We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hyunjun Park a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Hyunjun, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I don’t know how long this will be, but I would like to share my whole life story as briefly as I can to answer the question:
My name is Hyunjun Park and I was born and raised in a conservative and economically lower-than-average family in Korea, where my father was a salesperson and my mother was a housewife. Being disciplined and obedient to familial values and cultural norms was an early adaptation for me to survive in the Korean society.
When I was 12, there was an educational boom in Korea in early 2000’s for parents to send their kids to countries abroad, where their kids could learn English and potentially become doctors and lawyers after graduating from famous colleges in Ivy League. And, I was one of those kids who was sent to the Philippines, instead, because our parents couldn’t afford to send me to US or other English speaking countries with high costs of living. After spending about a month of staying at a “paradise” where there was no parental supervision and no harsh rules to obey to, I told my parents that I wanted to study more years in the Philippines. And, they complied, hoping that their son would succeed and graduate from Harvard in 10 years.
A lot of changes happened since then. My family started picking up business, so I moved to an International School where I was constantly surrounded by people from all over the world, with different cultural backgrounds. The school offered a variety of extracurricular programs, including theatrical acting and band performing, so I was a part of many different communities with massive opportunities to learn new things with new and different people over time.
But, the problem was, I was one of the few Asians who didn’t know how to speak English. And, that was a good enough reason to be bullied sometimes. I didn’t know how to react when classmates joke around me, either. There were just so many questions about cultural differences in a multitude of scenarios. I ended up arguing in broken English and often ended up fighting with someone fist to fist and getting suspended from school for a couple days. My school days were becoming hateful and unpleasant.
However, at some point, I realized that, the more I was fighting against those odds, the more troubles I was getting into. So, instead of reacting aggressively and impulsively, I decided to wait and listen to whoever I was talking to until I fully understand their statements. I decided to say sorry first for any confusion or misunderstanding and then tried to resolve whatever issues I had with someone. Frankly, I don’t remember every single detail of my adolescence memory, but what I remember after my first transition in my “work ethics” at school is that I had amazing school years afterwards.
After studying in the Philippines for 6 years (middle and high), I was lucky enough to get accepted to UCLA and flew over to the United States. Of course, my relationship with parents was better than ever because their son got into a prestigious school in the United States… But, to be honest, I didn’t have a clear vision or academic goal at UCLA of what I wanted to become. So, I started hanging out with new people and wasted a lot of time going to freshmen parties. I literally became one of the spoiled kids and I ended my 1st year with a GPA of 1.8, without much learning experience or gain.
My father flipped off. He pulled me from the United States and forced me to go to military in Korea for 21 months of service. Serving in the Korean military equated to being disconnected from the world and being unable to enjoy all the fun things I’ve done previously. I had to endure 21 months of boredom and disciplined life which I wasn’t so great at after spending a consumptuous and wasteful year at college. But, as time passed, I started adapting to the given environment and rather started enjoying the repeated routines that I was becoming better and more productive at. I became the best sniper in our unit. I became the best soldier of the year after all the hard trainings and physical tests. I worked out 3 hours every day to stay in really good shape. I ate well and took a good care of my body. I established great mutual relationships with my superiors and subordinates. Throughout the 21 months of military service, I learned how to become self-disciplined and consistent to achieve the best results out of given circumstances.
After my military service, I came back to United States and started applying all the work ethics I’ve accumulated in my significant early years to continue developing myself and finding what I was passionate about. I resumed studying at UCLA and graduated with a GPA of 3.7 with double majors in Psychology and Film & TV Studies. Filming, editing and drone piloting have been my life hobby ever since then. I started working at Korean Commercial Production company for 2 years as a Production Assistant. I moved to a fashion company as a Producer and Cinematographer/Lead Editor for 6 years. I quit my job because I wanted to study more about films so I went to and graduated from NYFA with a Filmmaking degree. And, I’ve done 50+ shorts, features, commercials, and music videos in the last two years with the momentum I was building every since I started freelancing after my last job before NYFA. Recently, I did my first DP gig in a feature film, which was my big achievement to begin the year of 2024.
