#3: With dir Jonathan Frakes [left] - "Star Trek: First Contact" [1996]

 

   


MATTHEW LEONETTI   ASC

 

Born: 31 July 1941, Los Angeles, Calif., USA, as Matthew Frank Leonetti, son of Frank M. Leonetti.

Education: Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles [Finance].

Career: 'Growing up in the Leonetti household was much like being raised in a film school for Matthew and John. In 1935, their father Frank began an illustrious career at MGM, with a duty roster that included stints as electrician, rigging gaffer, and best boy. A hobbyist by nature, Frank Leonetti began to invent compact lighting gear for the film industry in the 1950s, and his equipment found a niche on location assignments where small size was key. Within a few years, he developed the process known as wire diffusion. Recalls Matthew, "I remember working on this with him in the early 1960s. There was a need for it, because dad had developed the power globe for film applications, and then made the transformer that would boost the voltage of the globe to make it brighter. Normal cloths couldn't sit in front of the globes, as they put out such a concentrated amount of light, so he designed and developed a method of diffusing the light through wires, which has since become an industry standard." Frank Leonetti formed Leonetti Cine Rentals [now: Leonetti Company, Inc.]. The senior Leonetti co-owns the company with Matthew, who works out of its Pacoima [Calif.] headquarters when not shooting films. The company, which has grown to 40 employees, has two arms: the motion picture equipment rental house, and Sunray, which manufactures lighting products, most notably a product line of lightweight, high performance HMI lighting systems.' [From article by Robert Cashill, 1997.]

Served in the US Army. Became c.asst and c.op.

Ph commercials.

His son Matthew Jr. [b. 1975] is a prod & dir. His brother John Robert [b. 1956] is a dir & doph.

Appeared in the doc 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph: J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan].

Awards: ASC Presidents Award [2014].


 FILMS

1973

The Bat People/IT Lives By Night/It's Alive [Jerry Jameson] c; + co-exec prod

1976

Mr. Billion/The Windfall [Jonathan Kaplan] c; aph: Jim Gavin

1977

The Chicken Chronicles [Francis Simon] c

1977

Prime Time/American Raspberry/Funny America [Bradley Swirnoff] c

1978

Breaking Away [Peter Yates] c

1979

Raise the Titanic [Jerry Jameson] tvi/c; Malta ph: Arthur Wooster; 2uc: Rex Metz; uwph: Jack Cooperman; high speed ph: Bruce Hill; model unit ph: Bob Steadman

1980

Eyewitness/The Janitor [Peter Yates] c; collab doph: Ron Lautore

1981 

Poltergeist [Tobe Hooper] J-D-C Scope (+ 70bu)/c

1981

Fast Times at Ridgemont High/Fast Times [Amy Heckerling] c; addph: James Glennon

1983

The Ice Pirates [Stewart Raffill] c; spec pfx: Jonathan Seay

1983

The Buddy System [Glenn Jordan] c

1983

Songwriter [Alan Rudolph (replaced Steve Rash)] c; 2uc: Richard Kooris

1984

Fast Forward [Sidney Poitier] c

1984

Weird Science [John Hughes] c; ph Chicago: Joseph Calloway; addph: James Glennon & Jan Kiesser

1985 

Jagged Edge [Richard Marquand] c

1985

Commando [Mark Lester] c

1985

Jumpin' Jack Flash [Penny Marshall (replaced Howard Zieff)] 35mm+s35-to-35mm/c; addph: Reynaldo Villalobos; 2uc: Dan Ducovny & Jon Fauer; took over from ph Jan de Bont (with dir H. Zieff) after a few weeks (some of the original footage is in the finished movie)

1986

Extreme Prejudice [Walter Hill] c

1986

Dragnet [Tom Mankiewicz] c; 2uc: Robert C. Thomas; aph: David Nowell

1987

Action Jackson [Craig R. Baxley] c; ph Detroit: Buddy Botham; 2uc: Bob Bergdahl & John R. Leonetti

