by Dov Kornits
How did you get into this field?
Living right by the beach and growing up around the ocean inspired me. My friends were all surfers and although I tried my hand at it, I was never very good at it – I was also afraid of big waves. After finding my mother’s old camera, I took it down to the beach to capture some photos of my friends in action. I found a little niche that I loved and found myself down on the sand capturing these moments as often as I could.
Who are your heroes?
I think I’ve come from an unusual background in content creation, so I look up to smaller creators, rather than some of the big names in the industry. I owe a lot of my success to Trent Brailey, a local story-telling genius. Trent helped me edit my first surf video. It’s people like him, and Glenn Hall, who I really appreciate and admire. For inspiration, regarding content creation and cinematography, I can’t go past Sam Kolder. Dude is a genius.
Do you work as part of a team or is it all solo?
I’ve been a solo creator since day one. I think it’s the only way to learn. I’ve messed up plenty of things by being thrown in the deep end, but I love it. Now that I have started working on some larger scale productions such as TV series / TVC style content, I’ve had to start collaborating with teams. I love working with people who have a similar passion and drive as I do. It makes for some solid content.
Do you find that doing these corporate gigs that your creativity is inhibited? What’s your philosophy around that?
I think corporate gigs are only limited if you limit yourself to it. Everyone needs creativity, even corporate companies. Being on the same page as clients early in the process makes things a lot easier. I’d rather not pursue a project where a client wants something made for them, that anyone could create. I want my work to stand out and be unique. It’s 2022, and people want to, and need to, stand out. Relationships with good people and clients are key for me.
What’s the end goal?
Having worked on surf projects for so long earlier in my still, very early career, I’ve now drifted out of my comfort zone into an array of different projects. I have been working with Kyal and Kara, who are ex-The Block contestants, on a range of social and TV based projects. I think these are good stepping-stones for me to branch into bigger production and start working with some of the world’s best creators. I want to start a production house and collaborate with other like-minded people on projects we are passionate about.
