Santiago Gonzalez | Cinematographer

Santiago Gonzalez | Cinematographer

(He/Him)

Based in NYC, Santiago Gonzalez was born in Mexico and raised in South Texas. Growing up, his love for film prompted him to attend film school at Boston University and, after becoming a prep tech at Boston Camera Rental and working as a 2nd/loader on films and commercials locally, he decided to move to NYC to pursue a career as a cinematographer.  He worked his way through commercials and music videos for a range of brands and musical artists. This eventually landed him the opportunity to be a part of Beyoncé’s Lemonade and consequentially be asked back to be a larger part of Beyoncé’s Black Is King.  After the premiere of Black Is King, in which he played a major part of the production as one of the primary DPs, he was named one of Variety’s 10 Cinematographers to Watch in 2020. 

His debut film Shortcomings, directed by Randall Park, was chosen as part of Sundance’s 2023 US Dramatic Competition and screened at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. The film revolves around Ben who with the help of his friend traverses the complexities of the modern dating scene and along the way learns about his own faults and is given the chance to correct them.  

Santiago has also worked on the feature film Los Frikis, produced by Lord Miller and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz; and the television series The Resort that premiered on NBC Peacock in 2022.  His work on music videos includes artists such as Beyonce, Bruno Mars, John Mayer, Chloe x Halle, Foo Fighters, Drake, Dua Lipa, and many more.  His collaborations with the Foo Fighters and Beyoncé garnered him two nominations for Best Cinematography at the 2021 MTV Music Video awards, in which he took home the Moonperson for his work with Beyoncé. 

Santiago’s breakthrough credit is the feature film Shortcomings 

Back to Breakthrough >