Meet Brian Beckwith

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brian Beckwith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Brian, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?

My optimism comes from my mother who is probably one of the happiest people i’ve met in life. Its been embedded in me from a young age to look at the positive side of things. Not to dwel on what you can’t change instead what you can do to change your outcome / situation. Being a Los Angeles Cinematographer now it follows me, when I loose out on an opportunity I immediately go back to the drawing board and try again. Growing up skateboarding also ties into my optimism. if you want to learn a new trick you repeatedly try, try, try, fall, fall, fall until you land it. But one thing is for sure you have to believe you can do the trick in your mind to land it. If you think you cant theres a 100% chance you won’t.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a Cinematographer or Director of photography based in Los Angeles. What is most exciting about what i do is its never the same. Every day I’m always in a different city, different studio, different house working with celebrities, non celebrities, actors, influencers, everyday hard working people, such a wide range of people who your interacting with on an relatively intimate level.

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?

*Ability to listen – As a cinematographer or DP you are not #1, That would be the director. You are #2 and your going to have very good listening skills to understand the directors vision and what it is that they want to create / collaborate with you on..

*Reading the room -sometime i say im a chamelion becaus you have to adapt to different directors styles, communication, sens of humor, ect.

*Patience – i dont know how but somehow i ended uo super chill, having patience with people especially goes a long way in this job. Your reputation is largely about people likeing you / haveing a positive experiance working with you. having patience definitely helps with that

My advice for younger people trying to develop these skills would be to find a mentor. Get on set and learn from someone who is good / doing it at a high level that you look up too. Soak up what they do / say. Think about what you would do / how you would do it differently.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Throw on some David Goggins and get it done. There is no “rub the roof of your mouth for 10 seconds” TikTok type trick thats going to solve your problems. You need to lock and and face your fears / procrastination and just do it. In the end you’ll thank yourself .

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Mountain on top of the hill – Levi Jawara
Black and white photo – Levi Jawara

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