Meet Santino Martirano | Documentary and Commercial Filmmaker & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Santino Martirano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Santino, how does your business help the community?
This question seems like a good one to start with, from my work all over the world for so long I focused on epic and “inspiring” stories. But the past few years the passion projects have really landed on actual impact to the community.

When I think of helpful impact, I think of the project I work on with Range of Motion Project to help raise awareness for those suffering from Limb Loss in the Americas. We climb Cotopaxi as a team in Ecuador and raise money and awareness to supply underprivileged communities with high quality prosthetic care.

I hope that answers your question, I enjoy helping to raise awareness through storytelling with a purpose… although I still enjoy the projects where we simply “send it”.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I mean I have been shooting photos for as long as I can remember. When I think back, I guess it all started after my aunt gifted me a camera for my 10th birthday. I burned through a roll of film in the backyard and never stopped. The hobby slowly developed into documenting friends and siblings while skateboarding through elementary and high school where I had photos in art shows and developed a passion for documenting the misfit sports.

I think if it was a smooth road to success in this career path, I would have chosen something else. From living in my car and knocking on the doors of production studios, the path was everything but smooth. Through dealing with anxiety and self-doubt I held myself back for a long time but knew I had to keep pushing until things worked out.

What am I most proud of? It is always hard to pick what I am most proud of but this path of mine has taken me from the North Pole to the Desert and everywhere in between. If I had to put my finger on one thing, I’d say I am currently the most proud of chasing a story without any sponsorship or funding. I have been working on a project for sometime to tell the story of a Rock Climber in Sardinia, Italy who suffers from a terrible auto immune disease. I spent every last penny in my bank account to bring this together and now that I am slowly seeing the film come to life, I cannot wait to share it with the world.

(The film, Still Alive, will be out to the public at the end of the 2022)

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I think if a friend was visiting me in Denver, I’d immediately take them into the mountains. The fresh air, high altitude, and raw elements really bring me peace and I’d hope it does the same for them.

I’d probably grab a pie on the way to Estes Park and aim to rock climb at Lily Lake or head up Longs Peak just to give them a taste of what it is like to live out here.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First off, I am honored to be selected for a “Shoutout”. Sometimes it feels undeserving when things like this come up but I remind myself that I must have done something to earn this… of course, not without the folks in my life I have to thank.

Most recently while chasing a self funded passion project in Italy, my good friend and mentor, Tony Czech told me to “Never stop learning and pushing the creative limit. As artists, there is always room for progression, improvement, and practicing our craft. The moment we stop learning will be the moment we have lost interest as artists.”

This really resonated with me, you don’t have to select a style or niche to work in, shoot what you dig and try new things.

Another person that I’d like to give some credit to is Chris Jerard. Chris gave me a shot when I had nothing but a camera, a little bit of drive, and what I think was a good work ethic. I was inexperienced and quite frankly in over my head as a freelancer. I hounded him until he finally gave me a job and I worked as a Producer for Roam Media for a few years until jumping back to freelance.

The things he taught me cannot be learned in school and from entrepreneurial lessons to creative lessons, I learned more than I ever expected working at Roam Media.

Chris saw something in me and gave me a shot and for that I am forever grateful.

Website: santinomartirano.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinomartirano/

Other: santinomartirano.com/prints Photo Prints – $50-$150