The Suitcase That Almost Ruined My Film Project Last summer, I flew to Iceland to shoot exterior sequences for “Par in the Fjords.” I’d packed all my camera accessories—lens filters, batteries, memory cards—into a budget suitcase I’d grabbed off Amazon. Figured it would be fine. It wasn’t fine. Somewhere between Vancouver and Reykjavik, a zipper … Read more
How to Make Engaging Videos: A Filmmaker’s Battle-Tested Guide to Content That Actually Works I remember sitting in my apartment after wrapping “Going Home,” exhausted, watching the view count crawl at a pace that felt like punishment. Hours of lighting setups, dozens of takes, meticulous color grading—and nobody was watching past the first 15 seconds. … Read more
The $40 Light That Saved My Film I’ll never forget the panic. Three hours into shooting “Blood Buddies,” our main light died. Fried. Just… gone. We had no backup. No rental budget. And an actor who’d driven two hours to be there. My DP looked at me like I’d just told him we were shooting … Read more
The iPhone Shot That Made the Final Cut We were three hours into shooting “Married & Isolated” when my DP’s DSLR overheated. We needed one more shot—a tight macro of wedding rings on a table. Simple shot. Critical for the edit. No camera. I pulled out my iPhone, clipped on a $25 macro lens attachment, … Read more
Netflix-Approved Cameras 2025/2026: What Actually Makes the Cut (And What You Really Need to Know) Here’s something nobody tells you about shooting for Netflix: I spent three months prepping my short film Going Home before it got selected for the 2024 Soho International Film Festival. The whole time, I was obsessing over gear lists and … Read more
The $18 Mic That Saved My First Vlog I was three hours into filming “The Camping Discovery” when I realized every single take was ruined. Wind noise. Constant, aggressive wind noise that made my voice sound like I was yelling through a tornado. I’d hiked two hours to this spot with my iPhone 12 Pro … Read more
The Ultimate Business Shoes Guide For Traveling – Why is it so hard to find dress shoes well-suited for the professional polish and rigors of a company trip, yet versatile enough to be dressed down after a hard day’s work at the hotel bar? And why are so numerous of the options so very cringeworthy, awfully for women? Great…
The $847 Castle That Changed Everything I paid $847 for three days in a 400-year-old castle outside Prague. Not to stay in it. To completely take it over with lights, fog machines, fake blood, and a crew of six. The owner made us coffee and asked if we needed the dungeon unlocked. Two years earlier, … Read more
Cinematographer’s Guide to Low-Budget Filmmaking: Practical Tips for Stunning Visuals The gaffer handed me a single desk lamp. “That’s it?” I asked. “That’s all we’ve got?” “That’s all we’ve got.” This was day two of shooting “Going Home.” Our lighting budget had evaporated after renting the Red Komodo 6K for the week. I was standing … Read more
The $47 Mic That Saved My Shoot Last year in Hong Kong, my wireless lav died twenty minutes before interviewing a protest organizer. No backup. No time. I ran to a street vendor, grabbed a $47 wired Rode SmartLav+, threaded it through his jacket, and rolled camera. That interview became the centerpiece of “Watching Something … Read more