Client Corner

With her hot pink hair its no wonder that Best Gals founder Jessica Jastrzebski is igniting a movement that’s starting to catch like a Texas wildfire. And her fuel is education. The fiery Gaffer/Key Grip/AC created The Best Gals (www.thebestgals.com) to help add diversity in the G&E department and advance women’s careers beyond the production assistant role. “I’m aware of only three other women in Texas who work in G&E. Let me repeat this, only three other full-time female grips working in the entire state of Texas.” She reached out to the film community for help supporting this project and...

Matthews: Max Menace Helps Light Divas for DP Alan Jacobsen DP Alan Jacobsen’s mantra is, “There’s a way to do this that will work.” The problem-solver loves the “tinker-toys aspect of filmmaking”. So when he was brought on to shoot a segment of VH1 Divas: Unsilent Night, holiday special, starring some of music’s greatest performers, he welcomed the challenge. The scene featured four musical legends sitting at a roundtable in an elegant lounge situated in Brooklyn’s 90-year-old, newly renovated Kings Theatre. The room was 16’ wide by 32’ long, the ceiling 14’ tall, the dresses big, and the timing short....

As General Manager of Pacific Backlot, Derek Hall has his finger on the pulse of the Vancouver production scene. Since his first day 17 years ago he’s seen consistent growth of the family-owned studio rental company located on the Vancouver Film Studios lot. While they started out catering to studios, today they also do off the lot rentals of lighting, grip, and lifts of all types. The Matthews Connection With an extensive lighting inventory Pacific Backlight is big on gear that positions the hefty fixtures. So another favorite is MSE’s award-winning Max Menace Arm that facilitates easy positioning of fixtures...

Filmmaker Shanra J. Kehl is partial to green, especially when it comes to her Dutti Dolly from Matthews. And she’s been working it consistently. A member of Local 600 and the DGA, she’s says she’s fortunate to have regular production gigs during the age of COVID. That’s what made her decide to get her own Dutti Dolly instead of using the one her AC Jordan Lee brings to set. That’s what got her hooked. A veteran of unscripted and documentary filmmaking, Kehl needs to be ready to be a one-person band or work with a full crew. “Having the Dutti...

It’s hard to put a label on Mike Bradley. His life has been a juxtaposition of practicality and art. Although photography has always been his passion, his early livelihood as a microelectronics and software engineer gave him the income to pursue his fascination with elegant technology. He collected cars and Beverly Hills Lamborghini was on his speed dial. But the artist within eventually demanded attention so he turned his career left, picked up his camera and was on the road to becoming a top fashion photographer. It didn’t take long until his style, imagery and bold concepts stood out at...