DP Eric Branco on The 40-Year-Old Version, Clemency, shooting black and white film, working with director Radha Blank, and more

Cinematographer Eric Branco discovered early on that he enjoyed
translating people's stories into visuals. Eric started out as an
actor in high school, but quickly realized no one had any interest
in holding the camera except himself. While in film school, he
developed an eye and shot several student projects, then found work
on film sets in New York as a grip and gaffer while shooting short
films on the side. Eric's latest film, The 40-Year-Old Version was
shot almost entirely on black and white film stock. Director Radha
Blank was very firm that the movie be black and white- in fact,
when Eric received the script, it read “A New York tale in black
and white.” So Eric came with a suitcase full of black and white
photo books of New York when he and Radha met, which helped them
arrive at The 40-Year-Old Version's look: a matte texture with a
prominent grain. Eric ran several tests to find the perfect film
stock for the movie, and shot it handheld with vintage lenses. The
movie is a funny, semi-autobiographical story starring Blank as a
struggling, almost-40 playwright who is determined not to sell out
or compromise her artistic principles and reinvigorates her
creativity by becoming a hip-hop artist. The 40-Year-Old Version
won the U.S Dramatic Competition Directing Award for Blank at the
Sundance Film Festival in 2020. For Eric, it was the third film
he'd shot to go to Sundance in as many years. He felt honored to be
the cinematographer of Clemency, which won the Grand Jury Prize at
Sundance in 2019. Written and directed by Chinonye Chukwu, Clemency
took a long time to get off the ground before Alfre Woodard was
cast in the lead role. You can watch The 40-Year-Old Version
streaming on Netflix. Find Eric Branco: https://ericbrancodp.com/
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