Meet Morgan Peszko | Director
We had the good fortune of connecting with Morgan Peszko and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Morgan, how do you think about risk?
I feel like my entire life has been calculated risk. You can practice and learn but at some point you have to take some risk and put skin in the game. In my career I have traveled places and worked with people I never thought would be possible – if I did not take risk and put faith in big decisions, I would be sitting in idle someplace regretting my choices. Take the risk, connect the dots, your time will come.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
For the past 20 years I have been an LA based cinematographer/director and musician. When I was a teenager I skated professionally and competed internationally but had to retire because of knee/ankle injuries. At that point with no college education I worked at car shops and filmed skate videos on the side. I eventually got my chops up and began filming music videos, shorts, and tv shows but this took years of learning from mistakes on set. It was my drive and hunger that kept me alive when it was impossible to get hired because the guys that were educated or related to someone got the jobs first.
I was homeless at several points living out of my car pushing camera equipment on Craigslist to eat.
At any point I could have gotten a normal job to make ends meet but my gut said never give up at any cost.
After a while my work started becoming undeniable and people began hiring me on all kinds of production from commercial to reality. In 2012 I got my first opportunity to film for Lamborghini and that led to getting in the door with other luxury brands. By 2016 I started my production company Scene 7 Films and began hiring teams for various gigs. I am fortunate to currently be the cinematographer for Lamborghini North America and work with the best team on the planet. My company still does tv and commercial work around the world but the automotive work has taken over most of my time. When you work with such a legendary brand, the best, it makes you raise the bar and operate at a higher level in business and life in general. It took years to make my career pop, but faith, determination, and good old fashioned hard work played its part.
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.
Luckily my best friends live in LA so we do our thing locally. Some places you might catch us eating… 101 Cafe on Franklin, Fiesta Brava off Rose, Backhouse on Pico, Water Grill on Ocean, Terminal 3 Delta Skyclub and any In N Out.
On occasion we will rent rooms at the boutique Santa Monica hotels like Georgian or Shangri La to decompress on the beach without travel. I still love hiking all over LA from Temescal to the Hollywood sign.
When you travel as much as we do, days off are best spent at home with my girlfriend Britt and rescue pit Terrell Barolo.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutouts are complicated when so many people played a part! I would like to shoutout my parents Dave & Ellen, Grandparents Bill & Elloise for my first camera, Tyler Shields for being my partner in crime since we were kids, Jon Higley for all the years of friendship and making music, Chris Mitchell for managing my skating career days, Kyle Enos for being my lawyer, Revo and Jared Merrell for hiring me at car shops when video wasn’t full time, Julie Bernard for connecting my first Lamborghini job, Jamey Price for many years of adventure behind the camera, Jill Schulz for all the support from when I was young, Gareth Snook for all the years of travel across the world, Mark Harris for housing me when my company was just starting out, Defari for being a big bro and mentor, Kobe, and Britt Martin for being the love of my life.
Website: www.Scene7Films.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/morganpeszko
Image Credits
Jamey Price Jon Higley
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