Randy Baker is a prolific producer, director, videographer, and educator bridging the gap between technology and creative storytelling in new and inspiring ways.
Books now available: Randy Baker: On Location
When you search the Internet Movie Database for Randy, you will find him listed as a director of photography, cinematographer, technical manager or camera operator for an amazing list of television shows that continues to grow year after year.
I had some very good luck in my budding career about 22 years ago, when many disparate activities started leading in some positive directions for me. One of those new avenues was my first gig as a television writer, which came about because of prolific producer, director and videographer Randy Baker. Although that project never quite made it on the air, it led to a lot of collaborations with Randy over the next several years, all of which impacted me profoundly.
Before any of that happened, back when I was still a student at the University of Central Florida and president of the film club, Randy was one of the esteemed guest speakers I’d invited in. Already well known for his career achievements and knowledge, Randy’s knack for stepping forward as a local industry leader was in many ways just getting started. So all those years later when I was concepting shows, writing business plans, grant proposals and news releases and doing audio for him on shoots, he was also teaching me what it meant to be productive, to be a leader, to earn money, and to live as a freelance business professional. To describe this unique man, anyone who knows him would say he’s humble, hilarious, endlessly fascinating – and also, extremely generous. Whatever talents I had to offer to the world, I am so thankful that Randy came along, put me to work, and put his faith in me.
These are just some of the reasons why creating a book of this man’s photography and sharing it has been such a pleasure. Please note that the dozens of photos I was able to collect and use in the book are just the tip of the iceberg: There is a massive archive of his work that continues to grow by the gigabyte week after week. To know Randy is to understand that, for him, creating is an essential part of living. I was along for some of the adventures, which always seem to keep him on-the-go, and that is a clue into the book’s title. As long as Randy and his lovely wife Selena have been married, it seems like he has mostly been away, “on location.” With that in mind, I wanted her – and the rest of Randy’s friends, family-members and fans – to be able to see and share what he does while he’s on-the-job. Personally, I’ve seen that he’s usually holding a camera and putting it to great use.
Randy Baker: On Location is available now in hardcover, softcover, Ebook and Apple iPad editions at http://books.darnellworks.com. You can keep-up with Randy’s latest adventures here: http://bit.ly/RBPhoto