CHRIS MANLEY

#1: From interview [2015]

CHRIS MANLEY ASC

Born: c. 1969, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [PA], USA, as Christopher C. Manley. Grew up in Allentown, PA.

Education: Temple University, Philadelphia; American Film Institute [AFI], Los Angeles [1994-96].

Career: 'I enrolled at Temple University as a radio, television and film major. I was exposed to a lot of classic Hollywood movies during my freshman year and really fell in love with filmmaking. I worked on other students' films doing lighting, sound, camera assistant, grip work. I volunteered all my free time to work on graduate student films. One of them was David Jacobson, whom I later worked with in Los Angeles on 'Dahmer'. I always liked working on David's crews at Temple. I liked his aesthetics. After shooting a few graduate student films, I began trying to figure out if I could make a living as a cinematographer. [...] There was a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia called International House, which exhibited foreign films that were never released in the United States. I worked there as a projectionist. One year they did a tribute to Richard Brooks and Conrad Hall was a guest. When I saw him leaving, I chased him to the exit and asked a stupid question about how to light day interiors. He just said, "Keep it simple, kid. Keep it simple." [...] I did a little work around Philadelphia, but there weren't many opportunities. I knew I needed to get more training. The only program I was interested in was at AFI, because it was more of a conservatory style of learning. I was 25 years old and thought I knew a lot, but I learned more during the first three months than I did in five years in Philadelphia. When I started in 1994, they had a policy of rotating professors every six weeks. They taught classes, advised us on projects and conducted workshops. Our rotating teachers included Tom Denove, Stevan Larner, Bill Dill, James Chressanthis and Bob Primes. [After graduating from AFI] I'd walk to the newsstand, buy the trades, look at all the film start-ups and make calls, send resumes and reels. I must have sent 200 reels in those early days. I got jobs as a gaffer and electrician on very low budget films. Looking back, I knew a lot of talented people who got discouraged and gave up. [...] Right after school in 1996, I was referred by someone at AFI to shoot a no-budget feature called 'Irish Whiskey'. We shot 35mm short ends with a Panavision Gold camera and had print dailies which we watched every night at Deluxe. [...] Looking back, I think my experience working on Roger Corman films was a big help, because it taught me how to work quickly without compromising. At AFI, we were taught that cinematography is an art form and we're artists doing important work. When I was shooting for Corman, I learned that you're expendable if you don't make the schedule. I had to balance those two points of view, because the truth was somewhere in the middle.' [From interview with Bob Fisher on the KODAK OnFilm website.]

Ph commercials dir by Loni Peristere, a.o. Ph music videos.

Member of the ASC since 2007.

Married to film editor Bipasha Shom.

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

Awards: Eastman Kodak Scholarship [for 1995-96]; Taos Talking Picture Festival 'George Méliès Award' nom [1999] for 'My Mother Dreams the Satan's Disciples in New York'; Daytime 'Emmy' Award [2000] for 'The Phantom Eye'; ASC TV Award nom [2003] for 'Threat Matrix' [ep #3 'Dr. Germ']; ASC TV Award nom [2004] for 'C.S.I.: NY [ep #5 'A Man a Mile']; 'Emmy' Award nom [2009] for 'Mad Men' [ep #18 'The New Girl']; 'Emmy' Award nom [2010] for 'Mad Men' [ep #39 'Shut the Door. Have a Seat']; ASC TV Award nom [2010] for 'Mad Men' [ep #51 'Blowing Smoke']; ASC TV Award nom [2012] for 'Mad Men' [ep #65 'The Phantom'].

