Client Corner

British born Jon Woolf has gripped for the motion picture industry for nearly 40 years. His work as key grip, miniatures unit, for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy put him on the radar of cinematographer Frank Passingham and gaffer Michel Amado Carpio for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. After relocating to the U.S., Portland-based, Woolf was the perfect fit to connect the European and Mexican department heads with Hollywood vendors that could meet the equipment needs for the Oregon shoot. Woolf describes his work on Pinocchio and choosing Matthews Studio Equipment to meet the big needs of the...

Cinematographer Christopher Probst, ASC, is known for shooting prominent music videos for artists such as Taylor Swift, Eminem, Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z and Billie Eilish, as well as high end commercials (Apple, Nike, Google, BMW, Samsung, Audi, Adidas and Uber) and narrative work including David Fincher’s Mindhunter, for which he received an ASC Award Nomination. Within the professional filmmaker community, Probst’s fame extends to his invaluable contribution as co-author of The Cine Lens Manual, the comprehensive bible of all things cine lenses. A self-professed technical geek, Probst goes into detail on the MAX Menace Arm and how this trusty...

You might say hosting his own YouTube show, Complicated Things, is Mark Mann's second job. The Glasgow-born photographer has been shooting iconic portraits of countless celebrities from Presidents to filmstars to pop icons that don the pages and screens of popular media worldwide. Based in New York City he's also accrued a thick advertising portfolio representing Madison Avenue brands that know he'll support their A-list image. Why Complicated Things? He'll be the first to tell you, "It came about by receiving good questions in response to my Instagram posts about my process—people asked how do I do things and why?...

One look at the captivating "Don't Tear Yourself Apart" proves that with ingenuity, friends, and go-for-it attitude, anything is possible despite 2021's challenges. Taking advantage of the Covid lull, the film's co-executive producer and cinematographer JJ Osbun and screenwriter/director P. Tavares filmed in 10 days, and completed it 8 months later. They pulled their personal iPhone 11 Pro and 12 Pro out of their pockets, and went to work on their first narrative feature. Gearing up The camera package consisted of the two iPhones with 1:33 anamorphic adapters and cages that made creative rigging possible. “The real trick was the...

The Day Matthews Slider Inventor Alex Amyot Visited Burbank While many folks get big ideas for better ways to do things in this business, Alex Amyot builds them. Fulfilling his goal to make jobs easier and quicker, he’s responsible for several grip tools in common use on set. In addition to the famous Matthews Slider, he also designed the K-Stackers mount for KinoFlo banks, the Lazy Suzy camera mount, and more rugged essentials found on standard Grip trucks across the globe. Not bad for a self-taught kid who paid attention while working in his grandfather’ hardware store in Montreal Canada....