Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Filmmaker Focus: Todd Banhazl

17/05/2022

Cinematographer Todd Banhazl shot Hustlers, currently in theaters, and the upcoming HBO series Showtime. His work on the seaside noir film Blow the Man Down recently won Special Jury Mention for Cinematography at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Todd has also compiled music video and fashion credits, including work for Janelle Monae, Muse, Lorde, Imagine Dragons, John Legend, A$AP Rocky, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Death Cab for Cutie. He lives with his curly-haired wife and straight-haired dog in Los Angeles.

What led you to cinematography?

The original Blade Runner was a light bulb moment when I was a kid where I realized you could photograph mood. I used to go in my bedroom, play the Blade Runner soundtrack, and drink apple juice pretending it was whiskey and imagining that I was Deckard. I would imagine shots of myself drinking the whisky thinking about the pressures of being a replicant! My first cinematographer crushes were Jordan Cronenweth, ASC, Lance Accord, ASC and Harris Savides, ASC. Lost in Translation was really important for me. Something about the delicate exposure matching the delicate emotions. It's never left me.

Can you tell us about some of your earliest experiences?

I remember I was starting out as a DP in Los Angeles shooting small music videos, branded content, etc. I wanted to start getting familiar with all the beautiful Panavision glass I had heard so much about. So, I reached out and Mike Carter generously invited me to a lunch to get to know me. I think we had cheeseburgers. Over the years Mike Carter, Marni Zimmerman, and so many wonderful Panavision team members from Los Angeles, New York, and around the world have been so supportive of my projects no matter how big or small the budgets have been. They've customized lenses for me, figured out ways to make things work, and have always treated me like I was one of the big cats that I look up to. It really is a family with Panavision and I've always felt supported and embraced by them. We used customized Standard Speeds to captured the glow of an affair in Between Us; brought an SLZ11 zoom onto the salty cliffs of Baja for an H&M commercial; shot beautiful B Series in Cape Town on a commercial; used my favorite C Series zoom to create existential dread in The Strange Ones; and they outfitted our film Hustlers with DXL2's and customized large format lenses.

Motion Picture Artwork 2019 STX Financing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

What do you think was your real first big break?

I've had so many little breaks along the way thanks to the generosity of so many wonderful collaborators. I'm so grateful to all of them. The biggest one that comes to mind is (writer-director) Lorene Scafaria asking me to shoot her movie Hustlers. Somehow, she believed in me based on our first conversation, my initial visual ideas for the film, and my previous work. Hustlers was a big jump for me in terms of budget. She fought hard to get me on that film. I am forever indebted to her.

What project to date are you most proud of, and why?

I cant choose between my children. At the moment, Im particularly proud of two films that got into TIFF: Blow the Man Down and Hustlers. For me they are spiritual cousins in that they are both exploring ways of photographing women in ways that I feel passionately about in ways we dont traditionally see female characters on the big screen.

Your latest film, Hustlers, has been getting great buzz. Can you describe the look for this film, and tell us a little about how you achieved it?

Lorene (Scafaria) and I nicknamed our look gritty glamour. It's a mix of 2007 pop with gritty gangster lighting. We looked at Goodfellas, Boogie Nights, The Wolf of Wall Street, Heat, and, of course, Flashdance, which is an early example of a female-centric perspective on stripping and dancing. We also looked at a lot of sports movies for cues on how to shoot strippers like athletes.

We chose the DXL2 with customized Panaspeeds and various filter combinations to further degrade the image. We modulated between 8K, 7K, 6K, 5K and some 4K to express the different levels of control or pressure that the characters were experiencing. When the ladies are clocking the club in full power, we shot a lot of low angle 8K on wide lenses. When their world comes crashing down, we used a lot of longer zooms at 4K or 5K, including my favorite Primo zoom, the SLZ11. Lorene wanted the Usher scene at the end during the height of the happy times to look like a full on music video from the mid-2000's, so we shot that scene on E Series anamorphics and flared the lens with green sharpies as much as possible. It's the height of glamour before the financial crash.

Do you have any advice for aspiring cinematographers on how to achieve success?

