Sony alpha: Beyond the Still

Charlie Anderson is an award-winning cinematographer with ten feature-length films and countless music videos, commercials and short films under his belt.

Anderson got his start as a DIT in New York and quickly became one of the most in-demand DITs in the industry, known for his eye for color and attention to detail. This led to work with acclaimed DPs such as Reed Morano, ASC and Nicholas Karakatsanis. While on their sets, Charlie learned different techniques and methods of shooting for a wide variety of scenarios. This is where he fine-tuned and developed his own unique, personal style.

Anderson’s work can be seen in Smith’s 6 Degrees of Hell, Camp Dread and Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard. He shot the critically-acclaimed My Amityville Horror and has directed photography forHeaven Burns, Swooped, and You’ll Know My Name. He recently directed his first short film and travels internationally for Under Armour as one of their official cinematographers.Charlie is no stranger to the demanding schedule of both features and television. He has been named by Hollywood Film as a “DP to watch out for” and earns high praise from Oscar-nominated (and Spielberg’s right-hand-man) Dean Cundey. He works in tight conjunction with post houses Sixteen19 (New York) and Digital Cave Media (Baltimore). He has extensive experience with Alexa and Dragon cameras and utilizing drones for aerial cinematography.

Jeff Berlin began his career chasing fashion models down the streets of New York City, with a camera. (They knew he was there; it was cool.) He liked this so much he spent five years shooting in Milan and Paris before moving back to NYC. Through the years, he’s collaborated with top fashion magazines and brands like Vogue Italia, L’Oreal, British Elle, Estée Lauder, Esquire, Bloomingdale’s, Miss Vogue, Macy’s, Vogue Pelle, Madame Figaro, and Wella, among many others.

Recently, Jeff transitioned to motion pictures. He was producer and camera operator on the feature film Three Days in August, which played at multiple film festivals and ran in select theaters nationwide. It’s now available on major streaming platforms. Jeff has both shot and directed an online spot for the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), a fashion brand film for noted designer Norma Kamali, as well as a number of short films and online spots for Sony. His latest film project, a short with an award-winning director, was shot on the new Sony VENICE motion picture camera and is currently in post production.

Jeff is an experienced aviator, a connoisseur of rodeo, and a Sony Artisan of Imagery. He enjoys photographing rodeos and airplanes, but not at the same time. See his work at BerlinCreative.com.

Mary Crosse’s 18 years of experience bridges both the agency and production company worlds, offering clients creative and efficient production management and content distribution strategy. She is known for supporting filmmakers who are powerful storytellers and have a keen understanding of technology and modern communication distribution to make every project a success.

Prior to founding Derby in 2015, Crosse’s founded Big Block Live in New York, developing the company’s New York office and first roster of directors and live action production discipline. Prior to that, Crosse held an EP role at Click3×, and was a partner at Lucky Branded Entertainment. She also spent more than a decade at a variety of agency heavyweights, including FCB, Publicis, Havas and mcgarrybowen.

Chuck Fishbein is the Director / Director of Photography and co-owner of Crazy Duck Productions, Inc., a New Jersey film and video production company, based just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. For over 25 years, Crazy Duck has produced effective imagery for advertising, public relations, documentaries, music videos and long-form music performance videos.

Crazy Duck’s current clients include the IHeartRadio Music Festivals, The New York Public Library, Six Flags and Hersheypark theme parks, Sony Broadcast and The Community Foodbank of New Jersey. Chuck’s New York City footage is represented by Getty Images and has appeared in feature films, commercials, documentaries and television programs worldwide.

Chuck is currently a Sony ICE member (independent certified expert).

Alex Garcia is a Chicago commercial photographer and photojournalist. He has received a Pulitzer Prize, a World Press Photo award and several other accolades, leading HarperCollins to call him "one of the world's leading photojournalists." Most recently he was part of a project that won a Titanium Lion in the 2017 Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity. 

Emily Geraghty is a director, editor and video journalist. Before going freelance, she worked on staff for Condé Nast Entertainment, where she created non-fiction video for brands like Glamour, Teen Vogue, and Allure. In her time at Conde Nast, she won a 2018 Webby Award for Social Video for the short documentary Pretty Big Movement Destroys Dancer Stereotypes, which garnered 22 million views on Facebook. Prior to CNE, she created video for Bustle, edited web series and television pilots for Ish Entertainment, and was a production coordinator for MTV.

