Andrew Kung
While we were recently viewing photos on Instagram, we came across an awesome behind the scenes photo with a Hypercore-98S powering a Blackmagic Design Ursa 4K from Andrew Kung Group. We then realized they use a variety of Core SWX products (batteries, chargers, cables, accessories) which intrigued us to learn more about their company and how their Core SWX products are assisting them in their productions.
Andrew Kung Group (AKG) is a commercial and advertising stills and motion production company based in Louisville, Kentucky, with clients ranging from various Fortune 500 companies, International and National Chain brands, local/independent stores, chefs and restaurants, entrepreneurs, designers, boutiques, artists and private clients. Principal of the company, Andrew Kung, is a Creative Director, Cinematographer and Photographer, who started shooting film photography at a young age through high school. In college, he took a different route and received degrees in Economics, Business Administration and Sociology. Eventually he came back to his roots in the mid 2000’s, and decided to pursue photography as his career. Andrew landed his first commercial assignment to shoot the memory foam mattress company, TempurPedic, for a national industry magazine cover. Shortly thereafter, he scored another cover and feature assignment for a national auto magazine. From there on out, he realized it was definitely something he wanted to do.
When tackling a project, AKG’s first and most important step is to understand their client, their target market and their goals. They try to immerse themselves in the mindset of the target market. From there they put their artistic spin on their clients’ original vision to develop an engaging piece of media. He also said, “Often times, besides using the primary intended message as the springboard for our film architecture, we will use the chosen (licensed) music as a driving force in our story-boarding and film composition process instead of placing this as a step at the end.” Andrew describes his style has typically bright, punchy, saturated, dramatic and sometimes quite surreal, which stems from his interest in music and fashion.
A few projects that stand out as highlights for AKG are serving as the main sponsorship and brand development photography team at Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby every year, as well as the official media production company for Miss Kentucky USA. They have also worked with many different celebrities such as Danny Pudi, Harry Eden, Teddy Bridgewater, the Ying Yang twins and more.
In order to achieve these productions, they need power! Their main go-to batteries are Hypercore battery packs for their BMD Ursa as well as their LED Panel lights when they don’t have access to AC power. Andrew stated, “These intelligent Hypercore batteries have been instrumental in allowing us to work smarter and more efficiently on the go; using a light and reliable power source that works in just about all weather conditions and displays accurate runtime calculations with both p-tap and USB port availability when we are out in the field is essential.” Not only do they use the batteries as their reliable power source, they also use them to serve as counterweights to balance their Steadicam sled.
Although Andrew Kung has already achieved a lot, he definitely has more goals. An ongoing goal is “to continue to learn more about my craft so that I can stay up-to-date and further add-value to our current and future client’s business models. Their success is my success and so I take it upon myself to see how our company’s media production capabilities can become an asset to them by making it easier to help them achieve their goals.” He’d also like to travel more and shoot more landscape/seascape beauty stories, as well as more human-interest stories.
Check out the Andrew Kung Group website, Twitter, Facebookand Instagram to see more about their work.