Few people consider that an everyday action as simple as snapping a photo or creating a video can shape an entire career. For Luke Berg, having a camera became what he describes as “a VIP ticket to life.” Ambitious and inspired by the landscapes around him, he picked up his camera to build his career and capture the world.

“I love being able to experience a moment of how I truly saw it and felt it in that moment and share that to the rest of the world,” says Berg.

The First Frame

Growing up surrounded by alpine terrain and action sports in Park City, Utah, Berg took inspiration from cinematographers that came before him like Warren Miller who Berg describes as the “godfather of ski cinematography.” Berg says his journey began with the creation of a portfolio. Whether he took a day trip into the Wasatch mountains, or built hype for local sports games, he captured it all while building upon his skills. 

“I wanted to use every opportunity that I had to build my portfolio, get better … create more videos,” says Berg. 

With a rich passion for cinematography he began to monetize his creative work through posting on social media. Berg has garnered 145,000 followers on Instagram and 224,600 followers on TikTok. This combination of a large following and artistic ability gave Berg the opportunity to travel the world for his work.

Through his travels, Berg recalls meeting remarkable people, having new experiences and indulging in new cultures. His process starts by doing research on his future travels, and he has found that the best way to capture a destination is from a tourist’s perspective. He acknowledges that it can be difficult to truly appreciate where he is and what he is experiencing when the purpose of his trip is for business, but he believes that he should first and foremost be present in a moment before getting the shot.

“I think experiencing it first is very important, and then you’re … able to spark ideas of what to create … when you really dive into it,” says Berg.

A personal business trip that stands out to Berg is his trip to Saint Moritz, Switzerland. A destination that Berg first heard of when it went viral on TikTok, and through what he believes was the power of manifestation, the tourism board of Saint Moritz reached out to him, said they loved his work and asked him to promote tourism for their town. With three days notice, he acquired a Swiss drone license and booked a flight across the Atlantic. He describes his trip as something out of Wes Anderson film and says that it made him fall in love with his career even more.

Worldwide Collaboration

While his audience on social media grew, Berg was able to connect with other filmmakers attracted to his lifestyle. He furthered these online connections by hosting creator trips in dream destinations around the world. On these trips, he and other creators connected, learned and inspired each other in both cinematography and business.  

Berg achieved these creator trips with the help of a company called Best in Travel and says the opportunity of these trips is open to all creators even beyond filmmaking. From the Maldives to the Philippines, Berg has witnessed his fellow creatives’ success and has created life-long connections from around the world. 

“I wish that when I was younger and I was early on in my career, I was able to have an experience like that where I went on a trip with a filmmaker that I knew or looked up to … and I was able to go out there and learn from them,” says Berg. “I just wanted to start providing that for other people, and it was kind of a way for me to … be able to … travel the world and monetize off of it while I’m helping other people grow and do the same as well.”

A creator trip that stands out to Berg was when he traveled to the island of Thulusdhoo in the Maldives and met a local tour guide named Mufaz. On the last day of the trip, Berg knew he couldn’t leave without telling the story of Mufaz and the island that he lived on. His last day in the Maldives was spent with camera in hand, sitting down with Mufaz and creating a story out of a conversation.

In one day, Berg and Mufaz created a mini documentary that shed a positive light on travel culture in the Maldives. Berg says he wanted to highlight how the Maldives can be misinterpreted as a luxury resort destination, rather than islands inhabited by local communities and the adventures beyond resort living.

From Creator to CEO

After four years of solo film making, Berg met his current business partner Lucas Gauger through social media. He says that together they combined their passion for filmmaking with entrepreneurial drive and decided to build something bigger than themselves by starting their own video production company, Run N Gun Studios.   

Berg says the name Run N Gun comes from a common technique used by filmmakers when on a tight schedule. To “run it” and “gun it” is the selling point for Run N Gun Studios according to Berg. He says their two-person team is able to complete projects for clients quickly no matter how sporadic.

Berg says that him and Gauger want to build a community of people who are passionate about the work they do. With their goal to continue to build a culture that motivates and connects individuals, Berg says they hope to continue to grow their team as well. 

“Our goals is always to in the future, [to] have a production company where we actually have a crew and … really talented people where we can … do more projects, [and] create more work,” says Berg.

A Cinematography Playbook

For anyone looking to start their journey in cinematography, Luke Berg recommends creating media that is emotionally impactful. He emphasizes that the content that performs the best is content people can relate to. Especially with the rise of AI content, he has noticed that people engage more with relatable, true human content rather than videos generated by a computer.

“If you can relate to somebody’s life experiences or a feeling through a video. It will perform well … because content that is relatable, is shareable and it’s likable, and people repost it on their stories or they send it to a friend because it relates to them,” says Berg.

Many people can misinterpret how much goes into content creation, according to Berg. He says that many may assume it is all about taking the video, when filming is only a fraction of the production process. From pitch decks to color grading, Berg emphasizes the amount of work done behind the scenes in cinematography.

Berg also notes the importance of using the connections at your disposal when building a portfolio. Whether it is a small business or a high school sports team, Berg says to do the work for free, as it grows your portfolio and provides value to your community. Additionally, Berg says to value the importance of networking and that working for one client can turn into work for ten clients.

While Berg attributes his biggest motivator to his younger self, he also acknowledges that he is his own worst critic. He says he has yet to create what he considers to be the perfect video and is always finding ways he can improve. While he still aims to improve the quality of his work with every project, he says that he would have never known all things he would be able to do if he never picked up the camera.

“You have to have passion and you have to fall in love with your work … Through falling in love with your work … you’ll be able to attract and grow and get better,” says Berg.