We recently connected with Thomas McKinnon and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Thomas thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?

Well, fresh out of Colorado Film School I made the very intelligent (sarcasm) decision to take on not one, not two but three internships at the same time. In the mornings I interned for the DA Office as a podcast editor for a team of lawyers, in the afternoon I interned as a video editor for a startup media company and at night I was an audio editor for a different podcast. It was a lot to handle but it did give me a very broad appreciation for what I learned to be good at. Namely that my ability to prioritize, plan out and confidently execute on plans grew stronger and stronger. Though, with that being said, would I do it over again and run myself ragged through multiple internships? Eh, probably not. But can’t argue with the results!

Thomas, 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?

I grew up all over the world, from Asia to Europe to the US and just about everywhere in between. This melting pot of cultural influences gave me a very broad appreciation for artistry and visuals. After settling down in Colorado with my family, I chose to stop pursuing a career in engineering (I tried to convince myself I liked math) and got in a film school where I was able to thrive and grow my passion for visuals and storytelling. Truth be told, I used film school more for networking and meeting likeminded people that wanted to work on artistic projects and film sets and essentially used my abilities as a visual storyteller and charisma to make some stalwart friends at the school. This led to me being much more confident in taking on clients for freelance work, the aforementioned three internships and eventually my current role as a freelance cinematographer for hire and my day job as a multimedia specialist and video content creator.
Granted, I know that creatives and freelancers go hand-in-hand more than a kindergarten buddy system. But where I distinguish myself from the burgeoning pack of freelance creatives is my ability to tell a story with nothing more than a single image. I would argue that most photographers and videographers feel the need to get several dozen angles and lighting setups in order to tell their client’s story, and while that can be beneficial, I would argue further that it’s far more effective to see the entire story in one shot rather than feeling like you have to scroll through the entire list of portfolio options to understand. This ability to tell these stories has really made me proud of my visual ability to interpret these images and make that vision come to life for both my clients and myself!

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I mean… Look, everyone needs a hustle, right? Every artist needs their niche and I don’t see the CONCEPT of NFTs as being any different than art galleries for high paying clientele. Now, that being said, the damage that they do to the ecosystem and the danger of commodities priced to such an absurd level is potentially very dangerous in the long and short term. I don’t think it’s really the best way to describe how I feel about them, but it’s the most professional haha!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

The sheer amount of free online courses and helpful YouTube channels. I cannot stress enough how much channels like Studio Binder, Film Edits 0r Gerald Undone did so much to help me understand the technicalities of Cinematography, lighting, camera specs, film set lingo etc. Seriously, I’m not saying that you can find EVERYTHING you need, but there are so many talented creators who want to give back to people with similar interests. You just have to look for them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tomfooleryphoto.com
• Instagram: @thomasmmckinnon

Image Credits
Brandon Locatelli, Nathan Chelf, Nathan Dileto