Below the Line Impact Report - Up Next

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Jonathan Alberts

Editor

Sundance Grand Jury prizewinner “Like Crazy” began Alberts’ partnership with director Drake Doremus; it continued with “Breathe In” and “Equals,” a futuristic love story starring Kristen Stewart. Alberts also cut HBO’s “Looking” and has teamed with its showrunner Andrew Haigh on his upcoming feature “45 Years,” starring Charlotte Rampling. “‘It’s a film about a woman quietly dealing with her personal struggles,” says Alberts. “She never vocalizes her feelings so we were challenged to externalize her conflict.”
Adam Arkapaw

Cinematographer

After cutting his teeth on shorts, the Aussie native’s work on the Oscar-nommed 2010 feature “Animal Kingdom” super-charged his career; he shot “The Snowtown Murders,” “Lore,” and won the 2013 Emmy for his work on miniseries “Top of the Lake.” Arkapaw also shot HBO series “True Detective.” “The six-minute Steadicam shot was the most fun part of the whole 110-day schedule,” he recalls. Arkapaw also shot “Macbeth” and next shoots Starz’s “Flesh and Bone” series.
Christine Bean

Costume Designer

Bean cut her teeth on blockbusters and indies before moving into episodic TV and landing as an assistant costume designer on NBC’s “Smash.” The Broadway-centered series was like graduate school for her latest gig on “The Blacklist,” where Bean works closely with James Spader to create his iconic look. “James and I have a wonderful rapport and talked a lot about who the character is,” she says. “It was important that he have a certain look, but also that he blend in.”
Onnalee Blank

Re-Recording Mixer

When her promising dance career was cut short by an auto accident at 20, Blank studied audio engineering, and built a new profession working with Rick Rubin, Johnny Cash, Jay Z, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Shakira. After collaborating for two years with composer Danny Elfman, she joined Todd AO Post Production. Blank’s credits include “Black Sails” (“I’m trying to bring a theatrical mixing style to the show”), “Game of Thrones,” “Girls” and “CSI: New York.”
Justin Brown

Cinematographer

At 26, the Brit has already shot more than 50 high-end commercials and music videos for such brands as Gucci, Adidas and Verizon. Moving into film and TV, he also shot director Jonathan Entwistle’s Film4 TV pilot “The End of the F*cking World” and his short “Human Beings.” Other shorts he shot: Bjoern Ruehmann’s “Rose,” Oliver Goodrum’s “This Is Vanity” and Erik Bostedt’s “Frozen.” Brown recently lensed his first feature, “Sixteen.” “Now
I’m looking for the right second feature,” he says.
Page Buckner

Production designer

Buckner was art director on “Django Unchained,” “Iron Man 2” and “The Amazing Spider-Man,” and a visual effects consultant on “Divergent,” “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” “Red 2” and the upcoming “Insurgent” and “The Giver.” He notes that commercials offer the “instant gratification of designing, building and seeing everything come to life within a month,” while features “are vastly different in scale. I enjoy both, each medium has its own huge reward.”
Ruth De Jong

Production Designer

De Jong got into production design after being encouraged by Oscar-nommed Jack Fisk, who hired her on Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood,” and to assistant-art direct Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life.” Since then she’s reteamed with Malick for “To the Wonder,” “and three more we shot back-to-back”: the upcoming “Knight of Cups,” “Voyage of Time” and a new untitled project. De Jong also reteamed with Anderson for “The Master” and the upcoming “Inherent Vice.”
Alex Disenhof

Cinematographer

With a career jumpstarted by a Camerimage music video nom in 2009 and the 2012 SXSW premiere of his first feature, “Funeral Kings,” the d.p. was hired by director Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) to shoot “The We and the I.” Disenhof’s most recent film, “Fishing Without Nets,” was shot in Kenya and premiered at Sundance. He
just wrapped “Sticky Notes” in New Orleans. “I think all fictional filmmaking falls under the category of magical realism,” he says.
Autumn Durald

