Profile Series:
Jonathan Bregel

"Community is everything to me."

Jonathan Bregel
Role: Director, Cinematographer

What are your top three films?

Anchorman (2004)

Directed by Adam McKay

Billy Madison (1995)

Directed by Tamra Davis

One Child Nation (2019)

Directed by Nanfu Wang & Jialing Zhang

How did you first get into filmmaking?

Filming my friends skateboarding.

"Community is everything to me. Whether on a film set, or in my local surrounding neighborhood." 
What is your favorite on-set story?

I was doing an Audi commercial in Spain and drove around with one of the stunt drivers in a super fast car on mountain cliffs. It was absolutely terrifying but exhilarating. Every part of me didn't want to trust the driver or the car but, but I quickly realized that I wouldn't enjoy myself if I was scared, so I just embraced it...and it was incredible.

The heart of the Film Pin Society is community and camaraderie. Can you talk a little about that?

Community is everything to me. Whether on a film set, or in my local surrounding neighborhood. Without pouring time into my various communities, life for me would be lonely and depressing.

What’s the best piece of advice you can give to someone looking into going into your field?

Try getting involved in some local-community volunteer work. I find that it nurtures my soul. A lot of times the work I do to pay the bills goes against my core/spiritual values, so I constantly need to recharge my soul. And volunteer work really helps me with that.

What pin from our collection speaks to you and why?

The Classic C-Stand because I was shamed by my lighting teacher in film school for not being able to set up a C-Stand in 60 Seconds.