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

Stephen , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.

A current big trend I have been seeing in the film industry and especially with people in the industry is an upswing in behind-the-scenes of their respective roles. Social media has become a staple in everyday life and it has been no different within the film industry. It has become a big trend to pull back the curtain of your role and the work included to show others either in the industry or not what exactly your work is/how you work.

General behind the scenes is one side of it that leans more towards the, “I worked this weekend on this set, and here’s some video of where we shot.” Role-specific behind-the-scenes content has also begun trending as people in different roles show what their work entails specifically and how they achieved that look/ setup. “Hi guys’ today I’m on a film set and we shot a western in a bar. Here is the lighting setup I created with the Gaffer and Grips…

Now when stepping on set you almost have to keep in mind that at some point it will benefit you IF ALLOWED to grab some clips or photos to use for content on your social media page to share with your community.

I love this trend, it almost feels like a new way for people in the industry no matter what level, to share tips and tricks or how we all work on different things without actually stepping on set with each other.

Stephen , 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?

My name is Stephen Franklin, I am 25 years old, and I work in the Film industry, primarily in the camera, electric, and lighting department.

I have been making videos for youtube with friends since we were young. Eventually, I chose film as my major in college but while studying I began teaching and improving my skills and getting on as many smaller FIlm sets as I could. I was able to gain more and more experience and have continued working on sets today.

A lot of sets I have brought onto, I tend to land in the Grip and Gaffing positions and the main problem I intend to solve for Directors is any problem or fix they present really haha. The Key to these positions is being presented with the scene we are prepping to shoot. Asking any necessary questions to the director and then receiving requests from the director of photography for the setup they are looking for. Now after lighting is set and the crew is going for takes, I am always trying to pay attention to talent or crew to try to stay a step ahead and anticipate what they may need between takes. Sometimes it is as simple as folding a furniture pad and setting it under talent so they are cheated up in their seat for the camera. It could also be prepping another light for a dim area you are seeing in the frame that the DP may want to brighten up. ANY of these problems that the Department heads have, usually are the problems that I strive to provide a solution for.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Three resources that I have found more recently that has proven to be key to finding work are Facebook groups, Backstage, and StaffMeUp.

If I was just starting and I was more put on to the Facebook Film groups, I feel like I could’ve gained key practice in the Production Assistant and potentially Grip position. Now with more experience, I can apply through posts or If I see a position that fits someone I know in that position I’m able to tag them as a “recommendation” and I’ll usually text them personally and let them know I’ve tagged them so they can get in touch. It’s an interesting community on there but I feel it’s a good resource for local gigs.

Backstage is also a helpful resource I wish I had gotten on to sooner, there are a lot of helpful filters and you’re able to build out your profile pretty thoroughly so if someone is interested they get a pretty good idea of who you are just by your profile.

StaffMeUp is another resource I wish I would’ve invested in sooner although I am glad I worked on smaller sets prior as StaffMeUp is usually larger profile sets for Film and television.

I am currently on all three of these resources and they have been great thus far. I would recommend if someone is earlier in their career to start on Facebook and then move onto backstage with a little more experience and then sign up for StaffMeUp when they feel confident. This is all personal preference but either way, these are the three resources I would recommend.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being in the film industry for me personally is seeing the final product after working on it. Especially when working in lighting in the gaffer or DP role. I love seeing the final result of all the hard work and setup that we did on set in the final cut. Another part I have a love/hate relationship with is the screenings of projects or pieces of work. I have a little bit of anxiety when showing others my work but I love the reactions far more when people see the lighting and such in the final cut and being able to share the stories of what it took to get to where it ended up.

Another rewarding part I feel is being able to learn from past work to improve your skills on other projects, with each set I step onto I always walk away with new techniques or strategies whether it’s learning from myself or other people on set, it’s always rewarding to learn and improve upon your skills.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stphnfrnkln/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-franklin-287b11215?trk=people-guest_people_search-card
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/jGJg50FveqI?si=RSiPeHWMuPZmIF0W
• Other: My IMDB Profile: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12987254/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Image Credits

Byron Gramajo
Kristopher Keogh