Never accept no as the answer the first time, especially as it relates to camera and light placement. There is always a way. People want to be a part of things that are exciting and new and challenge the ways they normally do things; you just have to show them youre on the same team.
LINK: https://www.panavision.com/highlights/highlights-detail/filmmaker-focu...
See more stories from panavision

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

MLB's Jason Hedgcock on Using the Cloud To Produce World Baseball Classic Games for Netflix Japan

Live production in the cloud is a growing trend across the industry, and Major L...

04/08/2026

Major League Soccer Names Larry Berg as Next Commissioner; Will Take Helm in 2027

LAFC co-managing owner will succeed Don Garber on Jan. 1, 2027, as league prepar...

04/08/2026

Foresight: Driving Growth Through Broadcast Flexibility - A Calrec + PGA TOUR Case Study

In 2022, when the PGA TOUR was breaking ground on its new, state-of-the-art broa...

04/08/2026

Dealer Cam Debuts as Omaha Productions Takes World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table Live on ESPN

Provided by POVORA, the new camera angle offers a dealer's-eye view of the c...

04/08/2026

USL To Trial FIFA's Football Video Support System During 2026 USL Cup

Spiideo will provide the camera setup, with NEP handling broadcast integration and off-site video operations...

04/08/2026

Game On Live Studio Deploys Blackmagic Design Workflow Across 15 Fields at Tropical 7s

Production team streamed more than 750 youth rugby matches using ATEM switchers,...

04/08/2026

NDI, KTC Partner To Develop Network-Native Commercial Displays

Agreement gives KTC early access to NDI's Advanced SDK for integration across commercial displays, digital signage, and interactive panels...

04/08/2026

IBC2026: IBC Innovation Awards Finalists Highlight Advances in AI, Cloud, Open Standards, and Accessibility

Twelve projects across four categories recognize collaborative work in productio...

04/08/2026

Ekstraklasa, Live Park Select Hawk-Eye for Tracking, Offside, and Broadcast Technology

Multi-year agreement will introduce SkeleTRACK, semi-automated offside, automate...

04/08/2026

Radio France Deploys Redundant Lawo AoIP Workflow for 2026 Concert de Paris

Three mc 56 consoles, dual A__UHD Core engines, RAVENNA networking, and HOME management supported live sound, monitoring, and international broadcast production...

04/08/2026

IBC2026: Haivision to Debut Makito ONE, Falkon X4 in Europe

New contribution products support ultra-low-latency video transport across fixed, remote, and mobile production environments...

04/08/2026

IBC2026: Chyron to Highlight AI, Cloud, HTML Graphics, and Sports-Analysis Tools

Company will showcase updates across PRIME, Chyron LIVE, Paint, virtual production, newsroom workflows, and venue control...

04/08/2026

TAB Show 2026: MultiDyne to Showcase Fiber-Transport and IP Infrastructure Tools

Exhibit will feature SilverBack, VersaBrix, VersaFrame, VF-9100, and FiberSaver-10G platforms...

04/08/2026

IBC2026: TAG Video Systems Adds MXL Support, Containerized Deployment, Expanded QC Tools

Platform updates target cloud-based production, high-density ST 2110 monitoring,...

04/08/2026

Gravity Media, Live Media Group Partner To Expand U.S. Mobile Production Facility Operations

LMG will take control of Gravity Media's U.S. mobile-unit fleet as the compa...

04/08/2026

HeadRush update Prime, Core & Flex Core firmware

Amp-modelling rigs get major upgrade HeadRush have recently released a major firmware update that brings some powerful new features to their Prime, Core and...

04/08/2026

Am I Audio launch I Am Choir

Generate a choir from a single voice track Following years of development, Am I Audio have just officially launched their debut plug-in. Created in collabor...

04/08/2026

Universal Audio's EMT 140 & 250 plug-ins go native

Official EMT-endorsed reverbs now available to all Two more of Universal Audio's renowned UAD plug-ins have just gained new native versions that can be ...

04/08/2026

SBS helps Australians understand why every Census counts

SBS helps Australians understand why every Census counts Media releases As Australia prepares for the 2026 Census on Tuesday 11 August, SBS is helping ensur...

