Meet Brandon Widener | Director & Cinematographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brandon Widener and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brandon, why did you pursue a creative career?

The reason I pursued a career in the arts is because it was filled with people who I related too, offered a lifestyle I wanted, had endless stories to tell, and provided the sort of experiences I wanted to be a part of. I figured if anything was worth filming it was also worth living. I knew it was going to be filled with risk, adventure, and opportunities to grow in ways that I wanted to develop in. I felt being a professional creative is where I could most be myself and meet my potential. I also had the feeling if I ever had anything important to say, I’d be able to get it out to a wider audience through film. All of those inclinations were true and Im so grateful to this industry for giving me the time of my life.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My career kinda started when I won a video contest for STA Travel when I was 21. The prize was free airfare to Europe and some train passes. The problem was, I was so broke I couldn’t afford to take the free trip (as it didn’t include food and accommodation) so I pitched them a web-series where I’d teach student travelers how to have adventures for $50 a day. I called it “Cents of Adventure ”. I wrote up 11 episodes and they loved it. Probably because all I asked for was my prize winnings and $50 a day while I was there…not a penny more. I had no idea what I was doing, so it was the perfect opportunity to learn while traveling all over the continent. I was working construction at the time and had a saved a little money. I bought a video camera with a photo tripod (because I didn’t know the difference), took the plane tickets, and went to Europe for a few weeks to create my first web-series. Cliff jumping in Italy, work-stays on Swiss farms, La Tomatina festival in Spain…I got some really great content while honing my filmmaking skills. What I learned most is that sometimes you have to make your own opportunities in this industry.

I brought the material back and made some really terrible videos as I was just learning how to edit essentially. STA didn’t really love them either, but there was lots of potential. Luckily my cousin Jason and a producer friend of his, Jamie thought so too and re-cut them with me. We re-named it “The Dime Traveler”. Over time, I started shooting more Dime Travelers on trips I’d take, or after paid shoots I was on in various countries. The episodes improved over time and eventually we won a Webby for best travel and adventure series. In the particular episode that won it, I taught audiences all about eco-tourism in Indonesia while tracking wild orangutans. I then went to New York for the first time to collect the award and give my 5 word speech that the Webby’s are known for. I decided to make those five words count. I settled on: ” We are looking for distribution”. And what would you know…my plan worked! A former producer at Travel Channel who was now tasked with starting a new digital platform for Scripps Networks saw my speech and wanted to commission 6 more episodes. I pitched them South East Asia as our location. 4 countries in 33 days. They were in and so was I.

Although exciting, filming those episodes was pretty rough. My team and I only made it to 3 out of the 4 planned countries due to a series of unfortunate events. I accidentally ate a pizza laced with what we think was PCP while in Cambodia and came within an inch of losing my mind. Not fun. That same day we evaded the police after getting a drone caught in a tree at Angkor Wat. We had to come back and pay a child and a buddhist monk to climb up and get it down. All of us got destroyed in Thailand the day after we ate a poisonous pepper in Laos. We filmed and traveled everyday except two I believe. It was hard, but fun, and again, I took this opportunity to grow. All said and done, we delivered six solid episodes as promised.

Today, I work in the commercial, documentary, and narrative space. I’ve shot feature documentaries, Indie narrative features, short films, commercials, and lot’s of branded content. Truthfully, I love it all. They all offer something in their respective processes that brings me life.

What’s helped me immensely over the years is my working knowledge in the three phases of production. I started my career in pre-production as a storyboard artist. This helped me break down scripts and visualize a project from start to finish. From storyboarding, I went into full-time editing for a few years at my cousin’s post-production company Squadron. This is where I’d see what was captured on set as a result all the pre-production planning, then compare it to what material actually made the final edit. When I became a DP, I put my pre-production skills in conceptualization and my post-production experience of what actually gets used to inform my shooting decisions. This makes me very efficient on set or in the field. Efficiency takes pressure off of the schedule and leaves more room for creativity on set which is key to producing great work.

Most film sets, no matter the flavor, are usually very fast paced environments with loads of variables that can change at any given moment. Since I’m both the director and cinematographer on certain projects, I’m able to make creative decisions quickly. This helps my commercial and narrative clients by giving them more takes and options for the edit. This is key for when stakeholders who weren’t at the shoot are giving notes during post-production. The ability to adapt and make informed creative decisions quickly helps on my documentary projects by not missing precious moments and story beats in fast moving situations. Clear communication, an efficient work-flow, and protecting the schedule to leave more room for creativity, keeps crews happy they signed up to be there. These are the things I strive for on set and have produced positive results so far.

Something I’m really excited about is combining the two worlds of scripted and documentary. During 2020, I began the journey of making my first feature film. It’s a documentary about an American immigrant and their path to pursuing their dreams here in the U.S. I filmed with them and their family for 26 days in the U.S. and Mexico capturing their entire backstory and present day reality. When listening to them re-tell how they immigrated to the U.S. and the conditions they braved to get here, I felt like these stories were larger than life. They were so action packed with stakes so high, I felt they deserved their own Hollywood blockbuster. So I thought maybe I should re-create the most dramatic parts of their story with an entire film crew and actors to truly illustrate what these people had gone through. I’d use these re-creations of struggle and juxtapose them with how successful and happy they are with the footage captured from the present day, living in the U.S.