Cinematographer

Durald has emerged as one of the new wave of young lensers, thanks to her commercial and feature work, including last year’s “Palo Alto,” written and directed by Gia Coppola from James Franco’s short stories. She recently lensed the music video “Strong” for London Grammar and the comedy short “K.I.T.,” which played Sundance. Durald is shooting Sundance lab script “One & Two” with director Andrew Droz Palermo, “going from an ensemble cast in ‘Palo Alto’ to a more intimate cast of four.”
Evan Henke

Editor

Henke had been an assistant editor on some big hits (“Inglourious Basterds,” “The Muppets”) but it’s 2012 Sundance film “For a Good Time, Call” that boosted his career. “It was a little $1 million movie, and I cut it out of my house,” he says. “It went to Sundance and got picked up by Focus.” Henke just finished Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s comedy “The Interview,” which he co-edited with Zene Baker. Henke says they shot a lot of improvisation, which gives editors options to find the best jokes.
Doug Emmett

Image Credit: Seacia Pavao

Cinematographer

The indie d.p. (“Paranormal Activity 4,” “28 Hotel Rooms” and Lifetime movie “Talhotblond,” Courteney Cox’s directorial debut) recently shot his first pilot and series, MTV comedy “Faking It,” which has a second-season order. Next up: “The One I Love,” with Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass, for director Charlie McDowell, which played in Sundance and opens in August. “It was a labor of love — shot in 15 days,” says Emmett, now shooting indie “The Greens Are Gone” for Peer Pedersen.
Paula Huidobro

Cinematographer

The AFI grad started as an intern with Emmanuel Lubezki, then moved up to shooting shorts. Her first feature, 2008’s “Gardens of the Night,” played in competition at Berlin. Huidobro, who also shot second unit on several projects, recently lensed Paul Bettany’s directorial debut, “Shelter,” the pilot for USA’s “Satisfaction,” and “Last Weekend.” “I want to collaborate with passionate filmmakers that care about telling stories that I feel connected to on a personal level,” she says.
William O. Hunter

Production Designer

Trained as an architect, Hunter has racked up credits as a set designer (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Star Trek”), then art director (“The Avengers” and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”). Now he’s serving as production designer on Mattel Entertainment’s live-action sci-fi feature film “Max Steel” for director Stewart Hendler. “It’s going to surprise people,”
he says.
Meghan Kasperlik

Costume Designer

Kasperlik cut her teeth in TV before moving into features. She assisted costume designer Michael Wilkinson on “American Hustle” and “Noah.” With credits that include “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” Kasperlik has now made the jump to costume designer in three upcoming movies: “99 Homes,” “Little Accidents,” and “The Great Gilly Hopkins,” where she worked “with the director and actors to build each character’s individual personality.”
Blake McClure

Cinematographer

Since working as a set PA on the Coen brothers’ 2000 release “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” McClure has graduated to be a d.p. and shot a wide variety of shorts and documentaries. He’s lensing the second season of Comedy Central’s “Drunk History,” which just won him an ASC award. “It was a major milestone for me,” he says. “I shot the new season with a new energy, and I brought that same energy to another Comedy Central series that I’m now shooting, called ‘Big Time in Hollywood, FL.’”
Chad Keith

Production Designer

Keith has designed for indies “Martha Marcy May Marlene” for director Sean Durkin and “Take Shelter” for Jeff Nichols. He recently completed his first studio film, “Midnight Special” (Nichols’ follow up to “Mud”) starring Kirsten Dunst and Michael Shannon, for release in 2015. “Designing a bigger-budget film gives you more bells and whistles,” he says, “but my goal stays the same: create the most realistic environments for the script to unfold in while matching the director’s vision.”
Bear McCreary

Image Credit: Thomas Mikusz

Composer

At 24, his career launched with his score for Syfy’s “Battlestar Galactica.” McCreary then racked up such credits as Starz’s “Da Vinci’s Demons,” Marvel’s “Agents of SHIELD” and “The Walking Dead,” for which he scored 52 episodes. Now one of the top composers in TV, he says, “I’ve been very fortunate to write music for Cylons, zombies, Marvel and DC heroes, terminators, pirates, Leonardo Da Vinci and many other inspiring characters.” Next up: the feature “Everly,” with
Salma Hayek.
Heidi McGowen

