BIO
Steve Fracol’s artistic career can be tracked all the way back to the 5th grade when his drawing of George Washington garnered the attention of his entire school. And it was this interest in drawing, painting, and sculpting that would later earn Steve a scholarship from the Friends of the Arts-Kansas City to attend the prestigious Kansas City Art Institute.
In 1986, Steve’s professional career began in earnest as a handheld cameraman shooting college football and basketball, professional soccer and wrestling as well as rock headliners of day: Bockman Turner Overdrive, Leon Russell, and Edgar Winter, just to name a few. But it wasn’t until 1987, when Steve landed a job with Kansas City’s public television station, that he cut his teeth in the art of visual storytelling; an art form he quickly mastered and one that would lead to jobs shooting news for Kansas City’s NBC affiliate where he won the first of five Emmy Awards at the age of 24.
Later, after accepting an offer from a prominent Kansas City production company, Steve traveled the United States shooting for a variety of high-profile clients including Wal-Mart, Sprint, Yellow Freight, Utilicorp, Hallmark Cards, and Anheiser Busch.
Then in 1994, Steve and his wife Stacey started their own company and on January 1, 1994, FracolVision, Inc. was born. In just a few short months, Steve would build a business – and a solid reputation – shooting award-winning news promotions for television stations across the county. In addition, he was quickly building a client base and a standing among Kansas City’s Advertising community as a DP/Director of choice for both local and national ad campaigns.
As owner and operator of his Arriflex and Sony cameras, Steve would become, over the next ten years, a very prominent Director of Photography shooting for Directors and Producers in New York, Los Angeles, and all points in between. But it was Steve’s love of movies and passion for beautiful, motivated camera movement that would be the driving force in the next phase of his professional evolution.
In 2004, Steve took a bold step back on a firmly established career path and entered the world of Steadicam, the cinematic tool of choice for powerful, visual storytelling. Though Steve had ten years of hands-on experience with Steadicam, those jobs were sporadic at best, off-and-on gigs that would not, could not, allow for the proficiency and expertise that Steve knew he would need to compete in this exciting, challenging, and personally rewarding world of Camera Operating. So that spring, Steve completed the first of two very intense Steadicam Operators Association Workshops in Pennsylvania with instructor/mentors Garrett Brown (Steadicam Inventor/Operator; Rocky, Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) and Jerry Holway (Steadicam Operator; As Good as it Gets, Donnie Brasco).
As a result of this training and Steve’s desire to be the very best at his craft, he now owns and operates a Tiffen, Ultra2 Steadicam; arguably the best and most versatile Steadicam invented to date. And to extend his creative range, Steve co-created a unique shooting rig for the Steadicam to mount on any SUV or pick-up truck with a 2 inch receiver-hitch as well as various vehicles of his own design; a highly modified, quiet electric golf cart, a 4-wheel drive ATV, and a very small dolly-style Rickshaw.
For examples of Steve’s work, credits, and behind-the-scenes photos, check out www.fracol.com or … simply give Steve a call at 323-301-6790. Steve can also be reached through his agent Jill Friedman at 310-399-6300.