WADADLI FILM STUDIOS

Congrats to our very own, Shabier Kirchner who was named in Variety as one of the Top 10 Cinematographers to Watch in 2018.

Article by Iain Blair - Representation: WME

Born and raised in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda — a place, he says, “where there’s no film industry” — Kirchner was inspired by his father’s work as an underwater photographer. After a brief stint at film school in Vancouver, learning only “the basics about shooting and editing,” Kirchner and some classmates decided that hands-on practical experience was needed, and they headed to the Caribbean to shoot their own film, 2011’s “Memoirs of the Blue.”

“It was so bad and it ended up in the drawer,” he says. “But it taught me how to navigate the film industry, even though it was a baptism by fire — everything that could go wrong went wrong.” Taking another leap of faith, Kirchner moved to New York, shot some indies, and got lucky when director Thomas Woodrow hired him to shoot his 2016 sci-fi drama “We’ve Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew.” “That led other people to trust me and to shooting ‘Sollers Point’ for [director] Matthew Porterfield, which did well on the festival circuit.” The film releases in May.

Since then, Kirchner has shot the ultra-kinetic “Skate Kitchen,” with its “mostly low, hand-held style,” for Crystal Moselles (it screened at this year’s Sundance); lensed the love story “Only You” for Harry Wootliff, in Scotland; and served as the 2nd unit DP on Benh Zeitlin’s “Wendy,” in Louisiana and around the Caribbean. Currently living in Brooklyn, Kirchner is now prepping “Bull,” a film about black rodeo riders. “I always like the simplest avenue to capturing images, but all the new technology makes it an exciting time.”