Meet Allen Chodakowski | Director of Photography

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

Hi Allen, how do you think about risk?
My career has evolved taking on more risks with the projects I chose. I was caught in a loop shooting Lifetime movies for a couple years, which was a great training ground for honing my skills as a cinematographer but, I got too comfortable and didn’t feel challenged anymore creatively. So I began to work with directors who wrote their own scripts and found more creative freedom working outside a formula. As an artist, once you learn the rules, and you should, I believe in taking a step outside your comfort zone in discovering what else is possible in the medium you’re working in.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As mentioned in my prior shoutout, the AFI class of 2014 launched me professionally into making a living in the film industry. This gave me a foundation to practice my artistry, hunting for powerful stories that tap into and showcase the human condition through the most powerful art form – Cinema.

It was not easy and still continues to be a challenge finding other artists that care as deeply and/or are not distracted by the business side, even though that is an essential aspect to this industry. I worked for no pay simply to gain experience and connections with other filmmakers who cared as much as I do. I met my challenges by continuously moving laterally through my industry and never getting stuck with one circle of artists or people. L.A. is a big town and you are bound to endlessly find people involved in cinema in all aspects from all backgrounds. So you find your people and stick with them.

I learned that if you accept a job, you work hard and do it enthusiastically. That becomes contagious and spreads to everyone you’re involved with. I want people to value cinema in its capacity to tell powerful stories that create an experience that pushes the boundaries of consciousness and inspires a new point of view. Movies can either be entertaining roller coaster rides or a form of therapy. I’m trying to land somewhere in the middle and change people’s lives through cinema because that’s what it did for me. It can influence ones attitude and perspective on life.

I am a first generation American born in Chicago to Polish immigrant parents who gave my brother and I the opportunity to do whatever we wanted with our lives. My brother became a scientist, taking on the role as a doctor. And I became an artist, taking on the role as a cinematographer. While my brother is saving people’s lives, I’m trying to save people’s minds.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take my friend to the cinema, to any of the arthouse theaters in L.A. that are playing a classic film on the big screen. Experiencing a movie in the theater is becoming an increasingly rare thing these days and people would benefit from putting their phones down and becoming absorbed in the cinematic experience. Either we go see Pulp Fiction in Quentin Tarantino’s theater New Beverly Cinema, check out a Laemmle theater playing a new indie movie that was just released, or hop to a nearby AMC to jump on the latest blockbuster rollercoaster experience.

Around that I would take them to Musso and Franks to discuss that film over an all-American fare with a cocktail. On another day I would take them to a climbing gym I frequent, Cliffs of ID, to go bouldering for an hour and experience the sauna afterwards to reset the body and mind. I would also take them surfing in Malibu to catch some of the best waves on the planet or go for a hike in the nearby hills and have a deep stimulating conversation.

There are countless places to eat and experience art and nature to be able to name. Los Angeles is home to an eclectic culture that includes Little Ethiopia, Koreatown, Sawtelle Japantown, Thai Town, and many more I have yet to explore. This is city endlessly brings the world in and you can’t run out of spots to check out.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have so many mentors to mention that I’ve learned from over the years. If there is one shoutout I’d like to make, it is a collective one to the AFI class of 2014. They invited me to crew on their thesis films while attending that prestigious institution known for churning out some of the best filmmakers still working today. My career took on a bottom-up approach crewing on their thesis projects and auditing their classes. This is where I saw the rubber meet the road of story ideas meeting production. Witnessing passionate filmmakers struggling to get their ideas on screen like their lives depended on it. I felt like I was cut from the same cloth as them even though I never officially attended that film school. Once they graduated they hired me for several years as a camera assistant where I continued to learn while earning a living in the film business. This set up a foundation to launch my career in Los Angeles.

Website: http://allenchodakowski.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/allenchodakowski?igshid=NGpxM3B0cDl3eHBr&utm_source=qr

Image Credits
Benjamin Pollack, Frank Noon, Jack Chang, Wayne Knight, Daniel Button, Jason Sayada.