Getting a mentor

[Derick Joe]

I'm looking to get advice on how I would go about in getting a mentorship or apprenticeship with a cinematographer. I live in Austin, TX and have been working in the film/video industry for the past 15 years now. Most of my jobs have been as an editor, but I'm trying to transition into being a cinematographer. I've already DP'd several short films and shoot lots of corporate video which I'm great at. I'm self-taught mostly and am looking to take my skills to the next level and learn from an experienced cinematographer. I've heard of some people shadowing other cinematographers, but I'm not sure how to go about in getting in contact with them or approaching them about taking me on as an apprentice. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Marque DeWinter]

Its extremely difficult to get a mentor. For some reason today many of the professionals I know who would be great at it are too afraid of losing their jobs to the people they mentor when the mentorship is done because many producers don't care about professional or experiences crews as much as they used to. It almost always need to be someone who is about to retire or someone who is so far above where you would be that it won't matter. The problem is that unless you know those people they most likely won't be open to mentoring you. So... network network network.

 

~Marque