Brandon is a multilingual documentary cinematographer and director based in San Francisco, CA. Through an intimate filmmaking style, he strives to tell deeply reported, character-driven stories that humanize and uplift participants and their communities. His most recent short, MOTHER (2024) has screened at over a dozen festivals across North America and Europe, including Mill Valley Film Festival, Frameline, and NewFest. His recent cinematography credits include Quiet On Set (2024, HBO Max), VOCES: Latino Vote (2024, PBS), as well as forthcoming features Observer (2025) and The Last Class (2025). Brandon’s other work has appeared on FRONTLINE PBS, in The Atlantic, The Guardian, High Country News, and KQED while being recognized by the duPont, Peabody, and Scripps Howard awards.
Brandon holds a master’s degree from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and is a founding partner at Family Pictures, a full-service production company comprised of journalists and filmmakers who combine original reporting and cinematic vision to craft non-fiction stories.
Photo by Clara Shuku Mokri
Recognition
IF/Then x Hulu Short Documentary Lab (2023)
Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award Finalist — Covid’s Hidden Toll, FRONTLINE PBS (2022)
National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowship (2021-2022)
George Foster Peabody Award Nominee — Covid’s Hidden Toll, FRONTLINE PBS (2021)
Scripps Howard Award in National Investigative Reporting, Winner — Covid’s Hidden Toll, FRONTLINE PBS (2021)
Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources — Grantee (2021)
North Gate Award for Excellence in Video Reporting and Production — House of Little Wings (2021)
Climate Justice Fellow, High Country News (2021)
NLGJA Freelance Fellow (2020)
Helzel Fellow, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism (2018-2020)
Randy Shilts Memorial Award for Exceptional Reporting — The Cost of Being Queer in Delhi (2019)
California News Publishers Association, Best Breaking News Coverage — “The Forever Season” (2017)
Associations
Documentary Cinematographers Alliance
International Documentary Association
Asian American Documentary Network
UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art
NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists
National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Society of Environmental Journalists
Association of Health Care Journalists
Council for the Advancement of Science Writing