Art vs. Commerce

Igor Martinovic is a Croatian cinematographer based in New York. Igor photographed the Academy Award winning documentary, Man On Wire, which also won the BAFTA for Best British Film as well as the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award of 2008. Igor was the Director of Photography for the Netflix original series House of Cards as well as Wormwood and The Night Of. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2014 for his work on the series House of Cards.

Alex Buono is Director/EP of the Emmy-nominated IFC comedy series DOCUMENTARY NOW!. He is also the Writer/Producer of the documentary feature BIGGER STRONGER FASTER*, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. In 2003, Alex received an Oscar nomination for the short film JOHNNY FLYNTON, which he produced and also shot. Alex repeated the dual role of producer/cinematographer on GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS that won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival. Alex was also the Director of Photography for the SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Film Unit from 1999-2016, where he shot hundreds of short films, including Farewell, Mr. Bunting, The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders, Santa Baby, Matthew McConaughey for Lincoln and the 40th Anniversary Season title sequence, to name a few. Alex was educated at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he double-majored in Film Production and Still Photography. His early post-collegiate years were spent on the camera crews of studio films including Twister, Conspiracy Theory and Armageddon, learning from top cinematographers and personal mentors including Conrad Hall, Dean Cundey and John Schwartzman. Alex is a member of the Director’s Guild of America, the Writer’s Guild of America, the International Documentary Association and the International Cinematographer’s Guild.

Robby Baumgartner began his film career 28 years ago in New York City. His interest in lighting inspired him to choose the unconventional route to DP via Gaffing. This career path allowed him to light films and learn from some of the most talented DP’s in the business: Rodrigo Prieto, Chris Menges, Robert Elswit, Dante Spinotti, Darius Khondji, Janusz Kaminski, and Emmanuel Lubezki. Some of the films include: “8 Mile”, “25th Hour”, “21 Grams”, “Babel”, “Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada”, and “There Will be Blood”. In between Gaffing gigs he took every opportunity to DP or camera-operate on feature films, 2nd-unit photography, commercials, and shorts. Then in 2008 “There Will be Blood” shot by Robert Elswit, won the Oscar for Best Cinematography; the highest honor for any DP/Gaffing team. That event was the impetus for Robby to stop gaffing and DP exclusively. In 2009 Robby joined the International Cinematographers Guild as a DP. Since then he has gone on to shoot 2nd unit on both “Hunger Games” l and ll, “Water for Elephants”, and “Argo” amongst other films. For the last 5 years he has been concentrating on shooting main unit for films such as “The Guest”, “Blair Witch (2016)” and now “Blindspotting”, which has been selected for competition in the US Dramatic category at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

In his 30 years behind the camera Craig Wrobleski csc has served as cinematographer on productions of nearly every description. Craig’s drama credits include the feature films In the Tall Grass, Rufus and 45 RPM. Television work includes The Umbrella Academy for Netflix, the acclaimed FX Networks series Fargo and Legion, the legendary series The X-Files, the hit series Zoo for CBS, more than 100 episodes of the popular CBC Television series Heartland and numerous TV movies. Craig has lensed documentaries all over Canada, the US and into Europe on a wide variety of subjects. In addition, Craig has photographed hundreds of commercials and promos broadcast all over North America for directors from across Canada and the US. Many of the spots have garnered awards internationally. His love of music has fused with his cinematography on music videos and live concert specials for MTV, MuchMusic, CMT, MuchMoreMusic, CBC, PBS and Bravo!. He has recently shot collaborations between the Alberta Ballet, k.d. lang and Joni Mitchell. His work has garnered Craig two wins and two nominations at the CSC Awards as well as 16 wins and many nominations at the Alberta Film Industry Awards. Craig lives south of Calgary with his wife, Monica, their three dogs and three horses. He is represented by Ralph Berge at APA in Beverly Hills.

Adam Newport-Berra is a director of photography with a reel that includes features, commercials and music videos. Most recently Adam was the cinematographer on Euphoria and The Last Black Man In San Francisco which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won awards for Best Directing and a Special Jury Prize for Creative Collaboration. In the music realm he has worked with Chance the Rapper, Francis and The Lights, Kanye West and many more. Adam’s commercial work delves into true storytelling with compelling and unique ads that can feel more like short films.

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Clair is an award winning cinematographer based between NYC and LA. He works in all media formats from documentaries & films to commercials, music videos and TV series. He has shot the film “Free Solo” which won the Academy Award in 2019 for Feature documentary. His work on Free Solo was nominated for a primetime Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography. He won a critics choice award for Best Cinematography in 2019 as well as a Cinema Eye award for Outstanding Cinematography. Clair has shot numerous other documentaries including the Sundance Audience Award winner Jim: The James Foley Story (HBO 2016) as well as Other documentaries for HBO on subjects including Warren Buffet, Bryan Stevenson, Martin Luther King Jr. and John McCain. Clair was a DP on Netflix's Acclaimed documentary series Abstract: the Art of Design. Clair has worked on numerous narrative films and TV shows throughout his career. He has shot commercial projects for numerous brands and clients including, Target, Apple, Walmart, and Toyota Clair is an avid rock climber, skydiver and scuba diver with extensive experience filming outdoor and adventure sports.

