Digital Video - December 2007 - (Page 28) CLOSE-UPS JON SOOHOO O’Derek and Canon take the field at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium for a remote shoot. MAN ABOUT TOWN TO BUILD A CAREER, CAMERAMAN AND PRODUCER KEITH O’DEREK HAD TO CREATE HIS OWN OPPORTUNITIES. BY DAVID E. WILLIAMS ‘W hen I was trying to get into this business in the 1980s, the toughest part of it was getting the opportunity to learn—which included finding rental companies that would entrust me with their gear. There was a lot of suspicion at the time,” remembers Keith O’Derek, who recently celebrated his 25th professional year behind the camera with his Los Angeles-based company, Upfront Productions. Interested in photography as a young man since discovering his father’s Super 8 camera, O’Derek took every opportunity to shoot and learn—creating assignments for himself, and chronicling the urban landscape while learning the basics of production. “My father encouraged me,” he remembers. “When he got a VHS camcorder, I started using that, and so on.” O’Derek continued his education through extension classes, working on public-access cable shows and shooting and producing a string of anti-drug PSAs. He later shot local TV spots to run on Black Entertainment Television, earning his first pro credits. Years later, in 1992, as riots rocked Los Angeles, O’Derek took dv december 2007 to the streets, capturing arresting images that grabbed the attention of NBC News. “They wanted to buy my footage—but I didn’t want money, I wanted a job,” he says. The network saw the light, resulting in a three-year stint that soon had him honing his skills as a shooter and segment producer. Branching out on his own as a freelancer, O’Derek began creating editorial packages for local stations while also compiling 300 hours of documentary and interview footage, resulting in the 1999 hip-hop feature Straight From The Streets—which depicts not only the ‘92 riots, but California’s dysfunctional prison, education and justice systems as well. Hip-hop music and culture also figure into the doc, which features candid interviews with such voices as Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Ice-T and Denzel Washington. “Part of my success is getting people to relax,” says O’Derek, who has recently been working for Fox Sports News and is compiling footage for a new Straight From The Streets feature. “I’m part of the community that I’m covering, and the person in front of my camera knows that. I’m not coming in from the outside and exploiting a situation. That puts people at ease—and lets you tell a story truthfully.” DV www.dv.com 28 http://www.dv.com
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