Wellington Bowler, Director/Field Producer

Wellington has been making films for over 20 years. This started with a Bachelors degree (Political Science) within the Honors Program at Boston College, with minors in both Film and French. The major influences of the time were being a DJ at the on-campus experimental radio station and working on his Film Professor’s documentary film.  This same professor helped inspire two study abroad years, pre and post graduation, in Paris where he got what he considers his true film school education in the movie theaters, a pain au chocolat in one hand and textbooks/notepads in the other. He came back to the States after working at the Cannes Film Festival and committed to a less romantic traditional film school experience earning a MFA in Cinema at San Francisco State University.

Well grounded in film theory, Wellington chose the old school method of apprenticeship to learn the practical nature of the craft. He became a technician to experience how directors made decisions in myriad situations.  He worked as a boom op, location sound mixer and video engineer on documentaries, narrative films and commercials for over 10 years.  He traveled the world in this pursuit, working in over 30 counties and on 6 continents with Academy, Emmy and Sundance award winning directors. In 2010 he won a Grammy for his 2005 location sound field recording in of a Bela Fleck CD, Throw Down Your Heart.

Having made the transition to full time directing in 2008, Wellington has a passion for bringing people’s personal stories and passion for life to the screen.  He believes everyone has a story to tell that others can learn from regardless of the experience of the person with cameras or the subject matter. He has done interviews with people on oncology, aikido and on the effects of war on women in the Congo and, in different ways, been touched by how people experience the world.

Wellington currently specializes in cinema verité or cinema direct documentaries, marketing driven medical documentaries, political journalism and high-tech & popular media product launches. Still fluent in French, he particularly enjoys traveling and working on the African continent.  He lives in North Oakland with his 10 year old beautiful son.  He is passionate about the sport of cycling, cinema in any form, and World Cup Football.