FILMS
1995	Bontoc Eulogy [Marlon Fuentes & Bridget Yearian] 16mm/b&w; doc/57m; cph: M. Fuentes, B. Yearian, Rubén Domingo & Tommy Hafalla
1995	Und tschüss! - In Amerika/California Convertible [Michael Keusch] c; 2uc; ph: Geza Sinkovics
1996	Irish Whiskey [Jon Stevens] c; cph: Patrick Kelly
1996	Butterflies [Kevin Leicinger] b&w; short/9m
1998	Running Woman [Rachel Samuels] c/V
1998	My Mother Dreams the Satan's Disciples in New York [Barbara Schock] c; short/30m; prod AFI
1998	Enemy Action [Brian Katkin] c/V; addph; ph: Laurence Manly
1999	The Puzzle [Ian Kessner] c; short/17m; 2uc; ph: François Dagenais
1999	12x12 [Maja Zimmermann] c; short/16m; prod Pasadena Art Center College of Design
1999	[Robert Louis Stevenson's] The Suicide Club/The Game of Death/The Death Club [Rachel Samuels] c
1999	Hollywood Horror [Bernt Amadeus Capra] c; 2uc: Drew Thomas
1999	To Protect and Serve [Joseph Perez] c
2000	Tapped Out [Georgio Allentini] c; cph: Kirk Douglas
2001	The Stickup [Rowdy Herrington] c; 2uc: Richard Walden
2001	Shut Yer Dirty Little Mouth! [Robert Taicher] v/c
2001	Under the Influence [Eric Gardner] c
2001	Endangered Species/Earth Alien [Kevin Tenney] c/V; 2uc: Bo Randulff
2002	The Big Empty [Steve Anderson] c
2002	Dahmer [David Jacobson] c; addph: Randall Michelson
2003	Neo Ned [Van Fischer] c
2005	Coachella [Drew Thomas] HD-to-35mm/c; doc/120m; cph: François Dagenais, Keith Smith, Greg Nash, a.o.
2006	Gracie [Davis Guggenheim] s35/c
2007	I Never Meant to Hurt You [Kathy Grasso] b&w-c; short/38m; cph: K. Grasso
2008	Interpretation [Lin Oeding] s35/c; short/7m
2010	Thor [Kenneth Branagh] p (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc; ph: Haris Zambarloukos
2012	Noon [Kasra Farahani] scope/c; short (teaser for feature film project)/12m; 2uc: Dylan Sanford
2012	Are You Here/You Are Here [Matthew Weiner] ?-to-digital/c

TELEVISION
1998	The New Adventures of Robin Hood [8 ep dir by various] 52-part series, 1997-99; 3rd season, 1998; 2uc; ph: Jeffrey Weaver
1999	[Roger Corman's] The Phantom Eye [Gwyneth Gibby] special/60m/35 chapters; aired during breaks between classic monster movies
2000	Black Scorpion [ep #2 'Wave Goodbye' dir by Rob Spera, #3 'Blinded by the Light' dir by Stanley Yung & #17 'He Who Laughs Last' dir by Mike Mickens] 22-part series, 2001; 3uc; ph: Michael Mickens (#2-3) & Carlos González (#17)
2000	Wolf Girl/Blood Moon/Side Show [Thom Fitzgerald] tvm; filmed in Romania
2002	The Last Cowboy [Joyce Chopra] tvm; doph 'b' cam: Frank Q. Dobbs
2002	Thought Crimes/Thoughtcrimes/Clairvoyance [Breck Eisner] tvm
2003	Threat Matrix [ep #2 'Veterans' Day' dir by Fred Gerber (FG), #3 'Dr. Germ' dir by Guy Bee (GB), #4 'Natural Borne Killers' dir by Perry Lang, #5 'Patriot Acts' dir by Rick Kolbe, #6 'In Plane Sight' dir by Larry Shaw, #7 'Alpha-126' dir by FG, #8 'Under the Gun' dir by GB, #10 'Flipping' dir by David Grossman, #12 'PPX' dir by Deran Sarafian, #14 'Extremist Makeover' dir by FG & #16 'Cambodia' dir by FG] 16-part (2 unaired) series, 2003-04; other ph: David Boyd (pilot) & Walt Fraser (3 ep)
2004	Gramercy Park [Jeff Bleckner] pilot/60m (second version; original version - '111 Gramercy Park' - dir in 2003 by Bill D'Elia and ph Tim Suhrstedt); for ABC-tv
2004	C.S.I.: NY/C.S.I.: New York [ep #2 'Creatures of the Night' dir by Tim Hunter, #4 'Grand Master' dir by Kevin Bray, #5 'A Man a Mile' dir by David Grossman (DG), #6 'Outside Man' dir by Rob Bailey (RB), #7 'Rain' dir by DG, #8 'Three Generations Are Enough' dir by Alexander Zakrzewski, #11 'Tri-Borough' dir by Greg Yaitanes, #13 'Tanglewood' dir by Karen Gaviola, #15 ''Til Death Do We Part' dir by Nelson McCormick, #17 'The Fall' dir by Norberto Barba, #19 'Crime and Misdemeanor' dir by RB, #21 'On the Job' dir by David Von Ancken & #23 'What You See Is What You See' dir by Duane Clark] 197-part series, 2004-13; 1st season, 2004-05; other ph: Dermott Downs (+ cph #7) & Frank Byers; 2uc: Cary Fisher
2005	The Curse of King Tut's Tomb [Russell Mulcahy] 2-part tvm; cph: Ranjeev Mulchandani
2005	Prison Break [: Manhunt] [ep #4 'Cute Poison' dir by Matt Earl Beesley, #5 'English, Fitz or Percy' dir by Randall Zisk, #6 'Riots, Drills and the Devil' dir by Robert Mandel, #8 'The Old Head' dir by Jace Alexander (JA), #10 'Sleight of Hand' dir by Dwight Little, #12 'Odd Man Out' dir by Bobby Roth (BR), #14 'The Rat' dir by Kevin Hooks (KH), #16 'Brother's Keeper' dir by Greg Yaitanes, #18 'Bluff' dir by JA, #20 'Tonight' dir by BR & #22 'Flight' dir by KH] 81-part series, 2005-09; 1st season, 2005-06; other ph: Dante Spinotti (pilot, 2004), Robbie Greenberg & Robert LaBonge
2006	Drive [various] 6-part (2 unaired) series, 2007
2008	Mad Men [13 ep dir by various] 92-part series, 2007-15; 2nd season/s35-to-HD, 2008 (13 ep)
2009	Mad Men [13 ep dir by various] 3rd season/s35-to-HD, 2009 (13 ep); see 2008
2009	State of Romance [Peter Sollett] pilot; for NBC-tv
2009	Tough Trade [Gavin Hood] pilot/HD; for EPIX-tv
2010	Mad Men [13 ep dir by various] 4th season/s35-to-HD, 2010 (13 ep); see 2008
2010	Homeland [pilot dir by Michael Cuesta] series/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2011-present; 1st season, 2011 (12 ep); 2uc (pilot): Frank Godwin; other ph: Nelson Cragg
2011	Revenge [pilot dir by Phillip Noyce] 89-part series/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2011-15; 1st season, 2011-12
2011	Mad Men [11 ep dir by various] 5th season/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2012 (13 ep); other ph: Don Devine (#63-64); see 2008
2012	Americana [Phillip Noyce] pilot; for ABC-tv
2012	Mad Men [11 ep dir by various] 6th season/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2013 (13 ep); other ph: Jeffrey Jur (#69) & Don Devine (#70); see 2008
2013	Mad Men [10 ep dir by various] 7th season/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2014-15 (14 ep); other ph: M. David Mullen (#81) & Don Devine (#80 & #82-83); filmed 2013 (7 ep) & 2014 (7 ep); see 2008
2014	The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe/Marilyn [Laurie Collyer] 2-part tvm/HD (ARRI ALEXA); filmed 2014-15
2015	Masters of Sex [8 ep dir by various] 46-part series/HD (Sony F65), 2013-16; 3rd season, 2015 (12 ep)
2015	American Horror Story [ep #55 (co-addph) 'Devil's Night' dir by Loni Peristere (LP) & #57 'Room 33' dir by LP] series/s8+s16+s35-to-HD, 2011-present; 5th season, 2015-16 (12 ep); ph (#55): Michael Goi
2015	Second Chance/The Frankenstein Code/Lookinglass [ep #1 'A Suitable Donor' dir by Michael Cuesta] 11-part series/HD (ARRI ALEXA), 2016; addph (+ 2uc): Vincent De Paula
2016	Fear the Walking Dead [ep #16 'Do Not Disturb' dir by Michael McDonough] series/HD (ARRI ALEXA XT Plus/p & Hawk Scope), 2015-present; 2nd season, 2016 (15 ep)
2016	Knightfall [ep #1 'You'd Know What to Do' dir by Douglas Mackinnon (DM) & #2 'Find Us the Grail' dir by DM] series/HD, 2017-present; 1st season, 2017 (10 ep); for History Channel

