Founded: 1919
Members: 406
Please provide a brief description of your membership and what industry/industries your Organization serves.
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) is a nonprofit artistic, technical and professional organization of directors of photography dedicated to the advancement of their art and craft. As the oldest society in the entertainment industry, a great part of its mission has always included educating the next generation of filmmakers.
Please provide a brief description of the mission of your Organization.
The ASC was founded with the purpose of advancing the art and science of cinematography and bringing cinematographers together to exchange ideas, discuss techniques and promote the motion picture as an art form — a mission that continues today.
What guidance are you providing your members about the restarting of production and/or postproduction? What precautions/best practices do you recommend? (You are welcome to provide a direct link to a page on your site that addresses this question with regard to set guidelines/policies, etc.)
The situation is dynamic with evolving science so we’re encouraging everyone to proceed with caution and patience. Each individual production presents it’s own unique challenges. All our members with questions should direct them to our Local 600 union leadership and their corresponding guidance related to the “industry Wide White Paper” and any accompanying craft specific documents.
Prior to the pandemic, industry execs and artisans were in the business of balancing art and commerce–as well as safety. But now safety, health and welfare concerns take on a whole new dimension due to the virus crisis. What advice/counsel and/or vision do you have to offer to the overall entertainment and/or advertising industries on the future of production and/or postproduction?
Cinematographers are intimately familiar with resource management. As the industry solidifies its guidelines, we’re working hard to explore technological solutions to some of the challenges this situation presents. There is no question that filmmaking, at least in the short term, will inevitably change both logistically, and in some cases, creatively. By nature, film sets are extremely active places; many objectives must be achieved in concert for a shot to be set up. Social distancing obviously presents daunting challenges to this. Much of our committee work has revolved around communication techniques to overcome some of these issues.
