Meet Joey J. Haley | Steadicam Operator & Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joey J. Haley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joey, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?

Yes, absolutely. The way I think about work-life balance has more-so changed in the way of re-framing that my many interests and outlets uphold who I am on the day to day. I allow them to meld into each other rather than keeping work and life totally separate. I feel lots of folks have this false belief that they can only do or stick to one thing – and granted the structure of society makes it hard to do or think otherwise. It’s important to have a separation between work and life but to a point, especially if you work in a creative practice. Balance is everything. Balance is my basic, overall approach to life. Here are the things that I currently am/ attach titles to: Steadicam operator, director, dancer, capoeirista, 1st AC, fencer. There’s more but in any case, I usually say in any context, “I’m a dancer first, I’m a ____ second”. Knowing who I am and what matters most helps me keep perspective and that is key to being balanced. Let me give you the context of how I’ve come to re-frame the balancing act of life.

I’ve pursued dance from a really young age where I was largely self-taught. I grew up back and forth between New Hampshire, and Fortaleza, Brazil. In New Hampshire, I had nothing but the space to teach myself when there weren’t many resources. In Brazil, dancing was more of a cultural and social practice and not as formal as anything like lessons. By the time I was in high school I was self taught in Pop, Lock, Breakdancing and Heels. In Brazil, there were a lot of street ‘rodas’; whether that was capoeira influence or breakdancing on the street, etc. I learned a lot by being surrounded by those communities in Brazil as well as getting live critiques and pointers from older dancers in those dance circles.

Going to Mount Holyoke College (MHC) shaped and heightened dance for me in a professional and in an academic way. I took up modern and contact improv as well as house. By the end of my four years I came out with a double major in film and dance, and with an in-depth research paper and capstone choreography on how gender, societal politics, and boundaries are manifested in modern physical spaces and therefore shapes how one moves through the world. MHC gave me the tools to rigorously study film and dance in a serious manner, whereas at the time, I didn’t have plans to pursue dance professionally. It was interesting to find the balance between deep diving into dance and not knowing how that would manifest post college.

That’s the main context and orientation I come from: in everything I do recreationally or professionally, it comes from my base condition of dance. Everything I do deeply involves movement, momentum, and balance. Now, professionally, I’m a Steadicam Operator which is literally about consistently balancing and dancing with your subject. I’ve been increasingly rounding back to the idea of balance with the events and my growth over the last couple years. Throughout the pandemic I didn’t have access to an outlet for a movement practice. As I started picking up more Steadicam jobs when I moved to LA, I noticed this physical shift in my camera operating because I wasn’t dancing like I had in previous years where my dance practice was actively feeding how I operated (both with and without the camera).

It’s taken me a while, but this year I have been able to find a dance community in LA. Not only that, but during the last 2.5 years, I’ve found Trans Boxing, and capoeira. To say these practices don’t play a part in the balance of my life is to do them a major discredit. Trans Boxing and capoeira (often regarded as a mirrored opposite of boxing as quite literally a half and half mixture of dancing and martial arts) keeps me connected to community and trains my body to feel where I’m placing my weight and where the balance is in non verbal expression. In all forms of my movement practice, including Steadicam, there is this level of communication that’s unspoken and instinctive. All of these forms of movement have a very tight community attached to them and I think there is something to be said about the beauty and connectivity that comes from these movement spaces and the people I share these nonverbal languages with.

Steadicam and Directing: I Steadicam operate primarily now but I still work as a 1st Assistant Camera (AC). Making the switch from working broader crew-side positions to focusing on Steadicam was a hard transition to balance. Up until recently in my work life, there were so many things to focus on; in order to achieve my goals, my life was all work and completely out of balance. Once I started honing in on what my true goals were, and stopped focusing on the “how’s”, a sustainable path started revealing itself to me. We only have so much time on this earth so, what did I actually want to spend my time doing? I took time and reflected on what gives me “life”, that true happy rush, and where I find that in my professional roles. Once I started breaking that down, I started having more time in my schedule, and so I started seeking ways back into movement.

