Education

BA in Film and Photography from Montana State University

Nationally registered EMT - LA and OC County Accredited

Backcountry Avalanche Level I

Phil Newman

My life has been told with a camera in hand since a very early age. I am so fortunate to have found a passion that keeps me challenged, curious, and always wanting more. It has formed the way in which I frame my world, and enables me to share that frame with the world.  

Though I write, direct, and on occasion even produce, my deepest passion is behind the lens. Shaping light and dark in constant pursuit of capturing an emotion that is bigger than just a single moment, and sharing it with others.

I was born in Boston, Massachusetts. When I was a toddler, my grandfather gave me his old broken Polaroid 100 land camera as a toy. I am a dreamer, so naturally it had me in awe. Though I couldn't take a picture, I was fascinated by the mechanics and mystified at how a photo could result. It was fewer than 10 years later that I worked on my first feature in 2002. Not to get all lengthy with history, but lets just say that Polaroid ignited a flame that is still burning today. 

Though I currently live in LA, skiing has also been an enormous part of my life and has shaped a great deal of whom I am today. I was on skis even before my days with the Polaroid. I began ski racing when I was 6 and eventually enrolled in a ski academy where I competed all through high school.

By college I discovered the big mountains of the west and I left my ski racing career behind for deep powder and big lines. Skiing led to climbing and mountaineering as a means to get to more skiing. I did a stint on ski patrol and learned some basic medical skills I found to be pretty useful. I continue to stay certified as an EMT today. 

I moved away from the mountains of Montana to broaden my lens on the world and become a better artist. To deepen my understanding of the subtleties of great storytelling. Though the mountains inspire me and I plan to eventually return, for now I am able to bring my knowledge to the city and a greater community of passionate filmmakers.