Check Out Chris Naum’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Naum.

Hi Chris, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Michigan filming anything and everything with my family’s video camera–logging tape to iMovie and crafting little edits and short films for YouTube. I worked at a ski shop (Bill & Pauls) in high school. I remember buying ‘In Deep’ by Matchstick Productions as soon as it hit the shelf. It was my resulting obsession with ski films that ultimately lead me to chase filmmaking as a career.

I was fortunate to attend film school in Los Angeles, and always leaned towards cinematography and documentary film. More than anything, film school helped me learn that there’s no ‘right’ way to work in the industry, rather to find your niche and stick with it. Coincidentally, I fell in with Stept Studios as an early intern. All roads lead back to skiing! I started working with them first as an editor in their upstairs apartment-turned-office, and eventually began shooting films with them all over the globe. I owe a lot to Stept as they helped me quickly build a body of work right out of school.

Since then, I’ve continued to work as a freelance cinematographer and editor–mostly in the world of branded documentaries and commercials. My work continues to take me all over the world–which is something I’m truly grateful for!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The hardest part about the career path I fell into has been the lack of consistency. When I’m shooting it’s lots of travel and no clear schedule. The work is never boring thankfully, but this is often at the expense of a sense of normalcy. It’s very uprooting.

Other than that, I think something everyone in film struggles with is self doubt. It’s easy to compare yourself to others and feel like you’re never good enough. This is something I think I’ll always struggle with–but I’m working at being more confident in my abilities!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I mainly work as a cinematographer, but I also edit a lot of the projects I shoot. I think this is something that is sort of unique, as most people tell you to focus on one part of the filmmaking process. When I shoot I always have the edit in mind. I think about what I will need to make a scene work, or I’ll be crafting scenes in my head as the camera is rolling. This has also helped me become a fast editor. The relationship between the two has been fun to develop and explore.

I think I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve been able to build a life around something that started as a silly hobby. I knew there was something there though… The relationship of moving images and music and sound stirred something in me early on and I’m glad I chased it.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Follow what excites you and keep creating things around that feeling. Many of the opportunities that have come my way feet like they’ve just fallen in my lap. I think this is partly because I try to make things that resonate with me first and foremost. I’ve been lucky that the right people have responded to that as well.

This all makes me sound like I’m a very confident person. I am not, but I try to use this as a guiding light when I start to doubt my work and my abilities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chrisnaum.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris_naum/
• Other: https://vimeo.com/chrisnaum