Photo by Bailey Lindley

 

   


JOHN LINDLEY   ASC

 

Born: 17 November 1951, New York City, N.Y., USA, as John Warwick Lindley.

Education: Film School of New York University.

Career: '[My interest in photography was sparked by] seeing Cartier-Bresson's work when I was in high school. I saved up to buy a 35mm Nikon, and to get access to my school's darkroom, I became the photo editor of the yearbook, establishing a standard for sub-par yearbook effort that has probably not been matched since my tenure. At New York University's film school, I took cinematography classes with a Czech named Beda Batka. He was overbearing and didactic but knowledgeable. [My first break in the business was] thanks to a sound mixer, Mark Dichter, who convinced a producer I was a responsible guy. I was asked to shoot a half-hour TV show featuring a fallen Hungarian golf pro named Julius Boros. It was a kind of travelogue, and Julius, who hated fishing and travel, wandered the globe, fishing in exotic locations. The soundman and I would fish, and when one of us hooked a fish, we'd pass the rod to Julius, whom we then filmed landing the catch. On good days, I could persuade Julius to sit in a canoe or skiff in ankle-deep water while I put my back to the shore and found a nice, watery background. A year later, that same producer set up a prime-time show in New York, and the next thing I knew, I was the director of photography. I assembled a hard-working, experienced crew and faked my way through two successful seasons.' [From the ASC website.]

Ph numerous commercials for Valvoline, FedEx, Audi, BMW, Microsoft ['New Family' (4m32sec) & 'Shoe Circus' (1m31sec) dir by Bryan Buckley (2008)], a.o. Ph music videos, e.g. 'Road to Nowhere' [a: Talking Heads; d: David Byrne & Stephen R. Johnson].

Member of the ASC since 1999.

Appeared in the doc 'Who Needs Sleep? [2005, Haskell Wexler & Lisa Leeman].

Awards: Golden Satellite Award nom [1999], Chlotrudis Award nom [1999] & Online Film Critics Society Award nom [1999] for 'Pleasantville'; ASC TV Award nom [2011] for 'Pan Am' [pilot]; ASC TV Award [2014] for 'Manhattan' [ep #1].

Website: John Lindley


 FILMS

1979

Different Drummer - Elvin Jones [Edward Gray] 16mm/c; doc/29m; cph: Fred Murphy, Nancy Schreiber, Don Lenzer, Mark Obenhaus & Richard Pearce

1983

Sylvia: Summer Before College [Grania Gurievitch] 16mm/c; doc/30m

1983

He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' [Emile Ardolino] c; doc/51m; cph: Phil Parmet, Don Lenzer, Francis Kenny, a.o.

1983

The Goodbye People [Herb Gardner] c

1984

Játszani kell/Lily in Love/Playing for Keeps [Károly Makk & András Mész] c; cph: Tamás Andor

1985 

Home of the Brave [- A Film by Laurie Anderson] [Laurie Anderson] c; mus perf/91m; add projection camera: Barry Sonnenfeld; filmed at the Park Theater, Union City, New Jersey

1985

The Stepfather/Stepfather I [Joseph Ruben] c

1986

Killer Party/The April Fool [William Fruet] c; spec vfx: Frank Carere

1987

In the Mood/The Woo Woo Kid [Phil Alden Robinson] c

1987

The Serpent and the Rainbow [Wes Craven] c; addph: George Koblasa & Len Gittleman; vfx ph: Rick Fichter & Gregg Heschong

1987

Shakedown/Blue Jean Cop [James Glickenhaus] c; aph: Al Cerullo, Ron Goodman & Margaret Herron

1988

True Believer/Fighting Justice [Joseph Ruben] c

1988

Field of Dreams [Phil Alden Robinson] c; Boston ph: Ricky Bravo; aph: John M. Stephens

1988

The Children's Storefront [Karen Goodman] c; doc/14m; cph: Terry Hopkins & Buddy Squires

1988

Immediate Family [Jonathan Kaplan] c

1989

Vital Signs [Marisa Silver] c

1990

Sleeping with the Enemy [Joseph Ruben] c; uwph: Peter Romano; + small part

1991

Father of the Bride [Charles Shyer] c

1991

Sneakers [Phil Alden Robinson] c

1992

The Good Son [Joseph Ruben] c; 2uc: Kenneth Zunder

1993

I Love Trouble [Charles Shyer] c; 2uc: Tom Priestley, Tom Houghton & Constantine Makris; aph: Stan McClain

1995

Money Train [Joseph Ruben] s35/c; 2uc New York (+ co-2ud): Alexander Witt; vfx ph: David Drzewiecki

1996

Michael [Nora Ephron] c

1997

Pleasantville/Larger Than Life [Gary Ross] b&w-c

1998

You've Got Mail [Nora Ephron] c; computer unit ph: Paul Gaffney

1999

Lucky Numbers [Nora Ephron] c; aph: Stan McClain

2001

The Sum of All Fears [Phil Alden Robinson] p/c; 2uc (Moscow): Chris Woods; aph: Paul Varrieur

2001

The Core [Jon Amiel (replaced Peter Hyams)] p/c; ph Rome unit: Philip Méheux; ph Montreal unit: Henry Cline; 2uc: Chris Woods; aph: Kurt Soderling

2003

The Last Shot/Providence [Jeff Nathanson] c

2003

Krug [Bryan Buckley] HD (Sony)/c; short/8m; 2uc: Kent Miller

2004

Bewitched [Nora Ephron (replaced Ted Bessell, who died)] c; 2uc: Amy Vincent; aph: Hans Bjerno