1987

Red Heat [Walter Hill] c

1988

Elvira - Mistress of the Dark [James Signorelli] b&w (archive) & c; addph & Las Vegas/Game Show; ph: Hanania Baer

1988

Johnny Handsome [Walter Hill] c

1989

Hard to Kill/Seven Year Storm [Bruce Malmuth] c

1990

Another 48 Hrs. [Walter Hill] c

1991

Dead Again [Kenneth Branagh] c

1991

Freejack [Geoff Murphy] p/c; addph; ph: Amir Mokri

1991

Cool World [Ralph Bakshi] c; live action + anim; addph; ph: John Alonzo

1992

Leap of Faith [Richard Pearce] c; 2uc: Lloyd Ahern II & Roger Lee Smith

1993

Demolition Man [Marco Brambilla] p/c; co-addph; ph: Alex Thomson

1993

Angels in the Outfield/Angels [William Dear] c; 2uc: Robert LaBonge; remake of film (1951, Clarence Brown; ph: Paul Vogel)

1994

A Low Down Dirty Shame/Mister Cool [Keenan Ivory Wayans] c

1994

Strange Days [Kathryn Bigelow] s35/c; 2uc: Phil Pfeiffer; addph: Bing Sokolsky

1995

Fled [Kevin Hooks] c; 2uc: William Wages

1996

Star Trek: First Contact/Star Trek 8 [Jonathan Frakes] p/c; 2uc: Bing Sokolsky & Henryk Cymerman; miniature ph: Martin Rosenberg; add vfx ph: Pat Sweeney

1996

Mortal Kombat - Annihilation/Mortal Kombat 2 [John R. Leonetti] c; 2uc: Chris Faloona; vfx ph: Douglas Miller (+ digital compositor) & Russ Lyster

1997

Species II [Peter Medak] c; 2uc (+ Steadicam op): Kyle Rudolph; miniature efx ph: Steve Switaj & Eric Swenson

1998

Pushing Tin [Mike Newell] s35/c; Los Angeles ph; ph: Gale Tattersall

1998

Star Trek: Insurrection [Jonathan Frakes] p/c; 2uc: John R. Leonetti & Bing Sokolsky; aph: Dylan M. Gross

1999

Bear to the Right [Matthew F. Leonetti Jr.] c; short/5m; premiered on internet

2000

Along Came a Spider [Lee Tamahori] p/c; aph: Stan McClain

2000

Rush Hour 2 [Brett Ratner] p/c; 2uc: Bing Sokolsky; addph (Hong Kong): Dean Head; filmed 2000-01

 

[Left] with dir J. Mackye Gruber & Eric Bress - "The Butterfly Effect"

Photo by Shane Harvey

 

2002

The Butterfly Effect [Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber] c; 2uc: Gregory Middleton; addph: Vance Burberry

2002

2 Fast 2 Furious [John Singleton] s35/c; SpaceCam ph: Ron Goodman

2003

Dawn of the Dead [Zack Snyder] s35/c; 2uc: Miroslav Baszak

2004

Santa's Slay [David Steiman] c; cph: Matthew Leonetti Jr.; 2uc: John Clothier

2004

Fever Pitch [Peter & Bobby Farrelly] s35/c; 2uc: John R. Leonetti

2005

Accepted [Steve Pink] s35/c

2006

Pride [Sunu Gonera] s35/c; uwph: Pete Romano

2006

The Heartbreak Kid [Bobby & Peter Farrelly] s35/c; 2uc: Hugo Cortina; remake of film (1972, Elaine May; ph: Owen Roizman)

2007

Halloween [Rob Zombie] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; addph; ph: Phil Parmet; remake of film (1978, John Carpenter; ph: Dean Cundey)

