IEC
JONATHAN SELA
Born: 29 April 1978, Paris, France.
Career: Grew up in Israel. At age 10, his Polish grandfather took him to the set of 'Schindler's List' in Krakow, inspiring him to pursue a career in filmmaking. He began his career at age 14, when he joined crews making Israeli television shows and then films, beginning as a lighting technician and later moving up to gaffer. He came to the United States when he was 19, enrolling in AFI's film school in Los Angeles. He served as an assistant to Vilmos Zsigmond on two movies, before getting his first feature assignment as 2uc on 'Winter Break'. [From the btlnews.com website, 2013.]
Ph numerous commercials. Ph music videos with a: Miley Cyrus ('Wrecking Ball', 2013, Terry Richardson), Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Jay Z, Kanye West, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, a.o.
Married to photographer Megan Schoenbachler.
Website: Jonathan Sela
| FILMS & TELEVISION | |
|---|---|
|
2000 |
Cypress Hill: Still Smokin' [seg 'Lowrider' (4m) dir by Smith n' Borin] b&w-c; comp of music videos/107m |
|
2000 |
The Newman Shower [Dan Passman] 16mm/c; short/25m; prod AFI (USA) |
|
2000 |
Winter Break/Snow Job/Sheer Bliss [Marni Banack] Hawk Scope/c; co-2uc; ph: George Mooradian |
|
2001 |
Earth Is Heaven [Are Paulsen] c; short/28m |
|
2003 |
The Girl Next Door [Luke Greenfield] c; uncred addph; ph: Jamie Anderson |
|
2003 |
Seascape [Marc Webb] scope/c; short/?m |
|
2003 |
DysEnchanted [Terri Miller] c; short/8m |
|
2003 |
I Am Stamos [Rob Meltzer] s35/c; short/18m; 2uc: Brett Juskalian |
|
2003 |
Soul Plane [Jessy Terrero] c |
|
2004 |
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School [Randall Miller] p/c; based on the short film of the same name (1990; ph: Michael Ozier) |
|
2004 |
Dreamland [Jason Matzner] c |
|
2004 |
Honey Trap [Bob Giraldi] HD (Thomson Viper)/c; short/12m |
|
2005 |
Rohtenburg/Grimm Love [Martin Weisz] s35/c; uwph: Sascha Mieke |
|
2005 |
Martian Child [Menno Meyjes] 35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; addph; ph: Robert Yeoman; released in 2007 |
|
2005 |
Randy and the Mob [Ray McKinnon] c; released in 2007 |
|
2005 |
The Omen [John Moore] 35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Asen Sopov & Juraj Chlpik; addph (Rome/Matera): Daniele Massaccesi; uncred aph: Adam Dale |
|
2007 |
The Midnight Meat Train [Ryûhei Kitamura] s35/c; 2uc: Bridger Nielson; addph: John Smith |
|
2007 |
Powder Blue [Timothy Linh Bui] s35/c; 2uc: Barry Berona; released in 2009 |
|
2008 |
Max Payne [John Moore] s35+HD (Phantom HD)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Glen Keenan; aph: David B. Nowell; uwph: Pete Romano |
|
2009 |
Law Abiding Citizen [F. Gary Gray] s35 (+ D-Cinema)/c; ph (insert & aerial unit): Glen Keenan & Paul Hughen; doc ph: John J. Moers; aph (insert & aerial unit): David B. Nowell |
|
2012 |
A Good Day to Die Hard/Die Hard 5 [John Moore] s35+HD (Canon EOS 5D)-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Jonathan Taylor; 2uc (Moscow): Yelena Ivanova; addph: Andrew Banwell; aph: John Marzano; 'The first conversation we had was simply about digital versus film. When I read the script I felt that the movie needed to have grain and texture, which is more difficult to do with digital and I like to do as much as possible in-camera. The other thing was the workflow: John has two small black-and-white monitors on the set and he doesn't want more than that. He has the traditional attitude that he hires a DP and trusts the DP to light the image and shoot it; he wants to pay attention to the actors and he feels that monitors can be a distraction. And finally most of the movie was shot handheld, which for me is a little easier to do on film, especially if you're working with multiple cameras. I didn't want to be spending all my time sitting in a black tent.' (From the ARRI.com website) |
