Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Anthony Hamilton.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chris. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up as one of the only black kids in my class in a small town in western Massachusetts. I loved movies from a very young age, but it wasn’t until I bought my first DVD player as a senior in high school and started listening to the director’s commentary that I realized that it was something I could actually do as a job. I ended up studying film production at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York and then moved to Brooklyn in 2006 where I gained the majority of my experience working on indie shorts, features and music videos in the lighting and camera departments. Eventually I established myself as a 1st Assistant Camera on non-union commercials and had the opportunity to work with some of my cinematic heroes including Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay. My crowning achievement as an AC was pulling focus on the iconic “Spike Lee” shot on his independent feature “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus,” which was shot by my good friend Daniel Patterson. Around that same time I started directing and shooting my own speculative commercials alongside my wife Anna whom I had met on the set of Sesame Street in 2010. With her help and the help of some of my closest friends and colleagues I was able to put together a solid commercial reel.
In 2014 Anna and I decided to move to Atlanta to start our family and allow me to move away from AC work and establish myself as a director/DP. One of the first commercial production companies that I reached out to in Atlanta was a company called Bark Bark which specializes in branded content. I was lucky enough to get a response from their Executive Producer, David Brand (now one of my best good friends) who brought me in to meet with the company’s founder/CEO Brian Tolleson. We all hit it off immediately and I began directing and shooting with them soon after. They signed me to their roster of directors in October of 2016. I became very close with another director on the Bark Bark roster named Janlatae’ Mullins with whom I’ve collaborated on several passion projects. I shot her award-winning short film “Soul Fire” and she helped produce two short films that I wrote and directed called “Something Bigger” and “Broken Branches,” both of which have won awards as well.
Moving to Atlanta was easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made next to asking my wife to marry me. It has resulted in the birth of our incredible daughter, Gaia and the birth of my career as a director and cinematographer alongside my adoptive film family.
Has it been a smooth road?
The road has definitely had some bumps along the way. Establishing yourself in a new market can require a lot of patience and perseverance while you’re making new connections that lead to work opportunities. That was the case for me as I spent my first year in ATL traveling back up to New York often to AC on commercials while sleeping on friends’ couches. Fortunately, by the end of year two, I was able to fully support myself and my family working locally as a director and DP leaving my days as a camera assistant behind.
The Atlanta independent film community has been unbelievably supportive and allowed me to achieve the kind of success I’ve been searching for my whole career.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My wife and I established BKW ImageWorks at the end of 2017. We specialize in independent film production as well as design with the common thread of moving people through imagery. “Broken Branches,” the first short film completed under the BKW banner, won the awards for Best Actor and Best Director at the 2018 Black Women Film Network Short Film Festival.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is fast becoming a hub for the independent film community with the influx of major Hollywood blockbusters filming in Georgia. It is an amazing time to be making independent films in Atlanta, so I am very excited to have my company based right here right now.
With the explosion of people flocking to the Atlanta area from around the country, improvements in infrastructure will be vital to the city’s ability to maintain growth, but the incredible support of top notch rental houses, diverse talent and experienced, passionate crew make this fertile ground for anyone just starting out in the industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chrisanthonyhamilton.com
- Email: bkw.imageworks@gmail.com
- Instagram: floby2k1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisanthonyhamiltonfilm
- Other: www.bkwimageworks.com
Image Credit:
Lizzie Baker, Nicole Kovacz, Nina Marinov
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