Your independent art has value. Even a company can't make money off it.
32 - 1
Storytelling is about change. But not in the way you might think.
A lot of storytellers think about change in stories through the lens of labels, titles, and achievements. Someone goes from rich to poor, from loser to winner, from being in the throes of a substance addiction to being sober. There are entire documentary series based on the premise of Rise and Fall. Someone is here at the top and then they end up in this new place at the bottom. Yes, those are technically changes. Theyâre just not character changes.
True character change involves an individual changing their basic beliefs, which leads the character to take new moral actions.
In other words, a character is defined by how they see themselves and how they see the world. They are his or her beliefs about what makes a good life and what they will do to get what they want. In great stories, as a character pursues a goal, the trials and tribulations they face make them question their deepest beliefs. And true character change is when those deepest beliefs change, as evidenced by them taking a new action that the previous version of themselves would not have taken.
That is the foundation of effective storytelling.
47 - 2
What is the most overrated piece of filmmaking gear that you have used and WHY? The hotter the take, the better!
9 - 8
Some interesting news from the world of video journalism. This week the Washington Post announced voluntary buyouts targeting video desk. Here is an excerpt from the Washington Posts' memo, as reported by Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times:
"The Voluntary Separation Program is being offered to the entirety of the video team and to the copy desks. In the former case, we are restructuring and refocusing our video team to place much greater emphasis on developing repeatable franchises and more personality-driven formats for YouTube, other social media channels and off-platform more broadly, while embedding some video producers and facilitators in the core newsroom to help all our journalists and artists produce more video for our products..."
Then, yesterday, Business Insider, an outlet that has one of the most robust video teams in all of journalism, laid off 21% of their staff. These cuts are impacting the entire organization, not just the video team. In their press release, Business Insider cited that they were "reducing [their] reliance on traffic-sensitive businesses." They explained that they were "launching and investing in BI Live, [their] new live journalism events business," and "going all-in on AI."
What is your take on these recent buyouts and cuts? What does the future of video journalism look like?
35 - 3
A glimpse behind-the-scenes of my life making videos for this channel. On Tuesday I had a photography job for the New York Stock Exchange at 5 am in San Francisco. I wrapped at 9:30 am. I went straight to the airport, flew to New York City, slept on a friend's air mattress, worked Wednesday in New York, and jumped on a flight back home to California at 6:30 pm where I have another 3-day shoot to the end of the week. As I write this, I am 38,000 ft in the sky above Nevada, working on the video for the channel that will come out Tuesday.
I say all of this to emphasize that:
1.) It's me making these videos. I write the videos. I film the videos. These days, I edit most of the videos.
2.) Everything I share on this channel is based in real world experiences working as a full time professional filmmaker. I'm out working on my skills and creating stories every day, trying to make a sustainable living in this profession.
3.) I'm on the journey right there alongside side you all.
Next week on the channel I am going to be sharing an ~8 minute doc that I made for an animal rescue non-profit. I only had one afternoon to film, and my challenge was to create a compelling and authentic story that showcases the life saving work of this organization... but doesn't feel sappy or preachy in the way that so many non-profit videos do.
Because it's a personal project, I am able to share the raw footage, bring you into the editing timeline, and share anything else about how I made it that might be helpful. But to do that, I will need you to jump in the comments and ask the questions that are on your mind. Then, the following week, I can answer those questions.
Sending love <3
47 - 6
A new story that I pitched, produced, and worked on as one of the cinematographers just went live over on Business Insider's channel. The story is about avian influenza, which is being regarded as the largest animal disease outbreak in history. In the US alone, bird flu has led to the death and mass slaughter of nearly 170 million birds, and has been detected in nearly 1000 dairy herds. But this disease isnât just impacting farmed animals. It has decimated wild bird populations and been detected in species such as cats, bears, pigs, raccoons, rodents, and as far away as endangered elephant seals in Antarctica. Since 2024, there have also been 70 confirmed cases in humans.
The story of avian influenza, and how it impacts both humans and animals, is a difficult one to tell. Access is incredibly challenging â not only when it comes to filming in factory farms, but also when it comes to getting accurate and up-to-date information about the outbreak. It is also tricky to find a story that is visual enough to carry a piece of video journalism, but not so graphic that no one will watch it.
