Meet Sebastian Klinger | Cinematographer / Producer

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

Hi Sebastian, what is the most important factor behind your success?
As a freelance filmmaker you promote your own name, which – in a way – is your entire personality. You can’t hide your actions behind an agency or a corporation. If you show up on a film set in a bad mood, it’s instantly affecting everyone around you and their perception of you – and you might not get the next job from that client because you’ve been a nuisance. So, as a cinematographer and producer I always intend to be kind, listen to people’s opinions and communicate in a well-considered and practical manner. Film sets sometimes tend to become stressful when things go wrong, and my goal is to remain a calm anchor for everyone. Luckily, my collaborators seem to respond positively to this work ethic of mine and often ask me to be part of their next projects again because of it.

For example, after graduating from university in Switzerland, I started looking for opportunities to broaden my network in the filmmaking world and was eager to meet new people. I then got a call from a friend and fellow filmmaker who recommended me for a job. However, the setting was vastly different than my usual job recommendations: a US-Swiss family had just moved to Zurich, and the 16-year-old son, Freddy Macdonald, wanted to start making short films while his dad, Fred Macdonald, who had owned an animation studio before, maintained relationships with renowned people in the film industry. I decided to meet with them and soon after found myself shooting Freddy’s first short film called ‘Gifted’. Fred and Freddy became a writing duo and continued collaborating with me on every single short film until Freddy (the son) got accepted into the American Film Institute – as the youngest Directing fellow of all time. He ended up winning the Student Academy Award at the age of 21 and asked me to shoot and produce his first feature ‘Sew Torn’. To our delight, the film premiered at SXSW this year and got accepted at Locarno Film Festival. Having picked up that one phone call from my friend and meeting with the Macdonalds has certainly shaped my career path in a truly astounding way.

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 was drawn into the world of filmmaking at a very young age, shooting silly short films with my dad’s camera in the garden at the age of 11. When I continued to show interest in this kind of leisure activity, my parents would start planning our family vacation around these film projects. As the films became bigger and more professional, they helped me write scripts, build props and bring together friends from school to act. I think this beautiful aspect of bringing together a group of people to create something is what kept me hooked and ultimately drove me to turn my passion into my profession. To me an artistic career feels very surreal because I’m aware that I now live in this strange filmmaking bubble that moves at its own pace and sometimes disobeys societal norms. To create something out of nothing feels like a privilege every time and I am very grateful to be able to make films for a living.

As a Swiss cinematographer and producer, apart from my creative traits, I also have an engrained sense of reliability and punctuality. This is felt constantly at work because I’m always trying to be at the top of my game and deliver excellence. Working in the creative area of cinematography, and combining it with the organizational aspects of producing, I’m gaining a deeper understanding of the film industry as a whole. While my initial passion still lies within the craft of telling stories with imagery, I’ve come to enjoy tasks that aren’t necessarily connected to cinematography, such as putting together filming schedules, scouting locations or helping to secure financing. A lot of these duties, however, often translate back into camera work when deciding what time of day the filming will take place, which angles are really needed when scouting a busy location or affording a beautiful set of lenses because of contributions to the budget with my own sources of funding. I think this broader understanding about other crucial jobs in a film production sets me apart from more typical cinematographers who exclusively do camera work.

Right now, I’m beyond excited to finally share my latest feature ‘Sew Torn’ with the world. The making of this film has been such a fulfilling journey, and to celebrate the world premiere at South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, has been a true delight – as well as showing the film to an audience of 8,000 cinephiles on the Piazza Grande at Locarno Film Festival. I’m incredibly proud of the entire team and our Swiss co-production company ORISONO for this tremendous success.

I believe that the ingredients for success in the film industry are the same as elsewhere: work hard, meet the right people and deliver good results on time. While I certainly intend on shooting and producing many more films internationally that are both entertaining and thought-provoking – thus reaching audiences worldwide – I think there’s a more important contribution on a human level: I’m trying to be a hard worker who’s giving it everything for my surrounding fellows while remaining kind and calm when things go haywire. Especially in this line of work, where artistic opinions, and sometimes egos, clash, I have found that it’s pleasant to radiate a sense of tranquility. If anything, I would like the world to know that I’m a considerate Swiss guy always eager to tackle new challenging film projects while trying to have a positive impact on the people around me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In my opinion what makes L.A. so interesting is its enormous variety in neighborhoods and cultures. I would take my friend to as many places as possible – from strolling along Venice Beach to visiting the Getty Center. From watching a film at the Grove to watching the sunset at Griffith observatory. I’d hike to the Hollywood sign – and see snakes and the wisdom tree along the way – and later hang out in one of Downtown’s vibrant bars. And if all of a sudden the city were to become too overwhelming, I’d take the train up to Santa Barbara for a laid-back weekend of restaurant-hopping and hot spring hikes – to then be ready once again for the restless melting pot of L.A.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a shoutout to a wonderful person who helped me greatly along the way: David Darby, ASC. He accompanied me during my ASC Vision Mentorship Program, a platform formed by the American Society of Cinematographers to pair experienced industry veterans with aspiring filmmakers like me. David has been very helpful throughout the course of the mentorship and beyond, providing compelling insights into the industry thanks to his vast experience as cinematographer. He is a kind-hearted person and a good listener who not only gives encouraging advice but also helps solve concrete problems. During the preparation of my latest feature, I was able to discuss a lot of specific issues with David and always learned a hundred things about cinematography after each conversation.

Website: https://www.sebklinger.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/sebastian.klinger

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/sebastianklinger

Facebook: https://facebook.com/sebastian.klinger.56

Youtube: https://youtube.com/sebastianklinger

Other: https://imdb.me/sebastianklinger

Image Credits
Stefan Klinger, Aleksandar Valeks