MICHAEL BONVILLAIN ASC

Born: ?, Jackson, Mississippi, USA.

Education: University of Texas, Austin [graduated in 1984].

Career: 'I started working as an assistant cameraman on political ads and short films. I also worked as a loader on a local feature. Steve Horn, a commercials director, came through town doing an insurance company ad, and I worked as a P.A. I wrote a letter to Steve when I was getting out of school and told him I was looking for work. He wrote back and said that he had four days coming up on a commercial in New York. I hadn't decided whether to move to New York or Los Angeles after graduation. When I got Steve's letter, I decided to move to New York. I ended up working with him for a year as a P.A. [...] I started hanging out with the electricians and the assistant cameramen. That led to freelancing on commercials as an electrician, and also low-budget films. I finally got in the union as an electrician, working on commercials mostly. One day, I was returning some equipment and saw a note on a bulletin board that said, 'Feature Needs Cinematographer … Must Be Willing to Give 110 Percent.' I went over to the pay phone and called. It turned out to be a film called 'Amongst Friends'. I was hired, and that experience was a real watershed for me because I learned you could make a decent movie with hardly any tools. We had no money, but the movie was a hit at Sundance. After that, a friend, who had been my camera operator moved to Los Angeles. I moved out and slept on his couch for about a year, and occasionally shot films and commercials. I decided to go back to New York, and that's where I was when I got a phone call from NBC asking if I wanted to interview for 'Profiler'.' [From the KODAK OnFilm website.]

Ph 4 short ep of the tv-series 'Lost' for mobile phone: 'Lost: Missing Pieces' ['The Watch' (2m39s), 'The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt' (2m8s), 'King of the Castle' (2m) & 'The Deal' (3m2s), all dir by Jack Bender].

Member of the ASC since 2004.

Awards: 'Emmy' Award [2001] for 'Alias' [pilot 'Truth Be Told' dir by Jeffrey Abrams]; ASC Award nom [2001] for 'Alias' [ep #8 'Time Will Tell' dir by Perry Lang]; ASC Award nom [2002] for 'Alias' [ep #15 'Page 47' dir by Ken Olin]; 'Emmy' Award nom [2003] for 'Alias' [ep #36 'Double Agent' dir by Ken Olin]; 'Emmy' Award nom [2006] for 'Lost' [ep #25]; ASC TV Award nom [2008] for 'Fringe' [pilot].

Website: Michael Bonvillain

FILMS

1989	Chains [Will Alovis] c; short/20m; co-2uc (+ co-c.op & gaffer); ph: Joe DeSalvo
1991	Amongst Friends [Rob Weiss] c; 2uc: Peter Charles; + 2ud
1993	When the Bough Breaks/Missing Victims/Two Rivers [Michael Cohn] c; 2uc: Bill O'Drobinak & Tom Yatsko
1993	Saints and Sinners [Paul Mones] c
1995	Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls/Ace Ventura Goes to Africa [Steve Oedekerk] s35/c; co-2uc; ph: Donald E. Thorin
1996	Rolling Thunder [Ralph Hemecker & P.J. Pesce] c; cph: Tom Jewett
1997	From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter [P.J. Pesce] c/V
1998	Air Bud: Golden Receiver/Air Bud 2 [Richard Martin] c; co-addph (+ 2uc); ph: Mike Southon
1998	The Last Marshal [Mike Kirton] c; addph: Sean Tajkowski; aph: David Aubry
1998	A Texas Funeral [William Blake Herron] s35/c; 2uc: Ian Ellis
2004	Sniper 3 [P.J. Pesce] c/V; 2uc: Rich B. Moore Jr.

[Left] with dir Matt Reeves - "Cloverfield"

2007	Cloverfield [Matt Reeves] HD (Panasonic AG-HSC1U & AG-HVX200 + Sony F23 + Thomson Viper)-to-35mm/c
2008	Book Chat (with Rainn Wilson) [Brian Spitz] HD/c; short/16m
2009	Zombieland [Ruben Fleischer] HD (Genesis + Phantom HD)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Lukasz Jogalla
2010	Wanderlust [David Wain] c; 2uc: Paul Varrieur
2011	Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters [Tommy Wirkola] HD (ARRI ALEXA)/3-D/c; 2uc: Paul Hughen; addph: Christopher Probst; ph main title seq: John Frost; aph: Jeremy Braben
2011	Unwatchable [Marc Hawker (DarkFibre)] scope/c; short/6m; for the 'Save the Congo!' campaign