Ezra Hurwitz is a director best known for his beautifully choreographed and emotive work. Utilizing his insights from years as a professional ballet dancer, Ezra challenges himself to elevate movement within a piece with spontaneous energy and unique angles. Ezra combines his keen eye for the conceptual with the skills he fine tuned as a dancer – dedication, patience, and attention to detail – to infuse everyday moments that happen casually and naturally with a new life.

Following his career with the Miami City Ballet, he earned degrees in film and business strategy at Columbia University. He has directed content for clients including WeWork, Christian Dior, The Guggenheim Museum, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theater, The Kennedy Center, the New York Times and among others. Ezra’s work has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times and the Huffington Post. View his work at www.ezrahurwitz.com.

Stephen Kersting is a Gaffer and Director of Photography. He started his career as an ENG camera operator for studio productions and live events in the Midwest. Since moving to New York he has worked in nearly every aspect of entertainment including; live sports, talk shows, music videos, short films, features, documentaries and food shows. He is currently freelancing and working at Complex Media where he is a bi-costal field and studio gaffer, and Director of Photography for popular shows like Hot Ones and Sneaker Shopping. Through the variety of productions Stephen has worked on he has learned to be agile and adaptable gaffing studios big and small, such as apartments, working offices, active restaurants and kitchens, and on-the-ground exteriors. 

Léa Khayata is an award-winning video journalist and the founder of Pushpin Films. Her recent work has been published on the BBC, MSNBC, The New York Times, the Food Network, Allure, and The New York Post. For her commercial work, she creates videos for the Gagosian Gallery, Bloomberg Philanthropes, Yale Medicine, Bustle, and Rebecca Taylor. She graduated from Columbia Journalism School in 2011 and is French Lebanese.

Bob Krist is a freelance photographer who regularly works on assignment for magazines such as National Geographic Traveler, Smithsonian and Islands.  These assignments have taken him to all seven continents and have won awards in Pictures of the Year, Communication Arts, and World Press Photo competitions.     He won the title of “Travel Photographer of the Year” from the Society of American Travel Writers in 1994, 2007 and 2008. An accomplished writer as well as a photographer, Bob is a contributing editor at both National Geographic Traveler and Outdoor Photographer, where he writes a travel photography column. His latest book is called Travel Photography: Documenting the World’s People and Places.  His book, Spirit of Place: The Art of the Traveling Photographer (Amphoto Books, NY) was hailed by American Photographer magazine as “the best book about travel photography we’ve ever read”. Recently, Bob has been exploring video storytelling and won the 2015 Lowell Thomas Award for Best Travel Video as well as being a finalist in the regional Emmus. His documentary about traditional Icelandic life, A Thousand Autumns, will release in summer 2015.

Marvi Lacar (b. 1976) is a documentary photographer whose goal is to connect with her audience using creative visual language. 

Lacar completed her Masters degree in Journalism at the University of Texas in Austin and began her training as a fellow at the Poynter Institute and internships at national newspapers. In 2003, Lacar moved to New York to start her career as a photojournalist and was soon represented by Reportage by Getty Images where she covered domestic and international news and features stories for print publications like Time, Newsweek, New York, Stern, Paris Match and the New York Times. 

Lacar has received awards for her photography from Photo Levallois, Communication Arts, American Photography, Photo District News, Santa Fe Center Project Competition, Day’s Japan among others. Her video work for Escape, a documentary film about the rescue and rehabilitation of Maasai girls in Kenya who have undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early marriage, has been recognized by AI-AP International Motion Arts Awards, United Nations Association Film Festival and other national and international film festivals. 

After her father died in 2008, Lacar was diagnosed with acute clinical depression. This Is A Love Story, her ‘visual diary’ chronicling her own battle with depression, has been exhibited internationally. Her own journey with depression gave birth to 1in20, a mental health initiative aimed at educating and destigmatizing mental illness through creative storytelling which she founded in 2014. 

In addition to her work with 1in20, curated for Facebook Paper and lends her editing abilities to various clients in the photo industry. She is the other half of Lowy+Lacar, a directing duo represented by Pogo Pictures.

