andy cornielle
Cinematographer & Photographer
Andy Cornielle @andy.moves is from and is based in New York City. His family is from the Dominican Republic. In He grew up loving basketball and sports. Now, he channels all his creative energy into his projects. His skills make him unique because of the way he is able to listen to people and ask great questions. He identifies with deeper stories and allows his intuition to translate these stories into what he captures. He began his path in photography because of a friend’s desire to build a fashion Instagram and YouTube. Andy wanted to help him out because he thought it was cool, and he saw his client’s talent with styling. If his photography wasn’t good, he wanted to make sure that it was because of him and not the equipment he had. So, he bought a $1200 Panasonic G9 camera for the first time. He knows this isn’t the best mindset to have as a creative, but it was the one he had at the time, and his journey with photography began. He realized quickly how much he enjoyed doing it and viewing things from a different perspective. His friend ended up not following through on his fashion Instagram and YouTube, but he picked up a new skills and a new passion. Photography helped him develop his eye and ability to view normal/mundane things in a more interesting light. This then developed as a desire to tell stories with visuals and sounds through videography & filmmaking. The projects he is most proud of are some of the reels he uploaded to Instagram, particularly the ones that establish a world that pulls in the viewer. He is trying to establish himself as a filmmaker but admittedly has not told enough narrative stories just yet. He has prioritized producing high-quality video and sound design that can be used in commercial spaces.
Andy keeps evolving by continuing to try new things, help others evolve, and connect with other creatives. He continues to watch tutorials, and he tries to gain as much as he can from watching really good movies. More notably movies like Dune (parts 1 and 2), Nosferatu, Seven, The Usual Suspects, The Godfather, and more. His favorite directors are Denis Villeneuve, Christopher Nolan, and Robert Eggers. He loves Denis Villenueve because of his focus on delivering huge Hollywood movies that can still feel intimate and dedicated to great storytelling. He recently spoke about how he “hates dialogue” causing some controversy with the statement. But Andy thinks the director doesn’t literally hate dialogue but rather sometimes hates when a movie relies too much on dialogue to tell a story and not enough on compelling visuals, sound design, and editing. He loves Robert Eggers for his ability to create realistic period movies that feel so real and grounded even though they have “fantastical” elements such as in Nosferatu or the Witch.
When Andy was a child, he had a few aspirations. At some point, he wanted to be a lawyer, pilot, doctor, and NBA player before becoming a Psychologist. Now, he’s not a psychologist either, but he is glad to be in a vastly creative field, using his talents for visual storytelling.
In his free time, he enjoys watching movies, going to social events with other creators (when he’s feeling social). He also loves playing basketball and playing video games.
When speaking on the concept of motivation, Andy feels that he’s hit somewhat of a plateau in terms of motivation to learn new skills. When he feels particularly low in motivation, he tends to watch something on YouTube that is like infotainment. This way, he’s still learning while also being entertained. Inspiration often comes in the form of analyzing films or filming techniques with real examples in movies. He thinks many of his difficulties stem from him getting in his own way and blocking his potential. For example, he began preproduction and did some pre-viz for a short film, but did not follow through and complete the film. This experience allowed him to reevaluate what his dedication and priorities were attached to. With that, he is currently gearing up to shoot and complete this film this summer.
Three words to describe Andy include: introspective, smart, complacent. Being authentic, thoughtful, and dedicated to accomplishments through great skill and talent are values he finds to be very important. He said," “I think we should all be pushing past what is at the surface level, to build and create meaningful things.” To elaborate further, he mentioned that to be someone, you must be able to be no one. He doesn’t necessarily say this quote a lot but it is something that reminds him to keep a grounded, humble, and mindful perspective. To recognize that you are not always the “self” you have created in your mind. This will actually help you stand out and your uniqueness will show whether you want it to or not. He doesn’t know if it’s something he lives by necessarily, but he thinks about the concept often.
Finally, he wants to shout out his friend Dave for being the reason he got into photography and for always speaking highly and positively about him.