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© Grzegorz Piekarski [2008] |
2007 |
[With camera] - "Arcadia Lost" [2008] |
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PHEDON PAPAMICHAEL ASC |
Born: ? February 1962, Athens, Greece, as Phedon Papamichael Jr., son of art director/prod designer Phedon 'Poppa' Papamichael Sr.
Education: University of Munich [Fine Arts; graduated in 1982].
Career: Grew up in Munich, Germany, and started his career as still ph for magazines ['Der Stern', a.o.]. Went to New York in 1983. 'I shot a bunch of shorts for a group of friends. Of course, I wasn't getting paid. After a while we moved to Los Angeles and I began shooting medical videos once a week at UCLA for $100. I was making $400 a month; I paid $225 in rent and lived on the rest. I kept pretty busy. I tried to get into assisting cameramen just to make some money. I interviewed with Robby Müller for 'Barfly', Theo van de Sande for 'Miracle Mile' and also with Mikael Salomon. It was in 1987. I wasn't a first cameraman, so I didn't get any of those jobs. My cousin, Nick Cassavetes, whom I've actually collaborated with later on his first feature, told me to pick up 'Dramalogue', a newspaper where all these student films are advertised. I ended up shooting a UCLA graduate film. I had a reel with a lot of footage, but I hadn't made any money yet. Then I got my first job with Roger Corman. […] A friend who was a graduate of AFI got a second unit job directing on a picture called 'Deadly Dreams'. She asked if I wanted to shoot second unit with her. I was really fast because I was mostly shooting in natural light. They introduced me to director Katt Shea Ruben. We did three movies, almost in a row, 'Dance of The Damned', 'Stripped to Kill II' and 'Streets'. The great thing about Corman was that we had to shoot these features in 15 days. You shot for 16 to 18 hours a day with maybe 60 setups. It was just fantastic training; it was like a mini-studio system. Corman didn't really care as long as the movie had full frontal nudity and people were getting killed. […] Everybody always assumes that I went to AFI, because everybody I knew and was working with at Corman's place was either just out of AFI or still going there… Janusz Kaminski, Mauro Fiore, Wally Pfister and others. Janusz ended up gaffing for me on two or three Corman films and Mauro was my key grip. Janusz shot second unit on 'Streets' and then he got his own Corman movies.' [From interview by Bob Fisher on the 'MovieMaker Magazine' website.]
Ph commercials, e.g. for Cadillac, Renault & Audi [2003, 'The Other Side of the Road'; 6m] dir by Wim Wenders. Ph music videos, e.g. a: U2; d: Wim Wenders [2004]. Directed commercials.
Member of the ASC since 2000. Actor/dir John Cassavetes [1929-89] was his uncle.
Awards: Cork FF 'Best Black and White Cinematography' Award [1990] for 'Spud'; ASC Award nom [1993] for 'Wild Palms' [ep 'The Floating World']; ASC Award nom [1995] for 'White Dwarf'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [2000] & Avignon FF 'Kodak Prix Vision' [2000] for '27 Missing Kisses'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [2000] for 'The Million Dollar Hotel'; Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [2005] for 'Walk the Line'.
