Welcome Jonathan, how did you land in our industry?
I always enjoyed art and craft growing up and during high school did a small TAFE course in painting and drawing + visual design. I also took my family's mini DV handycam everywhere and filmed all the camps and holidays I went on. Eventually a friend of mine, Clayton told me about this course he was doing called MAPS where he was doing an advanced diploma in screen and media and it sounded really good and I decided that was what I wanted to do and to become a filmmaker. The pic above is of Jonathan and crew shooting the short film A Stones Throw.
 
So, you went a did film studies?
Yes, I did the advance diploma course at MAPS in Adelaide, then I worked for the next 10 years as a camera assistant doing video split, 2AC and focus pulling work on various movies and TV series as well as many music videos and commercials.

I have always wanted to become a cinematographer and shoot wonderful feature films which has been my dream but I think a bit of fear of stepping out has held me back but I have learnt a lot being a camera assistant.

At the end of 2019 I decided I need to stop camera assisting and commit to growing as a cinematographer and Steadicam operator (I bought an old Steadicam rig a few years back). It has been a challenge with what feels like taking a step back in order to step up but I know it was important to do and I have been enjoying Steadicam operating on a lot of interesting projects and also doing a lot more cinematography work and doing lots more short films again with the hope of landing a feature film down the track. I currently bounce between Adelaide and Sydney for work, covid permitting. The pic is of me operating steadicam on Wyrmwood Apocalypse.

What was your first job?
Once I finished MAPS, thanks to building a connection through doing work experience, I landed a part time job as a studio camera operator at Channel 10 in Adelaide. 
 
What’s the best advice you ever received?
There is heaps, I think the one that I need to remind myself of often is this,
"Don’t compare yourself to other people, as there is always someone more successful than you, and less" 
"Don’t live in fear of failure, it will stop you stepping out, trying and taking risks, which you need to do in this industry and you will fail, but that’s ok otherwise you don’t learn and grow" It's toxic mentally to get into this trap of comparing yourselves and valuing yourself to the success or failure of others.

Who had the biggest influence on your career?
I think Geoffrey Hall ACS was a big influence in my early years as a camera assistant, working for him on a few TV series and commercials. I really admired the way he made work fun onset and yet also had a great eye for cinematography, also the way he placed a big importance on his family and on away jobs, he would fly home for weekends every second week. I thought that was admirable as this can be an industry that is very hard on families and relationships. 
 
Tell us some of that hardships you faced during your career?
There have definitely been challenges on jobs where you have had horrible bosses and doing long weeks and night shoots with people yelling at you to "harden the F*** up", but probably recently recognising my own struggles with mental health and deciding to take steps to deal with that and seek professional help. That helped me grow and become stronger mentally which has been allowing me to take bigger steps creatively in the direction I want to go with cinematography. I think we all struggle at times with mental health in this industry and it’s important to talk about it and also help each other with it. I have many people in this industry for which I am so thankful for their encouragement and support with this. People are more important than movies :) The pic is of me onset with James Cromwell on Operation Buffalo.
 
What’s your favourite film or TV show?
I think working on Water Diviner was my first big budget feature film to work on as an assistant, as it was wonderful fun being able to sit down with the late cinematographer Andrew Lensie ACS ASC (RIP) and chat, he was a very kind and generous with his knowledge and he happily answered my questions. 
 
What’s your next project?
Currently working on a few different short films as cinematographer and in a couple of months I might be starting a TV series as camera/Steadicam operator for a few months. 


 Operating steadicam on Wyrmwood Apocalypse and working on my tan!

What keeps you motivated to do this job as a career?
Having fun on-set with great crews who become your family on long form dramas and making beautiful, interesting cinema. Also, the dream and passion of shooting great feature films that impact people and will have something important to say. 
 
 Thanks Jonathan, it's been great to watch your career grow, and thanks for opening up about mental health, it is something we all need to be aware of.