Interview With Filmmaker Jon Erwin

"Dramatic TV series, documentaries, reality television, shorts, music videos and commercials. All of these are regulars for Jon Erwin of the Erwin brothers, a writer/director duo from Birmingham, Alabama.

These young and unorthodox artists are anything but traditional. They focus on new and innovative ways to produce a diverse portfolio of work – from their multi-award winning documentary The Cross and the Towers to the dramatic TV series Life After, to the international short film series God Provides.

Jon Erwin was writer, director, executive producer and director of photography for The Mysterious Islands, a documentary filmed in the Galapagos Islands, in partnership with Vision Forum.

Christian-Movie.com: Did the idea of taking a RED One and a lot of other film equipment to the "world’s end" make you nervous?

Jon Erwin: Very nervous. We’ve named our RED "Elley May" and there were a few times I thought she wasn’t gonna make it back home. But hey, that’s what insurance policies are for! I believe we were the first people to take the RED camera to the Galapagos. It’s very heavy – about 50 pounds. My poor 1st AC had to lug it everywhere. But the final images were stunning and made it completely worth it.

Christian-Movie.com: Your underwater shots required scuba diving to significant depths with your equipment. What challenges were involved in this process? Are you an experienced scuba diver?

Jon Erwin: Yes, I do scuba dive. My father-in-law owns a dive quarry and we dive there now and then. I also love to free dive. Having said that, diving in the Galapagos was extremely difficult. The currents are harsh and the water was pretty cold. But we used the Canon 5D Mark II, which is very small, and that made things a lot easier.

Jon Erwin (right) prepares for a scuba dive

Life underwater in Galapagos is unbelievable. We dove with hundreds of black tip sharks and even a few hammerheads. It’s also incredible that we could swim with marine iguanas and penguins at the same time!"

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To read the full interview - click here