ASC Television Nominations Top Cinematographers Named
The American Society of Cinematographers has announced the nominees for its 19th annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards. The fifteen cinematographers singled out in three categories include several repeat nominees.
In the Episodic Category, the nominees are David Boyd for the “Deep Water” episode of HBO’s Deadwood; Thomas Del Ruth for the “Gaza” episode of NBC’s The West Wing; Nathan Hope for the “Down the Drain” episode of CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Chris Manley for the “A Man A Mile” episode of CBS’s CSI: NY; and Alik Sakharov for the “Long Term Parking” episode of HBO’s The Sopranos. This marked the first nomination for Boyd, Hope and Sakharov, the second for Manley and the ninth nomination for Del Ruth, who has won the award four times.
In the Movie/Miniseries/Pilot Category produced for broadcast television, the nominees are Larry Fong for the pilot of ABC’s Lost; Jonathan Freeman for NBC’s Homeland Security; Michael Goi for ABC’s Judas; Clark Mathis for the pilot of NBC’s Medical Investigation; and Kramer Morgenthau for ABC’s The Five People You Meet In Heaven. Freeman’s nomination was his fourth, Goi’s and Mathis’s their second and Fong’s and Morgenthau’s their first.
Finally, in the Movie/Miniseries/Pilot Category produced for basic or pay television, the nominees are Alan Caso for the Hallmark Channel’s Frankenstein pilot; Robbie Greenberg for HBO’s Iron Jawed Angels; Peter Levy for HBO’s The Life And Death of Peter Sellers; Ben Nott for TNT’s Salem’s Lot; and Kees Van Oostrum for USA Cable Network’s Spartacus. Van Oostrum was nominated for the fourth time, Greenberg for the third, Caso and Levy for the second, and Nott for the first.
Commenting on the selection process, Owen Roizman, chairman of the guild’s awards committee, said, “Our goal is to inspire as well as recognize the successful pursuit of artistic achievement. Our blue ribbon juries were judging how effectively the images established a sense of time and place and conveyed the emotional content of the stories. They were impressed by the artful work they saw in a diverse range of programs. It wasn’t easy for them to narrow the field down to five finalists in each category.”
ASC President Richard Crudo added, “This competition is a celebration of an art form that generally doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Cinematographers are responsible for creating images that support performances by the actors and help to draw audiences into compelling stories occurring in imaginary worlds. Their work is generally designed to be transparent to audiences, which is why it is important for judging to be done by peers who are more likely to recognize and appreciate their contributions to a collaborative process.”
The ASC awards will be presented February 13 at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland.