Martin Gerard(I)

Martin Jeff Gerard is a nineteen-year-old Belgian filmmaker attending Idyllwild Arts Academy in California. He has worked on over forty short films, twenty-seven of which he was the cinematographer. Gerard is known by his peers for his unbreakable passion and fierce work ethic. He is an exceptional director of photography, a tech-savvy editor, and most importantly, a unique storyteller. When asked, Gerard said he pulls inspiration from his favorite film, Beast of No Nation, and most admired cinematographer, Bradford Young. Ultimately, Martin wants to become a director of photography on narrative films, specifically action dramas. Gerard was born in Haiti before being adopted into a Belgian family at a young age. During the course of his life, he lived in many countries: Niger, France, Ethiopia, Mexico, the United States, and more. At the age of eight, he began making films alone using his younger sister's camera. This experience pushed him to pursue filmmaking on a deeper level at Idyllwild Arts Academy. From there, he excelled as a filmmaker, creating his own non-profit production company with his peers. Gerard not only has worked on a short documentary in Mexico as a production assistant but also as the camera operator and assistant camera. More recently, he was invited to a film retreat with various Hollywood screenwriters to fine-tune his storytelling abilities.