Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Matt Tipold. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Matt, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I get my work ethic from my friends. Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals is critical if you want to find any type of success in your field. Friends who will send you a text randomly out of the blue telling you to keep going. Friends who will update you about their lives in hopes of inspiring you. But also finding people within your field that you can connect, and grow with. You’re only as good as the people who you surround yourself with. You push them, and they push you back. The work ethic will naturally be there in the end.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My name is Matt Tipold. I’m a 28-year-old cinematographer from Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. I got started in cinematography thanks to my Dad’s love of film. I started learning how to use a camera at a very young age. I would shoot my friends skiing in the winter, and biking or skateboarding in the summer. This love for cameras and film slowly progressed during high school as I started to shoot actual short films. When It came time to decide on a career path, film production felt like the only option.
In university, I started a film production company with my long-time best friend director/producer, David J Redman. We both attended the same high school and film production university program. After graduation, we kept at it and hit the ground running with our production company, RedTip Productions. We started to find our footing in the music video space and have kept our partnership strong to this day.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Communication is key. Being able to communicate what’s in your head concisely is probably one of the most important qualities to have as a cinematographer.
Remaining calm. Film production sets can get crazy quickly. There’s never enough time or money to make it happen the way you want. Therefore, it’s important to always remain calm and just control what you can.
Problem solving. This is the majority of the job as a cinematographer. Things are bound to go wrong. When they do, you have to be able to pivot and come up with a solution quickly.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Go for a walk. As simple as that might be, I find fresh air and moving my body to be the best way to calm my mind. Staying active is a huge part of my life and if I’ve had a long day at my desk, I always find it beneficial to get outside. Usually on these walks, I’ll come up with a better strategy or idea to solve the problem that I was having before.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.matttipold.com
- Instagram: @teeper
Image Credits
Stevan Petrusic, Jeremie Dupont, Maxim B. Vidricaire