Stuart Biddlecombe is an award winning Director of Photography, a Cinematography graduate from the National Film and Television School. Currently shooting features, high end television drama, promos and commercials. A BAFTA Cymru winner, GTC winner and a two time RTS nominee, Stuart is represented by McKinney Macartney Management.

Sean Stiegemeier is a Cinematographer based in Los Angeles CA. He has shot films and commercials around the world and worked with many formats of film and digital cameras. Owner of an Alexa Mini, Movi Pro, Inspire2 with X7 camera and Zeiss Ultra Primes. He has an agility and balance rating of ninety nine with a strong passion for storytelling and collaboration.

Raised in the fundamentalist Christian subculture of the Bible Belt, cinematographer Nicholas Matthews fell in love with storytelling as a child to explore life outside the confines of that perspective. It evolved into a fascination with telling regional stories about fringe ideologies and marginalized people.Recently, he's filmed projects in Japan, France, Mexico and across the US. The Hollywood Reporter praised his use of "expansive widescreen" and "adept long takes" on the 2018 Dances with Films Grand Jury Prize winner. The L.A. Times called his work on border thriller The Boatman "more art film than action film; deliberately paced, skillfully shot, emotionally challenging." He's worked with artists ranging from Ice Cube to Rise Against, as well as brands including Jack in the Box, T-Mobile, and Specialized Bikes. He thrives on collaboration in finding each film's unique voice.

Sacha Jenkins is an American television producer, filmmaker, writer, musician, artist, curator, and chronicler of hip-hop, graffiti, punk, and metal cultures. While still in his teens, Jenkins published Graphic Scenes & X-Plicit Language, one of the earliest ‘zines solely dedicated to “graffiti” art. In 1994, Jenkins co-founded ego trip magazine. In 2007, he created the competition reality program “ego trip's The (White) Rapper Show," which was carried by VH1. Currently, Jenkins is the creative director of Mass Appeal magazine. Sacha Jenkins recently directed “Of Mics and Men,” Showtime’s four-part docuseries on Wu-Tang Clan.

Salomon is a self-taught filmmaker whose international background–––a childhood spent in Johannesburg, Dubai, and Sydney–––figures strongly in his distinctive, visual style. His textural and experimental work finds new ways of exploring visual storytelling, always with a human story at its core. His work has garnered recognition across the world, with inclusion in both the Saatchi & Saatchi and 1.4 New Directors Showcases, two Golds and three Silvers at the YDAs, shortlist for online commercial of the year over 2 minutes for Audi at Shots, shortlists for Music Video of the Year at Shots, Best Alternative Video and Best New Director at the UKMVA’s, and a music video shortlist at Ciclope. These honors are all the more extraordinary for a young director, who is just three years into his commercial film career. His body of work includes short films like “Rocket Wars,” which documents the stunning aerial fireworks battle of a Greek village, as well as commercials for Audi, S7, and Valvoline, and music videos for artists like Daughter and Young Fathers. Salomon lives in New York City with his young family.

Adrian Peng Correia is an award-winning cinematographer, who has lensed projects all over the world. Over the last decade he has shot dozens of feature films, commercials, documentaries and short filmsAdrian is known for his work on GLOW (2017), Ramy (2019) and Night Owls (2015).

We first crossed paths with Steve Hoover at Masters In Motion when he gave one of the most moving and honest talks. His first feature, "Blood Brother", premiered at Sundance in 2013 and went on to win the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best US feature-length documentary. His second, "Almost Holy", was executive produced by Terrence Malick and scored by Atticus Ross, and premiered at Tribeca in 2015, garnering numerous awards around the world before going on to a worldwide theatrical run. Steve's commercial clients include Gap, Walmart, Chipotle and National Geographic.  He's a natural filmmaker, with a strong instinct, a deep empathy, and an eye for the pretty stuff: he moonlights as a digital painter, creating otherworldly landscapes. On a personal note, he loves coffee, his son, Linc (not necessarily in that order) and is involved in a one-sided love affair with a game called Battle of Titans. 

Eliot Rausch’s work reflects his long-standing pursuit of finding value and transcendence in the mundane. The award-wining filmmaker has created films for organizations and brands including The Red Cross, Tumi, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Duracell, the Veteran Affairs of America, Nike, Under Armour, Apple, and Samsung. His short film “Find Your Understanding,” created for Expedia, was awarded “Most Tear-Jerking Viral Ad of the Year” by Ad Age and one of TED's 10 Best Ads of the Year. Eliot’s short film series honoring those with Multiple Sclerosis, won a Cannes Lion and a Clio Award. “We are Greater than I,” a Samsung film, garnered awards at D&AD, One Show, British Arrows and Cannes Film Festival. He worked alongside Alejandro González Iñárritu, directing the documentary "A World Unseen,” a complimentary piece to “The Revenant.” His short documentary Last Minutes With Oden won the Documentary Award and Grand Prize at the Vimeo Festival + Awards. His recent short film “Birth Pangs,” a haunting portrait of historic injustices that continues his work documenting marginalized communities, premiered on Nowness and was selected for Short of the Week. Currently, Eliot Rausch has been developing a media platform to help those caught in the provisional life, it is due to launch in 2019.