#87 - Nikita Khatsarevich - Pushing The Limits as a DP

<p>In this episode, Gian Carlo sits down with Nikita Khatsarevich, a Ukrainian-born cinematographer now based in Warsaw, for an honest and wide-ranging conversation about building a creative career from the ground up. Nikita traces his path from a small industrial city in Zaporizhia — where he almost became a jazz trumpet player — to climbing every rung of the camera department starting at 16, driven by a simple philosophy: find work that doesn&#39;t feel like work. He opens up about the unglamorous in-between periods of a freelance career, the unpredictable waves of busy and quiet months he still can&#39;t explain after nine years in the industry, and how he&#39;s learned to fill those gaps with life rather than anxiety. The conversation moves through his use of Unreal Engine as a pre-production tool, his decision to build the Black Side community after not finding the cinematography resource hub he was looking for, and his upcoming leap into YouTube — something he admits had his hands shaking. Through it all, a recurring theme emerges: Nikita&#39;s creative restlessness, his drive to keep challenging himself technically and personally, and his belief that every commercial job is just a rep in the gym preparing him for something bigger.</p><p><br></p>