Athan Merrick Cinematographer + Director of Photography

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About

I grew up in a little village of three hundred called Galisteo; about half an hour from the cultural complexity and vast high desert vistas of Santa Fe, New Mexico. My father is an architectural photographer and my mother a former modern dancer and life-long abstract painter, both of whom taught me to have a detailed, visual, discerning eye, with a hard dedication to craftsmanship, and a fundamental appreciation of aesthetics and movement. I now ski, surf, and live in the mountains, oceans, and temperate rainforests surrounding Vancouver Island, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

I have a BFA from the University of British Columbia Film Production program, specializing in cinematography, while minoring in philosophy. In the early part of my career I spent 4 years working as an IATSE 891 lighting technician and best boy on feature films and television shows to work with and observe how master cinematographers shoot and light low budget to 200 million dollar Hollywood studio pictures.

In 2018 I received the CSC (Canadian Society of Cinematographers) Experimental/Unique Award for my work on the art installation Uninterrupted with Director Nettie Wild.

I am a co-founder of Dendrite Studios, a creative production company focused on the visual realm of the outdoors. Dendrite’s most recent ski film, Numinous, has been awarded the ski industry’s highest honour, Movie of the Year at the Powder Awards, as well as Best Cinematography at If3 Festival, Best Documentary Cinematography at the Leo Awards (BC Film Awards), and numerous other awards. Dendrite’s short film Parallels was a Vimeo Staff Pick, featured in the USA Today Travel Section and Atlantic magazine and winning Best Short Film Cinematography at FESCINAT.

A passionate surfer, and a former competitive skier, I have 4 top 5 finishes at international freeride skiing competitions and have been published as an athlete in ski magazines around the world. This adventurous spirit allows me to be immersed in the elements, where thousands of ideas, feelings, and conflicts happen in split seconds leaving behind another realm of quietness, where everything fades away and the moment at hand is paramount. These peak experiences have informed my entire life. I want my cinematography to bring back souvenirs from these frontiers, to carry magic back from that mysterious place, to be a token of the experience.

Clients, Production, and Broadcast Partners include: Mazda, Patagonia, SAP, National Geographic, Smithsonian Channel, Love Nature, History, ESPN, BBC, CBC, Discovery, NFL, Mussell Records, OceanWise, Lenovo, Pepperidge Farm, Ades Sports Drink, Chevy, Discover Card, Teton Gravity Research, Fit Foods, Hedrich Blessing, Michele Oka Doner, ZGF Architects, Rennie Marketing Systems, Magnum Projects, The Ski Channel, Peak Performance, Whistler Blackcomb, Durex, All Tracks Academy, Parallax Films, Swany Gloves, Sugar Skull Films, SoMedia Networks, Pin Point Productions, Norseman Productions, BLM Films, Breakthrough Santa Fe, ROI Recreation, Epic Planks, TLH Heliskiing, Skiing Magazine, Team 13, Red Cedar Films, Off Island, Canada Wild, Runway Films, Bubblegum Films, Jon Long Films, Lot 2 Media, Hammer & Tong, Field Trip, Crew Marketing, Handful of Films.

Athan Merrick Cinematographer + Director of Photography Vancouver Island, BC Canada

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