How to stand out as a stills photographer: In conversation with Top Gun: Maverick unit publicist Michael Singer

Still soirees are monthly online meet-ups, where stills photographer Nicola Dove has conversations with industry guests such as other successful stills photographers, publicists, producers and directors. Here is a taste of the July 2023 Soiree with Michael Singer.

Michael Singer is one of the industry’s top unit publicists with an impressive list of credits like Top Gun: Maverick, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jerry Maguire, The Fast and The Furious, Tim Burton’s Batman films, The Bourne Identity, Confessions of a Shopaholic and many (many) more. Recipient of the 2014 Les Mason Lifetime Achievement Award from the Publicists of the International Cinematographers Guild, Michael has also published a dozen books about film, as well as 14 annual editions of the reference book Michael Singer’s Film Directors: A Complete Guide.

Michael speaks about the role of a unit publicist and how it’s been changing over the recent years, the relationship between publicity and unit stills, his favourite on-set experiences (some of which were ‘life-altering) and the qualities of a great stills photographer on set.

It all started with a fan letter

After five decades in the film and television industry, Michael’s enthusiasm for cinema has never dimmed. And although he’s worked with Hollywood A-listers and legendary directors, his incredibly humble nature brings a smile to your face. “I genuinely love the people who work on set. What they do amazes me. Their skills, their talents. I’m honoured to be in the same place as they are. I still can’t believe, after 62 projects in 50 years, that I’m actually sharing a set with these people.”

“Everybody loves movies. I took it to an unreasonable degree.”

Michael tells us about how the seeds of his career were planted back when he was still a teenager, living in the Borough of Queens, New York. In 1968, when the widely divisive 2001: A Space Odyssey first started playing in theatres, 15-year-old MichaelI was completely enamoured by the film and came back to see it over and over again. “Everybody loves movies. I took it to an unreasonable degree,” he chuckles.

Eventually this led him to writing a fan letter to director Stanley Kubrick. As Michael affectionately calls it, “a dumb letter written by a dumb 15-year-old”. Nevertheless, his letter got a response from Kubrick’s assistant. Although not from Kubrick himself, this was more than enough for Michael. 

Fast forward a few weeks, and to Michael’s surprise, an excerpt of his letter was published in Variety in a side column about the film’s newfound young fans. Michael called up the author of the article (this was back in the phonebook era), who introduced him to the publicity director of 2001: A Space Odyssey over at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The rest is history. 

The role of the unit publicist 

Michael explains what the unit publicist role entails as he admits with a laugh, “Even people who have worked on set for 40 years don’t know what a unit publicist does.”

“Fundamentally, a unit publicist is the production’s publicist while the film or TV show is actually being made. First of all, you’re the intermediary between the studio or network publicity departments and the filmmakers. You’re responsible for arranging interviews for journalists and publications, and you’re certainly the guide and contact for journalists while they’re on set, arranging interviews with whomever they want to speak to.”

As Nicola points out it’s likely stills photographers who are in the early stages of their careers will be working with a unit publicist at first. “You won’t be involved with unit publicists until you get into a level of TV series or mid-level indie films. And then certainly on the streamers’ [productions] you’ll be working very closely with unit publicists.”

What makes a great stills photographer

The big question – how is a ‘good’ photographer different from a ‘great’ one? After almost 5 decades on set, Michael has worked with this fair share of stills photographers, and narrows down his top qualities that great stills photographers have:

• The ability to be ‘invisible’ on set
• The ability to form relationships quickly
• Thinking like a unit publicist when creating their images on set

“The best thing is to be visible when you need to be visible, and invisible the rest of the time.”

“When I see an image which somehow not only captures the look of the film or the TV show, but also the soul of it… There is a point where it becomes art. And when I see an image, which is a work of art, clearly a work of art that could stand on its own, aside from the scene or the moment that it’s capturing, those are my favourite stills to look at.”
time.”

Bonus: Who hires stills photographers

The reality is, in 99% of the cases, the unit publicist is not responsible for hiring a photographer. More often than not, unit photographers are hired by the picture editors, the producers or directors they’ve created relationships with. 

“I receive a lot of inquiries from a lot of unit photographers who are either starting out, or trying to kick their careers into a higher gear. And I always feel terrible because I’m not in a hiring position and rarely is there a situation where I can even recommend a unit photographer,” Michael admits. “The bottom line is that while it’s great to make contact with all kinds of people who work in film, including people like me, we’re not the ones who do the hiring.”

Watch the Soiree replay

You can watch the full soiree replay with Michael to learn about what makes a stills photographer stand out to a unit publicist, as well as the ins-and-outs of a film publicity office.

Are you a stills photographer? Create a profile on the specialist Unit Stills Directory, an industry-recognised community of accredited stills photographers from all around the globe. Founded by Nicola Dove, the directory aims to bring photographers and industry leaders together, providing a platform for both new and established talent.