Author's Bio
D.L. White
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I moved to Los Angeles in the fall of 1991 to study music and after completion of those musical studies, I produced and released three albums which were, quite frankly, terrible. As I still had to eat while I was waiting to become the next big rock star, I stumbled into an entry level position at a post production house called Sunset Post in early 1994.
For whatever reason, I seemed to have an aptitude for the technical side of post work and managed to move fairly quickly through the ranks. This is not to brag, and rather the truth of the matter was that I was never really all that interested in film and television, but one takes what one gets I suppose.
Oh, and it paid a LOT...well, used to anyway...I guess I can't bitch too much.
Anyway, Sunset Post (which eventually became Sunset Digital) gave me pretty incredible access to a world I never really knew existed. By the end of my 12 years there, I had been given the great fortune to work on dozens of really fine (and some not so fine) network television shows and literally hundreds of theatrical films.
It was during this time that I started to experiment with various camera platforms and a lot of the new digital stuff that was coming out at the time. Mostly goofing around making little music videos which eventually led me to start experimenting with film cameras and next thing I knew I was knee deep in lighting packages, camera equipment and sound recording equipment. I even bought a little machine shop set-up to (attempt) to tinker into existence some interesting camera mounts and what not.
That machine shop stuff didn't go so well...not to worry, I still have all my fingers.
At the end of all that, I had come up with some pretty nice music videos for some really talented artists, a few short films and a couple of commercials and specs that weren't half bad. You can find my very meager IMDB profile here if you are interested.
I also took up acting in the middle of all this. Someone had suggested it to me as a way to help my directing and writing. I started off taking a few classes at The Acting Corps in North Hollywood, but then realized that I was learning some odd, abbreviated mish-mash of technique that claimed to be "Meisner", but Sanford Meisner's school (that he actually founded and taught at) was right down the street.
I thought to myself, that if I'm going to bother learning how to act and if I'm going to bother using Meisner's method to do so, that I should probably go to the source. Best time and money I ever spent. Martin Barter (who runs the school) is Sanford Meisner's hand picked protege, who carries on Sandy's name and technique with a great deal of passion and care. Two years of that schooling and I got to lay claim to a sliver of a pretty amazing brotherhood of artists, us graduates of the Meisner technique. I'd recommend it to anyone who cares a whit about film, television or the theater. It'll change ya!
Since then, I've continued to work in the post production world, currently in the master control department of Efilm Digital Laboratories and I also teach Editing Theory and Practice and Principles of Production at Columbia College of Hollywood.
I continue to direct the occasional piece and find a great deal of enjoyment in working with actors and actresses on set. This business that I stumbled into is pretty much all I know, as I've been floating around it now for nearly 15 years. I suppose it's just in my blood...snuck in there somehow anyway. But, it's a neat racket and I guess I'll keep trundling along until they tell me to stop.
As always, if you have any questions or thoughts, or would just like to share some of your successes, please feel free to drop me a line. I actually answer them.
Best of Luck out there and remember, you can't fail if you don't quit.
D.L. White