Sometimes the balance is a natural non-linear progression. The Maze, a script I wrote in 2020 is receiving more attention than I thought it would. Now, The Maze is a fiscally sponsored project and will be in pre-production once the strikes end. All of a sudden, my view of myself as a DP (Director of Photography) over the last year has shifted into directing because of this script. It was a big revelation when I realized two things: first, I didn’t actually want my end-goal to be DPing; and that there is a reason friends and colleagues are pushing me to direct. Second, I don’t have to quit Steadicam because of that realization. It’s been proven to me time and time again by my coworkers and friends that I want to be the change I wish to see on set; not only in communication and crew understanding but also in what content is being (or not being) pushed out today. I find directing and Steadicam fulfilling for a lot of the same reasons and in the long term, envision a career where I can move between both disciplines. In fact, when I operate, I’m talking to the director and the actors way more than I do the DP. What I’m saying is, everything feeds into itself and you have all your interests for a reason. It’ll take some time for it to figure out how they play into each other. It took me a while to figure it out for myself, but here we are, still on the journey and quite honestly, still figuring it out.

So how do I balance it all? I have the privilege of a freelance schedule in which days off of work can be dedicated to working towards The Maze. So where does recreational time and movement come in? I definitely have to make it fit in. I’ve discovered that not doing it hurts me in the long run and therefore it’s non negotiable; even if it’s once per day off- whatever I can make happen- I always come out of a movement praxis clear headed. Cementing down what helps you do what you need to do can offer a pathway into finding the work-life balance.

It’s so inherently human to need breaks. I love breaks. I’m a huge fan of time off or time away from everything. Go learn something different, go see something new even if it’s in small ways. Beyond seeing friends on days off, have you asked yourself- how do you vacation? I know I’m a huge travel body and I also know that January/February is slow and I also know July is a slow time. I’ve given myself permission to take two months each year off for myself. Am I rich? Absolutely not. It’s what I save up for in the rest of the year. And without vacation/traveling/breaks, then I perform worse at my jobs and towards myself. Burnout kills and I’m not looking to be near that.

What are your imperative wants and needs? How do they line up? How can you make the work/life balance sustainable? I didn’t talk much about concrete advice or life hacks but that’s because everyone is different; different needs, different bodies, different situations, etc. What are some things you always wanted to do? What’s stopped you? When can you find time to do that? Asking yourself questions is a small step but it’s a first step and arguably those first steps are the most important and impactful. Answering these questions for yourself gets the ball rolling in a way that reveals where the balance is centered in your life currently.

I’ll leave it all on this note; [I think] Balance in the word itself isn’t stagnant. It’s a constant shifting and re-finding. The only constant is change and therefore the balance you find today may not orient itself from the same center as tomorrow, or a week from now. It’s going to change as you grow and change yourself as well. I for one think that’s pretty neat, something so profoundly human, and there is a lot of beauty in that.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

My big project at the moment is a feature that I wrote and am directing that’s receiving quite a bit of attention called The Maze. We’re in the beginning stages of setting up fundraising platforms, readying for launch in the next couple months. We are also readying fundraising community events (happening in LA!) which are really nerve wracking yet exciting! It’s a fiscally sponsored project by From the Heart Productions – a non profit helping make indie projects that make a change in the world happen-, so any money or resource that’s donated is tax deductible… and then I Steadicam for fun. It’s work and my income at the moment, don’t get me wrong- but that’s how life and my creative work feels to me right now and I’m incredibly grateful to be at this point in my career.

Was this an easy place to get to? No. I wouldn’t say easy. For something that feels impossible sometimes, I made use of a lot of opportunities and connections to uplift myself to break into the industry. That was definitely the hardest part. The second hardest part was navigating people taking me seriously on set; all I have to say to that, really, is that your people and your crews will find you. Good people work with good people, and some folks you simply weren’t meant to work with. These experiences in navigating the people you work with can teach you lessons about yourself or work the environment.

