Three decades in the field.
Trust is built before the camera rolls.
James Peterson is a New York based, Netflix-approved Director of Photography. Three decades across documentary, narrative, television, commercial, and brand work, in New York and on location worldwide, on union and non-union productions.
James started in Washington DC, running sound for network news and documentary crews, and by the late 90s was working on his own, learning beside veteran cinematographers across hundreds of productions for National Geographic, Discovery, and HBO. The trade runs in the family; his father, Bob Peterson, shot 60 Minutes for thirty five years.
Since then: 44 countries and territories, 49 states. Pristine Seas expeditions in the South Pacific, conflict zones, the first civilians to reach orbit for Netflix, brand films for Delta and Nike.
Whether the crew is two people or fifty, the approach is the same: show up prepared, ask the right questions, look after the day, and put the story first.
Engage
Hire James solo, or a full turnkey crew through James Peterson Films, LLC, from development through delivery. Fully insured.
Kit
In-house ARRI, Sony, and Canon packages with prime and zoom glass, minutes from New York's major rental houses for specialty pieces and a director's preferred lenses. A 170 Sprinter with lift gate, a Suburban, Starlink and hotspots for remote directors, one person band audio kits. Custom tools for running premium gear in small documentary crews, participant first, from conflict zones to independent features. Custom AI pipelines in post, including noise reduction for interviews in a loud city.
Field-ready
FAA Part 107 drone certified. HUET and hostile environment trained. Previously held a U.S. government security clearance (currently inactive), with extensive experience embedded with U.S. military units and working under NDA in restricted environments.
Crew
A global network of crews built over years of working together, available for shoots of any size, anywhere.
Union and non-union
Available for union (IATSE) and non-union productions, with crews staffed to match the production's agreement.
Netflix-approved
Approved by Netflix as Director of Photography, with Netflix originals including Countdown: Inspiration4 and Gold & Greed, and in-house camera packages built to Netflix 4K capture requirements.
By specialty: Netflix DP · National Geographic DP · Vérité cinematographer · Television DP · NYC DP · Documentary · Commercial
