JEFF CRONENWETH ASC

Born: 14 January 1962, Los Angeles County, Calif., USA, as Jeffrey Scott Cronenweth, son of doph Jordan Scott Cronenweth [1935-96].

Education: University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television.

Career: 'Cronenweth worked as a loader and 2nd assistant before graduating high school, and then enrolled in film school at USC where he studied cinematography. Among his classmates were [doph] John Schwartzman and Robert Brinkmann, as well as [director] Philip Joanou. After graduation, Cronenweth resumed working with his father, joining a core camera team that included operators John Toll and Dan Lerner, and 1st assistants Bing Sokolsky and Art Schwab. Moving up to first assistant, Cronenweth began working with Toll, who was just beginning his work as a cameraman, and veteran Sven Nykvist. "I couldn't have learned from better people than John, Sven and my father," Cronenweth relates. "They were all soft-spoken, but very tenacious in achieving their goals. It was a great experience to watch them, learn set etiquette and see how they delegated responsibilities and dealt with producers and crews. I did six pictures with my father and eight pictures with Sven."' [From American Cinematographer Magazine.]

Ph commercials dir by Albert Watson, Tim Cronenweth [for Budweiser & Jaguar], Phil Joanou ['Defining Mia', 2001, for Gatorade; 'Warehouse', 2002, for Lexus Cars], Charles Wittenmeier [for Anheuser-Busch], Geoffrey Barish ['Bison', 2003], David Fincher [for Apple iPhone, 2009], a.o. Directed commercials. Ph music videos [see below].

His brother Tim is a director; his sister Christie is an actress.

Appeared in the doc 'The Light That Burns: Remembering Jordan Cronenweth' [2007, Charles de Lauzirika; 20m].

Awards: 'Oscar' AA nom [2010], ASC Film Award nom [2010] & CFCA Award nom [2010] for 'The Social Network'; ASC Film Award nom [2011] & BAFTA Film Award nom [2011] for 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.

About his father: 'I was introduced to the industry at quite an early age, but as I got older it was the comradery and teamwork with a common goal that first attracted me. My father was very open-minded about the field of cinematography and allowed me the opportunity to experience it, but never forced or even steered me in its direction. And I think because it was my choice alone it made him all the more proud. Unfortunately, he never had the chance to view any of my work. [...] Working with my father as his camera assistant had both benefits and drawbacks. The benefits are the obvious: working with one of the more gifted cinematographers ever to shoot afforded one the insight into his creative process, and the chance to watch him conquer the most challenging situations. It also put me in a position to work on the highest profile, quality-driven projects. That's where some drawbacks came into play. Early on, assisting responsibilities on such big shows is an overwhelming task on its own. Then add in the fear of embarrassing and disappointing the cinematographer - your father - as any son would have. So you overachieve to offset the stereotype of nepotism. [...] There are so many ideas and concepts that he instilled in me that I don't know where to begin. But in general I would say that ultimately your responsibility is in guiding the audience and enhancing the story through photography and composition, but never distracting from it. Don't let your ego get in the way of the story.' [From interview with Jennifer M. Wood in 'MovieMaker', Vol. 2, Issue #7.]

FILMS & TELEVISION

1987

Frame by Frame [Tim Cronenweth] c; or produced/released in 1996

1995

Robbie Robertson: Going Home [Findlay Bunting] mus tv-special/70m; co-addph; ph: Harris Savides

1996

The Game [David Fincher] s35/c; 2uc; ph: Harris Savides

1997

Cusp [Jacques Rey] c; short/18m

1998

Fight Club [David Fincher] s35/c; vfx ph: Les Bernstien

2000

The Brightness You Keep [Amanda Copeland] c; short/16m

2000

One Hour Photo [Mark Romanek] c; add prop ph: Alexia C. Pilat, Russell L. Fine & Doug Aitken; add inserts ph: Tim Cronenweth, Jeff Cutter & Jean-Yves Escoffier; optical ph: Mark Sawicki

