We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caleb Spencer Barr a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Caleb Spencer , appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Its something that takes allot of patience and understanding that as along as you continue too feed your imagination and ability too
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an award-winning videographer and filmmaker who has been a part of the entertainment industry for over 6 years. I started out as an actor who did small roles, background work and you know the normal entry-level things to get into the industry. Then I went on to study film and media and from there I grew in the industry. I’ve worked on major projects with major studios, I’ve worked on multiple indie features and shorts and just recently got into the Social media aspect of the industry, because that side has grown tremendously over the past few years with Reels and Skits.
It’s also amazing because being a cinematographer who has won both The Telly Award and Webby Award it is truly an honor and humbling experience because most filmmakers around my age, and I’m now 23, haven’t or even gotten close to receiving that so it’s just amazing and It drives me to want to help other filmmakers and media personalities to achieve their dreams and goals.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I would have to say one of my best qualities is self-determination. I can’t count how many times I’ve been in situations where I had to push through some of the hardest things in this industry and still have the drive to continue. I think of the amount of failures I’ve had, which are not bad of course, but those failures in my career could have easily pushed me to quit or walk away.
I remember having a feature film that I was passionate about, and the whole film was about done until I went into the editing room, where most of the time things always go wrong on the post-production side. As I was editing the film, half the project was destroyed because the first half of the camera settings were set to auto-white balance, auto shutter speed, and auto ISO. I was defeated and that would have been my first feature film I would have directed and shot myself. Also, it would of been my first iPhone feature film as well.
The second mistake was an Indie TV series I had written and was directing and we were about done with that as well until some issues came up on the business side of things due to still learning and growing I lost my series altogether… or at least it’s on the backend right now…
So the reason I share those things is, that having the self-determination to push through even when things are falling apart or tanked shows the heart and drive you have for what you do.
Even with all those mistakes I had to learn, I still won 2 awards” 2023 Telly Award and The Webby Award ”, I am still writing my horror feature film that will be done soon, and I have filmed and collaborated with multiple filmmakers all over from Atlanta, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, LA, etc. So that is what I would say my best Quality is… Self-determination
i
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
I would say, Taking risks.
It comes from a place of knowing that “Our personal journeys carry risks, and without risks, there can’t be personal success. Life is full of risks, and each one ultimately is designed for that person and their journey. As a Videographer and Filmmaker risks are always around whether they are in the field or off the field, so it’s hard to avoid those things yet it is key to learning how to use them for your advancement.
see we understand the idea of attention and so we know that good attention can be beneficial, yet we also can learn that bad or negative attention can lead to success from a different perspective. It’s a risk because you are unsure what the outcome could be, yet if you know how to position yourself, then you can take risks and turn them into success regardless of whether or not they are good or bad.
So I’ve gown in the area of taking risks.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11410272/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_0_nm_4_q_caleb%2520spencer%2520barr%2520
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecalebspencerbarr/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008326875315
