Meet Mark Goethel | Cinematographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mark Goethel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
Philanthropy, donating my craft to help non-profit organizations when I can, has been a key factor in my success. When a project is pro bono I feel like I can experiment more, take risks, collaborate with new people or teach someone that is interested in the video profession. When the project is complete both parties can benefit. I built up my confidence as a teenager to pursue video production as a career by finding a non-profit that had a mission I believed in. I grew up skiing at Mt. Holiday, a non-profit ski area in Traverse City. I was so thankful to have had a place where I felt included, supported and safe. As I got older I realized how unique that was and I wanted to let other families know about it so they could come experience it too. I started making ski videos with my friends and documenting all the fun annual events they put on. Then YouTube came around and I started posting my videos there to help promote Holiday and I started to get messages from businesses that liked how I told stories and wanted to hire me to help them talk about their story, product or service. Empowering people and brands through thoughtful and creative visuals is uplifting to me and I am thankful for the opportunity.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
Something that might set me apart from others is my passion for action. I’ve been a gymnast since I was 7 years old, I love the feeling of flipping and spinning through the air. So much happens in just a few seconds and I think its an exciting thing to witness and feel power and unexpectedness, I am always looking for a way to bring that excitement to my visuals whenever possible. Wither that’s grabbing a camera and chasing a subject as they perform a stunt, documenting the energy and excitement of an event, or capturing something unexpected.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m going to pretend its summer because that’s when my friends usually come up. We explore the town without the traffic by using bikes on the beautiful TART trail. We eat at Don’s Drive In, Mt. Holiday and Fu Hua Chinese take out. Freediving all the shipwrecks in our area and going to open gym at Waters Edge Gymnastics and jumping bikes into airbags at Mt. Holidays Basecamp.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to thank my mother, she continually shows me how powerful one person can be with creativity and confidence. My wife Janna and daughter Rowan, they make a bad day disappear.

Website: REC-MediaMi.com

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Youtube: mark goethel