Over the past couple of months, the team at Insider and I have tried our best to tell this story in a way that people will engage with and learn from. The result is a 15 minute story that I hope will open the general publicâs eyes to the causes and broad reaching impacts of this disease on both humans and animals.
If you're interested in checking it out, here is the link: https://youtu.be/O-j2dhQdk44?si=19Ehu...
I am considering making a video on my channel about the process of pitching, producing and filming this piece. Potentially doing a Producer's Commentary on my channel as we watch along. Let me know if that would be any interest, and if so, what questions you might have!
39 - 15
Two weeks ago on my channel I discussed why some of the best and most important documentaries of our time are not able to find distributors. If you enjoyed that video, and are interested in the state of the documentary film industry, I really encourage you to listen to yesterdayâs episode of The Daily podcast. It is a fascinating and disappointing look into why Netflix just killed a âcinematic masterpieceâ made by one of the top documentary filmmakers of our generation. If you give it a listen, Iâd love to hear your thoughts: open.spotify.com/episode/0JTFtJX3pe06TOd6mbx6xd?siâŚ
11 - 3
This week I was out in the Central Valley of California covering the emerging outbreak of bird flu for Business Insider. Globally, bird flu is the largest animal disease outbreak ever, leading to the deaths of hundreds of millions of animals, including 166 million chickens. But it's not just birds who have been impacted. In the US, 976 dairy herds have also tested positive for H5N1, 748 of which are here in California.
The story I am working on in this photo is one that I pitched to Insider's news & documentary team over 2 months ago. After a lot of conversations with their team, it finally got the green light. It is always great working with the team at Insider, which is one of the few editorial outlets that invests in high quality video journalism. And it is extra fulfilling to work with them on a story in which I get to lean into my passion and knowledge of farmed animal issues.
It definitely wasn't an easy shoot. Logistically speaking, access to this kind of story is incredibly challenging. Physically speaking, in a 24 hour period between Tuesday and Wednesday, I spent 16 hours in the car. My back is still recovering. And from a production standpoint, it's always a great challenge to manage all aspects of the shoot alone in the field -- from video, to audio, to interviewing, to keeping track of the overall story.
I'm sure there were visuals I missed, questions I didn't ask, and mistakes I made while I was out there. But overall, I tried my best, and I am proud of the effort. As with every shoot, I got back, noted down a couple things I did well, and a couple things I want to improve on for the next one. It's not about being perfect. It's about giving our all, learning from mistakes, and improving little by little every day, over the course of many years.
What stories were you all working on this week?
69 - 7
Some BTS and screen grabs from filming this week for Business Insider. For this shoot I worked as a solo cinematographer to build the full set, run two cameras (Sony FX6 & A7S3) and sound via boom & a lav mic, and then I also helped manage the interview with a remote producer in London. If you look at the left side of the BTS frame you can see my computer, which I set up next to my camera so that the remote producer could conduct the full interview over a video chat.
This was a really fun room to work with as a cinematographer, with beautiful windows, a lot of furniture and light fixtures to play with, and time to experiment with different arrangements before landing on this one.
What do you think of the frames? I'm going to do a full breakdown walking you through this whole process when the full story is finally public!
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Hey everyone! Would love to hear from you so that I can continue to develop a sense of who out there is watching. Which describes you best?
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Austin Meyer is a documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, & photographer based in Berkeley, California. He is a National Geographic Explorer whose work has been featured by HBO, Hulu, Apple TV, New York Times, National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, & PBS among others. He has worked with organizations such as The North Face, Stanford University, & the United Nations. Meyerâs purpose as a documentarian is to tell stories that change the way people walk through the world by inspiring empathy, curiosity, & wonder. He is passionate about telling vulnerable & intimate stories that are emotionally moving, break down stereotypes, & compel people to take action in order to make our world a better place.
Beyond the camera, Meyer is an ultrarunner, theatrical improviser, & cofounder of Collective Capital, a creative consultancy that leads applied improv workshops for organizations around the world to help teams unlock their creative potential.
www.austinmeyerfilms.com