Producing Miracles in Detroit
Free to Be Fathers was my first international co-production and one of those projects where producing required equal parts planning, resourcefulness, and nerve. Working with a shoestring budget, we secured an entire floor of a downtown Detroit skyscraper and transformed it into the setting the story needed—something that still feels like a small production miracle.
Alongside producing the film, I served as Director of Photography, developing a visual approach that made the most of the location, Detroit’s character, and the resources available to us. It was a true exercise in building production value through collaboration, creative problem-solving, and thoughtful cinematography.
A walk through tour of our main set on the film!
Free to Be Fathers was my first international co-production, and it required equal parts planning, nerve, and a little production magic. Working with a shoestring budget, I secured an entire floor of a downtown Detroit skyscraper and turned it into the world the story needed. Pulling that off still feels like a small miracle.
I also served as Director of Photography, building the film’s look around the location, Detroit’s character, and the resources we had. The project reminded me that production value is not always about having more money. It comes from smart choices, creative problem-solving, and a crew that trusts one another. We’re looking forward to bringing the film to audiences in 2027.
PROJECT DETAILS
Project: Free to Be Fathers
Format: Narrative film / international co-production
Year: 2026
Location: Detroit, Michigan
My roles: Producer and Director of Photography
Status: Planned release in 2027
Production note: An entire floor of a downtown Detroit skyscraper became the principal location
ABOUT DEREK
I’m a producer and cinematographer with more than 20 years of experience across feature films, documentaries, television, commercials, and branded content. I’m the founder of Kaifilms, where I work across development, financing, production, and cinematography to help projects move from the first conversation to the final frame.
Kaifilms: www.kaifilms.com
IMDb: www.imdb.me/derekmakesfilms
Contact: www.derek-johnson.com/contact
Starry Eyed Adventure
I joined Starry Eyed Christmas as a producer and Director of Photography after being brought onto the project by two fellow producers. I handled much of the production infrastructure—including contracts, equity agreements, the finance plan, budgeting, and crew hiring—while also shaping the film’s visual approach as DP.
A short Clip from the shoot.
I was brought onto Starry Eyed Christmas by two fellow producers and joined the project as both a producer and Director of Photography. On the producing side, I handled much of the machinery that kept the film moving: contracts, equity agreements, the finance plan, budgets, and crew hiring.
At the same time, I was developing the visual approach and preparing to shoot the film. This is where I like to work—where the creative and business sides of filmmaking meet. It took a strong producing team to get the project made, and I’m proud of the part I played in building both the production and the images on screen.
PROJECT DETAILS
Project: Starry Eyed Christmas
Format: Narrative film
My roles: Producer and Director of Photography
Producing focus: Contracts, equity agreements, finance plan, budgets and crew hiring
Collaboration: Produced with the two producers who brought me onto the project
ABOUT DEREK
I’m a producer and cinematographer with more than 20 years of experience across feature films, documentaries, television, commercials, and branded content. I’m the founder of Kaifilms, where I work across development, financing, production, and cinematography to help projects move from the first conversation to the final frame.
Kaifilms: www.kaifilms.com
IMDb: www.imdb.me/derekmakesfilms
Contact: www.derek-johnson.com/contact
Sibs Film: A coffee business turned into a humanitarian mission.
Yulia and her Brother Andrey opened Sibs, a coffee roasting business in Ukraine. Shortly after establishing the company, they grew their business, opening two coffee shops and empathically touching their community. Now that war has found their country; Sibs takes on a different purpose.
A coffee business turned into a humanitarian mission.
“And now we have war,” Yulia said—and the room changed.
I stopped filming and gave everyone a moment. Her husband was there to comfort her, and I was grateful he was. Having documented 9/11 in New York, I recognized some of what I was seeing: grief, anger, fear, and the feeling that the world has suddenly become unrecognizable. It was her story, not mine, but I understood the weight of that moment.
Yulia and her brother Andrey started Sibs as a coffee-roasting business in Ukraine, eventually opening two cafés and becoming part of their community. When war came to their country, Sibs took on a different purpose. I made the film to keep that story personal and human.
Editing was difficult because Yulia gave me so much honest material. The finished film has since been used to help raise more than $100,000 in humanitarian aid. This is why I keep returning to documentary work: when someone opens their heart to you, the job is to pay attention and take care of what they have shared.
PROJECT DETAILS
Project: Sibs
Format: Documentary film
Location: Seattle, Washington
My roles: Producer and Cinematographer
Focus: The Ukrainian founders of Sibs Coffee and their humanitarian mission
Impact: Used to help raise more than $100,000 in humanitarian aid
ABOUT DEREK
I’m a producer and cinematographer with more than 20 years of experience across feature films, documentaries, television, commercials, and branded content. I’m the founder of Kaifilms, where I work across development, financing, production, and cinematography to help projects move from the first conversation to the final frame.
Kaifilms: www.kaifilms.com
IMDb: www.imdb.me/derekmakesfilms
Contact: www.derek-johnson.com/contact
Healing Waters Feature Gets Distribution
Linda Troeller is an art documentarian who is known for creating sensual images inside sublime water environments that were inspired by her childhood exposure to the healing powers of water. In this biographical work, we discover the intimate relationships between water and the female from a resident artist at the Hotel Chelsea. Healing Waters is a 90-minute documentary that explores Linda Troeller's work with key figures in the art photography industry. The conversation evolves around Linda being a valued contributor to the first-generation feminist movement.
This film depicts the journey of a world-renowned artist from conception to discovery and the manifestation of major works of art that have had a profound influence on social ideologies concerning water and healing around the world. Linda Troeller has lived for over two decades in the Hotel Chelsea in New York City. Her work has appeared extensively in galleries and in print. In Healing Waters, we will discover how she found success as an artist and come to understand the journey she has undertaken - a journey that continues today.
