Meet Brianna Turner of BLU Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brianna Turner.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Brianna. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a photographer & a filmmaker born in Meridian, Mississippi and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. I started off being a photographer when I graduated high school in 2013 and then I thought since I like taking pictures, let’s see if I would like to operate the camera on film sets.

So when I got to GFA (Georgia Film Academy), I got the opportunity to learn about cameras and work with the camera for our projects in class. Next, I went to Clayton State University, and there were a lot film production students that are now my friends, they were working on their own film projects such as short films, music videos, web series, etc. So I would help out and shoot some of their projects whether it was for a class or for their company and that’s when I fell in love with camera operating. Also seeing them work on all of these things inspired me to work on my first short film entitled “That’s My Best Friend, I Think” which will be screening soon.

Recently, I’ve been working really hard doing my GFA internship being a camera assistant for the television show “The Walking Dead”. Working on this show was a lot of hard work. I’ve heard that this show is the hardest working show on television but, I’ve met some incredible people everyday and I was very inspired by all of their stories and how they got to where they are now. Just about all of the crew members were just saying that it’s all about networking and experience. It may sound cliche but, apparently it works for these amazing crew members that worked on The Mist, Lost, Godzilla, Hunger Games, After Earth, Battleship, Water Boy, Flight, etc. So I’m beyond grateful that I’ve got to experience this because I get to see what it takes to be a camera assistant on a real professional set, then work my way up to being a digital utility, then a film loader, then a 2nd AC, then a 1st AC and so on and so on. So I’m definitely getting my feet wet at a young age and I believe that if you love what you do, you’re not working.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There will be some bumps in the road while you’re on your way to success of course because that’s just how life is. For me, taking film classes at Clayton State University were difficult at times to the point where you want to quit but, if you want success as bad as you want to breathe, then I believe you’ll definitely get there without a doubt. It just takes ambition and patience.

BLU Productions – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company is entitled BLU Productions. BLU stands for “Better Left Unsaid” because I’m a visual person and I believe it’s better to tell a story using a lens and putting it on screen rather than just telling it in person to someone. So BLU Productions is basically all of my work that I’ve worked on, whether it was me being a camera operator, director, production assistant, camera operator, 2nd camera assistant, editor, or whatever. My goals for BLU Productions is to build it to another level, not just by getting a film studio but, as well as getting a photography studio. The thing I’m most proud of about BLU Productions is all of the work that I’ve done so far. I feel like every company should be proud of their work that they’ve accomplished because that’s where the self-love increases and you start to believe in yourself even more and think of bigger and better things that you can do in the future for yourself and for your company.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment of my career so far has been directing and writing my short film “That’s My Best Friend, I Think”. My cast and crew worked really hard and I am so happy that everything went well on set. Doing this project made me get a feel of what’s it’s like to experience other things like being a director. I actually like directing but, it’s not a passion of mine. When I was in middle school, I wrote a lot of stories which make writing scripts easy and relaxing. Now I can let my imagination run or either I can take whatever situation that I’ve been in and think about what if this or that happened which either turns into a skit or a short film. I am thankful to have family and friends to support me on my projects.