2007

College Road Trip [Roger Kumble] s35/c; addph; ph: Theo van de Sande

2007

What Happens in Vegas [Tom Vaughan] s35/c; 2uc: David Knox

2008

Soul Men [Malcolm D. Lee] s35/c

2009

Cool Dog [Danny Lerner] RED/c/V; ph New York unit: Richard Rutkowski; as Matthew Frank

2009

The Expendables [Sylvester Stallone] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; co-2uc; ph: Jeffrey Kimball

2010

Hall Pass [Peter & Bobby Farrelly] s35/c

2010

Movie 43/Truth or Dare [seg 'The Pitch' & 'Truth or Dare' dir by Peter Farrelly] RED-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; 14 seg; other ph: William Rexer, Daryn Okada, Newton Thomas Sigel, Eric Scherbarth, Mattias Andersson Rudh, Steve Gainer, Frank DeMarco & Tim Suhrstedt; released in 2013

2011

The Three Stooges [Peter & Bobby Farrelly] s35-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; uwph: Pete Romano

2013

Dumb and Dumber To [Peter & Bobby Farrelly] HD (ARRI ALEXA)-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c

 

 TELEVISION

1973

The Elevator [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1974

It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy [Cy Howard] tvm

1974

Search for the Gods [Jud Taylor] tvm

1974

The Secret Night Caller [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1974

Terror on the 40th Floor/The Blazing Tower [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1974

Hurricane [Hunters] [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1975

Bronk [Richard Donner] tvm

1975

The Deadly Tower/Sniper [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1975

The Lives of Jenny Dolan [Jerry Jameson] pilot; for NBC-tv

1975

High Risk [Sam O'Steen] pilot; for ABC-tv

1975

The Call of the Wild [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1976

Flight to Holocaust [Bernard Kowalski] pilot; for NBC-tv

1976

The Spell [Lee Philips] tvm

1977 

Ruby and Oswald/Four Days in Dallas [Mel Stuart] tvm

1977

Special Olympics/A Special Kind of Love [Lee Philips] tvm

1977

Superdome [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1977

The Hostage Heart [Bernard McEveety] tvm

1978

A Fire in the Sky [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1978

Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love [Glenn Jordan] tvm

1978

The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal [Mel Stuart] tvm

1978

Turnover Smith [Bernard Kowalski] pilot; for ABC-tv

1978

Willa [Joan Darling & Claudio Guzman] tvm

1978

The Comedy Company [Lee Philips] tvm

1978

The American Girls/Have Girls Will Travel [various] 11-part series; other ph: Travers Hill & Robert C. Moreno

1980

Crazy Times [Lee Philips] pilot; for ABC-tv

1980

Stand by Your Man [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1981

Mae West [Lee Philips] tvm

1982

Hotline [Jerry Jameson] tvm

1982 

Tucker's Witch [various] 12-part series, 1982-83; other ph: Harry J. May

1982

E.T. and Friends - Magical Movie Visitors [Andrew Solt & Malcolm Leo] special/47m; E.T. doc footage: John Toll & Benedict Coulter; time lapse ph: Louis Schwartzberg; for CBS-tv

1983

Happy [Lee Philips] tvm

1984

Jessie [pilot dir by Richard Michaels] 11-part series, 1984-85

1985

American Geisha [Lee Philips] tvm

1986

Under the Influence [Thomas Carter] tvm

1987

Secret Witness [Eric Laneuville] tvm

2005

Untitled Diamond/Weissman Project [Brett Ratner] pilot; for CBS-tv

2007

Unhitched/The Rules for Starting Over [pilot dir by Bobby & Peter Farrelly] 6-part series, 2008; other ph: Peter Smokler

 

 MISCELLANEOUS

1970

Adam at Six A.M. [Robert Scheerer] co-c.asst; ph: Charles Rosher Jr.

1970

The Baby Maker [James Bridges] co-c.asst; ph: Charles Rosher Jr.

1971

Brute Corps [Jerry Jameson] c.op; ph: Michael Margulies

1972

Time to Run [James F. Collier] c.op; ph: Charles Rosher Jr.