The day we selected Paul Kalbach of Artichoke Productions as Director of Photography for our independent feature, The World Famous Kid Detective Agency, was a very good day.
Throughout pre-production, Paul advised us on crew, predicted the snags we would hit and offered practical solutions, and was a consummate professional as we worked to finalize our scheduling, crew and locations. I can honestly say that he was the rock on which we, the producers, built the production. He called me personally when he noticed an oversight that could have cost us dearly. He also generously shared his contacts which led us to an absolutely ace crew who came through every day of filming.
As a low budget film, we could not supply the full crew to support him, but that never stopped Paul from pushing for quality and getting the absolute best that our grueling schedule allowed. He is an artist and combines that sensibility with decades of experience in the world of independent film. His genuine easy-going temperament kept many of us going when our locations/circumstances were challenging. And our locations/schedules were always challenging.
Our director constantly spoke of Paul in the highest terms, an opinion shared by everyone on set - cast and crew alike. As Director of Photography, he was instrumental in getting us through our pages. And we made our days every shooting day, letting us stay on schedule and budget. And, in the first stages of post production, I can say the footage is excellent.
The use of his Zephry cam (an amazing steady cam mounted on a Segway) gave our film production values far exceeding our budget. The jib shots he designed are beautiful. His technical knowledge of his equipment is expert level and his prices beat every rental house in the Bay Area by a significant amount.
I do not believe that we could have made this film without Paul and on behalf of the producing team for The World Famous Kid Detective Agency, I recommend him without reservation. read more