|
2013 |
John Wick [Chad Stahelski & (uncred) David Leitch] HD (ARRI ALEXA M & XT/Hawk Scope & spherical)-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Duane Manwiller; aph: Steve Koster; 'This was my first digital movie; all the commercials I've shot for the last couple of years have been digital, but this was the first feature. We had the idea of using both anamorphic and spherical lenses, so we got hold of a set of Hawk's Vintage '74 anamorphics and combined them with Cooke S4s. Originally we planned to use anamorphics for the first section and sphericals for the second, but once we were shooting we felt that the camerawork was enough to separate those two worlds and we ended up using the anamorphics mainly for day work and the sphericals for night work.' (From the ARRI.com website) |
|
2015 |
Limitless [pilot dir by Marc Webb] 22-part tv-series, 2015-16 |
|
2015 |
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend [ep #1 'Josh Just Happens to Live Here!' dir by Marc Webb] tv-series, 2015-present; 1st season, 2015-16 (18 ep); addph: Charles Papert; for The CW Network; an half-hour pilot (d: Marc Webb; ph: ?) was shot in October 2014 for Showtime-tv (opted not to proceed with it) |
|
2015 |
Atomic Blonde/The Coldest City [David Leitch] HD (ARRI ALEXA M & XT Plus/Hawk Scope)-to-D-Cinema (scope)/c; 2uc: Imre Juhasz; filmed 2015-16 |
|
2016 |
Transformers: The Last Knight/Transformers 5 [Michael Bay] RED Epic Dragon/p & Weapon Dragon/p & Weapon Helium/p+HD (Phantom 65 Gold/IMAX 3-D)-to-D-Cinema (scope [also 3-D version])/c; 2uc: Peter Lyons Collister; aph: David B. Nowell; drone ph: Michael FitzMaurice; uwph: Pete Romano |
|
2017 |
Deadpool 2 [David Leitch] HD (ARRI ALEXA SXT/Hawk Scope & Mini/Hawk Scope + Phantom Flex4K/Hawk Scope + Sony a7)-to-D-Cinema (scope)/c; aph: Hans Bjerno; uwph: Ian Seabrook |
|
2019 |
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw [David Leitch] HD (ARRI ALEXA SXT/Hawk Scope & Mini/Hawk Scope)-to-D-Cinema (scope)/c; 2uc: Fraser Taggart; splinter unit ph (+ main unit c.op 'b' cam): Oliver Loncraine; aph: Adam Dale & John Marzano |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |
|---|---|
|
1995 |
Tmunot Yafo'iyot [Matti Harari & Arik Lubetzki; 12-part tv-series, 1995 & 1997] co-lighting tech; ph: Itamar Hadar |
|
1995 |
Bat Yam - New York [various; 24-part tv-series, 1995-98] co-lighting tech; ph: various |
|
1997 |
Ha-Chaverim Shel Yana/Yana's Friends [Arik Kaplun] best boy; ph: Valentin Belonogov |
|
1997 |
Ha-Dybbuk B'sde Hatapuchim Hakdoshim/Ahava Asura/The Dybbuk [Yossi Somer] electrician; ph: Manu Kadosh |
|
1997 |
Babcha [Noam Zilberstein; short/28m] gaffer; ph: Ra'am Don; prod Tel Aviv University |
|
1998 |
Mesukenet/Dangerous Acts [Shemi Zarhin] co-electrician; ph: David Gurfinkel |
|
1999 |
The Body [Jonas McCord] asst; ph: Vilmos Zsigmond |
|
2000 |
Hammerlock [Chris McIntyre] co-electrician; ph: Lila Javan |
|
2000 |
Burning Heart [Alexa Schulz; short/18m/16mm] gaffer; ph: Matthias Grunsky; prod AFI (USA) |
|
2000 |
Life as a House [Irwin Winkler] camera intern; ph: Vilmos Zsigmond |
