Website: benjiosborne.com.
Primary Production Role: Director of Photography.
Background: I've shot 2 feature films, commercials for WWE, Avis, NAACP, QuikTrip, and Billboard #1 charting music videos.
Why Production?
Still photography has been sort of an ever-present in my life as my dad put a camera in my hand from a very young age, and by the time I was 17 I was doing stills work for Puma and Forever 21. But I didn't enjoy how lonely the still photography life can be, aside from models and emails with agencies there's not very much in the way of human interaction. I kind of stumbled into the video on accident, since a lot of my friends wanted to be rappers and needed music videos— as they do. I remember one of the dudes I shot a video for saying "why don't your videos look as good as your photos" and it kind of made me mad; but now I probably owe him a thank you as it sent me down the rabbit hole of cinematography, lighting and lensing that I now call a job. I fell in love with the community and friendships I've been fortunate enough to make and continue to make through this amazing field; and I continue to fall in love with the lifelong commitment to capturing stories the best I can.
Favorite Projects:
The one project that comes to mind was a feature doc I shot earlier this year about Black firefighters in my hometown of Tulsa, OK, where Black Wallstreet once stood and thrived before the 1921 race massacre that burned down 35 city blocks of the most successful Black community in America. It encapsulates the living history of Black firefighters, through first-hand accounts and following the lives of two current Black firemen, showing their resilience through all they've overcome, thus prompting the name, "Fighting More Than Fire." We just wrapped post on it so it's about to hit the festival circuit, it's such an impactful story and I can't wait for it to be out there.
Why Film in Arizona?
I only just moved to AZ a few months ago, but the amount of talent and good people here shocked me. Maybe I just keep getting lucky, but every person I've met has been so kind and willing to help in whatever way they can. There are some really talented folks here who just so happen to also be really good people; and those two things mixed together create an environment for greatness all around. There certainly is something special here that I look forward to continuing to uncover and be a part of.
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