BUDDY SQUIRES - Cinematographer
Team Deakins
James Ellis Deakins
4.9 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2026
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
SEASON 2 - EPISODE 194 Buddy Squires - Cinematographer
In this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we speak with cinematographer Buddy Squires (THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, BEYOND THE BEACH: THE HELL AND THE HOPE, BASEBALL). Buddy has worked on countless documentaries, ranging from vérité to recreations, and we spend the episode discussing how he sees his work and what he tries to achieve while capturing images of events happening in real time. Buddy has also worked with director Ken Burns since they met in college, and he gives us insight into their lifelong collaboration and their approach to portraying history. Buddy also recalls the winding path he took to reach documentary filmmaking, and he reflects on the filmmakers, photographers, and films that inspired him the most at the time. Buddy later reflects on his experiences shooting the humanitarian work featured in BEYOND THE BEACH across the Middle East, and we ask him if he feels documentaries can make a difference. We also discuss how digital camera technology has made Buddy's job easier, and he shares his review of the drone footage from the 2026 Winter Olympics.
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This episode is sponsored by Aputure
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi and welcome to season two of the Team Deacons podcast, a collection of informal conversations |
| 0:10.1 | between Roger and James Deacons and a guest. We never know where the conversation will take |
| 0:16.0 | us, so listen in and see where it goes. |
| 0:29.3 | This episode is sponsored by Aperture and its new Storm XT-52, the industry's most powerful LED point source light. Brighter than a 6K HMI empowered by Aperture's revolutionary |
| 0:36.7 | Blair light engine, the Storm XT-52 is both a tunable |
| 0:41.8 | white light and also the brightest ever adjustable color LED. Storm XT-52, unrivaled output, only from |
| 0:52.0 | aperture. Today we're speaking with the cinematographer. output only from Aperture. |
| 0:57.8 | Today we're speaking with the cinematographer. His credits include The American Revolution, Beyond the Beach, The Hell and the Hope, and |
| 1:03.7 | rancher, farmer, fisherman. |
| 1:05.9 | We're pleased to welcome Buddy Squires. |
| 1:09.1 | Buddy, thank you for doing this. |
| 1:10.6 | Thank you, buddy. |
| 1:12.2 | Thank you for having me. |
| 1:13.3 | It's a real pleasure and an honor to speak with both of you. |
| 1:16.3 | We'd like to start with our normal question, which is, how did you get to where you are today? |
| 1:20.8 | Is this something that you always knew that you wanted to do? |
| 1:23.8 | Is it something that you picked up further down the line? Do you regret it? What's your story? |
| 1:31.6 | I don't regret it, but I try not to regret very much of anything. I don't think that's a very good way to live. |
| 1:37.0 | I was always interested in photography and filmmaking as an alternative way of expression from writing. I was a pretty good |
| 1:46.8 | writer in school, but nonetheless, I just found myself drawn to visual imagery. I wasn't really |
| 1:52.4 | sure what that meant. And I graduated from high school about a year early, took a bunch of time |
| 1:57.9 | went skiing, worked construction projects everywhere, and then eventually, after |
... |
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