neal margolin

Born in Boston, I’ve been hunting and capturing images since I was twelve. I found myself especially drawn to shooting nature, fascinated with how different the world could look depending on the light and your point of view.

But it was just a hobby then. As years passed, I earned a Marketing degree from the University of Massachusetts and moved to the beaches of San Diego. There, I worked on the Santa Fe Railroad for nearly a decade before my heart sent me back to photography.

Over the next few years I was a freelance photographer, covering events, shooting a Westways Magazine story and another for the San Diego Union newspaper. I sold landscapes to book publishers, won some contests, and assisted many local and national photographers shooting mostly from helicopters and planes.

I found myself more interested in film and television, and soon moved to Los Angeles to earn a film degree from Art Center College of Design. I worked on many commercials and music videos. Among the highlights was working audio on a music video with Bruce Springsteen and a film I directed, edited, and partially shot was nominated for two Los Angeles Emmys, winning one.

For a video or film to be effective, there needs to be a sense of story to make an emotional connection to the viewer. To that end I studied story at the American Film Institute and was hired as a story analyst for NBC TV and Village Roadshow Pictures (The Matrix, Oceans 11, Gran Torino). For years I analyzed hundreds of books and screenplays for their market potential.

Over time I grew tired of big cities and moved to beautiful Sedona. While teaching video, film, and photography at Yavapai College, I founded CineVideo to bring all that I’ve learned about story, lighting, and directing to my clients.

More recently I partnered with entrepreneur Ron Melmon’s Zippo Productions. With our combined experience, our goal is to create effective videos that speak from the heart and motivate the audience to action.