American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 65

Leonetti portrait by Owen Roizman, ASC. Dumb and Dumber To photo by Hopper Stone, courtesy of Universal Pictures. Photos by Zade Rosenthal, SMPSP; Suzanne Hopper; Ava V. Gerlitz;
Eli Reed; Peter Sorel, SMPSP; Elliott Marks, SMPSP; and unknown photographers, courtesy of Universal Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Matthew Leonetti, ASC.

about 13 or 14 and I used to help him
with that, putting lamps together and
fixing things," Leonetti relates. "That's
how I first got involved."
Amid his studies at Loyola
University, he helped out with the
family business - now known as the
Leonetti Co., which he still owns and
operates - and spent his vacation time
working at studios. "A little gripping, a
little gaffing, a little electrical work," he
recalls. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in finance, Leonetti joined
the Army Reserves, and within a month
of his discharge, he was offered a position as a 2nd AC on a commercial. He
expresses gratitude to the late Ben
Colman, ASC, an early supporter who
made certain Leonetti was kept onboard at the commercial company, VPI,
for the 30 days he needed to get his
union card.
The budding filmmaker quickly
moved up to first assistant, and then to
operator a few years later when he was
promoted by cinematographer Charles
Rosher Jr., ASC. Leonetti held the
position through the early 1970s;
among his operating credits was The
Organization, starring Sidney Poitier -
who would later, as a director, tap
Leonetti to shoot Fast Forward.
Leonetti's earliest experiences as
director of photography were a lowbudget independent horror film called
The Bat People and a series of Ford
commercials. Shortly after, Bat People
director Jerry Jameson hired him to
shoot a television movie at Universal
called The Elevator, which marked the
first of Leonetti's major-studio projects.
He continued to shoot telefilms into the
next decade, many of them under the
direction of Jameson, who also collaborated with Leonetti on the 1980 theatrical release Raise the Titanic.
"My first big feature was Mr.
Billion in 1976, starring Terrence Hill, a
Western star from Italy," says Leonetti.
However, it was a TV movie called
Special Olympics that caught the attention of director Peter Yates, who hired
the cinematographer to shoot Breaking
Away. "I don't think anyone ever

Opposite:
Matthew
Leonetti, ASC
measures the
light on Emma
Thompson on
the set of Dead
Again. This
page, top: A
portrait of
Leonetti by
Owen Roizman,
ASC. Bottom
left: Leonetti as
the bishop with
Jane Lynch as
the mother
superior in The
Three Stooges.
Bottom right:
Leonetti and
crew check an
angle with
Jackie Chan for
Rush Hour 2.

www.theasc.com

February 2015

65



http://www.theasc.com

American Cinematographer - February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2015

Contents
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 1
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 2
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Contents
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 4
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 5
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 6
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 7
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 8
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 9
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 10
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 11
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 12
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 13
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 14
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 14a
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 14b
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 15
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 16
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 17
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 18
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 19
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 20
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 21
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 22
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 23
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 24
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 25
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 26
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 27
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 28
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 29
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 30
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 31
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 32
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 33
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 34
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 35
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 36
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 37
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 38
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 39
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 40
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 41
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 42
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 43
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 44
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 45
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 46
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 47
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 48
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 49
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 50
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 51
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 52
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 53
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 54
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 55
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 56
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 57
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 58
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 59
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 60
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 61
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 62
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 63
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 64
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 65
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 66
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 67
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 68
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 69
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 70
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 71
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 72
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 73
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 74
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 75
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 76
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 77
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 78
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 79
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 80
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 81
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 82
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 83
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 84
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 85
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 86
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 87
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - 88
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - February 2015 - Cover4
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