2005

Catch and Release [Susannah Grant] s35/c; 2uc: Karl Herrmann

2006

Mr. Brooks [Bruce A. Evans] c; 2uc: Amy Vincent; aph: Ralph Mendoza

2006

Reservation Road [Terry George] c; 2uc: Craig DiBona

2007

Imagine That/NowhereLand [Karey Kirkpatrick] s35/c; aph: Steve Koster

2008

Legion [Scott Charles Stewart] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; + ph Los Angeles; 2uc: Bruce McCleery & Paul Elliott; 3uc: Michael Wojciechowski

2009

The Last Song [Julie Anne Robinson] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Ted Chu; aph: Phil Pastuhov; uwph: Pete Romano

 

With dir Felicity Huffman - "Lesster"

 

2010

Lesster [Felicity Huffman] HD/c; short/6m; prod for The Responsibility Project sponsored by Liberty Mutual Insurance

2012

Shoe Addicts Anonymous [Paul Weiland] pre-production

2013

St. Vincent/St. Vincent de Van Nuys [Theodore Melfi] s35-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c

2015

Father Figures/Bastards [Lawrence Sher] HD/c; aph: Hans Bjerno & John Trapman

 

 TELEVISION & INTERNET

1979

The Shock of the New [ep #8 'The Future That Was' dir by David Richardson] 8-part doc series/b&w-c, 1980; cph: John McGlashan & Robert Eberlein; rostrum ph: Ivor Richardson & Ken Morse

1979

Middletown [ep #1 (77m) 'The Campaign' dir by Tom Cohen] 6-part doc series, 1982; other ph: Paul Goldsmith (ep #2 'The Big Game'), Richard Leacock (ep #3 'Community of Praise'), Tom Hurwitz (ep #4 'Family Business'), a.o.; prod 1979-82; ep #6 'Seventeen' was banned from broadcast by PBS-tv; explores both the continuity and the change embodied in the people and institutions of one Midwestern community: Muncie, Indiana; for PBS-tv

1980

Middletown [ep #5 (58m) 'Second Time Around' dir by Peter Davis & John Lindley] see 1979

1980

The Gentleman Bandit/The Bandit Priest [Jonathan Kaplan] tvm

1980

Nurse [6 ep dir by various] 25-part series, 1981-82; 1st season, 1981 (6 ep)

1980

Mr. Griffin and Me [Patrick O'Neal] tvm/55m

1981

Amy and the Angel [Ralph Rosenblum] tvm/45m; an ABC-tv 'Afterschool Special'

1981

Andrea Doria: The Final Chapter [Peter Gimbel] doc/81m; cph: Arthur Albert & Mark Shelley; uwph: P. Gimbel, Bob Hollis, a.o.

1981

Nurse [6 ep dir by various] 2nd season, 1981-82 (19 ep); other ph: Robert M. Baldwin; see 1980

1982

The Demon Murder Case/The Rhode Island Murders [William Hale] tvm

1982

An Invasion of Privacy [Mel Damski] tvm

1983

Girls of the White Orchid/Death Ride to Osaka [Jonathan Kaplan] tvm

1984

The Baron and the Kid [Gary Nelson] tvm

1984 

Einstein on the Beach - The Changing Image of Opera [Mark Obenhaus] doc/58m; addph; ph: M. Obenhaus

1985

Badge of the Assassin [Mel Damski] tvm; cph: João Fernandes

1985

Rockabye [Richard Michaels] tvm

1986

LBJ: The Early Years [Peter Werner] tvm

1986

A Stranger Waits [Robert Michael Lewis] tvm

1987

Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story [Charles Jarrott] 2-part tvm; cph: Alan Hume; 2uc: Robin Vidgeon

1999

Freedom Song [Phil Alden Robinson] tvm/b&w-c/s16; 2uc (+ 2ud); ph: Amy (as Amelia) Vincent

2011

Pan Am [pilot (35mm) dir by Thomas Schlamme] 14-part series/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2011-12; other ph: Ron Fortunato; addph: William Rexer

2011

Powers [Michael Dinner] pilot; filmed July; reshoots in 2012; for FX Networks

2012

The Frontier [Thomas Schlamme] pilot; for NBC-tv

2012

Witches of East End [pilot dir by Mark Waters] 23-part series/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2013-14; 1st season, 2013 (10 ep)

2013

Wild Blue [Michael Dinner] pilot; pre-production; prod cancelled (FOX has opted not to make the drama pilot 'Wild Blue', which was ordered and partially cast last season before being pushed off-cycle); for FOX-tv

2014

Manhattan [ep #1 'You Always Hurt the One You Love' dir by Thomas Schlamme] 23-part series, 2014-15; 1st season, 2014 (13 ep); other ph: Richard Rutkowski

2014

Members Only/The Club [R.J. Cutler] 13-part series

2015

Good Girls Revolt [Liza Johnson] pilot; for Amazon Studios

2016

Time After Time [Marcos Siega] pilot; for ABC-tv

2016

Dirty Dancing [Wayne Blair] 3-part miniseries; pre-production; for ABC-tv

 

 MISCELLANEOUS

1976

The TVTV Show [Alan Myerson; tv-special/74m] co-lighting; ph: Paul Goldsmith; TVTV's (San Francisco-based video collective) final tv-special, co-prod with NBC-tv

1983

Bette Midler No Frills [Thomas Schlamme; mus tv-special] co-c.op; ph: Paul Goldsmith