With 15 years of production experience, Daniel B. Levin’s work spans documentary, television, narrative film and commercial content. He creates compelling yet nuanced stories in the life of real people, through thoughtful, charming and entertaining projects. 

Most recently, Levin was the Director of Photography for Inside the FBI: New York which aired on The USA Network with Executive Producer Dick Wolf. He is also the Director of Photography on the upcoming documentary series, REST IN POWER | The Trayvon Martin Story, Executive Produced by Jay Z and the Cinemart and set to air on the Paramount Network in July of 2018.   

Levin’s television and film experience has crossed over in the commercial realm, where he has directed successful branded campaigns worldwide for commercial names including Google, Heineken, Visa, WeWork, Coach and Smart Car. He is represented by Decon/ Mass Appeal for Commercial Directing.  

Levin’s directorial debut, the 2008 documentary, CAPTURED, screened worldwide to critical acclaim and became an instant New York cult classic. Since then, he has shot and produced award winning films and series including Brick City (Peabody Award Winner, Sundance Channel), Chicagoland (Sundance, CNN), Love Child (Sundance, HBO) and Class Divide (Doc NYC Audience Award Winner, HBO). Levin is a product of New York City and third generation filmmaker who has worked with his Father, veteran filmmaker, Marc Levin at Blowback Productions and Brick City TV since graduating from Emerson College in 2005.

Renan is perhaps best known for his cinematography and starring in the 2015 Sundance Documentary Audience Award winning film MERU – or maybe his co-directing work on the TIFF Award-winning film SHERPA, creating the National Geographic TV Special Down To Nothing, or shooting stills for the National Geographic Magazine itself. Renan is all of these things, as well as a landscape painter, sponsored North Face Climber and co-owner of Camp4. He has also directed and shot commercial and television work for Apple, Yeti, The North Face, ESPN, NBC and Google. Renan thrives when he is both directing and DP-ing, a camera in his hand, capturing rich human stories with a strong sense of place in the landscapes and cultures that define modern documentary style. He often co-creates with his wife and creative partner Taylor Rees.

A filmmaker and photojournalist, Taylor is driven by an insatiable curiosity to explore and tell the stories beneath the surface. She infuses her passion for adventure into her work around environmental and humanitarian issues, bringing new perspectives and deeper public understanding to challenging topics such as climate change, food systems, pollution, land use, and water. Her filmmaking in these fields has centered around natural resource conflicts and adventures in Alaska, Greenland, Haiti, Nepal, Congo, Russia, Mexico, Iceland, the deserts of the Southwest, and throughout the Rocky Mountains. She served as the Program Director of the Yale Environmental Film Festival and holds a master’s degree from the Yale School of Forestry in environmental anthropology and film.

Michael Rubenstein is a photographer and film maker based in Manhattan, New York. Previously based in Mumbai, India and Portland, Oregon, Michael has worked for a variety of well known magazine and corporate clients including NBC News, the Wall Street Journal, Mastercard, Yahoo!, Nike, Budweiser and many others. He enjoys telling stories and photographing real people doing real things.

Roberto Serrini is a director known for his high-impact visual storytelling steeped in authenticity. With his robust background as an editor, licensed drone pilot, accomplished photographer and travel writer, he readily draws on multiple skill sets to bring stories to life.

Roberto recently was chosen by WOW Icelandic Airlines to create a body of content over the summer, highlighting 10 global destinations through a combination of carefully branded travel films and interactive social media, exhausting his protean talents and maximizing the use of his limited equipment to deliver a mass of quality content directly their audience. Roberto welcomed the chance to work directly with such a dynamic brand, and to be given direct control of development, production and distribution was a unique situation ultimately giving him unprecedented insight into the power of branded content. His mind was a bit blown.

Roberto has been crafting unique branded content for such global brands as Honda, Adidas, Google, Guinness, Belvedere Vodka, Starbucks, Kate Spade and Nike. With a formal education in Film Theory and self taught in all aspects of production, his hands on, curated approach to telling authentic stories about brand values is something that he nourishes his work with. Roberto is the recipient of several notable awards for his contribution to advertising and filmmaking, and is represented by Mary Cross of Derby Content in NYC.