By FP1 Strategies
In this edition of “Meet Our Production Pros,” we’re highlighting the contributions of our Director of Photography (DP) and Partner, Mark Walpole. Mark has decades of experience shooting award-winning ads. Mark came to FP1 after working on motion pictures and other high-profile productions. From logging frequent flyer miles around the country to 5:00 a.m. call times, Mark is a tireless leader in our firm, helping FP1’s candidates capture the ads that make a difference on Election Day.
“Mark has been a great mentor and friend to me,” said Managing Director Kyle Klase. “He has helped me develop my skills as a DP. Mark is the ultimate team guy. He has one focus: How do we shoot the best ads for our clients? I am proud to call Mark my friend. He has supported me and our team in countless ways every single day.”
“Shoots by their very nature are chaotic,” said Director Courtney McLeod. “Mark is calm under pressure. He knows how to see around corners and solve problems. He is a source of stability and leadership for our entire shoot team. And like Kyle, Mark has been an important mentor in my career development. We’re all fortunate to have Mark as our DP. He’s the best of the best.”
Read this Q&A with Mark Walpole:
Where did you get your training as a Director of Photography?
After film school, I made it into the International Cinematographers Guild which allowed me to work on movies, TV shows, music videos, and commercials. I started at the bottom of the camera department as a film loader, I came up through the ranks and learned the craft by doing. I spent thousands of hours working on set hand in hand with great cinematographers and directors.
Describe a typical shoot day.
5:00 a.m.: Wheels up from the hotel. 15 hours of controlled chaos. Screeching a minivan packed with camera cases into the airport terminal just in time to catch the last flight out. Repeat. Enjoy.
What’s your favorite thing about being on the road?
The faces and the places. We go to hidden corners of the country that most people never get to see and meet great people with incredible stories to share. This is one of the few lines of work where your office for the day could be a glacier, a power plant, a coal mine, a foundry, or a cattle farm. We’ve shot on commercial fishing boats, the Golden Gate Bridge, charred forests, the border wall, fighter jets in the desert … there’s never a dull moment.
The shelf in your office has 50+ DVDs on it with some of the Hollywood films you have worked on, talk to us about those experiences.
It was an absolute ride. Working on projects of that scale is a professional challenge like no other. You’re part of a massive, fast-moving machine where the standard is perfection, every single day. The hours are crazy, the demands are wild, the people unreasonable … but honestly, every day was a blast. There’s nothing quite like grinding as hard and fast as you can alongside 200 other people who are all locked into the same moment.
Are there DPs from cinema that have inspired your work?
So many: Bob Yeoman, Robert Elswit, Bob Richardson, Matt Libatique, Erich Roland …
You used to work on music videos, is it true you worked on the Creed – “Higher” music video?
Lol yes that was back in the 1900s, I was the Film Loader, it was three long days at the Hard Rock in Florida. Way back when MTV was a thing, I worked on dozens of music videos: Christina Aguilera, DMX, Toby Keith, Ja Rule, Shania Twain, Alicia Keys, Good Charlotte, Willie Nelson, Trace Adkins, MC Hammer, Keller Williams, Chuck Brown, 504 Boyz, and Kenny Chesney to name a few.
What is your most memorable FP1/PLUS shoot?
In the last 12 months it’s Regulus (watch the video!). The client trusted us with a massive amount of creative runway, allowing us to push the boundaries and completely exceed their expectations. It was an ambitious, large-scale project that perfectly spotlights what our team is capable of delivering. The production value speaks for itself, and it’s a win that we’re all incredibly proud of.
Talk to us about your commitment to mentorship and team building.
Filmmaking is a collaborative art, so success can only be measured at the team level. To build an unstoppable team, my approach is proactive mentorship: recruit talented people who take pride in their work and provide them with an environment that supports and challenges them. By mentoring highly motivated individuals to trust their instincts and foster a mission-first culture of mutual respect, the whole truly becomes greater than the sum of its parts … and we have the trophies to prove it.
What is the last book you read?
Confess – Rob Halford
What is your favorite movie?
Living in Oblivion
Do you have a favorite podcast?
The Op (please like and subscribe!) and The Cinematography Podcast.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the D.C. area?
My kitchen. I like to cook and the road life generally doesn’t … how can I tactfully say this … encourage “making good food choices.” So a home-cooked meal with my family is my favorite place to be.
Describe a perfect weekend.
With three teenage boys, any combination of fishing/hunting/boating, travel baseball, community theatre, road trip, firepit/smores would do it.
If you could have dinner with one historical figure, who would it be?
As long as we are making this up … I’d go big. It would be a dinner party — but the dinner is really just an excuse for the after-party. The guest list: Steve Jobs, Groucho Marx, Adam Yauch, Ernest Hemingway, Lucile Ball, Mark Twain, Anthony Bourdain, Hedy Lamarr, Sid Vicious, Charlie Chaplin, Wesley Willis, Hunter S. Thompson, and Mitch Hedberg … all with plus-ones.
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