The International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) has announced the recipients of special awards as part of the ICG's Emerging Cinematographer Awards (ECA). These awards will be presented during the ECA opening event at the American Society of Cinematographers Clubhouse in Los Angeles on September 24. The 19th annual Emerging Cinematographer Awards ceremony will be held at the Directors Guild of America Theater on September 27.The Canon Award for Advancement in Digital Technology will be presented to Steven Tiffen, President and CEO of the Tiffen Company, a leading manufacturer of optical filters and imaging accessories, as well as lighting and camera support systems for the consumer, broadcast and motion picture industries. The company has been recognized for its product and engineering excellence, earning a Technical Achievement Award and a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, as well as multiple Emmy Awards.
In addition to the company's recognition, Mr. Tiffen has received an Emmy for Engineering Excellence from the Television Academy, a Technical Achievement Award from the Society of Operating Cameramen, and in 2015, he was presented with an Academy Award of Commendation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Under his leadership, the company made the strategic decision to broaden its product focus to include Lowel Light and Steadicam camera stabilizing systems. Tiffen was previously Chairman of the Digital Imaging Division of the Consumer Electronics Association, and is currently a member of its Executive Board. In addition, he is an Associate Member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) as well as a fellow in the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).
Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS, will receive the Kodak Cinematography Mentor of the Year Award. Australian born Walker became director of photography when she was just 25. She became a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2009 and is an accredited member of the Australian Cinematographers Society, the American Society of Cinematographers and was the Kodak Artist in Residence at UCLA film school for the 2014/2015 year where she was given the Champion Spirit.
Feature credits include Baz Luhrmann's Australia for which she won a Satellite Award, the Hollywood Cinematographer of the Year Award, and the Women in Film, Kodak Vision Award in 2008 ; Shattered Glass for director Billy Ray earning her a nomination for Best Cinematography at the Independent Spirit Awards; Lantana and Love Serenade directed by Shirley Barrett (winner of Camera d'or at the Cannes Film Festival) Walker's impressive portfolio of International TV commercials has garnered her numerous awards of excellence. In 2006 she was named one of the Variety's 10 Cinematographers to Watch.
The Technicolor William A. Fraker Cinematography Journalist of the Year Award will be presented to David Heuring who brings 25 years of experience in the world of cinematography to his work. His first published article ran in American Cinematographer magazine in 1987. Soon he was hired on the magazine's staff eventually rising to the position of editor, becoming the youngest person ever to hold that title. He also oversaw the advertising and art departments and shepherded the Sixth Edition of the American Cinematographer manual and other books to publication.
In 1995, he left AC to join Creative Communications Services, where his deep understanding of the art and craft of cinematography was put to use for clients like Eastman Kodak, Universal Studios, LaserPacific, Cinesite, Cineric, Lowry Digital, Reliance Media, Hewlett-Packard, FotoKem, Musco, TrioScopics, NeTune, Fletcher Camera and the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600.
At CCS, Heuring continued his now 25-year association with the American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards, and continued writing for AC and a wide range of other industry publications. Heuring left CCS in September 2011 and now works as an independent freelance writer and consultant. To date, he has written more than 1000 articles for filmmaking publications like Variety, Hollywood Reporter, ICG Magazine, American Cinematographer and InCamera magazine. He has done writing and panel organization, planning and moderation for a long list of industry organizations and events.
Professor Bruce Sheridan, Chair of Cinema Art + Science at Columbia College Chicago and Chair of the North American region of CILECT will receive the Nat Tiffen Award for Excellence in Cinematography Education. In 1999, he won the New Zealand Best Drama Award for Lawless, and in 2012 produced the highly acclaimed documentary on sports concussion Head Games.
He is currently directing Children First, a project on children of divorce, and producing a feature documentary on the renaissance of winemaking in the Republic of Georgia. In 2015 Professor Sheridan was the fourth Creative Thinking Project Fellow at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where he is a PhD candidate in philosophy researching imagination, improvisation and collaboration as they relate to artistic development and education in arts and science.
In announcing these awards, Steven Poster, ASC, ICG's National President, said, This is my favorite time of year when we bring together some of the finest people in our field. This year we have a multiple award winning cinematographer from Australia, an internationally recognized college professor, a wonderful journalist who knows cinematography inside out and a man whose family founded a company 77 years ago to serve the art and science of cinematography and cinematographers the world over. Now the second generation is continuing to provide exciting innovations in glass filter
