RUSSELL MIDORI
Photographer & Certified Drone Pilot
Cinematic Production | Responsible Journalism
News Cinematography Reel
Here is some recent work (in no particular order). Most of my stuff from the past few years is from North America. I incorporated a lot of new technology to achieve moving stabilization and shot plenty of drone footage, but I also relied on timeless broadcast storytelling techniques..
A timeline of career snapshots (with links)
Here are a few of the adventures I've been on. Click the image on the timeline to view some media I produced from each of these experiences.
2008 - 2012
Marine Corps
Serving as a photog and correspondent for the USMC taught me professional storytelling. I shot and edited this immersive video at a training event in Bulgaria.
2009 - 2013
Newspapers
I have filed more than 300 articles for newspapers. I wrote stories, captured photography, and even designed pages. Here's a feature about a skatepark.
2012-2014
Brooklyn College
It was a great privilege to learn broadcasting from Barbara Nevins-Taylor. I earned a bachelor's degree and an Emmy award for my work.
2015
Race Across America
I reported on a grueling bike race from Oceanside California to Annapolis over 12 days. What a way to see America. Here is one of the videos I co-produced.
2015
Haitian Election
With corruption allegations and a populace ever on the brink of violence, it felt nothing like U.S. elections (at that time...). I was honored to receive an Overseas Press Club foundation award for my reporting.
2015
New York Times
Working as a stringer for the NYT Metro Section, I interviewed people in the field to share the workload with a great team of New York news reporters.
2016
Rigged
My investigative documentary about wage theft in the NYC construction trade was the runner up for the 2016 Dupont-Crichton award.
2016
Standing Rock
I covered the North Dakota Access Pipeline, telling the story of the veterans who braved inhospitable conditions to fight for Native American sovereignty.
2014-2017
Professional Editing
I became a video editor, using Premiere and AVID to cut industrial films for the likes of DeSantis Breindel. Here's one I did for Chase Bank.
2017
White Hat Hackers
I shot this documentary in India about the white hat hackers who safeguard your information. I filmed the parts in Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, and Buffalo, NY.
2017
Children of ISIS
I embedded with Iraqi forces during the Battle of Mosul to film this story about Yazidi children brainwashed by the terrorist group.
July 2017
Nightmare Scenario
I filmed U.S. military operations in South Korea, Guam, and Hawaii to tell this story about a nuclear North Korea. I edited many of the scenes too.
2018
Coastal Anti-Terror
I filmed this training in California using smooth-action tracking and captured audio by locking a headset in a pelican case beside a zoom recorder.
2018
Save the Vaquitas
I traveled to Mexico with Don Dahler and Julian Quiñones to film a team of research biologists desperately trying to save this endangered aquatic mammal.
2019
David Ortiz Prisoner Transfer
When Red Sox legend David Ortiz was shot in the Dominican Republic, I filmed and co-produced the story for CBS This Morning.
2019
Dominican Health Minister
While competitors sensationalized a story about tourist deaths in the DR, we stuck to the facts and earned exclusives from the uncooperative government.
2019
Wild Horses
I shot and produced this story for CBS This Morning, also operating the drone camera with RJ Hill and managing post-production with Susan Walker.
2020
NYC Food Distro
This is one of many stories I have fully shot and edited in under four hours in my news truck since I started working as a photographer for Channel 11.
2021
Snow Day
Extreme weather events are beautiful and brutal for news broadcasters. Sure I cursed the day, but I felt so proud when Shirley Chan and I made slot and went live to show our viewers this devastating nor'easter.
2021
The Killer Next Door: Son of Sam
I shot this moody light, true-crime, two-cam interview with Mary Murphy about an infamous New York serial killer for a Fox doc.
2021
48 Hours: Nicole Addimando
This convicted murderer says she acted in self defense against an abuser. Some of my footage aired in "And So I Stayed," which won Best Documentary at the St. Louis International Film Festival.
2022
Juneteenth
New York City cowboys spread awareness about historical contributions of Black Americans to the settling of the West.
2022
Music on the Inside
Music education provided to inmates aids in rehabilitative goals of incarceration.
2022
Environmental Initiatives in NYC
I shot and edited this story with an all-time great New York correspondent, Shirley Chan.