American Cinematographer - January 2008 - 122

Clubhouse News ASC Awards Open House The Society will host its annual open house on Saturday, Jan. 19, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the ASC Clubhouse, 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood. This year’s ASC Award nominees and honorees are expected to attend the event. The 22nd Annual ASC Awards will be held the following weekend, on Jan. 26, at the Hollywood & Highland Grand Ballroom down the street. For the latest in ASC Awards news, visit www.theasc.com. Judge Schreiber Nancy Schreiber, ASC served on the International Documentary Jury at the AFI Fest 2007 in November. Along with directors Kirby Dick and Doug Pray, Schreiber surveyed the 12 documentaries in competition. Denmark’s Afghan Muscles (directed by Andreas Mol Dasgaard and photographed by Frederik Jacobi and the director) and the United States’ Operation Filmmaker (directed and photographed by Nina Davenport) shared the category’s top prize. Witmer Joins AC Editorial Staff Jon D. Witmer, 26, has been named assistant editor of American Cinematographer. He has been writing for the magazine since 2005. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Witmer began reading AC when he was a student at Ohio State University. After graduating with a B.A. in film studies in 2004, he moved to Los Angeles and soon paid a visit to the ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood. “I pulled up to the gate and said, ‘I’m Jon. I’ve just come from Ohio. Can I come inside?’” he recalls. “After a few of those visits, I ran into Steve Gainer [ASC].” Gainer, the curator of the Society’s camera collection, had begun packing up the cameras in anticipation of construction on the ASC grounds, and he put Witmer to work. Witmer had shot some prosumer video productions in Ohio, and in Los Angeles he visited Otto Nemenz and Panavision to learn what he could about film cameras. While helping Gainer at the Clubhouse, he met Michael Goi, ASC, who was also lending Gainer a hand, and Goi soon began bringing Witmer aboard projects as an assistant or loader; these productions included a digital short film, interviews for the ASC Archives shot on 16mm (featuring members Ralph Woolsey, Vilmos Zsigmond and Victor J. Kemper), some lowbudget independent features, and the TV series Wedding Bells. New Member An enthusiast of capturing images on film since the age of 11, cinematographer Chris Manley, ASC has found a new home amongst the Society’s active members. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Manley earned his undergraduate degree in film and media arts at Temple University, where he was the regular cinematographer for many of his fellow students. When he wasn’t shooting, Manley further honed his eye working as a projectionist at local art-house theaters. In 1994, Manley made the fateful trek to Los Angeles, where he studied at the American Film Institute, earning an Eastman-Kodak Scholarship Award. He won an Academy Award for Best LiveAction Short with his thesis project, My Mother Dreams the Satan’s Disciples in New York. After graduating from AFI, Manley paid his dues in the electrical department in between shooting shorts and microbudget features. He landed a series of jobs with Roger Corman, including The Phantom Eye, for which he received a Daytime Emmy, and then steadily rose through the indie ranks and gained a strong foothold in the television world. He earned ASC Award nominations for his work on Threat Matrix (2004) and CSI: New York (2005). His recent credits include the Fox series Prison Break and Drive. 122 January 2008 Among the productions Witmer has covered for AC are Good Night, and Good Luck (Nov. ’05), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (June ’07), Feast of Love (Oct. ’07), Atonement (Dec. ’07) and, in this issue, Sweeney Todd (page 56). “In his freelance work, Jon demonstrated a thorough knowledge of filmmaking techniques and a keen appreciation for the philosophies behind those techniques,” says AC executive editor Stephen Pizzello. “He also has a great reverence for the magazine and its traditions. He’s an excellent addition to our staff.” I

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American Cinematographer - January 2008

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