Tak Fujimoto

Takashi Fujimoto (born July 12, 1939) is a retired American cinematographer, known for his frequent collaborations with directors Jonathan Demme and M. Night Shyamalan.

In 2016, IndieWire named him one of the 11 best cinematographers to have never won an Academy Award.

Early life and education Takashi Fujimoto was born in San Diego, California to Japanese American parents. His father, Morizo, was an Issei (first-generation) from Hiroshima, and his mother, Emi, was a Nisei (second-generation) born in Glendale, California. His older brother was academic Jack Fujimoto. During World War II, Fujimoto and his family were interned at the Poston War Relocation Center due to Executive Order 9066.

Fujimoto graduated from San Dieguito High School in 1957. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley and the London Film School. He began his career as an assistant to Haskell Wexler at his production company Dove Films.

Career Fujimoto's first film as cinematographer was Chicago Blues, a 1970 music documentary featuring the likes of Dick Gregory, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters. He was one of three directors of photography that worked on Terrence Malick's 1973 directorial debut Badlands, earning rave reviews. He shot a string of low-budget exploitation films for producer Roger Corman, including Death Race 2000 and Switchblade Sisters (as second unit photographer). He was also one of several second unit cinematographers who worked on the first Star Wars film.

During this period, he also began his long-running collaboration with director Jonathan Demme. Their first film together was Caged Heat in 1974. He would shoot a total of 11 films with Demme, as well as the 2013 pilot episode of the television drama A Gifted Man. He also had fruitful collaborations with John Hughes, shooting Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and with M. Night Shyamalan, shooting The Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Happening.

Fujimoto has been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers since 1997.

Personal life Fujimoto had retired by 2015, and lived with his wife Anthea in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Filmography Film

Short film Year Title Director Notes1982 Growing YourselfBob GiraldiSegments of National Lampoon's Movie Madness Success Wanters 1994 The Complex Sessions Jonathan Demme

Television TV movies Year Title Director 1976 Almos' a Man Stan Lathan 1978 Lawman Without a GunJerrold Freedman 1979 Some Kind of Miracle 1982 Divorce Wars: A Love Story Donald Wrye 1984 The Seduction of GinaJerrold Freedman1985 Seduced Blackout Douglas Hickox 1989 Cast the First Stone John Korty

TV series Year Title Director Notes 1978 At Home with Shields and Yarnell Andrew Davis TV short 1985 MacGyver Jerrold Freedman Episode "Pilot" 2008 John Adams Tom Hooper 4 episodes 2011 A Gifted Man Jonathan Demme Episode "Pilot"

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Title Result 1999 American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography The Sixth Sense 1992 British Academy Film Awards Best CinematographyThe Silence of the Lambs 1991 Boston Society of Film Critics Best Cinematography 1999 Chicago Film Critics Association Best Cinematography Beloved 1995 National Society of Film Critics Best Cinematography Devil in a Blue Dress 2008Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Cinematography for a Limited SeriesJohn Adams 2009 1999 Satellite Awards Best Cinematography Beloved