Behind the Scenes - A Filmmakers's Persistence

Behind the Scenes:

A Filmmaker’s Persistence (feat. Justin R Edelman)

I’ve had the privilege of working with Justin for two years now…

And every time I turn around, I see him learning how to use some new camera or gadget for his filming and his photography. Going back through photos from our travels, I see a filmmaker/photographer with many skills. He looks like someone you would find trotting the globe for National Geographic. Lucky for me, I signed him before he became famous.

Call it intuition.

I didn’t even know all the skills he had when we first met, but his passion came through in the way he spoke about the tools he used for his craft. So, for two years I watched him dedicate most of his time to learning the latest tools for getting the best shots.

He rarely talked about the shots he wanted, but I could see the wheels turning in his head as he uploaded his footage after a day of shooting. He would tell me “I’m in the zone” which was a polite way of saying “Don’t talk to me because I can’t respond.” That’s how focused he was (and often still is).

His dedication to filmmaking has been one of perseverance. Throughout the production of the Live Life Series, he overcame many unexpected mishaps and obstacles. He always came up with a Plan-B to still get the footage he wanted with quality results.

Recently he spent weeks studying to earn his license for flying a drone.

When his camera froze in Antarctica, he figured out that using hand warmers to defrost it did the trick.

Or he used his skills from the navy as a helicopter mechanic to figure out how to fix a lens that broke during transport at an airport in Australia.

When he forgot the remote control for the drone in Tanzania, he took shots from a balloon ride instead.

Not even a sore back keeps him from chasing cars while wearing a heavy rig to get amazing shots.

Justin’s a real filmmaker who persisted for two years and single-handedly filmed all the travel videos you will see in our upcoming web series and documentary. I appreciate the body of work Justin has produced for Shebbie’s Live Life Series: the quality, talent and passion are all right there. No doubt in my mind, he’s soon to be famous.

The world awaits you Justin. Thank you.