Andrew Friend works as a videographer in Chicago. His Emmy-nominated work has appeared on PBS and other Chicago television stations. Friend has produced several half-hour episodes for the non-profit midwest TV show Labor Beat, and serves as chairman of its board.

Friend did not attend an official film school. Rather, he studied Communications and Studio Art at the now-shuttered Barat College, and gathered filmmaking skills gradually from the film education collective Chicago Filmmakers, as well as public access facilities.

"Mostly I garnered what talents I have from the school of hard knocks, by making mistakes and getting in trouble for them," he recounts. "My first attempt at a film after college was a disaster, so I surrounded myself with professionals I could learn from. I had to claw my way into the industry one low-paying crew position at a time." He is self-taught on most software he uses.

Friend's new film, the near-solo project Workers’ Republic, which documents the December 2008 factory occupation of Republic Windows and Doors by its laid-off employees, was completed in early 2010, and has already been shown in film festivals.

The post-production phase of any DIY project is daunting, and Workers' Republic was made even more difficult by the February 2009 murder of Andrew Friend's sister, Amber Cremeens, in Colorado. "2009 would have had me weeping in a fetal position most of the year if not for these brave workers and their inspiring resolve," says Friend. "Amber would have wanted me to tell their story."

He has a couple documentaries in pre-production; one on the origins of and myriad solutions to domestic violence, and another with author Joe Allen about the many faces of corruption in Chicago government. Friend also writes and has two feature-length scripts in the treatment stage.

Friend is a union steward and organized socialist, with little patience for the greed of the corporate film and television industry. "I want to make a living, but I'm really not in this for the money," says Friend. "It's the message. Modern technologies like computer-based editing, cheap cameras, and the internet have democratized media production and brought it to the grass roots. It's now possible for everyday people to tell their own stories. Media corporations need us a lot more then we need them."