I think what sets my art/my creations apart from others is my style of storytelling. It’s hard to put into tangible words but if you look at my past low budget creations, you’ll see what I mean. I actively seek to dissect perspective in my praxis and examine how that manifests. With the current visual language on-screen, perspective can rear itself in a number of ways depending on the subject I’m writing about. For example, The Maze is about “Two opposing, potentially violent, political parties find themselves accidentally in the same room; underground, no easy way out.”- a sentence taken from my pitch. The plethora of perspectives and language to play within just that prompt is vast and can spin in various directions.

I grew up hopping back and forth between Brazil and New Hampshire. Portuguese was my first language and then, quickly after, I began English. Being bilingual has many advantages. One advantage I want to highlight by being bicultural and bilingual makes me hyper aware of how people communicate and how people may receive information. How people receive information followed by what they do with that information has always fascinated me- especially when you bring the internet into the mix. How stories, information, culture, get manifested or passed down and around… wild stuff to think on.

Something that folks should know about anything I create- and I tried to find if this is a direct quote and Google isn’t helping me find an exact source but I- abide by ‘if it’s not political, it’s privileged’.

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.
In the mornings, go out for coffee and fresh sourdough on York Boulevard or alternatively go to Basecamp in Burbank that sells lavender waffles, or K&M coffee then trek over to Kitchen Mouse on North Figueroa that has the best vegan snickerdoodle pancakes. Late mornings are best for a quick shady hike near the Rose Bowl under the Colorado Street Bridge OR, if you identify as such, go take a Trans Boxing class in MacArthur Park with the sweetest of coaches, Coach Miles (and also take his boxing class at Everybody Gym!) OR take a fun moving Ground Grooves class in South Pasadena. Midday: Get Ubatuba Acai for lunch. Read a book in Elysian Park. Join the contact improv ground in Santa Monica and meet the widest variety of people. Go to Sam Woo’s BBQ in Alhambra for dinner and skirt on over to catch the sunset at Lake Hollywood Park. Evening: Go to The Echo for a cool small concert or go to a GAYASS/Oracle Tavern dance event to finish out the night. Ooh- best of all, don’t forget to join the WGA and SAG pickets; a very fun time indeed. 

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Candice Salyers, Barbie Diewald, Shakia Barron, and Peter Jones. If it weren’t for these four legendary professors I wouldn’t be where I am today at the level I am today both professionally and personally. The Five College Dance Consortium is pretty tight but there should be something said about MHC dance community- and maybe I’m biased- but there is something that’s particularly special and uplifting about the environment that Mount Holyoke students and faculty create together.

Candice was my first encounter at MHC. One day in class she said a prompt that stuck with me permanently; “What are you willing to let go of in order to grow?”. After a couple months of thinking it over, I worked up the courage to ask her if I could tattoo that quote on my body as a constant gentle reminder. She taught me how to listen to my body and how to grow through what is stopping me.

Barbie Diewald; I’m not even sure where to start with this one. They created such a space and open learning environment that reached far beyond what professors are paid for on average. Barbie taught me to always ask questions, how to navigate authority, and how to use what I don’t know as momentum to continue learning (and dancing). With her care and academic rigor, I grew miles, as a connected human on this earth and as a scholar.

Candice gave me a match box. Barbie showed me how to use and make more matches. As a former personal trainer and current House dancer, Shakia showed me how to strike the fire. Community as an entity and as a subject continue to circle back as a foundational part that makes up my balance. Shakia taught me how to love, connect, and be in community.

There are no words to fully encompass what Peter Jones brings to MHC students and the Five Colleges at large. He’s the life that makes the fire dance and one of the most talented musicians I know.

Website: https://www.joeyjhaley.com

Instagram: @your.local.steadicam.op

Image Credits
Ashly Covington, Danna Kinsky, Zan Cullen, Taylor Balfour, Leah Hewlings, Charles Flachs