Meet Nick Kartes | Gaffer

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

Hi Nick, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
Almost as unassuming a place as you could be from and be involved in filmmaking. Indianapolis Indiana Yall!

My story is somewhat interesting of a path and also somewhat common in that sometimes filmmaking runs in the family…

My grandfather (Jim Kartes) was Walter kronkites DP in the field at cbs. He traveled to China with him and Nixon, he shot wood stock, the Kent state riots, the 1968 convention riots. The man did it all at cbs and that was just the beginning, he left cbs and started a production company in Indianapolis. He later sold that and moved to Maui to “retire” where he soon opened a tv station and for many many years owned and operated the Maui visitor channel.

My dad followed in his dad’s foot steps and after working at Kartes productions became a quite successful DP in his own right and still shoots to this day.

Then onto me… I walked out of college orientation called my dad, and said “there’s no way I can do 4 years of school.” And he offered me to come do ENG audio for him. And at 18-19 years old I was off to the races as a field audio tech!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Sadly one of the major things that sets me apart from most gaffers is the color of my skin. Black men in film making are still rare, luckily less and less but rare nonetheless.

All that to say I’ve gotten where I am today through dedication, persistence, and hard work.

When the 5d mkii came out I bought one and shot with it and while shooting I fell in love with lighting. And have been hooked for 20 years now. I stopped buying camera gear and started collecting G&E.

All careers are filled with challenges, hell all of life is challenging for everyone. But I try to be fairly organic about how I make moves in the industry. I’ve been EXTREMELY lucky to meet some of my best friends in film making and continuing to create work with those people for many years.

My brand has recently started to undergo a bit of a split that’s been really exciting. Like many gaffers I’ve started to pick up cameras again. So while I still own and operate “savage cat grip and electric, I’ve also started a savage cat film and photo. And honestly getting back into shooting has been such a fun and exciting moment. I’ve spent a lot of my career putting light to other people’s artwork, and I finally crave that role reversal again.

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.
To be honest some of my closest friends are people I’ve come up with in the industry. Most people know it rapidly becomes a little family and in a smaller market like Indianapolis that family is that much tighter.

Maybe a dream shoot, in a dream location. With as many down days as shoot days.

The set and setting could be wherever tells the story effortlessly! But good food and drink is a must so that would need to be near by as well.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My parents showed me a solid example of what freelance life looked like growing up. My parents were around a lot because of filmmaking. Things I find important in my life now were definitely instilled by them!

Instagram: Savagecat_film_photo + Savagecat_gripelectric

Youtube: @nickkartes

Image Credits
Dominic Espinoza