Unit Production Manager

After working as an AD on films such as “Black Dog,” “Dead Presidents,” “Smoke Signals” and “Red Tails,” and with experience on TV series such as “Nash Bridges,” “Girlfriends” and “Ugly Betty,” McGowen got her big break as UPM on ABC drama “Body of Proof.” “Everyone — cast, crew and executives — all wanted me to succeed,” she says. “Matt Gross, Jim Kleverweis, Gary French and Sara Fisher invested in me.” She’s now the UPM for the new ABC series, “Black-ish.”
Eric Robbins

Cinematographer

Robbins knew he wanted to be a d.p. at 16. Now 33, he already has a hefty resume of commercials, musicvids, docs and low-budget features, but he sees his current film, “In a Valley of Violence,” as a big break. “The director (Ti West) is awesome. It’s a great script, the actors are so talented, and it’s a super collaboration,” he says. “I’m leaning a lot on past skills, but you learn every single day. It’s a constant challenge and constant learning. You learn new techniques.”
Jamie Pedroza

Editor

Pedroza was Emmy-nommed for “The Apprentice,” “Top Chef” and “Project Runway,” winning for the latter. Switching to unscripted drama, she edited A&E’s “Intervention.” In 2011 she moved to single-camera comedy; credits include Netflix’s “Arrested Development,” and ABC’s “Super Fun Night” and “Black-ish.” “Making the transition from reality to scripted was challenging, and getting that first shot was tough,” says Pedroza, now on indie feature “Mothers Day.”
Peter Sciberras

Editor

For seven years the Aussie has worked in films and commercials, racking up such indie credits as 2011’s “Hail” and “Meathead,” which won the Crystal Bear for short film in Berlin. Last year he worked on “Ruin,” which premiered at Venice, and recently cut David Michod’s “The Rover,” starring Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce, which premiered in Cannes. “One of the real challenges on ‘The Rover’ was crafting a character that’s mostly silent and withdrawn but with real depth of emotion under the surface,” he says.
Joshua Throne

Unit Production Manager

Throne started as PA on TV’s “Sweet Valley High” and worked for indie producers Roger Corman and Charlie Band before becoming part of the creative think-tank Foxlab and moving into features. “A big break was getting hired as the UPM on ‘Blonde Ambition,’ for Millennium, which led to doing ‘The Expendables,’” he says. Over the past few years he’s made the move into producing such projects as “Eagleheart” for Adult Swim. He’s now on Starz’s “Da Vinci’s Demons.”
Brandon Trost

Cinematographer

The fourth-generation filmmaker — he also directs, produces and writes — has jumped from shooting shorts and video docs to lensing big features, including “That’s My Boy” for Adam Sandler, “This Is the End,” “Neighbors” and the Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg-helmed “The Interview.” He’s shooting “Scouts vs. Zombies” for Paramount and says, “I always strive to try something new. Having moved between genres, I’ve been fortunate to work with some very talented directors.”
Roman Vasyanov

Cinematographer

The Russian-born d.p. shot the 2012 micro-budgeted “End of Watch” for David Ayer (earning a 2013 Independent Spirit Award nom), and two indies last year: “The East” and “Charlie Countryman.” Ayer asked him to return as his d.p. for the upcoming Brad Pitt WWII tank film “Fury.” “We shot in Britain for 60 days, and it was very complex as over half the film was shot inside a tank, an incredibly tight space” he says. “We used real tanks and then replicas for all the interior work. The weather was a big challenge.”
Andrew Wheeler

Cinematographer

Wheeler played in a punk band for six years, shot musicvideos, commercials, SXSW feature “Cheap Thrills,” and doc “La Bare.” He’s just shot the “Candy Ranch” pilot for Comedy Central’s Adult Swim, and Taylor Kitsch’s short “Pieces.” which played in the Palm Springs Intl. Shorts Fest. Traveling with a band helped develop his interpersonal skills. “Learning how to exist with six people, the management skills you need to get what you want is kinda like being on a film set,” he says.