Meet Jonathan Wang | Cinematographer // Director of Photography

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

Hi Jonathan, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
Coming up in the camera department and having never worked in the grip and electric fields, I recognized that my lighting skills were lacking. I knew how I would want things to look, but I lacked the practical knowledge to make it happen. To fix that, I would spend all my down time on set drawing lighting diagrams of the setups and detailing what each light and modifier did and why they did that. Off set, I would research and take courses on lighting physics and theory, and attend speaker panels and product exhibitions. I’d ask questions (as respectfully as possible) of gaffers and DPs, and I’m truly grateful for the friendships and mentorships that I’ve developed as a result.

Also, daily yoga and consistent weight training have really helped to maintain my physical and mental well-being.

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 spent a long time thinking I was content being a career First Assistant Camera, but eventually my skills hit a plateau, and the job subsequently became quite boring, really derailing that idea. In pursuit of evolving as a professional, I made the transition to Operator and Cinematographer. It definitely wasn’t easy; most people knew of me as a First, so it was difficult turning down so much work, and sometimes I’d even get grief for it. I came to realize that if I ever got complacent, if I wasn’t constantly challenging and improving myself, I’d probably end up hating my life.

I’d still very much consider myself in the beginning of my Cinematographer career, so I’m staying consistent in working hard to establish myself and evolve my craft. I also love Operating, so I’m still doing that on the side, and I think there’s still much to learn from other Cinematographers.

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.
Man, a whole week in LA? I’d probably break up LA into sections for each day.

Day 1 – Morning hike in Malibu (probably Solstice Canyon because I love the ruins), lunch at Malibu Seafood, then chill by Santa Monica pier or Venice Beach.

Day 2 – Shopping day! Beverly Hills, the Grove, Century City Mall (with eats at Din Tai Fung or Eataly), then drinks at The Phoenix whiskey bar.

Day 3 – Museum day! Academy of Motion Pictures, LACMA, and La Brea Tar Pits.

Day 4 – The Broad museum to start, Angels Flight down to Grand Central Market for lunch, walk to Little Tokyo and Arts district, then dinner at Hachioji Ramen bar and drinks at Wolf and Crane.

Day 5 – Surfing in the morning at Seal Beach (watch out for the stingrays!), Aquarium of the Pacific (and Long Beach Museum of Art if we haven’t gotten enough art), and drinks at Blind Donkey Whiskey bar.

Day 6 – Asian food crawl in the 626! Yi Mei for breakfast, 1919 Lanzhou Beef Noodle for 2nd breakfast, Cluck2Go for lunch, Dai Ho for 2nd lunch, Summer Rolls for mid afternoon snack, Banh Mi My Tho for snack #2, Alice’s Kitchen for dinner, Ben Gongs Tea for dessert, and then just die from the food coma.

Day 7 – Honestly probably nothing, just a day of relaxing by a pool with some beers because we’re sadly not 21 anymore and we don’t have the energy to do a full 7 days straight.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shout out to Kristoffer Carrillo and Timur Civan! They’ve been instrumental in my journey, and I owe so much to their mentorship and support. Y’all at Shoutout have rightfully interviewed Kristoffer before; he took me under his wing as his First Assistant a decade ago, and has since become my “professor” and a cherished friend. And I’ve been reading Timur’s incredibly informative blog since college, so working for and learning from him was a true ‘meet your hero’ moment for me.

Website: www.kingjwang.com

Instagram: @kingjwang