Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt McKinney.
Hi Matt, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My story originally starts in High School when I switched my main interest from Computer Coding and Web Design to Video Production of which I lucked out at the time our education institution had one of the top Video Production and Local News Broadcast setups in the region of the PNW specifically Kitsap County. During my time in the Video Production courses in High School I instantly fell in love with all things visual from the planning process of pre-vising images and drawing outlines for movement going into the actual filming process in Production and finally at that time I really with my prior media and tech background loved the Editing process of Post-Production purely being the world felt at my fingertips in all aspects. After graduating High School with a fair amount of awards and recognition of my work is video specifically to highlight an award from Northwest Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for Animation, Graphics, and Special Effects, from there I moved on to college of which I attended running start to knock out my required courses before starting college full time in the institution’s newly established filmmaking program where I would spend the next 4-5 years making connections and owning how to see the outlines of making a business that could be profitable when the time arrives. During the course of my time there I make a few solid connections with people as well as gained self-confidence to recognize how to believe in myself when others won’t to be a self starter in many regards even to this day. Fast forward past college I got my Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Sciences for Digital Filmmaking in the prospect of growing into the modern era for filmmaking where I would keep growing my skill sets and knowledge simultaneously in filmmaking and photography with working a day job in retail then shortly after in industrial labors for roughly 4-5 years. A lot can be said about stages in-between but within the last 1-2 years I’ve been fortunate enough to turn of monetary earnings while leading life into the necessary tools for my craft to own my skills and knowledge in the visual arts as mentioned prior experiences to now go full freelance while also soon taking charge to register my business in order to grow into a corporate media business that encompasses all things from photo, video, lighting, sound, music, editing and so much more of my own design that will have a staff to also find their paths forward just as I did in time as the region of the PNW is vast with talented individuals that I want to have just as much success as myself being community is the very foundation of what has brought.e to where I am now and will continue for my time of existence and to future generations.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In many ways with successes I have encountered my fair share of challenges and even to this day is no cake walk by any means in that I still haven’t been able to secure through registration channels my business as plans had to change for monetary value reasons but with this specific challenge I always take my failures not as failures but as opportunities to learn and scale my reputation in order to gain credibility to show clients and fellow creatives my means of accomplishing tasks without millions of dollars to show if I can make ends meet with little to free value imagine what I can achieve with planning and preparation with budgets and funding to make projects and tasks happen at those instances. Besides that core factor leading a life of balance legitimately doesn’t exist for me even in my free time I study my craft or work on other factors to scale my value and worth as a person to show being a crucial element I’m not a number on a sheet of paper or someone to have instructions just thrown at them and accept but rather a talented individual with a voice that will express if something doesn’t go the route to help others and if greed over takes the core principles that make me the person I aim to be. Truly it’s always going to be an obstacle to find that human and business regime balance purely because no one wants to fail so sacrifices must be made but never at the expense of people or how does that speak to the value of a business, company, or career that sees people as expendable or disposable being it’s a recollective journey in all aspects that having the will to strike that balance was, is, and continues to be with everything I take on in continuing to lead my life both personally and professionally.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
So I’m a freelance and professional Filmmaker and Creative that does virtually everything in visuals, light, and sound at all stages. My main focus to simplify it is Cinematography, Videography, and Photography that shape my growth as an artist the most but as mentioned I dabble in everything in the creative and artistic landscape so to speak. For the past 5 years specifically I’ve been doing Short Films of various genres and recently got into Feature Film projects within the last year with scaling quantity on the rise every week, past this I also got into photography in a major way to the point I capture Events, Studios, Environmental, Fashion, Subject, and so much more in terms of categories and the list keeps growing. To keep it brief I’ll leave it there or my story could span stories for the ages but to highlight for a moment what sets me apart from others would have to be in simple terms my determination in combination with severe will to never give up on my dream and only settle for standards mainly a career path that falls in line with my skill sets and knowledge for what I aim to achieve otherwise I feel I’m not putting my best foot forward if I don’t grow every day and just waste time waiting for something to happen, so I continue to move forward and find values that will allow me to lead the life I want to live with no regrets to be that person apart from what others do to live their lives as well.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory has to be when I found the visual arts on TV and in Movies as I quickly realized I could see the stuff outside the frames and boarders of a screen and appreciating people that bring that fantasy into existence to shape reality far beyond my expectations.
Pricing:
- Cinematography – $1200-$1400 a day
- Videography (Type Based) – $850-$950 a day
- Photography – $300-$500 a day
- Lighting/Sound – $500-$600 a day
- Editing – $150 a hour
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phantomfilmmakerpnw?igsh=MWFud3VlYm1mc3V2cQ==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1GJVXMNxZF/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-mckinney-ba-filmmaker?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@phantomfilmmakerpnw?si=i6bIOrWNALF8ZGOq
