American Cinematographer - July 2008 - 84

Clubhouse News New Associate Members Stefan Sonnenfeld, president/managing director of digital post house Company 3, and Jurgen Sporn, vice president of manufacturing at Panavision, recently joined the Society’s roster of associate members. After working as a colorist at Pacific Ocean Post, Stefan Sonnenfeld founded Company 3 in 1997; the Santa Monica-based company added a New York facility in 2002. In addition to grading dozens of commercial and music videos, Sonnenfeld was the colorist on the features Collateral (AC Aug. ’04), 300 (AC April ’07), and Sweeney Todd (AC Jan. ’08), among many other titles. Hailing from Hamburg, Germany, Jurgen Sporn moved to the U.S. in 1966, taking a job with the Mitchell Camera Corp. In 1968, he went to work for Panavision. As a movement maker/machinist, Sporn was part of the team responsible for the design and development of the first Panaflex cameras, and in the 1980s, he contributed to the development of the 16mm Panaflex and the 35mm Panaflex Platinum. Fraker, Burgess Judge Kodak Awards William A. Fraker, ASC, BSC will head the judging of the 2008 Eastman Scholarships for film-school students and the Kodak Faculty Grant Awards, and Don Burgess, ASC will judge the Asia Pacific, Latin America and European entries of the 2008 Kodak Filmschool Competition. Fraker and fellow jurists Randy Tack and Bart Weiss will assess applicants for the Eastman Scholarships based on work submitted by the students, recommendations from faculty, and academic achievement. 84 July 2008 The Faculty Grant is awarded to a faculty project that best cultivates a learning experience; selection is based on submitted proposals, treatments and samples of work. “We are humbled that [Fraker] would take the time to lead the judging for us,” notes Wendy Elms, worldwide manager of the Education Segment of Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging Division. Now in its ninth year, the Kodak Filmschool Competition is designed to recognize the creativity and skills exhibited by student cinematographers in the collaborative process of visual storytelling. “Don Burgess has such a vast understanding of the art and craft of filmmaking and understands the challenges faced by students,” says Elms. “He is a source of inspiration for young cinematographers all over the world, and his willingness to judge the competition entries is very significant to the participating students.” A Hot Ticket Sweltering heat failed to keep the crowd away from J.L. Fisher’s Burbank facility on May 17, where a mixer co-sponsored by the Society of Camera Operators, the International Cinematographers Guild, and the ASC filled the house. Along with opportunities to check out the latest gear from an array of vendors, the day featured a camera-movement panel moderated by George Spiro Dibie, ASC, who also recently emceed the “Movies on a Limited Budget” panel during the Newport Beach Film Festival. At the Fisher event, Dibie kept things lively on the panel of operators, grips and cinematographers; participants included Society members Ron Garcia, Richard Kline, Frederic Goodich, Affonso Beato, Isidore Mankofsky, Robert Primes, Owen Roizman, Daryn Okada, Richard Crudo, Michael Goi, John C. Flinn III, Levie Isaacks and Henner Hofmann. BAM Salutes Lachman The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAMcinématek recently hosted a 12-film retrospective of the work of Edward Lachman, ASC. The series kicked off with a screening of Ken Park (2002), which Lachman codirected with Larry Clark, followed by a a Q&A with Lachman. A few days later, the cinematographer joined director/musician David Byrne (pictured) to discuss their collaboration on True Stories (1986). Screenings also included Werner Herzog’s How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck… (1976) and Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There (AC Nov. ’07). Good Advice Society members Robert Elswit, Steven Poster and Vilmos Zsigmond are among the creative advisers for the Sundance Institute’s annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs. The labs provide filmmakers with the opportunity to develop distinctive new work in an environment that encourages innovation and collaboration. ¢ Photo courtesy of BAM Rose Cinemas.

American Cinematographer - July 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - July 2008