Mike Call
I was raised at the base of Mount Olympus, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The mountains have always been a source of inspiration, action, and therapy. It brought me to rock climbing when it was just a weird thing to do, and I started shooting my friends on a Sony Handycam of my dads.
This got me into filmmaking as a career (after co founding a climbing gear company called Pusher).
I’ve since done dozens of climbing films, started the first online video magazine (then two more after that), pre-YouTube.
Got really lucky to shoot on feature films with Danny Boyle and Barbara Kopple, worked on episodic for HBO, and keep shooting climbing because I just can’t quit my first love.
I’m self taught, but I learned how to get better from the crews around me.
Mike Call’s creative vision transcends the lens, and in fact, begins in the mountains. His ability to capture the essence of the climbing life is unique because it’s through the eyes of someone who has lived it.
Shooting documentaries was my film school. I learned to shoot, direct and edit. I tend to approach shoots from a holistic POV. Editing informed my shots, directing helped my shooting. I love the process of going from an idea to a finished piece. I think film is my favorite art form and I’m grateful to be able to do it.
Career Storyline
26
Years of Experience
250+
Editorial and Commercial Assignments
1
Director's Selection for Mountainfilm "The Artist" 2021
3
Video Magazines founded (pre-youtube)
3M
YouTube views (probably more if you count all the stuff posted by randos)
Experience
Shooting “127 Hours” with movie heroes Danny Boyle and Anthony Dodd Mantle felt like a documentary in many ways, Danny’s ideas popping up and asking us to find a way. I was brought in for shots like this, but he asked me to pick up shots that they just didn’t have time for in the schedule. I was a bonus DP that he would send off with a shot list an i’d do my best to deliver him good shots. You knew he liked the shot when he giggled looking at dailies.
