John Seale, ASC, ACS, Michael D. O’Shea, ASC, and Douglas Kirkland will be honored by their peers during the 25th American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Outstanding Achievement Awards celebration at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on February 13, 2011.
“John Seale, Michael O’Shea and Douglas Kirkland have earned the admiration of our members for their significant contributions to the artistry of image making, be it motion pictures or still photography,” said Michael Goi, ASC president.
Seale will receive the ASC International Award, which is presented annually to a foreign cinematographer in recognition of extraordinary achievements in films produced for the global cinema.
O’Shea will receive the ASC Career Achievement in Television Award.
And Kirkland will receive the ASC Presidents Award, which is presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the art form.
“John, Michael, and Douglas still have their best years ahead of them,” said ASC Awards Committee chairman Richard Crudo, “but they have earned and deserve this recognition. They are role models for the next generation.”
Seale was born and raised in Australia, where he was a cowboy in the Outback before launching his career as a news film and documentary cameraman. Seale has earned more than 40 feature film cinematography credits since 1976. He won an Oscar® for The English Patient (1996) and received additional nominations for Witness (1985), Rain Man (1988) and Cold Mountain (2003). His other memorable films include Children of a Lesser God, The Mosquito Coast, Dead Poets Society, Gorilla’s in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Poseidon and the upcoming movie The Tourist. Seale was inducted into the Australian Cinematographers Society Hall of Fame in 1997.
O’Shea was born and raised in Los Angeles, where he began his career working on the Warner Bros. lot while he was a college student. O’Shea has compiled an impressive array of cinematography credits for episodic series, television movies and miniseries. He won an Emmy® for CSI: Miami in 2003 and other nominations for the episodic series Doogie Howser, M.D. in 1992 and Relativity in 1997, and for the television movies To Love, Honor and Deceive in 1997 and The ’60s in 1999.
Kirkland was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. During the 1960s and ’70s, he was a staff photographer for Look and Life magazines which featured his portraits of Jack Nicholson, Marilyn Monroe, Morgan Freeman, Marlene Dietrich, Brigitte Bardot, Judy Garland, Sophia Loren, Charlie Chaplin and many other iconic movie stars. Kirkland was also a still photographer during the production of more than 100 motion pictures, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Out of Africa, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Moulin Rouge. His pictures have been featured in newspapers, magazines and books around the world. Portraits that Kirkland has taken of more than 200 cinematographers have also been featured in industry publications.
The ASC is a non-profit association dedicated to advancing the art of filmmaking. Since its charter in 1919, the ASC has been committed to educating aspiring filmmakers and others about the art and craft of cinematography.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More