04/08/2026

Canada invests in the future of HF communications with Rohde & Schwarz solutions

Canada invests in the future of HF communications with Rohde & Schwarz solutions After selection by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) as the p...

04/08/2026

Blendkit Expands Beyond Blender

Blendkit Expands Beyond Blender Brie Clayton August 4, 2026 0 Comments Popular 3D Asset Library Launches Alpha Plugins for Maya, Godot, and Rhino Blend...

04/08/2026

QC: Artificial Intelligence's Big Hammer Finds Another Nail

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

The AI Dilemma: Can C2PA Keep a Video's Provenance Intact?

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

BPS Gaining Traction in Broadcast and Other Sectors

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

Ikegami to Demonstrate Latest-Generation UNICAM Product R...

Ikegami has chosen the 11-14 September 2026 International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam as the European market launch venue for additions to its UNICAM p...

04/08/2026

Appear unifies hardware and software for live production...

Appear (IBC2026 booth 1.C61) will showcase new X & VX Platform capabilities that extend broadcast-grade performance from venue to cloud Appear ASA (OSE: APR), ...

04/08/2026

Broadcast Management Group Brings Amazon Prime Obsessed F...

LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video solutions, today highlighted the crucial role its EcoSystem played in Broadcast Management Group's (BMG) successfu...

04/08/2026

Scripps Completes Acquisition of WTVQ Lexington

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

U.S., U.K. Consumers Now Spend 11 Hours a Day Using Media

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

Sinclair Announces 2026 Annual Scholarship Winners

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

Tom DeLay: Only Congress Can Change Station Ownership Caps

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

IAB Tech Lab Upgrades Open Framework for Agentic Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

DirecTV For Business Inks New Agreement to Sell NFL Sunday Ticket

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

IEEE Broadcast Technology Society Honors Charles Einolf

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Dreion

Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Dreion The singer, songwriter, and producer talks about finding his village at Berklee ahead of his Homecoming performance on Sep...

04/08/2026

Sky Sports agrees deal with SANZAAR for international rugby rights 2026 2030

Tuesday 4 August 2026 Sky Sports agrees deal with SANZAAR for international rugby rights 2026 - 2030 The deal means Sky will have exclusive rights to the inau...

04/08/2026

Kill Tony Launches on Supercast, Giving Fans Premium & Ad-Free Access to Comedy's Biggest Live Podcast

Kill Tony Launches on Supercast, Giving Fans Premium & Ad-Free Access to Comedy&...

04/08/2026

BIRTV. Beijing. August 19-22, 2026

More details coming soon....

04/08/2026

AMC Week. Mexico City. September 2-5, 2026

More details coming soon....

04/08/2026

IBC. Amsterdam. September 11-14, 2026

More details coming soon....

04/08/2026

As AI Increases Demands on Memory, Storage Steps Up

Surging AI demands are driving the need for massive datasets and context windows that burst past the confines of system memory. But rising needs aren't me...

04/08/2026

NVIDIA Alpamayo 2 Super, the Frontier Open Model for Robotaxis and Autonomous Vehicles, Now Available for Commercial Use

For robotaxis and other autonomous vehicles (AVs), the hardest problems aren'...

04/08/2026

AI Leaders Propose SAFE Guidelines for Cybersecurity Transparency

Members of the Open Secure AI Alliance - now more than 120 organizations strong - are developing new guidelines to strengthen agentic AI cybersecurity as the an...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

03/08/2026

SVGs TranSPORT Conference Returns to NYC on Oct. 20; Register Today!

SVG's annual TranSPORT conference returns to New York City for a full day of sessions focused on the current state of live-sports-transmission technology. S...

03/08/2026

SVG All-Stars: Stefan Richardson, Director, Global Broadcast, Riot Games

A five-time Emmy winner, this esports vet has built a production career on live storytelling, audience connection, and meeting viewers wherever they are The sp...

03/08/2026

MLBs Jason Hedgcock on Using the Cloud To Produce World Baseball Classic Games for Netflix Japan

Live production in the cloud is a growing trend across the industry and Major Le...