J.M. Berrios

J. M. Berrios was born in Greenville, South Carolina, to Kim Wehunt (Knight) and Steven Berrios, an electrician. His maternal family are South Carolinians of English descent and his paternal family are Puerto Rican. J.M. Berrios enlisted in the United States Marine Corp at the age of 17 but soon left service. Returning home, he worked various small entry level jobs including electrical contracting with his father in Atlanta, Georgia. During this time motion pictures became an important and consuming pastime for J. M. Berrios. J. M. soon after developed a serious interest in filmmaking, enrolling bachelors of arts program at his local community college primarily to attend film history, design and photography courses. He eventually enrolled at Fullsail University in 2005, graduating with an A. S. in Film. While studying at Full Sail J.M. Berrios gained some work as a photographer and focused heavily on cinematography shooting films for fellow students. In the next few years, Berrios had regular work as a production assistant and camera assistant on professional film and television productions working in North and South Carolina, Atlanta and New York. During this time Berrios also worked regularly as a cinematographer and photographer on commercial projects Atlanta. This was followed by a longer period of working in studio film and television as a lighting technician in Atlanta. In 2010, J.M. married Gina Berrios (Alexander) and in 2012 the couple had their first son, Alexander Knight Berrios. Shortly after the birth of Alexander, Berrios left work as a technician in film industry in Atlanta to found Lingo Films, a production company, in his home town of Greenville, South Carolina. At Lingo Films, Berrios has worked to elevate the production value of projects in the surrounding area and endeavored to help lay a foundation of infrastructure for the future of the production industry in the upstate of South Carolina. His efforts include establishing a production rental house, shooting films locally and working to serve local technicians and artists. J.M. Berrios has shot and acted as director / cinematographer on numerous commercial projects for large brands and corporations. By 2015, he had held the role of cinematographer on 3 feature length films and several short films and documentaries. He has received numerous awards for both his commercial and narrative cinematography and his photography and cinematography has appeared in national publications and broadcasts, in print, online and on television.