President’s Blog – March 2013
From the President
Greetings ACS members, friends and colleagues.
Over recent weeks I’ve had the great opportunity on behalf of us all to attend the ASC Awards in Los Angeles, and the IMAGO General Assembly in Brussels, where the final hurdle was jumped and cleared in readiness for the vote later in the year, to enable all of the Imago Associate member countries, of which we are one, to become Full members with voting rights. This is a remarkable achievement for all those Associate member countries who simply want to play a more active role in this truly European Federation of Cinematographers.
Film Foundation
When I was in Brussels recently for the IMAGO meeting, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Danny Van Deventer who is with a dedicated, enthusiastic group called FILM FOUNDATION. They are advocates for the ongoing use of film worldwide.
Take a minute to check out their website: www.filmfoundation.info
I think you’ll find it really interesting…. Who said film is dead??
ASC Presents Dean Semler ACS ASC with Lifetime Achievement Award
If you’ve never heard the sound of 1500 people standing and applauding at one time, then you should have been at the ASC Awards last Sunday in Los Angeles, where I was lucky enough to attend and witness all those people applauding our very own Dean Semler ACS ASC when he was presented with his ASC Lifetime Achievement Award. It was such a proud moment and I detected a tear in Dean’s eye, although it was difficult to really tell, because I certainly had a tear in mine.
To make it even sweeter, Oscar®-winner Angelina Jolie presented the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award to Dean, who as a reminder, earned an Oscar and an ASC Award for Kevin Costner’s DANCES WITH WOLVES (1991). In 2007, his work on Mel Gibson’s APOCALYPTO earned him a second ASC Award nomination. Dean has nearly 70 feature credits include such memorable films as CITY SLICKERS, LAST ACTION HERO, WATERWORLD, THE BONE COLLECTOR, WE WERE SOLDIERS, THE ALAMO, SECRETARIAT, Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY and the upcoming MALEFICENT.
Celebrating with Dean were his wife Annie, daughter Ingrid and her husband, along with many other Aussies including; Mandy Walker ACS ASC, Greig Fraser ACS, Peter Levy ACS ASC, Steve Mason ACS, Mark Gollnicht, Brad Shield ACS, Richard Merriman, David Knight ACS, Paul Jackson, Martin Cayzer and many others. At the end of a wonderful evening Dean caught the red eye back to New Orleans for an 8.00am call, and spent the day working off a tracking vehicle in the freezing rain! You gotta love it!!!
Congratulations Dean. All of us at the ACS are so incredibly proud of you.
2013 ACS National Awards for Cinematography
Canberra will be celebrating its Centenary in 2013 and there will be no bigger night than May 25th when Gold award winning cinematographers meet to celebrate their night of nights in our Nation’s Capital! Everyone is warmly welcome to come to Canberra for a weekend of festivities. More details soon, just save the date now so you don’t miss out, as the ACT Branch, under the leadership of Robb Shaw Velzen, will no doubt have some surprises in store.
Until next time…
Ron Johanson ACS
