Cameron Busby

unaffiliated

1) What was your first professionally directed work and when was it?
It was an EDM music video I did for the artists Noise Cans and Jesse Royal last summer 2017.

2) How did you get into directing? 
I knew I wanted to do something in film since my late teens. I didn’t get into directing till college when a friend of mine asked me to direct a music video for him. It was really difficult! But I fell in love with the entire process of shepherding a video from conceptualization all the way to delivery. I’ve been addicted ever since.

3) What is your most recent project? 
I have two music videos coming out soon. One for the band Parade of Lights new single: “Tidal Waves” and another I just finished shooting for the artist Cailee Rae called “Deeper”.

4) What is the best part of being a director? 
I think the best part of directing for me is seeing your idea come to life! You have to be involved in every part of the process that’s so demanding but really fulfilling. Additionally it’s making work that hopefully inspires other people, changes their view on something or at the least brightens their day.

5) What is the worst part of being a director? 
All the time you waste on treatments for jobs that you don’t win. You can never get that time back.

6) What is your current career focus: commercials and branded content, TV movies? Do you plan to specialize in a particular genre—comedy, drama, visual effects, etc.? 
My career focus for a while was music videos. It’s an industry that’s quite small and I have good understanding on how to succeed. However as of late I’ve been spending a lot time trying to break into the commercials and branded content world. That’s a big part of my career I really want to concentrate on. Then slowly here and there I want to move into television and feature length narratives.

7) Have you a mentor and if so, who is that person (or persons) and what has been the lesson learned from that mentoring which resonates with you? 
I don’t exactly have a mentor but there are definitely some great people in my life that I respect that have given me some great advice and lessons. One piece of advice that particularly always resonated with me was “always stay creative”. I know that’s incredible simple but it’s just great little reminder. Even when I don’t have a project I’m always trying to do something that keeps my creative juices going whether it’s writing, drawing, photography, etc.

8) Who is your favorite director and why? 
There are so many directors that have had a great influence on me it’s hard to choose just one! But if I had to make up my mind it would be Steve McQueen. I really admire him as a filmmaker and I loved every single one of his films that he’s made. He creates these stories that so are gripping and powerful that make me want to go back to re-watch them again and again.

9) What is your favorite movie? Your favorite television/online program? Your favorite commercial or branded content? 
My favorite TV show at the moment is Atlanta. I just binged the first season of it again! Donald Glover and Hiro Murai built this really intricately layered show that’s walks between dream-like and figured action, I’m in love with it. 
My favorite commercial is the Nike: “Leave Nothing” spot directed by Michael Mann. When I first saw that spot, I was blown away. That commercial is so simple but so emotionally charged and the perseverance of the players is really inspiring.

10) Tell us about your background (i.e., where did you grow up? Past jobs?) 
I grew up mostly in town outside of Cleveland, Ohio called Twinsburg. I had that typical mid-western & middle class, small town upbringing. You could say I was one of those “artsy” kids growing up. I left home at 20 to come to New York to study film at Brooklyn College and never looked back. I did almost every type of below the line job on a film set (PA, grip, electric, AC, driver, etc) before landing a producing gig at Esquire for a while.

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Cameron Busby

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