Bio

Shooting in Mumbai with the Sony F55

Philip Bloom is a world-renowned filmmaker who, for the past 10 years of his 30-year career has specialised in creating incredible cinematic images no matter what the camera.  Some of his most iconic work was created with Canon DSLRs. As one of the biggest evangelists for their use in productions his website became the place to go to for budding filmmakers as well as experienced ones keen to embrace the new technology.

His use of Canon DSLRs to shoot part of Lucasfilms’ last movie “Red Tails” proved a huge point to the naysayers. This technology was proved very viable in large-scale productions.

PB__4901Philip has kept up with the advent of newer tools, which are constantly changing. He currently owns and is available for hire with a Sony FS7, FS5, Kinefinity MAVO LF, Canon C200, Canon 1DX II, Sony A7sII and many others. He has experience with almost all the professional cameras on the market.

He has become very well-known for his in-depth video reviews of various cameras, which have helped many people in the huge decision of buying a camera.

He has worked for all the major UK broadcasters, such as the BBC, ITV, C4 and Sky, as well as countless independent production companies and many others around the world including CNN, CBS, Discovery, FOX and NBC.

Independent projects are key to Philip and he splits his time between bigger projects and small independent ones. One of his most successful independent projects was “How To Start A Revolution” which won a BAFTA in 2012 and was also awarded prizes at several film festivals including Best Documentary at the 2011 Raindance festival.

His reputation with usingscreen-shot-2011-08-03-at-18-15-33 small drones like the DJI Phantom and Inspire 1 was cemented when he won Best Travel Film at the 2015 New York City Drone Film Festival for his short filmed in Thailand “Koh Yao Noi”. He has since used drones in a number of projects including CNN’s “The Wonder List”

He is constantly stretching his creative abilities and experimenting with new technology.  His large social medial following on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as his enormously popular website are frequently used to help and educate filmmakers of all skill levels.

In addition to his online educational work, he frequently is traveling around the world teaching young and old filmmakers better techniques. Not just through technology, but through better storytelling skills. His workshops have been an enormous success around the world and he will continue to run them for as long as possible as learning never stops.

Philip recently finished filming two seasons of the acclaimed CNN original hour long global documentary series “The Wonder List” traveling all over the globe. The series focused on places in the world that were stunning but on the brink of change that could see their disappear and be unrecognisable in our children’s lifetime. For this show, he used high end production techniques like 4K, super slow motion, drones and MoVI gimbal hand held stabilisers to create a show that looks like no other.

18 comments

  1. Hi,

    I am simply amazed by your work. Ever since I discovered the existence of 35mm adapters, which was through your work I gained a lot of confidence in moving from still to moving images.

    I moved to California 6 years ago from Europe. Have spent some tome in London with my wife prior to coming to the US, so Piccadilly made us very emotional. What a look, by the way.

    OK, I have a question to you, have you ever attended any academical course in cinematography? And something completely different: how does the the final HD material shot trough letus look when printed on stock film for distribution? Pretty soon it will not be a problem anyways because most of theaters (cinemas) around are switching to digital projection (oh I wept…), but I am curious if had done that with HD and 35 mm adapter.

    I appreciate your time. Would love to meet you when I am in Europe this coming Spring.

    Best and once again, “respect!”

    Slav

  2. Brief but entertaining biography. Short and sweet. It’s OK, everyone has their moments of third person speak. 😉

    Anyway, it’s nice to see blogs and personal updates from someone as dedicated to video/film craft as you. It gives everyone hope that the world, and the film world for that matter, is not such an alienating place at all times.

    All the best,

    Jon

  3. i wish i could have that gift what you got from the viewfinder of any camera strikes ¡

    Im from Venezuela and now im living in Paris, journalist and im trying to start making documentaries, but sometimes i do not know how to start and the thing is that the cameras are really expensive so i want to find something good and that i can buy. I have worked with sony z-1 and z-7 but im not a professional i have a lot to learn… got ideas need something to work with… for special budget

    so if you can give me any advice ??
    thank you ¡ and i love your work ¡ congratulations¡

  4. Hello from Tokyo,

    thanks for this absolutely wonderful movie: “Alone in Tokyo”. I have seen this film and only thought: “Tadaima” (You say Tadaima in Japan when you coming home).

    If you will come to Tokyo again someday, it would be my pleasure to pay for the dinner.

    Domo arigato gozaimashita

    Oliver

  5. Hi Philip

    I recently got in touch with your work, and I simply love it.

    Film and photography have been my two passions for a long time now.
    Everything about it attracts me to learn about it, more and more.

    I had to choose what to study after I finished High School, so I decided to follow the way of Filmmaking.But, I’m worried. I’m not that of a good student, I don’t like what school offers me and puts me up to tasks I really hate to complete.

    I want to do this by myself, without academical courses. But also affraid that there won’t be any employer in the future who will recruit someone just by its passion and has no diploma in his pockets.

    I see you did it all by yourself. Did you encounter many obstacles into making carreer as filmmaker?

    Thanks for taking time to read.
    Hope to hear from you and see more of your work in the future.

    Friendly regards,

    Nico

  6. hello, I really like your films, I want to learn to do what you do, I have a canon 500D, and you think you can experiment with it?
    I always liked the movies, but I live here in Ecuador and no film schools, I have many ideas about science fiction films and drama, I would be a topic of how to get to do real movies, I would not lived the rest of my life with the thorn in my heart, thank you …. and I really love your work, you serve me much inspiration, thank you ….

  7. Phillip,

    Let me start out by saying how much I love the videos that you produce. They have so much emotion, passion — it shows that the person making the videos truly pours their heart into what they are doing!

    I aspire to do something like yourself, to well, go places that many people have not had the opportunity to go to, and to tell a story — a story about the people there, the things they do, and the world that we live in. Needless to say, I desire to go into the film industry with no class experience — I think that you can learn all you need from the internet, and these things called books that so many of my peers seem to have thrown to the wayside.

    Since you’ve never studied film, did you learn everything from good ‘ol experience and hands-on training?

    I just saw your reply to Nico’s post, I think i’ll search around for your blog post! I’m curious to see what advice you can give about this subject!

    Thank you so much for taking the time to read these posts and reply! It means a lot to the ‘aspiring filmmaker’ to get advice from a guy living the dream.

    Jonathan Seawright

    1. I am a big fan of learn on the job. Best way is to shoot as much as you can and learn from your mistakes. Share with others and get feedback! Best of luck. p

  8. Hi Phil, just had a browse around the site and was really impressed with the work, very creative and stunning shots.

    I’m a 21 year old creative media student living in the UK hoping to be doing things like you as I grow older and more experienced!

    Keep up the good work, and if you have any advice on how to get any experience I would be very greatful. I have applied for BBC and ITV work experience several times and am always phoning around smaller businesses, but it’s really hard to get my foot in the door!

    Regards,

    Daniel

  9. Hi Philip, I’m a new at this game and found out who you are by researching info on Sony’s pmw200 and am wowed by your knowledge, aesthetics and funny attitude about learning the gear. Question: if you had the choice to buy a new pmw200 or a used ex3, which would you purchase and why?

    Thanks for you help and I look forward to your work.

  10. Mr. Bloom, your work is amazing! Thank you for the in depth camera reviews and dslr film-making tips! How did you first start out finding contract work?