Meet Austin Cooper | Travel Filmmaker & Photographer

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

Hi Austin, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
My favorite quote would have to be from Matthew McConaughey’s 2014 Oscar speech after winning the “Best Actor” award. In this speech he says “When I was 15 years old, I had a very important person in my life ask me who my hero was” Matthew’s response was “it’s me in 10 years”. 10 years later that same person asked Matthew if he was now his hero. Matthew replies, “Not even close, my hero’s me at 35. Every day, every week, every month, and every year of my life my hero is always 10 years away. Im never going to be my hero, I’m not going to attain that, I know I’m not. But that’s just fine with me, because that keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing.”

This quote has stuck with me since my first time seeing that speech. As a creative in today’s world, we are always evolving, growing, and pursing our true potential. Without something to chase and something to look forward to, it’s easy to grow complacent in your craft and in life. I’ve found myself many times in my career growing complacent with where I’m at, and that quote in particular is one that has inspired me to keep growing and learning not only as a creative, but as a person.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a full time Travel Filmmaker and Photographer. My craft has taken me all over the world, and connected me with some amazing people. Getting to where I am in my career has consisted of a lot of highs & lows, but I wouldn’t take back any of the lows as they developed me into who I am today.

My career officially started 8 years ago as a sophomore in high school. I was asked by a local to film their wedding, which I ended up filming on an iPhone 7. From that one wedding I acquired around 5 more weddings and my career slowly took off from there. Fast forward to today, i’ve had the chance to work on multiple documentaries and charity work all across Africa, as well as a trip across South America that one of my best pals, which is a published author, is currently writing a book about. Currently, my main client is a company called “GoSun”, which creates solar powered camping gear ranging from solar grills, to full sized boats, campers and tiny homes. They have won multiple awards for solar product of the year, as well as mentions from Forbes, National Geographic, and many more organizations for the work they have done. I’ve also had the opportunity to work with some super talented musicians such as Katie Toupin, Erin Reese, Dylan Wolfe, Bryson Comtois, and one of my favorite artists since high school, Mike. Aside from my personal work, i’ve been brought on by friends & Media agencies to collaborate on projects for companies such as Ferrari, Dodge and Sachin & Babi, as well as musicians such as TroyBoi, MadClip just to name a few. ( Shoutout to SireMedia, MoodStudios LA, CMPLX Media, AcreMedia, & WeTheCreators for bring me on to those.)

The main lesson that I’ve learned over the years is that there is power in numbers. There is a lot of things that I don’t know in my field of work, that someone else may excel at. Bringing people on to help bring the weight off of your shoulders, overall will benefit you, them, and the client.

This not only pertains to creative projects, but my personal life as well. An example of this, is that I love to focus on the creative process and building something special, emotional and unique for each individual client that I have. In the process of me creating each project, I can sometimes lose track of the financial and analytical sides of my job. I have been blessed to have a girlfriend that is not only creative, but also excels in the organizational category as well as keeping up with the financial aspect of my job. Having someone like her that is willing to help me in the things that I’m not always the best at keeping up with, has helped me tremendously over the last year with staying on task, which has in turn helped me to remain more present in my day to day life. She has been a huge blessing to me over the last year, not only for her help, but for her love and support over this period of my life.

Being a full time freelancer has many different seasons. Remembering to practice gratitude at each stage of my career I believe has been one of the most detrimental things in keeping me going. Anytime i’ve been overwhelmed or in doubt of my abilities, that reminder of gratitude is what grounds me back in the moment. Adding to that, practices such as cold plunging, hiking, running, reading, prayer, working out and a handful of other daily tasks have allowed me to have a fresh start in times when the doubt creeps back in.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
At this stage in my life, I live a little bit of everywhere. My home base is currently in Kentucky where I grew up. If a friend was visiting the area, I would take them to some of my favorite hiking and cold plunge spots. The mountains have always been what I consider my safe space, and Kentucky has a plethera of spots to adventure to.

One particular spot that comes to mind is “Cumberland falls”, which is where I spent a majority of my life as a teenager venturing around. There is also a hidden set of waterfalls along Sheltowee Trace that I used to drive an hour to at least once a week to disconnect. I could go on for days about all of the hidden gems in Kentucky.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of my friends and family. My parents in particular, are prime examples of what I want my future marriage to look like. Since a young age they have instilled in me a lot of the things that make me who I am today. They taught me to face adversity head on, to love people deeply, to finish what you start, and that with God anything is possible. Aside from what they have taught me, they have shown me what amazing parenting looks like. I hope to someday be half the parent as either one of them are.

My friendships are what got me to where I am today. I’m naturally an introvert and require a lot of time alone. Alone time is what allows me to refill my cup, and nurture my relationships the way they deserve. I’ve been blessed with not only the best community of friends that I could ask for, but a community that knows how my brain operates and has been there for me through the good times and the bad. Im lucky to say that I’ve surrounded myself with versions of who I want to become, which has been the biggest part of my growth over the years. Their is a saying that you are who your closest friends are, and I’ve been blessed that the people closest to me are not only good, genuine people, but are also leaders in their field of work.

Website: https://whoiscoopfilms.client-gallery.com

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