Brady Holden isn’t a household name and his documentaries aren’t streaming on Netflix (at least, I don’t think), but he has been a major source of inspiration for me. It’s safe to say I wouldn’t be going to grad school for multimedia journalism if not for his influence. When we met four years ago, I had never before heard somebody introduce themselves as a filmmaker. I had creative hobbies growing up, and I enjoyed watching movies as much as the next kid, but I never gave the film much thought as a viable career path. Sound, lighting, angles, exposures; I found it all too intimating. Brady, on the other hand, was making home movies in the local cemetery with his Hi8 camcorder by the time he was in elementary school. While studying experimental film at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he discovered a passion for documentary filmmaking that he carries forward today as he carves out a niche as a freelance videographer and filmmaker in Portland.

Highlights of Brady’s portfolio include shooting on the feature-length documentary Circus Without Borders, an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, and a series of short travel videos, including this video homage to Chile published on OutsideOnline.com:

In addition, he runs The Exposure, a Portland-based, monthly series of documentary film screenings. The mission of The Exposure is to host screenings of documentaries in venues related to the social challenges or issues raised in the film. the series seeks to revive the intimate shared experience of enjoying cinema in a public venue, among members of a community bound by the same hopes and fears.

Brady and I have collaborated on three film projects for Columbia Land Trust in recent years. I chatted with him briefly to connect, commiserate, and learn more about his approach to his craft.

Brady considers himself a shooter first and foremost. “I love being the person who captures that most beautiful image,” he says. “I enjoy being in the field and filming hand-held and using my body to find compelling vantages.” In addition to the act of filming, Brady has come to savor the exhilaration of landing new projects, citing how satisfying it is when months or even years of discussing opportunities culminate in getting selected for something big and exciting.

Editing is an entirely different matter. I noted the weariness in his voice as he explained the challenges the editing can present.  “It’s challenging for me in some projects, but those are usually the ones where you grow the most.” He acknowledged that one can learn a tremendous amount about their strengths and weaknesses as a shooter by editing their own stuff and encouraged me to try editing someone else’s footage to truly appreciate the difference.  “It’s easy to fall in love with your own shots, so you’ve got to remember the big picture, the one sentence explaining what the story is about. You also need time to be still, focused, and dedicated.

When asked about getting over concerns about being intrusive with his camera, Brady explained that after a few shoots, most new filmmakers get over this fear after they see how much it limits the quality of their work. It’s easy to see from the Chile video that he’s adept at capturing great details, both with human faces and hands and with textures and wildlife (see 0:11, o:27). He also noted the importance of establishing the expectation that the camera will get close up. “Spending time with your subject while you’re out from behind the camera can go a long way in making both you and your subject comfortable. It can be stressful, but sometimes putting the camera down to interact face-to-face during a shoot can pay off with better footage the rest of the way. ”

It was by producing film projects like A River Reborn with Brady that I discovered the awesome power of the moving image to tell vivid, compelling stories. My hope for my time in the MMJ program is to become a story producer, and perhaps, with enough practice, a competent shooter and editor as well.