ICG to Honor Director Lawrence Sher at 24th Annual ECA Awards

The International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) will honor cinematographer/director Lawrence Sher,ASC best known for his films The Joker and The Hangover series, with the Distinguished Filmmaker Award, presented by Panavision, at the 2022 Emerging Cinematographer Awards (ECA).

The event will be held on Sunday, October 2, 2022, at 5:00 PM at the Wolf Theatre in the Television Academy's Saban Media Center, followed by a cocktail reception. The collection of the 10 ECA winning short films will also be showcased.

"Lawrence Sher is a visionary cinematographer and director whose impact spans a wide spectrum of film, television, and streaming projects," said Baird B. Steptoe Sr., National President of the ICG. "We are proud to honor Lawrence with the Distinguished Filmmaker Award for his talents and exemplary contributions to our craft."

As a cinematographer, Sher has shot over 35 feature films, numerous pilots and hundreds of commercials and music videos in his 30 years in the entertainment industry. Known for such films as The Hangover trilogy, Garden State, Due Date, and most recently Joker for which he was nominated for an Oscar and BAFTA, his films have grossed over four billion dollars in Worldwide Box Office.

Sher's DC/Warner Bros film Black Adam will be released October 21, 2022. He is currently prepping a future installment of Joker that shoots at the end of this year. As a director, he recently helped kickstart the Peacock original series Rutherford Falls, directing multiple episodes, including the pilot. Sher is also a board member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Sher built the website service Shotdeck.com. After years of prepping for films and needing reference material for research and inspiration in all phases of the production process, he created a site that would be an image database of infinitely searchable shots each keyworded in dozens of categories that would become the definitive visual library of the moving image.

Said Sher, "I'm very grateful to the ECA and the International Cinematographers Guild for this honor. I joined the Union as a cinematographer 22 years ago and it was such a special feeling of not just career legitimacy, but also being a part of the union's support and protections. The ECA has done such a wonderful job shining a spotlight on the next great talents of this fantastic community of filmmakers."

The chairs of the Guild's ECA committee are cinematographer Jimmy Matlosz and Steven Poster, ASC, past ICG National President. As previously announced, the 10 winning ECA filmmakers are: Andrew Aiello, Green Cobra; Austin Scott Ahlborg, Lotus; Jac Cheairs, KENOBI: A Star Wars Fan Film; Morgan Gardiner, Molly Robber; Gregor Tavenner, Pleasant Canyon ; Jason Chau, Sting; Michael P. Tedford, Elder Scrolls: Legends - E3 Trailer; Leonard P. Walsh ll, Kingsnake; Eric M. Hurt, Singularity; and Allie Schultz, Your Monster.

Now in its 24th year, the Emerging Cinematographers Awards is the only award show in the industry that specifically celebrates the work of up-and-coming cinematographers, helping to nurture their talent and showcase their work. The Distinguished Filmmaker Award is given to honor an individual for outstanding creative collaboration to the art and craft of filmmaking.

The ICG Emerging Cinematographers Awards are proud to be sponsored by Premier: Panavision Family of Companies; Platinum: Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment; Gold: Sony, The Studio- B&H, TRP Worldwide, ZEISS Cinematography; ; Silver: Picture Shop, Band Pro, Aputure, The Tiffen Company, Sigma Corporation, Quasar Science; Bronze: ARRI, Fujifilm, JL Fisher, Inc., Rosco, AbelCine, Kino Flo, Matthews Studio Equipment; Partners: American Society of Cinematographers, Cine Gear Expo, Deluxe, DF Studio, Fourth Dimension Events, ICG Magazine, Mill Valley Film Festival, NAB, Production Hub, Screen International, SHOOT, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Variety.

The International Cinematographers Guild represents over 9,000 members who work in film, television, streaming and commercials as directors of photography, camera operators, digital imaging technicians, visual effects supervisors, still photographers, camera assistants, film loaders, broadcasters and all members of camera crews and publicists.

The first cinematographers union was established in New York in 1926, followed by unions in Los Angeles and Chicago, but it wasn't until 1996 that Local 600 was born as a national guild. In addition to its work organizing, bargaining and enforcing contracts, advocating for legislation that serves working families, training and mentorship, ICG's ongoing events include the Emerging Cinematographer Awards and the Publicists Awards Luncheon. The Guild also publishes the award-winning ICG Magazine.

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