to deliver all of the content from that night by morning, to then catch a flight to the next city and do it all over again. In the middle of my time touring as a videographer, my best friend passed away in a plane crash in Iceland, which really shook me. I had never dealt with a a close family member or best friend passing away before, especially so tragically, and it really shook me down to my core. It made me question everything about myself, the way I was living my life, the way I treated others, etc. Not that I was living poorly or treating others badly, but it still makes you take a step back and want to love your friends/family even harder and live a life of purpose and adventure. I was in a state of depression for about a year after his passing. I neglected my physical health, but I took this state of uncomfort as a way to get to know myself and change directions a bit. I wanted to make videos that impact others and that felt like art. As grateful as I was having the opportunity to tour with a big artist and see the world, it ultimately left me feeling more lost and lonely than before and it made me want to create videos that were a bit more artistic/self expressive. Along with everyone else, I made tons of mistakes along the way, and I sometimes figured out things the hard way, especially on tour. If anything, I learned what not to do in the industry more than I learned what to do. After my days of touring ended, I began dedicating my attention to learning cinematography and becoming a proper industry DP (director of photography). I have always been a fan of movies, music videos, artistic commercials and documentaries, so I followed that itch and began teaching myself what I needed to in order to grow. Slowly but surely, I earned opportunities to work with some large brands, athletes, influencers, etc, creating higher quality and higher budget pieces. Fast forward to today and I am still learning something new each and every day. I take a massive pride in creating videos that represent what I believe in and stand for. Creating passions projects and spec videos are a massive component to gaining traction and obtaining clients that will pay you to create similar work. I recently directed the largest production I have done to date, which is a downhill long boarding documentary that tells the story of my friend Owen Fox, as USA Olympic long boarding team member who pushes himself physically each and every day and puts his life on the line to do something he loves every day. My buddy Zack Patrick and I invested thousand of our own dollars into this and brought on some amazing and talented friends to help us make this thing happen. We shot for about 12 days spread across over two months and are now in the post production process, so stay tuned for the documentary to come out in mid to late August! This was also a project that involved a lot of risk and unknown outcomes. Creating something like this and pulling it off takes a lot of cards aligning and a bit of luck. The film industry has seen a rough 7 months this year with all of the strikes, as well as the economy being pretty poor. Brands and companies are cutting back their marketing budgets, which results in less work for creatives, but I decided to use this time to create some passion projects that I am interested in to key my skills sharp and to push myself to the next level of my career. Switching gears a bit, I want clients, followers, other creators to know that nothing comes easy. There will be so many bumps or mountains in your way, but all you can do is respond accordingly and keep moving. There will be moments when you want to give up or shift your focus, but those are the biggest moments that ultimately shape your trajectory and make you tougher/resilient. I want potential clients to know that I will always give every project my all and bring a fresh approach to each and every idea. My ideas come from a state of deep thought and emotion and I always want my videos to reflect that and make the viewer feel something (happy, sad, inspired, etc). This year has been a big one and I humbly feel like the quality of my work is growing and growing. To other creators, trust your gut feeling, learn how to communicate your ideas to others confidently, and be flexible. Keep pushing!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The biggest answer to this is your friends! When you are a good friend to somebody first and foremost, and they know you care about them and their well being, they will always put you on and talk about you to clients positively behind your back. I can guarantee that if you are a hard working, talented, and good person, other people are talking about you more than you think behind closed doors. All of my clients have been through word of mouth and usually derive from somebody recommending me and my business to another person or company. Be a good person, show them that you care about their mission/goals, and communicate effectively. I promise that your business will continue to grow and your clients will be happy with you. Of course, there are always hiccups in every project or relationship, but if you come at those problems with a solution and respect, it always works out. Also, don’t be afraid to cold email brands on email or LinkedIn. Get creative and find out who manages creative for those companies. Reach out with a unique and personalized proposal. Most of the time, you won’t get a response, but all it takes is for one brand to respond and give you a chance. Make sure you take advantage of those opportunities and deliver what you promise!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn early on that nothing is about you. When you are telling another brand or person’s story, it isn’t about you and your sole job is to make sure you tell THEIR story to the best of your ability. Working with an A-list celebrity or massive company doesn’t make you better than anyone else. At the end of the day, that isn’t our clout to talk about. Those people are the ones who gave you the opportunity and without them, you wouldn’t be able to create cool things. I remember I went on a podcast one time a few years ago and I maybe shared too much information about my life on tour and shared some stories that I shouldn’t have. The artist and their management saw the podcast and weren’t super happy. That was a massive learning lesson for me because it made me realize that you always have to protect the image of your client first and foremost. It should never be about you and you should never say anything that could potentially jeopardize your relationship with them. Be humble, move in silence, and let your hard work/projects do the talking for you!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.spencershipman.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsshipman/?hl=en