My Brother, The Cinematographer

I have a brother.

But not just a normal brother, a baby brother. I changed his diapers, eyed down the girls who thought he was cute, and endured countless tales of the awesomeness of trains, planes, and automobiles.

So it came as no shock that my darling little bro would decide at 11 years old to do the most annoying thing possible…start filming family life.

OH THE HORROR of some of the footage that little stink has gotten of me over the years. By 13 he and my youngest sister were filming epic stories such as Star Wars 7, 8, and 9…that were mere tiddlywinks compared to their many, MANY more illustrious endeavors. I will never forget the 40 minutes of nothing but Wal-Mart style sales announcements…”And this beautiful used piece of floss can be yours for the small price of only $9.99 at Wal-Mart!”

When my brother (we’ll call him Danny…because it’s catchy…and it’s his name) was 15, he got together with a friend and a cousin to start hashing out a fun and goofy summer home movie. It wasn’t going to be big, and it wasn’t going to cost a dime. However, we all forgot one minor detail…my brother happens to be a bit of a prodigy. So it wasn’t long before the project started to grow. 2 years, a crew of over 100 people, and $10,000 later my 17 year old brother premiered his film Under Liberty in a local theatre to a packed house that included the mayor. His movie didn’t have a big budget and it was completed almost entirely by minors…but by grab, it was decent for a home project! It garnered some attention and got him written up in the local paper.

Danny was featured in The Daily News. Click HERE to read.

Because of the requests that started coming in for Danny as a professional Cinematographer, he and our Dad started up a brand new production company.

To visit Danny's production website go HERE, and to visit his "just for kicks" site go HERE.

SO! Let's just say that a year has passed, along with several jobs offers and a few filming adventures. One of which is the whole reason I decided to write this post. Just before Danny turned 18, he was hired as the Director of Photography for an Indie film being done in the Portland/Vancouver area. This was also featured in a newspaper...but a decidedly larger one.

To read the article from The Columbian, go HERE.

Just last week we got a call announcing that this film, Dancing On The Edge had been chosen for it's 2nd film festival, the New York City International Film Festival. The very next day we were informed that Danny...my 18 year kid brother, had been nominated for the Best Cinematographer award.

So August will find us on our way to New York City, a few straggling pieces of straw still in our hair and eyes wide and brimming with excitement. Here's to the hope that the genius of my brother fulfills him in his life...because if Hollywood tries eating him alive, they'll learn a thing or two about tangling with the wrong crowd.

UPDATE: He won. He premiered the film on the big screen in the center of Times Square.