Cate Blanchett, Spike Lee, Robert Zemeckis @The 38th Annual American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Awards

The 38th Annual American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, kicked off with a stunning montage of the prime examples of what Cinematographers do. From Eraserhead from 1977 to Gilda from 1946, classics to contemporary – and especially fantasy – the captivated audience was treated to a visual feast. The first award of the night, the Spotlight Award, was presented by Rodney Taylor, ASC, to Warwick Thornton, director of the feature “The New Boy,” and Curren Sheldon for the documentary King Coal.  The co-star of the film, Australian Actor and Producer Cate Blanchett, made a surprise appearance to celebrate her director’s win. Left to Right:  Cate Blanchett, Warwick Thornton, and Rodney Taylor: 

Steven Fierberg, ASC, whose extensive list of credits include: “The Affair,” “Love is in the Air” and “Emily in Paris” received the ASC Career Achievement in Television Award, presented by Sarah Treem (co-creator of “The Affair”): In below Photo L – R: Steven Fierberg, and Sarah Treem:Amy Vincent, ASC received the Presidents Award (presented by Beverly Wood). The Bud Stone Award was presented by ASC President Shelly Johnson to ­­­­­­Sony’s Dan Perry.

Bosch’s Titus Welliver was on hand to, well, hand out, the award for Limited or Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for TV:

Before the award for theatrical feature film award was presented, Spike Lee was honored with the Board of Governors Award – presented by Matthew Libatique, ASC, Ellen Kuras, ASC, and Ernest Dickerson, ASC; and Don Burgess, ASC, received the prestigious ASC Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by his “Forrest Gump” director Robert Zemeckis. In the photo below L – R: Don Burgess, and Robert Zemeckis:    Profound and inspiring are some of the words that come to mind when listening to these giants of Cinema. Below photo L – R: Ernest Dickerson, Spike Lee, Matthew Libatique, and Ellen Kuras:Capping out the night was the well-deserved win by Hoyte van Hoytema, ASC, FSF, NSC for his magical work of lensing “Oppenheimer.” As the winner of the theatrical feature film award, he’s destined for Oscar gold:

THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM (presented by Lawrence Sher, ASC)
Edward Lachman, ASC for El Conde (Netflix)
Matthew Libatique, ASC, LPS for Maestro (Netflix)
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC for Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV+)
Robbie Ryan, ISC for Poor Things (Searchlight)
Hoyte van Hoytema, ASC, FSF, NSC for Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures) – winner

SPOTLIGHT AWARD (presented by Rodney Taylor, ASC)
Eric Branco for Story Ave. (Kino Lorber)
Krum Rodriguez for Citizen Saint
Warwick Thornton for The New Boy – winner

EPISODE OF A ONE-HOUR TELEVISION SERIES (presented by Karen Pittman)
Ricardo Diaz for Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, “The Second Coming” (Max)
Rob C. Givens for Gotham Knights, “Daddy Issues” (CW)
M. David Mullen, ASC for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Four Minutes” (Prime Video) – Winner
Cathal Watters, ASC, ISC for Foundation, “In Seldon’s Shadow” (Apple TV+)
Glen Keenan for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Hegemony” (Paramount+)

LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TV (presented by Titus Welliver)
Dan Atherton for Great Expectations, “The Three Keys” (FX)
Sam Chiplin for The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, “Part 1: Black Fire Orchid” (Prime Video)

Ben Kutchins, ASC for Boston Strangler (Hulu) – winner
Igor Martinovic for George and Tammy, “Stand by Your Man” (Showtime)
Jason Oldak for Lessons in Chemistry, “Book of Calvin” (Apple TV+)
Tobias Schliessler, ASC for All the Light We Cannot See, “Episode 2” (Netflix)

EPISODE OF A HALF-HOUR SERIES (presented by Dallas Liu and Ian Ousley)
Julian Court, BSC for The Diplomat, “The James Bond Clause” (Netflix)
Carl Herse for Barry, “Tricky Legacies” (Max) -Winner
Jon Joffin, ASC for Schmigadoon, “Something Real” (Apple TV+)
Blake McClure, ASC for Minx, “I Thought the Bed was Gonna Fly” (Starz)
Andrew Wehde for The Bear, “The Bear” FX)

DOCUMENTARY AWARD (presented by Alma Har’el)
Jeff Hutchens for Murder in Big Horn, “Episode 1” (Showtime)
Curren Sheldon for King Coal – Winner
D. Smith for Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)

MUSIC VIDEO AWARD (presented by Mark Pellington)
Scott Cunningham, ASC for Gorilla (Performed by Little Simz)
Jon Joffin, ASC for At Home (Performed by Jon Bryant) –Winner
Andrey Nikoleav for Tanto (Performed Cassie Marin)

This was Mullen’s fifth nomination for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and his second consecutive win. Joffin has previously earned ASC Awards for Titans (2022), Motherland: Fort Salem (2020), and Beyond (2019). Last year’s ASC feature film winner was Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS for Elvis.                                                                                              
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) is a nonprofit organization 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. For additional information about the ASC, visit www.theasc.com or join American Cinematographer on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@the_asc) and (@american_cinematographer).