Dean Cundey

Description:

Multiple award-winning cinematographer Dean Cundey, ASC, CSC who was nominated for an Oscar for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and took home the BAFTA for the same film, has a career spanning decades with awards and nominations including a Primetime Emmy (2023 "The Mandalorian") a Daytime Emmy (2001 "The Face: Jesus in Art"), a Chicago Film Critics Association award ("Apollo 13"), to American Society of Cinematographers awards ("Apollo 13," "Hook"). His prolific career also includes a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ASC and a President's Award from the SOC, and he's still not done shooting. Born in Alhambra, California, Cundey spent his childhood building miniature sets and reading "American Cinematographer." Following graduation from UCLA film school, where he was taught by James Wong Howe, ASC, Cundey's first job on set was as a makeup artist on Roger Corman's "Gas!" or "It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It." Cundey's first assignment as a director of photography was on the revenge film "The No Mercy Man." He continued with other horror and exploitation movies, then began a collaboration with director John Carpenter on five films for which he received accolades: "Halloween," "The Fog," "Escape from New York," "The Thing" and "Big Trouble in Little China." Cundey transitioned into a collaboration with Robert Zemeckis on impressive features such as "Romancing the Stone," all three "Back to the Future" films, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Death Becomes Her." Not content to settle for that, he also dabbled in directing with his debut on "Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves" and was also the second-unit director on "Deep Rising" and "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties." .

Overview

Birthday March 12, 1946
Born In Alhambra, California, USA
Alternative names Gene Condie , Dean R. Cundey , Dean Cundy

Did you know

Trivia Shot 5 of John Carpenter's feature films: Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982) and Big Trouble in Little China (1986).
Quotes For me, the special satisfaction in being a director of photography - you might even call it my private ego trip - is knowing that the work I do will live on after I'm gone. Most people have jobs in which the work disappears after they have performed it. I'm very fortunate to work in a profession which has lasting value. It gives me a unique form of immortality. It certainly isn't comparable to the immortality of great artists like Leonardo Da Vinci or Michelangelo. But in a small way, it means future generations can discover my work - and know that, at this point in time, I was here.

Scores

Jurassic Park
2h 7m
8.2
Apollo 13
2h 20m
7.7
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1h 44m
7.7
7.4
All Filters