Meet Kenneth Yeung | Cinematographer

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

Hi Kenneth, why did you pursue a creative career?
I chose a creative career mostly because I don’t think I could have done anything else. At least not anything that would have made me happy. I was never going to be a doctor or lawyer or work some office job. I’m not really able to study or do things that don’t interest me. To that end I feel very fortunate and grateful that I fell into cinematography. I always enjoyed photography as a kid so cinematography was a natural transition. It kinda came easy to me and it quickly became my number one passion in life.

I worked on my first professional film set when I was just a 19 year old film student and loved it right away. Everything was new and exciting (and also intimidating), every day was different, the cameras and lights fascinated me, and you got free food to boot!

It was the exact opposite of everything I’d ever experienced in my life up to that point which was mostly wearing an awful school uniform every day, studying subjects I didn’t care about, being around people I didn’t always like, and having no idea what I was going to do in life.

Meanwhile as a teenager on set for the first time, the energy felt electric. I was around a lot of creative professionals doing what they loved and I quickly learned that this industry didn’t have the monotonous and repetitive structure of a normal day job. You could be on a feature film working 12 hour days, six days straight for several weeks on end, or you could have shorter gigs here and there and have days off in between. You could be working weekends, holidays, overnight, inside, outside, in the heat, cold, rain or snow. Every job was different. For someone like me that felt like freedom.

I didn’t know you could make a living doing this! Both my parents were white collar workers as were most of the other adults I knew so I always thought people just ended up doing jobs they didn’t necessarily love, wearing clothes they didn’t want to wear, working in a office 9-to-5, Monday to Friday for decades on end until they retired. Who knew you could have a career doing something you absolutely loved while having a blast at the same time?

From that point on I was hooked. I was just a lowly camera department trainee back then but I immediately zeroed in on the cinematographer. I could tell right away that was the best job on set. I would watch as he instructed his key crew members on what he wanted for the shot.

He quietly commanded the set like a general and every department was working to execute his vision. Camera, electric, grip, art…armies of people were running around doing his bidding. It was organized chaos until the shot was ready and when you’d finally see it the on monitor it was amazing to see his vision come to life.

I don’t think he ever said two words to me but I knew I wanted to be just like him. After finishing that movie, I worked on as many film sets as possible. I learned and experienced so much on set that film school felt like a taking a step backwards. But being on set was where I was learning the technical side of filmmaking while film school was where I could apply those skills towards the craft of cinematography.

This allowed me to excel quickly as a student cinematographer and after graduating I knew I wanted to move to LA. I applied to the American Film Institute, was accepted, and moved here to complete my MFA in cinematography. I was off to embark on a creative career after that and every day on set since has felt like a blessing. The excitement never fades, the job never gets old, the creative process remains so fulfilling and I feel incredibly grateful to have found this career.

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.
Getting to where I am today was definitely not easy and I’m still nowhere near where I want to be. If I were to be honest though, I set some unrealistically high expectations for myself that were hard to achieve and that’s not a great place to put yourself. Freelancing as a cinematographer in the industry is extremely challenging because there are a limited number of jobs at any given time yet so many talented people vying for that position. The job is every bit as awesome and exciting as it sounds, and when that’s the case it becomes a competitive environment rather quickly.

Standing out from the crowd is a big challenge because the market is saturated with incredible cinematographers shooting great stuff, and I’m talking everywhere, not just LA. I came up at the tail end of the world of 35mm film and getting opportunities to shoot were hard to come by because of the financial costs involved with just basic stuff like renting cameras, lights and generators, as well as buying and processing film stock.

Nowadays everything is so much easier and cheaper. For next to nothing you can rent a 4K DSLR camera that will produce a great image at the push of a button and for a few bucks more you can rent some RGB LED lights that will be all you need to light basic scenes. Invest a little more and you can rent professional grade cameras and lenses. With the cost to shoot so much lower now, aspiring cinematographers anywhere can create their own opportunities and I’ve found that the overall level cinematography has increased dramatically, making it hard to stand out.

I actually feel like it’s not even really about whether your work is better than the rest. To me it’s more about who sees your work, or how well that project does. If you shoot something amazing but few people end up seeing it, it’s going to be hard to stand out. By contrast, if something you shot wins a big award at a major international film festival or goes viral somehow, you will immediately stand out.

If the right people recognize something you’ve shot even if it wasn’t anything spectacular, you are more likely to get hired than the guy who shot something incredible that got no views. So there’s an element of luck that’s out of your control and you just have to accept that.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned along the way to is not compare yourself to others. That can take a toll on your mental health and social media can really amplify that. Instagram for example can make it seem like everyone else is killing it and living their best life while you’re just toiling away in the mud. But in reality most people are exactly in the same boat as you. Everyone goes through the same ups and downs as you do. Sometimes things are awesome for you and slow for others, and other times it’s the opposite. You don’t really think about it when you’re busy but when things are slow and you see your peers posting pictures of themselves on set, it’s all too easy to go down the rabbit hole and start to feel like you’re falling short.