2001

K-19: The Widowmaker [Kathryn Bigelow] s35/c; cph: Anthony Nocera; 2uc: Gary Capo; model unit & vfx unit ph: Peter Field

2002

Down with Love [Peyton Reed] p/c

2008

The Pilgrims: The Journey to a New World for Autism/Los peregrinos [Amanda Copeland] HD/c; doc/?m

Actors Andrew Garfield & Jesse Eisenberg - J. Cronenweth - David Fincher

"The Social Network" - photo by Will Kirk

2009

The Social Network [David Fincher] RED-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; ph UK: Ian Foster; aph UK: Jeremy Braben

2010

The Rage Factor: Rage Against the Machine Live from London [Daniel Catullo] c; mus perf/?m

2010

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [David Fincher] RED (One & Epic)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; aph: Peter Degerfeldt; replaced ph Fredrik Bäckar after 8 weeks; remake of film 'Män som hatar kvinnor' (2008, Niels Arden Oplev; ph: Eric Kress); filmed 2010-11

2011

Great Hope Springs [David Frankel] pre-production; announced as doph, but prod was shot by Florian Ballhaus

2012

Hitchcock [Sacha Gervasi] c

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT/OPERATOR

Worked with doph John Toll, László Kovacs, John Schwartzman, a.o.

1983	Stop Making Sense [Jonathan Demme; concert film] co-2nd c.asst; ph: Jordan Cronenweth
1985	Just Between Friends [Allan Burns] co-c.asst; ph: Jordan Cronenweth
1985	Peggy Sue Got Married [Francis Coppola] 2nd c.asst; ph: Jordan Cronenweth
1986	Gardens of Stone [Francis Coppola] 2nd c.asst; ph: Jordan Cronenweth
1986	The Milagro Beanfield War [Robert Redford] co-c.asst; ph: Robbie Greenberg
1987	Cop [James B. Harris] 1st c.asst; ph: Steve Dubin
1987	U2: Rattle and Hum [Phil Joanou; doc] c.asst; color ph: Jordan Cronenweth
1988	Tequila Sunrise [Robert Towne] co-c.asst; ph: Conrad L. Hall
1989	State of Grace [Phil Joanou] 1st c.asst; ph: Jordan Cronenweth
1991	Final Analysis [Phil Joanou] c.asst; ph: Jordan Cronenweth
1991	Chaplin [Richard Attenborough] 1st c.asst; ph: Sven Nykvist
1992	Sleepless in Seattle [Nora Ephron] 1st c.asst; ph: Sven Nykvist
1992	What's Eating Gilbert Grape [Lasse Hallström] 1st c.asst; ph: Sven Nykvist
1993	Only You/Him/Just in Time [Norman Jewison] 1st c.asst; ph: Sven Nykvist
1994	Mixed Nuts/Lifesavers [Nora Ephron] c.op Los Angeles; ph: Sven Nykvist
1994	Se7en [David Fincher] c.op addph; addph: Harris Savides; ph: Darius Khondji
1994	Something to Talk About/Grace Under Pressure [Lasse Hallström] c.op; ph: Sven Nykvist

MUSIC VIDEOS [Selection]

1989	Oh Father [a: Madonna; d: David Fincher] insert ph; ph: Jordan Cronenweth
1996	The Perfect Drug [a: Nine Inch Nails; d: Mark Romanek]
1996	Novocaine for the Soul [a: eels; d: Mark Romanek]
1999	Do Something [a: Macy Gray; d: Mark Romanek]
2000	Sleepwalker [a: The Wallflowers; d: Mark Romanek]
2001	Brotha [a: Angie Stone; d: Chris Robinson]
2001	Rock My World [a: Michael Jackson; d: Paul Hunter]
2002	The Barry Williams Show [a: Peter Gabriel; d: Sean Penn]
2002	Get Free [a: The Vines; d: Roman Coppola]
2005	La tortura [a: Shakira; d: Michael Haussman]