FILMS |
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1976 |
Cold Chicken [Phedon Papamichael Jr.] v/c; short/?m; with: John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands & 'Poppa' Papamichael |
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19?? |
Distance [Greg Lalazarian] c; addph: Gustavo Brum; released 2003; on YouTube there's a 11m excerpt (or is it the complete film?) |
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1987 |
Spud [John Wentworth] b&w; short/?m |
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1987 |
Bukowski on Barfly [?] ?; doc/?m |
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1988 |
Deadly Dreams [Kristine Peterson] c; 2uc; ph: Zoran Hochstätter |
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1988 |
Dance of the Damned [Katt Shea] c |
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1988 |
Stripped to Kill II [: Live Girls] [Katt Shea] c; 2uc: Geza Sinkovics |
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1988 |
Nowhere to Run [Carl Franklin] c; 2uc: Igor Meglic |
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1989 |
After Midnight [Ken & Jim Wheat] c; 2uc: Eric Roy Anderson; pfx: Paul Gentry & William Conner |
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1989 |
Streets [Katt Shea] c; 2uc: Janusz Kaminski; pick-ups ph: Wally Pfister |
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1989 |
Body Chemistry [Kristine Peterson] c; 2uc: Wally Pfister |
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1990 |
Prayer of the Rollerboys [Rick King] c; addph: Wally Pfister |
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1990 |
Driving Me Crazy/Trabbi Goes to Hollywood/Autobahn [Jon Turteltaub] c; 2uc: Jeffrey Porter, Christopher Faloona & Flavio Labiano |
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1990 |
Love Crimes [Lizzie Borden] c; co-addph; ph: Jack N. Green |
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1991 |
Poison Ivy [Katt Shea] c; addph + 2uc: Rodrigo García; addph: James R. Barrows; addph sfx: L.A. McConnell & Michael Yeaman |
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1993 |
Cool Runnings [Jon Turteltaub] c; 2uc: Rexford Metz |
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1993 |
Stranger by Night/Justice Under Fire [Gregory H. Brown] b&w-c; 2uc & dir; ph: Wally Pfister |
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1993 |
Dark Side of Genius [Phedon Papamichael Jr.] c |
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1994 |
Unstrung Heroes [Diane Keaton] c |
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1994 |
While You Were Sleeping [Jon Turteltaub] c |
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1995 |
Critics and Other Freaks/Critic's Choice [Ernie Mirich] scheduled as doph, but replaced by Richard Crudo |
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1995 |
Bio-Dome [Jason Bloom] c; addph: Christopher Faloona; 2uc + miniature ph: Patrick Loungway; 'b' unit ph: Goran Pavicevic |
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1995 |
Décroche les étoiles/Unhook the Stars [Nick Cassavetes] c |
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1995 |
Phenomenon [Jon Turteltaub] p/c |
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1996 |
The Locusts/A Secret Sin [John Patrick Kelley] p/c |
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1997 |
Mouse Hunt [Gore Verbinski] c; 2uc: Mark Vargo; add 2uc: Wally Pfister; vfx ph: Mark A. Shelton |
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1998 |
Patch Adams [Tom Shadyac] p/c |
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1998 |
Willie Nelson at the Teatro/Willie Nelson's Teatro [Wim Wenders] c; mus doc/60m; cph: Kirk Gardner |
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1998 |
Girl, Interrupted [James Mangold] scheduled as doph, but schedules were conflicting; ph by Jack N. Green in 1999 |
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1999 |
The Million Dollar Hotel [Wim Wenders] p/c; addph: Wally Pfister |
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1999 |
27 Missing Kisses/Zapkhuli [Nana Dzhordzhadze] c; + add dir |
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2000 |
Viel passiert - Der BAP-Film/Ode to Cologne: A Rock 'n' Roll Film [Wim Wenders] c; mus doc/97m |
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2001 |
America's Sweethearts [Joe Roth] p/c; addph: Goran Pavicevic |
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2001 |
The Sky Is Green [Xan = Alexandra Cassavetes] announced as doph, but replaced by Jeff Cutter (filmed in 2003) |
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2001 |
Moonlight Mile [Brad Silberling] p/c |
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2001 |
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet [seg 'Twelve Miles to Trona' dir by Wim Wenders] s16-35bu/b&w-c; 7 seg + links; other ph: Fred Elmes, Timo Salminen, Ángel Luis Fernández, a.o. |
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2002 |
Identity [James Mangold] p/c; vfx superv: Robert Stromberg |
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2002 |
I Drink, I Gamble and I Write: The Making of Barfly [Cecilia Miniucchi] c/V; doc/12m |