If time allows me, I can share another whole story about my journey in my career of how I became a DP for a feature film soon after I graduated from a film school. But, what I really wanted to share through this questionnaire was that (1) being a good listener and (2) being disciplined and consistent have been the most important and fundamental aspects of work ethics that I learned the hard way to be able to implement in my life to bring myself from “zero” to “hero”. On every set I go. No matter what position or what background everyone is from. I strongly believe that these two work ethics have empowered me to become respectful of others and focused in my roles. And, when these work ethics are mutually executed and understood among different parties, I think the productions and whatever community that you belong to can achieve some synergetic effect in terms of performance and output.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Hyunjun Park. I am a Director of Photography based in Los Angeles, California. My job is to bring the director’s vision into reality, involving creative implementations of lighting and camera techniques. Simply put, I create visually appealing and inspiring aesthetics for digital media, whether it is a film, commercial, documentary, or a music video.
What I feel most exciting about my job is that I become a creative decision maker when it comes to particular cinematography that I bring into life. There are millions and billions of other ways to create a shot. Yet, putting together my knowledge and skills to create a coherent mix of mood, tone, color, and shapes of light along with limitless choices of camera angles, compositions, and movements is my passion that drives me beyond the horizon. Also, I just love operating and becoming one with a camera that we are using to capture the one-and-only moments during productions.
I am currently freelancing as a DP/Cinematographer in multitude of digital platforms: films, commercials, and music videos. I’ve finished a thriller indie feature called “White Vinniga” as a DP and I am working on a Mercedes Benz commercial for upcoming months.
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?
There are three things that I’ve consistently implemented throughout my career, which I believe empowered me in many different ways to succeed in what I do:
First, there is no better learning experience than exposing yourself to work on a set, regardless of what position(s) you are. Yes, going to a film school (which I have done as well) provides a good educational foundation and a place to network with other filmmakers. But, being a book-smart person doesn’t necessarily equate to being a good filmmaker. For me, I’ve learned and networked a lot more on 10 film sets that I’ve worked on for about 2 months compared to a year of education that I had at film school. If you want to become a DP, but there is a Production Assistant position available. Take it. Show to producers that you are a hardworking and well-disciplined person. And, if chances allow, tell them you are interested in the camera or lighting department. That’s one of the ways I picked up my first DP gig.
Second, I believe that being humble is a good asset to have in order to succeed in the film and entertainment industry. Film industry is all about networking. There is a famous saying that “It is not about what you know. But, it is about who you know”. And because a lot of productions are contract based, good impressions carry along to the next projects, but bad impressions will call it a day for you. Becoming good friends, not necessarily inferior, but being a good listener will receive more calls than becoming enemies to everyone in the production.
Third, be curious and ask questions. On any set, no matter how much experience you have, there are always questions and new challenges to be answered. Good problem solvers are always great communicators, sharing the “WHY’s” with different heads of department until the problems are solved.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
My ideal client (for commercials and music videos) and producer/director (films and docus) is someone with clear vision of the digital product that I am helping to create. From Youtube videos and food review videos to real estate, fashion films, and product commercials, I have dealt with all kinds of clients and producers/directors. And, statistically, the projects that are mutually interested and led by both the clients and my end tend to have better results.
For example, I have a client who wants to make a food commercial. The client only shared that the objective of the project is to make a “cool” video so they earn more profit. Great. Now, I have another client who comes and shares the details of what aspects of food that they want to promote: freshness and variety of their menu. They share about the history of the restaurant and tell intriguing stories of how their cooking styles and menus evolved over time. They care about customers’ feedback and share those information, too. Of course, I can make great looking videos for both clients. But, I am sure the 2nd client will end up with a video that will benefit their business better than the other client.
Same goes for any other digital media, whether it is a film, working with directors or music videos, working with musicians or entertainment companies. Mutual understanding and interest along with clear providence of vision are utmost priority when it comes to an ideal client for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: junlafilms.com
- Instagram: hyunjun.la
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/junla/
