Meet Amber Blake | Actress/Director of Photography

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amber Blake and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amber, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Actors need to have clips to show their types and feature their best acting. Many actors who are new and starting out have not booked any projects so it is a way to get them in front of the camera to show their acting. Demo reels where the thing to have and now casting wants to see clips. It is so much easier to see a clip that is so specific you know exactly what you are going to watch. For example… Drama_Dr. Performs Medical Emergency in Elevator.

The people who have really helped me start my business Pix N Clips is my Mentor Wendy Alane Wright, who is a Talent Manager and CEO/Founder of HollyWood Winners Circle Business Academy for Actors and Sean Perez Actor/Agent in Australia. In HWC we focus on getting clips that are our three most castable types and really focus on procedural clips.

I wanted to help actors get those clips going at an affordable rate so they do not have to stress about not having footage until they book and then may or may not even be able to use that footage. Also, we can really focus on their types and roles they would be going for so when casting has the breakdown the actor can submit because they have the clip that fits them for that role already in their wheelhouse.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Pix N Clips was created so artists can act in front of the camera and receive professional footage that they could use in their demo reels. I have been working behind the camera for 7 years now practicing the craft and growing as a person. I started as a production assistant helping out on set wherever I could. I learned to run sound, set up lights and eventually was thrown on camera where I found my love for it. It was a fun, long exhilarating journey. There were days where we were shooting for 17 hour days. Which is not uncommon on film sets. Long days indeed, but I learned a ton, practiced my niche, and made wonderful connections with amazing creatives.

When it comes to camera work and the lessons learnt, you have to be aware of all the different rules and angles that go into it. Like they say, you don’t know what you don’t know. I am blessed to have the people in my life who took the time to teach me what I now know. Examples such as the rules of third, breaking the 180 rule, when to use close ups vs mid shots. There is so much more to it then just pressing the record button.

Then another challenging task to learn was editing. Oh my, oh my! I was afraid to learn how to edit. The whole screen with the color grading, audio tracks and everything looked so confusing to me. Once I had someone break it down and show me what each control did and walked me through a practice clip that we edited together it wasn’t so bad! Baby steps! There is always more to learn but if you enjoy what you are doing and you find what you really love you will enjoy every step of it!

I really enjoy camera work and editing. That is when one of my mentors saw clip that I shot and edited for another actor and they said that I could be charging to do this. My work came out amazing and actors will be able to get clips that focus on them with scenes that are actually about something. That is when Pix N Clips was born! My nickname is Pickles. Yes, I do love them! It was a childhood nickname and not really sure where it came from. I just always remember it being my nickname. And I wanted to shoot clips for actors so I put the two together and formed Pix for half of pickles and pixels then clips because that is what I was shooting! My logo is a pickle holding a camera. It is so me! Pickles with the love for the camera. 🙂

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One of my top favorite places to visit in the city is the Georgia Aquarium for sure! Not one, but TWO whale sharks and the amazing tunnel are you serious?! Yes, sign me up! The aquarium is my attraction downtown. There are so many exhibits to check out and see all the animals.

For food I would definitely take my friends to Mellow Mushroom and Taco Mac. The food at both places is so good and they have a good variety in beer to choose from.

I am all about hiking. I have been to a few places to hike and so far my favorite place to take the dog is Stone Mountain. There are trails that are dog friendly and some that are not so if you are going to take your furry friend be sure to check out that map first.

Another fun attraction we would go it to an indoor rock climbing. It is great exercise and a way to stretch out those muscles. They have fun platforms even some that have puzzles where you have to be careful where you put your foot or grab because you might fall!

I have been here for a few years and I still have many more hot spots to discover, but for right now these are my fun places that I like to go.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have three amazing mentors to have helped develop me over the years. Janet Urban, Founder of Friends in Film. Jodie Bentley, Career Coach for Actors, and Wendy Alane Wright, Talent Mangers, CEO/Founder of Hollywood Winners Circle Business Academy for Actors.

And also my mom for the above and beyond support and always believing in me.

Website: https://www.pixnclips.com

Instagram: https://www.pixnclips.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-blake-a20b10278/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amber.blake.7528

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ-1nqaCg2W2vXBKKZOjTzA