Brandon Santiago

Education

Equipment

My Equipment/Kit: 1-K LED Light Panels x 6, Canon Cameras, Glidecam Rig, Kessler sliders, Multiple prime lens kits, Ninja Blade, Sennheiser Lavs x 4, Sennheiser Shotgun Mics x 2, Sony NX5U

I can use: 1-K Led Light Panels X 6, Sennheiser Shotgun Mics X 2, Sennheiser Lavs X 4, Glidecam Rig, Kessler Sliders, Multiple Prime Lens Kits, Ninja Blade, Sony NX5U, Canon Cameras

About me

I am an International DP/Editor. I possess a thorough understanding of composition and I'm quick to dial it in. I am also well versed in multiple stylistic formats of shooting and can spot and/or formulate compelling narrative with ease, speed and accuracy. Included in my bag of tricks are set dressing, lighting setup, mic placement and camera/talent positioning. I am excellent under pressure - like Gordon Ramsay kitchen pressure, well traveled, well spoken and ridiculously easy to get along with.
Additional information:
Aside from being a freelancerer, I am the founder and creative director of Monkey Toes Film. I was born in Denver, CO, but moved to San Antonio, Texas a few years later with the help of my mother. I graduated from Samuel Clemens High School and enrolled in SWT University majoring in Advertising and Business Administration. 3 semesters before graduation, I took a short vacation to Sedona, Arizona. While hiking the red rocks I discovered one of Sedona’s famed vortex areas and had an interesting and uplifting experience – the grind of a college education was not for me, but traveling the open roads were.

So not being one to argue with travel, I hit the roads, boats, trails and airways for what would be the next 10 years. After having lived in Hawaii, N.Y, California, Boston, Nevada, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Alabama I felt my 10 year sojourn was coming to an end and decided to make one last move to Delta Junction, Alaska (population – 840), just south of the Arctic Circle. It was there that I would put it all together.

In the dead of winter and no sun to be found and with the help of a new odd fuzzy little grumpy friend – a one-eared cat by the name of moose, that I had an epiphany. Out of all of the things in the world, when my spirits were down... watching films were the single quickest sure fire fix of lifting them again… and that if they did that for me, then surely they did it for many, many others. And I definitely wanted to be a part of that experience. Right then and there, I had finally found a way to “pay it forward” and on a large stage – TV and Film.

I found himself heading out of my wooden cabin door and into the cabin door of a large Boeing 747. On that 4,000-mile flight, I also realized I had no idea how to do whatever ‘it” was that I was about to do, but it didn't matter. It also didn’t matter that I didn’t know what the difference was between a director and a director of photography. Or what a producer actually does. None of that mattered. What mattered was that I was on fire at 40,000 feet in the air heading back to San Antonio with a clear-cut direction – somehow, someway, I was going to be in the television and film industry.

I burst onto the scene in 2001 and within a year, I was co-producing and shooting my first ½ hour show called Texas Live (which would eventually be picked up by Com Cast). I never looked back. I have found my calling in life and couldn't be more happier about it. There is no end, only a continuation of the journey.

License & Passport

Skills

Secondary Job Title	Director
Job Titles	Creative Director, Writer, Key Grip, Camera Supervisor, Videographer, Director of Photography (DOP), Cinematographer, Camera Operator, Producer, Director
Years in industry	6+ years