Caleb Deschanel, ASC, will receive the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Lifetime Achievement Award. He will be feted by his peers at the 24th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards celebration on February 27, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
“Caleb Deschanel is an extraordinarily talented cinematographer who has played an influential role in cinema history, and driven artistic excellence in contemporary filmmaking,” said ASC president Michael Goi. “For him to receive this honor while still at the top of his field shows the profound influence and respect he has among his peers. His innovative cinematography is inspiring. We look forward to seeing what is yet to come in his work.”
Deschanel earned Oscar® nominations for The Right Stuff in 1984, The Natural in 1985, Fly Away Home in 1997, The Patriot in 2001, and The Passion of the Christ in 2005. His body of work includes such memorable films as The Black Stallion, Being There, The Spiderwick Chronicles and My Sister’s Keeper. Deschanel has also earned an array of credits as a director of motion pictures, television programs and commercials.
On the latter front, Deschanel co-founded spot production house Dark Light Pictures in 1993 with exec producer Vincent Arcaro. Deschanel continues as a director/cameraman on the commercialmaking roster of the Hollywood-based Dark Light.
“Caleb is still on the cutting edge of his remarkable career,” noted Richard Crudo, ASC, who chairs the organization’s Awards Committee. “He has shot and directed documentaries and many commercials in addition to wonderful narrative films. Every one of his endeavors has been an exercise in exploring a new frontier.”
Deschanel joins a cast of legendary cinematographers who were previous recipients of this recognition, including George Folsey, ASC, Joseph Biroc, ASC, Stanley Cortez, ASC, Charles Lang, Jr. ASC, Phil Lathrop, ASC, Haskell Wexler, ASC, Conrad L. Hall, ASC, Gordon Willis, ASC, Sven Nykvist, ASC, Owen Roizman, ASC, Victor Kemper, ASC, Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, William A. Fraker, ASC, BSC, Vittorio Storaro, AC, AIC, Laszlo Kovacs, ASC, Bill Butler, ASC, Michael Chapman, ASC, Fred Koenenkamp, ASC, Richard Kline, ASC, Allen Daviau, ASC, Stephen Burum, ASC and Jack Green, ASC.
Deschanel blazed a non-traditional career path. He was born in Philadelphia. His family moved to Annapolis, Maryland, when he was 11 years old. Deschanel began experimenting with picture-taking when he received a Brownie Hawkeye camera as a birthday gift that year. He was a photographer for the school newspaper, and yearbook at Johns Hopkins University. During the summer following his freshman year, Deschanel took still photographs for record album covers and catalogs.
His interest in motion pictures was sparked by a French New Wave film festival organized by one of his instructors at Johns Hopkins. Fellow students encouraged Deschanel to enroll in the film studies program at the University of Southern California (USC) in 1967. By then, he was shooting 16mm educational films. After graduation, Deschanel earned a fellowship at the American Film Institute (AFI).
He sought out mentors who weren’t on the faculty, including Wexler, who encouraged him to experiment with shooting black-and-white film, and Willis, with whom he apprenticed for six weeks in New York. After graduation, Deschanel was living in Venice, Calif., making a living shooting educational films. One of his neighbors, Carroll Ballard, was directing films for the same company.
Deschanel collaborated with Ballard on the production of The Black Stallion, which was released to cinemas in 1979. Francis Ford Coppola was the executive producer. Deschanel took his first turn at the helm on a feature length film when he directed The Escape Artist, a 1982 release, produced by Coppola, Fred Roos and Doug Claybourne.
“One of the lessons I have learned is that the magic happens when a cinematographer develops and executes a visual style that complements the director’s vision for the story,” Deschanel said. “I am learning every time I shoot a frame of film. When I’m not learning, I will know it’s time to quit. I didn’t get involved in filmmaking just as entertainment. Movies can inspire us to be better human beings.”
Filmmaking is a family affair. His wife Mary Jo Deschanel and daughters Emily and Zooey Deschanel are successful actresses.
The ASC was chartered in January 1919. There are more than 300 active members of ASC, and 150-plus associate members from sectors of the industry that support the art and craft of filmmaking. Membership and associate membership is by invitation based on contributions that individuals have made to advance the art of visual storytelling.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More