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2002 |
Shattered Glass [Billy Ray] s35/c; addph; ph: Mandy Walker |
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2002 |
The Tears of Don Juan [Nana Dzhordzhadze] announced; status unknown |
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2002 |
Mathilde [Nina Mimica] c; 2uc: Mauro Faloni |
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2002 |
The Blackness in Magic/Robben Island [?] ?; doc/?m; in development; status unknown |
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2003 |
Who Killed the Idea? [Hermann Vaske] c; short/15m; made for BMW Films |
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2003 |
Sideways [Alexander Payne] c; addph: Jennifer Lane |
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2004 |
The Weather Man [Gore Verbinski] c |
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2004 |
Walk the Line [James Mangold] s35/c |
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2004 |
Lights 2 [Marcus Dillistone] c; ph closing scenes; ph: Ron Stannett (opening scenes), Sue Gibson (day-to-night transition) & Jack Cardiff (alleyway scenes); demo film for Fuji Eterna 500 film stock |
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2005 |
The Rainbowmaker [Nana Dzhordzhadze] shooting scheduled for May 2005; in pre-production in 2006 with cph Christopher Doyle; ph in April 2007 by Walther Vanden Ende |
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2005 |
The Pursuit of Happyness [Gabriele Muccino] s35/c; addph: Goran Pavicevic |
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2006 |
10 Items or Less [Brad Silberling] c; 2uc: Goran Pavicevic |
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2006 |
3:10 to Yuma [James Mangold] s35/c; 2uc: Mark Vargo |
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2007 |
Shelly Fisher [Paul Chart] c |
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2008 |
W. [Oliver Stone] s35/c |
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2008 |
Arcadia Lost [Phedon Papamichael] c |
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2009 |
Fujifilm Eterna Vivid 160 & 500 Product Demo [prod: Sneak Preview Entertainment] s16+35mm/c; ph scenes #1-29 (8m39sec - incl titles); ph scenes #30-53 (8m39sec - incl titles): Kramer Morgenthau; ph scenes #54-68 (5m3sec - incl titles): Dion Beebe |
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2009 |
BioShock [Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (replaced Gore Verbinski)] pre-production; based on the X-Box game dir by Paul Hellquist |
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2009 |
Knight & Day [James Mangold] s35/c; 2uc: Josh Bleibtreu; aph: Hans Bjerno |
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2010 |
The Descendants [Alexander Payne] s35/c |
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2010 |
Jackpot [Lorna Davis] c |
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2010 |
Breaking Waves [Paul Chart] c |
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2010 |
Stainless Steel [Lorna Davis] c; filmed 2010-11 |
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2011 |
The Ides of March [George Clooney] s35/c |
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2011 |
This Is Forty [Judd Apatow] HD (ARRI ALEXA)/c |
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2011 |
Nebraska [Alexander Payne] HD (ARRI ALEXA)/c; pre-production |
TELEVISION |
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1992 |
Wild Palms [ep #1 'Everything Must Go' (90m) dir by Peter Hewitt, #2 'The Floating World' (45m) dir by Keith Gordon (KG), #3 'Rising Sons' (45m) dir by Kathryn Bigelow, #4 'Hungry Ghosts' (45m) dir by KG & #5 'Hello, I Must Be Going' (45m) dir by Phil Joanou] 2-part miniseries (6 ep), 1993 |
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1994 |
White Dwarf [Peter Markle] tvm/60m (originally made as a pilot); 2uc: Christopher Faloona |
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1995 |
The Conversation [Dean Parisot] unsold pilot shown as tvm; remake of film (1972/3) |
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2006 |
Men in Trees [pilot dir by James Mangold] 36-part series, 2006-08; other ph: David Geddes |
MISCELLANEOUS |
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1984 |
The Boys Next Door [Penelope Spheeris] co-c.asst; ph: Arthur Albert |
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1987 |
Jogger [Robert Resnikoff; short] co-add c.asst; ph: John Hora |
FILMS & TELEVISION AS DIRECTOR |
| 1976 | Cold Chicken [+ ph] see Films | |
| 1991 | Sketch Artist [tvm; + co-c.op] ph: Wally Pfister | |
| 1993 | Dark Side of Genius [+ ph] see Films | |
| 2001 | Americaville [feature] announced; status unknown | |
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2007 |
From Within [feature] ph: Rafael E. Sánchez; 2nd cinematographer: Akis Konstantakopoulos |
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2007 |
Whirrrr [co-d: Sven Dagones; + co-scrpl] announced; status unknown |
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2008 |
Arcadia Lost [feature; + ph] see Films |
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2010 |
City of Jerks [feature] ph (dv): Tari Segal; + co-prod |