MISCELLANEOUS
1995	The Taming Power of the Small [Wayne Powers; short] loader; ph: Robert Harmon
1996	Nineball [Victor Bevine] gaffer; ph: John Burnett
1997	Rough Draft/Diary of a Serial Killer [Joshua Wallace] c.op 'b' cam; ph: Keith L. Smith
1997	Fix [Richard Zelniker] gaffer; ph: Dimitri Djanbani
1997	Too Good to Be True [Geoffrey Edwards] best boy electric; ph: Mark Parry
1997	My Body [Joel Moffett; short] co-best boy electric; ph: Andrew Thomas; also seg of 'Boys in Love 2' (1998)
1997	Psycho Sushi [Lisa Haisha] gaffer addph; ph: Kurt Brabbee
1998	pURe kILLjoy [Aaron Downing] gaffer; ph: Keith L. Smith
1999	Luck of the Draw [Luca Bercovici] co-c.op 'b' cam; ph: Keith L. Smith

TELEVISION AS DIRECTOR
2011	Mad Men [ep #64 'Commissions and Fees'] 5th season; ph: Don Devine; see Television (2011)
2012	Mad Men [ep #70 'The Flood'] 6th season; ph: Don Devine; see Television (2012)
2013	Mad Men [ep #81 'Field Trip' & #83 'The Runaways'] 7th season; ph: M. David Mullen (#81) & Don Devine (#83); see Television (2013)
2015	Masters of Sex [ep #28 'Undue Influence'] 3rd season; ph: Tim Bellen; see Television (2015)