Meet Cory Green | Cinematographer

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

Hi Cory, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I had considered starting my own film production company for almost a decade. Around the time of the pandemic is when I started to put all the pieces together, and once I had a string of films and projects upcoming, it just made sense to pull the trigger.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have been a cinematographer for over 10 years now. I’ve shot ten feature films, dozens of shorts, and myriad commercials and documentaries. I think what sets my work apart from others is that I like to show the perspective of realism in my work, almost a verite or documentary style. I want the viewer to be immersed in the story and not so much the grandiose imagery. I am most excited about a couple of features I shot in 2022, “Baggage Claim” and “Garbage Bag of Broken Bottles”. Two very different films, one a comedy and the other a dark comedy with a bit of drama. Both films were difficult in their own right. “Baggage Claim” is a road trip comedy that proved difficult shooting car scenes without a budget for a process trailer, of course, we considered poor man’s process, but we decided to shoot a mix of projection, green screen, and some real driving scenes. In “Garbage Bag of Broken Bottles” we had a short time to shoot a very ambitious script, with even less crew. The major takeaway I learned from these films is to simplify things, be able to step back, and let the story unfold in front of the camera than try to overcomplicate things by forcing unnecessary coverage.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Some of my favorite places in LA are hiking up to the planetarium, biking from Venice to Malibu, hitting up some of the bars, especially the Misfit Bar (probably my favorite in the country) in Santa Monica, eating at Egg Slut, enjoying stand up at the Comedy Store, and of course, going to a Dodgers game.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It’s difficult to narrow it down to any one person, as in this industry you really need to surround yourself with amazing and hardworking people. One thing to learn in the movie business is to always hire people who know more than you do, because it’s your crew who are the building block of a project. If I really had to choose a specific person, I would have to say Shane Hurlbut, ASC. He and his Filmmakers Academy now, and way back in the day his Hurlblog was an essential part of my learning process and allowed me to see how a working cinematographer on larger budget films thinks and overcomes obstacles. Him dedicating his time and expertise are what gave me the confidence and knowledge to walk onto any film set and do what I love to do.

Website: www.corygreendp.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CoryGreenDoP/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-green-38a13914/