So, in December 2020, I raised $40k and filmed re-creations of my subjects back-story for 11 days in Sonora, Mexico with an entire local crew. We used real locations, very talented local actors, and worked hard to bring this story to life. It was the most creatively rewarding experience of my career but it didn’t come without its challenges. First, raising money is hard and is something I’d love to learn how to do better. Second thing was, I don’t speak Spanish that well. This makes shooting a film in Spanish difficult. For the re-creation scenes, I wrote the scripts in English, had them translated, then had to learn enough Spanish to direct my actors and crew. I progressed in my Spanish, but it capitalized a lot of my time during pre-production. Third, during the location scout in Mexico for the re-creation shoot, my producer, fixer, and I got pulled over by the cartel at gunpoint and had to explain why we were taking photos around the border. Explaining that you’re a filmmaker creating a movie on Mexican immigrants with four machine guns pointed at you absolutely sucks. Honestly, it was a hurdle I’m happy to have survived. We went back 8 days later and filmed our 30 minutes worth of planned re-creational scenes. I couldn’t tell my wife what happened until we were done filming or else she’d never let me go back to Mexico after the location scout. That also wasn’t an easy decision.

I can’t wait to share the film when it’s complete. I’m hoping it entertains, inspires, informs, and encourages people to love our immigrant community even more. Im currently deep in post-production while simultaneously trying to raise finishing funds. If you have experience in getting films across the finish line and securing distribution, please reach out, because boy do I have a pitch for you…

I guess what I’m most proud of is that I’m making an actual living as an artist. Being a director & cinematographer in Los Angeles is something I didn’t even consider a possibility growing up. As I’m writing this now, I’m 2 x Emmy nominated and will find out if we win at the end of this September. Although I have a ways to go, I’m proud of what I’ve done so far. This career has taken me to over 60 countries on 6 continents, filming everything from celebrities in bustling cities to the wildest animals in the most remote parts of earth. Because of my work, I’ve ran with the bulls in Spain, obtained a private pilots license, and even helped raise a million dollars for the Rohingya refugees. I’ve embedded with billionaires as well as slum dwellers and have seen up close and personal that money doesn’t necessarily equal happiness.

The projects I’ve been a part of have been wildly diverse giving me an incredible sample of life and work experience. This has totally shaped who I am and how I approach my craft. I feel that my ability to empathize and communicate across various groups and cultures is what makes me a good filmmaker.

This industry has given me most of my best friends and greatest memories. For this I am forever grateful. I look forward to making new connections and meeting new collaborators in the years to come. If you’re a young person struggling to find direction, reach out. I may have some helpful words of wisdom I’d love to share with you. Hope to see you on set! And if my wife is there, don’t bring up the cartel story. She’s still pissed.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Im a beach person through and through so Im going to start off by saying El Segundo doesn’t get enough attention and everyone should come over here and hang with us. Once you turn off Imperial highway onto Main st., Its a portal to a small, quaint, laid-back beach town. Main street has a beautiful park where they have free concerts in the summer and really solid food options all the way down towards Smoky Hollow where you’ll find distilleries, breweries, and coffee roasters. Main street is 5 minuets from Porto beach which has some of the most consistent surfing waves in LA. It’s a great place to learn in the summer, and a solid place for advanced surfers in the winter. El Segundo snuggles right up against the South Side of LAX, so its very much in LA, but due to how it’s situated, no one drives through, keeping it very quiet and chill. I’d say its an underrated date spot as well. I’d plan on catching the sunset on the beach, then go straight to Sausal for incredible, euphoria inducing Mexican cuisine. After that, walk to Purple Orchid to mix it up with real South Bay locals over exceptionally strong (sometimes flaming) cocktails and games of pool. The people are friendly, the bars and restaurants are great, and the beach is always popping.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shoutout my cousin Jason Scherbert. He is the main reason Im a filmmaker living in Los Angeles Today. If it wasn’t for him, I would have never known pursuing a career as an artist was possible and that your passion can be something that can support you. He ultimately showed me you really CAN create your dreams. He still inspires me in many ways to this day.

My parents deserve all the credit as well. Im very close with them, and I broke the mold of living within an hours radius of the whole family in Florida to instead live and work in LA. This wasn’t and still isn’t easy, but they have supported my decisions 100 percent and Im very grateful for that. They are the people I try to make proud everyday and I wouldn’t work so hard if they didn’t show me how, first.

Lastly, is my complete angel of a wife Jessica. Thankfully she still lets me go on shoots around the planet with all kinds of weirdos in wild places while dealing with my disgusting and unpredictable schedule with grace. I love you.

Website: www.brandoncolewidener.com

Instagram: @brandoncolewidener

Other: brandoncolewidener@gmail.com

Image Credits
Cameron Jordan Albert Cheung Gary Williams Dennis Clancy