I think the best way to overcome this and the challenges of this career is to tune out the noise and focus on being the best version of yourself. So for me it’s being the best cinematographer that I can be. Strive to get better at your craft every day. Keep studying and learning, try new techniques when the opportunity arises, and look to improve with each project. Focus on what you can control and ignore everything else. I’ve found that when I do this I get tremendous happiness out of something like lighting a scene differently than I would have before, or even little things like trying a new type of diffusion I previously ignored.

At the end of the day I’m proud to have sustained a career doing the thing I love most in life. It’s taken me all over the country and also allowed me to shoot in Taiwan and Vietnam. I’ve gone places I otherwise never would have gone to and met talented people I otherwise never would have met. I’ve worked with Oscar winning producers and actors, shot professional athletes I grew up watching, and a variety of musicians and celebrities as well. It’s like I get paid to play and I can’t emphasize how fulfilling and rewarding it’s been.

To anyone hesitant or thinking about pursuing a creative career, I would say that everything worth doing in life is challenging and competitive so pursue your passion, keep at it, and embrace the journey.

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.
I live in downtown Long Beach so perhaps selfishly I would bring a visiting friend down here. I really think it’s an underrated part of the greater LA area. Broadway and Pine where I live has so many great restaurants and bars within walking distance. Some favorite spots include Cafe Sevilla, Gu Ramen Taps and Tapas, and The Ordinarie.

I like to walk off a meal afterwards and what better way to do that than by heading down Pine Ave to the Pike Outlets and browse through a bunch of stores. I also love that there’s a Cinemark movie theater there that’s just a 5 minute walk away from me, although I can’t say I recommend sitting in comfy reclining seats in a darkened theater right after chowing down.

Just a little bit further south is the marina, an area I really love. There’s the Long Beach Aquarium where I’ve taken several friends. Aong the water there’s a sweet little walking path that takes you to a lighthouse at the top of a hill that offers an amazing view of the city. And of course there’s a bunch of places around to eat and drink.

The next day I would put Alamitos Beach on the itinerary. It’s just a 5 minute drive away and even within walking distance. Again I think it’s an underrated part of LA. It’s a less crowded and more chill beach compared to the more popular ones around town.

Continuing further east is a very fun area I don’t frequent enough: 2nd street in Belmont Shore. Such a great area full of restaurants, bars and shops. Two places I’d recommend are Saint & Second, a gastropub with an awesome interior, and Rance’s Chicago Pizza, because I’m a deep dish pizza kind of guy. None of that thin crust nonsense for me. But you could just park your car and walk along 2nd and choose from any number of good places to eat.

I do have to give a separate shoutout to hands down my absolute favorite Chinese restaurant in all of LA: Nomad Asian Bistro near 2nd and PCH. To me it’s the best in the city. I don’t say that lightly because LA has a ton of Chinese restaurants, but Nomad stands alone at the top as far as I’m concerned.

It’s Chinese Halal and it’s hard to describe how amazing the food is. It’s so flavorful, the quality is super high and the food tastes fresh. I’ve taken so many friends there and it’s never failed to live up to the hype I give it. The best way to experience it is to go with a big party so you can order like 8-10 different dishes and feast like a king.

The last area I’d take someone is Sixth street in nearby downtown San Pedro. My go to place is Niko’s Pizzeria but I also recommend Ko Ryu Ramen. Afterwards we’d explore the various parks and beaches along the water. Nothing beats beach city living!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Everything begins with my parents who were both incredibly supportive of my career choices, but specifically my mother who guided me towards film and later encouraged me to move to LA. I can’t state how much that meant to me as a child of Asian immigrant parents because we’re typically discouraged from creative careers and pushed towards fields like medicine, law or STEM. But I think my mother knew I would never be an engineer like my father or a lawyer like my sister so it would be best to support me in something I was passionate about. When you know your parents have your back, it makes you feel like you can do anything.

In LA I have to shout out two good friends. The first is David Sanders, a fellow cinematographer. I couldn’t have lasted in LA this long without him for so many reasons. We’ve passed jobs to each other, hired each other, created our own personal projects and been each other’s sounding boards. You need someone like that not only in this industry but in life in general.

The other is Rocky Jo, an incredibly talented director and producer that I’ve collaborated with on countless projects for over 15 years. We’ve shot all over the country doing everything from shorts, music videos, social media campaigns, sponsored content, to proper commercials. I’m constantly in awe of his energy, his vision, his unrelenting pursuit of excellence and his loyalty. All of it has meant the world to me.

Instagram: @kennethyeungdop

Other: https://vimeo.com/user181832631