By the standards of twenty years ago, it is easy to have a film look "gorgeous." So indie filmmakers can't rely on equipment alone to set their films apart. It takes the work of true craftspeople, one of which is my guest, filmmaker Taylor Lee. In October, Taylor was the recipient of the NYU 2025 Grad Film Volker Bahnemann Award for Outstanding Cinematography.

His story is an extraordinary one -- majoring in computer science at UCLA in 2020 to some of the most prestigious student awards and fellowships in filmmaking. How did he get there? Let's find out.

Also, watch LAYOVER before listening. A Vimeo Staff Pick, it will be with you for awhile.

In this episode, Taylor and I talk about:

• what surprises him in short films now;
• his reaction to winning the 2025 Grad Film Volker Bahnemann Award for Outstanding Cinematography;
• his amazing story of pivoting from software engineering to filmmaking;
• his film viewing background before beginning graduate school and did it help or hinder his start;
• his contentment with film school (versus YouTube) and what he would tell a software engineer thinking of making the same leap he did;
• what drew him to cinematography;
• how he chooses which directors to work with;
• how he describes his own visual style;
• why he didn't shoot his directorial debut;
• what it was like as a writer/director vs. cinematographer or director;
• do cinematographers become harder to work with as they become more established?
• his directorial debut, LAYOVER, and what to expect when watching it;
• how he feels about editing his films;
• his relationship with receiving feedback;
• a geeky military uniform question (he used outdated uniforms in service of the script -- really genius);
• how is LAYOVER different than what he expected?
• what's next for him with PARKSIDE EAST and how it'll be released;
• the Spike Lee production grants and how they work for NYU students;
• how much gear matters to him.

Taylor's Indie Film Highlight: THE LOVE THAT REMAINS (2025) dir. by Hlynur Pálmason

Memorable Quotes:

"Recently I've been pretty drawn to filmmakers who...are very aware that an audience is watching the film and that the audience wants to be surprised."

"In terms of a fresh perspective....I think I still need to watch more movies, honestly. I think it helps."

"Sometimes it's my prep with directors. I'll ask them to give me like 10 of their favorite films."

"I learned pretty much everything I know from film school, and from YouTube, and really just doing it. I think that film school offers you an opportunity to just keep doing it."

"In an ideal world, you would look at several of my films and not see the same cinematographer."

"if you look at my reel, my cinematography reel, you'll see the same cinematographer. But that's just because I choose the best wide shots for the reel."

"The role of the director is really to have the vision and to communicate that vision to your crew and to your actors. And if I were to shoot it at the same time...I would need two of myself."

"Directors should treat each film like it's the last film that they're going to direct and cinematographers should treat each film like it's the first film that they shot."

"One of my professors always said, your relationship to feedback will define your graduate school experience."

"PARKSIDE EAST, it was all my classmates. There was no paid crew."

Links:

Follow Taylor On Instagram

Check Out Taylor's Reel

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