Healing Waters was my first feature documentary as a producer and director. It was a true labor of love, made with a glorious team, and I remain incredibly proud of what we created together.
Healing Waters
The film follows artist and photographer Linda Troeller, whose work explores water, the body, healing, and female experience. From her childhood encounters with water to her years living and working at New York’s Hotel Chelsea, Linda’s life and art are deeply connected. The film looks at that journey, her place within first-generation feminist art, and the experiences behind some of her most important work.
Taking Healing Waters from its earliest stages through completion and distribution taught me an enormous amount about building an independent feature. Gravitas Ventures is now the film’s North American distribution partner, with a European release anticipated in 2027. The film is available through select streaming platforms.
PROJECT DETAILS
Project: Healing Waters
Format: Feature documentary
Subject: Artist and photographer Linda Troeller
My roles: Executive Producer, Cinematographer and Director
North American distributor: Gravitas Ventures
Status: Available on select streaming platforms; European release anticipated in 2027
ABOUT DEREK
I’m a producer and cinematographer with more than 20 years of experience across feature films, documentaries, television, commercials, and branded content. I’m the founder of Kaifilms, where I work across development, financing, production, and cinematography to help projects move from the first conversation to the final frame.
Kaifilms: www.kaifilms.com
IMDb: www.imdb.me/derekmakesfilms
Contact: www.derek-johnson.com/contact
Seward + Vanishing Seattle Highland Story
Location, location, location—and a little serendipity.
I first learned about the Highland Ice Arena when a friend connected me with Cynthia Brothers of Vanishing Seattle. The rink was closing in roughly two months, and Cynthia needed someone to help document it before it disappeared. I went to see the building and was immediately blown away. I agreed to make the documentary, but the place also brought back a story from my own past about being bullied on the ice.
With almost no time, I contacted a local screenwriter, director Deb Pralle, and a crew. Two weeks later, we had a script, a cast, cameras, an ice rig, and the arena reserved for two weekends. I produced the documentary while also serving as Executive Producer and Director of Photography on the narrative film, Seward.
One disappearing Seattle rink gave us two very different films: a documentary preserving a piece of local history and a narrative about the lasting damage adults can cause when youth sports stop being about play. It was ambitious, fast, slightly crazy—and completely worth doing.
PROJECT DETAILS
Projects: Highland and Seward
Format: Short documentary and narrative short film
Location: Greater Seattle, Washington
Partners: Vanishing Seattle and director Deb Pralle
My roles: Producer on Highland; Executive Producer and Director of Photography on Seward
Production note: Both films were made at Highland Ice Arena shortly before it closed
ABOUT DEREK
I’m a producer and cinematographer with more than 20 years of experience across feature films, documentaries, television, commercials, and branded content. I’m the founder of Kaifilms, where I work across development, financing, production, and cinematography to help projects move from the first conversation to the final frame.
Kaifilms: www.kaifilms.com
IMDb: www.imdb.me/derekmakesfilms
Contact: www.derek-johnson.com/contact
Seattle Seahawks
90’s Throw back Commercial and short film.
90’s Throw back Commercial and short film.
Early in 2023, my friend Lisa B. Hammond told me about a project she was developing with filmmaker Madeline Down for the Seattle Seahawks. I asked if they needed help. Soon afterward, Maddie called and asked me to gaff it. I said yes—which turned out to be a very good decision.
The concept was a 1990s-style faux sitcom announcing the return of the Seahawks’ throwback uniforms. The production included a full four-room studio build and a moving shot that carried a player through the sitcom world and out onto the field. It was layered, technical, and full of moving parts.
I was hired as the gaffer, although I also found myself doing some producing along the way. I brought in Derek Klein from Olympic Studios Seattle, and with Mike Astle’s help, we used roughly 45 fixtures and a mountain of modifiers to light the build.
The campaign helped drive jersey sales and went on to win a Bronze Clio. More importantly, it was one of those rare jobs where the people, the idea, and the execution all clicked. This one was absolutely one for the books.
PROJECT DETAILS
Project: Seattle Seahawks Throwback Jersey Campaign
Format: Branded commercial / short film
Year: 2023
Location: Seattle, Washington
Client: Seattle Seahawks
My roles: Gaffer and producing support
Recognition: Bronze Clio Award
Lighting approach: Approximately 45 fixtures and a large package of modifiers
ABOUT DEREK
I’m a producer and cinematographer with more than 20 years of experience across feature films, documentaries, television, commercials, and branded content. I’m the founder of Kaifilms, where I work across development, financing, production, and cinematography to help projects move from the first conversation to the final frame.
Kaifilms: www.kaifilms.com
IMDb: www.imdb.me/derekmakesfilms
Contact: www.derek-johnson.com/contact
Search Posts
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September 2026
- Sep 23, 2026 Producing Miracles in Detroit Sep 23, 2026
- Sep 23, 2026 Starry Eyed Adventure Sep 23, 2026
- Sep 23, 2026 Sibs Film: A coffee business turned into a humanitarian mission. Sep 23, 2026
- Sep 23, 2026 Healing Waters Feature Gets Distribution Sep 23, 2026
- Sep 22, 2026 Seward + Vanishing Seattle Highland Story Sep 22, 2026
- Sep 22, 2026 Seattle Seahawks Sep 22, 2026
- Sep 22, 2026 Producing an Interview for RE: TV and the Terra Carta Initiative implemented by HRH the Prince of Wales King Charles III’s Sep 22, 2026
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September 2015
- Sep 12, 2015 Fleeting Moments Sep 12, 2015
- Sep 11, 2015 Meeting Di Sep 11, 2015
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April 2015
- Apr 14, 2015 I found my thrill on the front porch. Apr 14, 2015