Roizman Named UCLA Cinematographer in Residence ASC Vice-President Owen Roizman has been selected to serve as the Kodak Cinematographer in Residence at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). In his capacity as the Cinematographer in Residence, Roizman will teach a series of workshops for UCLA students focusing on the aesthetic role the cinematographer plays in visual storytelling. This is the fourth year that Kodak has sponsored the cinematographer in residence program at UCLA. The other participants were Allen Daviau, ASC, Dean Cundey, ASC and Conrad Hall, ASC. "We believe it is important for our students to have access to the filmmakers who have played defining roles in shaping the visual grammar of this art form," says UCLA Production Vice Chair and Professor William McDonald. "Owen Roizman is one of the giants. His influence is pervasive and incomparable." Roizman has earned Oscar nominations for The French Connection, The Exorcist, Network, Tootsie and Wyatt Earp. His body of work also includes such memorable films as Three Days of the Condor; The Taking of Pelham, One, Two, Three; The Electric Horseman; Taps; The Heartbreak Kid; Play It Again Sam; The Stepford Wives; Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; Havana; Absence of Malice; Grand Canyon and The Addams Family. He received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in 1997 and the Camerimage International Festival of the Art of Cinematography in 2001. Roizman also served as president of ASC in 1997. "Owen Roizman has created an extraordinary body of work that continues to influence young filmmakers in every part of the world," says McDonald. "All of our students, including writers, directors and cinematographers, will benefit from his insights." Roizman was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised there and on Long Island. His father, Sol Roizman, was a newsreel cameraman for Fox Movietone News, who segued into documentary, television and TV commercial filmmaking later in his career. Roizman's dream of becoming a major league baseball player ended suddenly when he injured his arm while pitching his last high school game. Roizman studied physics and math at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. He planned a career in engineering, however after several job interviews, Roizman decided that filmmaking would be a more rewarding career. He apprenticed with Akos Farkas, who specialized in shooting commercials, and launched his career as an assistant cameraman and operator with Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC. Within several years, he advanced to staff cinematographer at MPO, a leading-edge TV commercial production house. A writer/director named Bill Gunn asked him to shoot the feature film Stop in 1970. His second narrative project was The French Connection directed by Billy Friedkin. During the early 1980s, Roizman organized a TV commercial production company in Los Angeles. He directed and shot hundreds of commercials during the next six years. Lawrence Kasdan lured Roizman back to shooting features in 1988. "We are delighted that Owen Roizman has agreed to make time for this worthy endeavor," says John Mason, director of Kodak's Student Filmmaker Program. "He is a brilliant artist who will be a great mentor for these filmmakers who are still at a formative stage of their careers. There is so much false hype today about technology being a replacement for artful filmmaking, which is why it is important for students to have access to people like Owen who will tell them the truth, offer insights, and answer their questions." For more information, visit the UCLA website at www.tft.ucla.edu or the Kodak website at www.kodak.com/go/motion.