TELEVISION

1993	The Desperate Trail [P.J. Pesce] tvm
1996	Profiler [19 ep dir by various] 83-part series, 1996-2000; 1st season, 1996-97; other ph: Kees van Oostrum (3 ep)
1998	Felicity [7 ep dir by various] 84-part series, 1998-2002; 1st season 1998-99; other ph: Robert Primes & Richard Fannin
1999	Felicity [all 23 ep dir by various] 2nd season, 1999-2000; see 1998
2000	Felicity [all 17 ep dir by various] 3rd season, 2000-01; see 1998
2001	Alias [all 22 ep dir by various] 105-part series, 2001-06; 1st season, 2001-02
2002	Alias [all 22 ep dir by various] 2nd season, 2002-03; see 2001
2004	Lost [ep #5 'White Rabbit' dir by Kevin Hooks (KH), #7 'The Moth' dir by Jack Bender (JB), #9 'Solitary' dir by Greg Yaitanes, #10 'Raised by Another' dir by Marita Grabiak, #11 'All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues' dir by Stephen Williams, #13 'Hearts and Minds' dir by Rod Holcomb, #15 'Homecoming' dir by KH, #17 '...In Translation' dir by Tucker Gates, #19 'Deus Ex Machina' dir by Robert Mandel, #21 'The Greater Good/Sides' dir by David Grossman, #23 'Exodus, Part 1' dir by JB & #24 'Exodus, Part 2' dir by JB] 121-part series, 2004-10; 1st season, 2004-05; other ph: Larry Fong (pilot, a.o.) & John S. Bartley
2005	Lost [ep #25 'Man of Science, Man of Faith' dir by Jack Bender (JB), #27 'Orientation' dir by JB, #29 '...And Found' dir by Stephen Williams (SW), #31 'The Other 48 Days' dir by Eric Laneuville (EL), #33 'What Kate Did' dir by Paul Edwards, #35 'The Hunting Party' dir by SW, #37 'The Long Con' dir by Roxann Dawson, #39 'Maternity Leave' dir by JB, #41 'Lockdown' dir by SW, #43 'S.O.S.' dir by EL, #45 '?' dir by Deran Sarafian & #47 'Live Together, Die Alone' dir by JB] 2nd season, 2005-06; other ph: John S. Bartley (+ cph #47); see 2004
2006	Justice [ep #8 'Shark Week' dir by Danny Cannon & #9 'Shotgun' dir by David McNally] 13-part (1 unaired) series; other ph: Dermott Downs
2006	Lost [ep #69 'Greatest Hits' dir by Stephen Williams] 3rd season, 2006-07; see 2004
2007	Eli Stone [pilot dir by Ken Olin] 26-part series/HD (ARRI D-21), 2008-09; other ph: Michael D. O'Shea
2008	Fringe [pilot dir by Alex Graves] series, 2008-present; 1st season/s35, 2008-09
2010	Outlaw [pilot dir by Terry George] 8-part series/HD, 2010; 2uc: Alan Caudillo
2010	UnderCovers [pilot dir by J.J. Abrams] 13-part (2 unaired) series/RED, 2010
2012	Revolution [pilot dir by Jon Favreau] series/HD, 2012-present

MISCELLANEOUS

1983	Trespasses [Loren Bivens & Adam Roarke] co-c.asst; ph: Phil Curry & Monte Dhooge
1983	Future-Kill/Night of the Alien/Splatter [Ronald W. Moore] co-2nd c.asst; ph: Jon Lewis
1987	Homeboy [Michael Seresin] co-electrician; ph: Gale Tattersall
1989	Chains [Will Alovis] co-c.op & gaffer (+ co-2uc); ph: Joe DeSalvo; see Films
1990	Paris Is Burning [Jennie Livingston; doc] c.asst; ph: Paul Gibson
1991	The Refrigerator [Nicholas Jacobs] gaffer; ph: Paul Gibson
1995	Snow White: A Tale of Terror/The Grimm Brothers' Snow White/Snow White [in the Black Forest] [Michael Cohn; tvm - in theatres outside USA] 2ud; ph: Mike Southon; 2uc: Martin Grosup