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

Hi Nicole, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
What keeps me going? Continuing to experience moments that feel serendipitous with other people. A perfect example is when I walk onto set or into an industry event and I see an unexpected familiar face. It’s a reminder that I’m in the right rooms and that I’m on the right path. Moments like these sometimes feel too specific to be just a coincidence – but a sign that affirms I’m heading in the right direction.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m most proud of my resilience and growth mindset. I think my growth as a cinematographer has been “fast” and that comes with failing fast. The importance with failing fast is being able to analyze what went wrong, make note of it for the next time, and continue to execute with that new information in mind. I think most cinematographers have to acknowledge that they will never know everything – because that is where the ego can come into play. I understand that in order to grow fast and excel, I need my team. I lean on my crew to help shape my images and help convey stories, because they all have different experiences than I do and can bring so much value onto set. While my team grows and learns outside of our sets together, they then bring in new information when we do come together. There’s always opportunity for growth.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a big shoutout to my parents. They never doubted my pivot away from my 4-year Kinesiology degree into this freelance filmmaking career and they gave me the courage to go ahead and start it.

Website: www.nshaps.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nshaps/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nshaps/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1IBP_XTmYK5X01Qiira1yg?sub_confirmation=1

Image Credits
Lauren Howe Monique Hutson Tatiyanna Williams-Britton Alex D’Addese

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.