Sweet Santa Barbara Brown

Born in Long Beach, CA and raised in Thousand Oaks, Dominic Bartolone, SOC, started his filmmaking career at the world’s largest camera rental and manufacturing house, Panavision, Los Angeles. During his three years (2000 to 2003) there, Dominic worked as a camera service and technician. On his departure, Dominic joined Local 600 as a digital utility and immediately became a part of large-budgeted Hollywood productions, like Collateral, Open Range, Flicka, Rush Hour 3, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and many more. Dominic worked his way up the ranks of the camera department, going from digital utility to film loader to 2nd AC and 1st AC, and finally camera operator in 2015.

Mentored by Director of Photography James Muro, Dominic had always been excited by camera movement – especially that of the Steadicam. Dominic is currently working as an SOC camera/Steadicam operator and recently finished the Emmy- and ASC-award-nominated Season 2 of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty on HBO and five seasons of CBS/Paramount+’s Seal Team.

Set against the backdrop of the Reagan era, under the Californian sunshine, Sweet Santa Barbara Brown is a compelling short film that skillfully weaves together elements of celebrity, racial tension and life- or-death decisions. Inspired by actual events, this narrative unfolds in the 1980s, when members of the Globetrotters found themselves at the mercy of the Santa Barbara Police Department. The players were wrongfully suspected of a jewelry-store robbery earlier in the day, resulting in a harrowing standoff.

The film was shot with a Panavised Arriflex Mini (provided by Panavision Woodland Hills) at 4K resolution, with 1.78 framing and Primo prime lenses sized at 14.5, 21, 27, 35, 40, 50, 75 and 100 mm. An 11-1 24-275 mm Panavision Primo Zoom and Panavised lightweight zooms with Angénieux 15-40-mm, 28-76-mm and 445-120-mm lenses were used as well. The Ikegami Sports broadcast camera was provided by Local 600 1^st AC David Edsall.

The project was shot in three days, with two of those days spent at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas. The third day was spent in Pasadena at the First United Methodist Church. Eric Dyson, who directed the short, is a Local 600 operator and has now directed two ECA-winning short films. His first was Baby Steps in 2018 with Director of Photography Clifford Jones. Eight of the actors in Sweet Santa Barbara Brown also starred in HBO/Max’s Winning Time.