Meet Darryl Humphrey II | Cinematographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Darryl Humphrey II and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Darryl, what’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?
The hardest decision I’ve had to make was leaving my job to start my business full-time. I was thrust into entrepreneurship after COVID-19 closed my daughter’s daycare center, and I was making probably 50-60% of my income from my business, meaning I was not ready to make that leap, but I had no choice. Think of it, I was forced to start this journey amid everything closing down, and I was terrified that I would survive, and here we are four years later and I’m still in business. If it wasn’t for my faith, I wouldn’t have made that difficult decision, because logically, it didn’t make sense, but I’m learning that everybody’s timing is different. When God is ready to move you up all you have to do is make the decision and the rest will follow.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am the founder and CEO of Above The Line Media. We are a full-scale production agency that delivers impactful video and content solutions designed to elevate brands, Above The Line. Our unique strength lies in marrying strategy with content. We don’t just stop at creating visually stunning content, we also provide expert support in leveraging it for results.

We got where we are today, by leaning into the strategy of the content instead of only focusing on how it looks. How it performs is the most important part of a video, photography, email, or whatever you’re sharing with your audience online. For us, we realized that a lot of clients did not possess the skill to get the results from their work and over the years we’ve made this an integral part of our business to not just create content for our clients but to help them leverage it to get results.

It was not easy, to say the least. Starting at the beginning of COVID-19 has had its own challenges, but the relationships I forged before COVID-19, helped me through that season. I was filming for a church before everything shut down and one of the church members owned a deep cleaning company. He sought to hire me to go along with him in the field to film his workers’ cleaning facilities during Covid. I would put on a full suit and mask and film all over the city for his company. You can imagine how many times a week I was filming during Covid. That sustained me. What are the odds of that right? Relationships are everything in business.

Relationships have led us to work with some amazing companies and people such as Google, Microsoft, Steve Harvey, Chrisette Michele, & BET.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Atlanta has a lot to offer and I like the things in the city that may not be the most popular. Starting with food we have plentiful options. We would have to get some good Pho at Vietvana and some of the best sushi in the city at Kuroshio’s. For some of the best Lousiana cuisine, one of my personal favorites, we would go to Lousina Bistreaux.

I’m not that much of a drinker, but for drinks, we would go to Vesper’s.

For activities, we would go to Putt Shack, The Beltline, The Coca-Cola Museum, and The Georgia Aquarium.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have an incredible circle of friends who mean the world to me. They have been with me every step of the way through some of my life’s most challenging trials and to come out on the other side of these challenges unscathed is a literal miracle. It couldn’t have been done and cannot continue to be done without having the right people around me. You are the sum of the company you keep, so it’s important to keep people around you who are willing to pour into you and who you are willing to pour into yourself. It’s easier said than done these days, but its worth the time it takes to find your people and stick by them.

Website: www.atlforever.com

Instagram: @Gfatherproducer

Facebook: www.facebook.com/atlforever

Image Credits
For the photo with the client wearing a suit sitting down and the photo with me holding a microphone the photo credit is for Asuquo Eton ( @asuquoe on instagram) The other two photo credits are Jade Forest ( @iamjadeforest)