High Def Expo Workshops

Robert Primes, ASC studied mathematics at Reed College in Oregon and classical piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he met his wife, pianist Theodora Carras Primes.
An involvement with still photography led to his becoming a film-maker in San Francisco for eleven years. During that time his short films and documentaries won awards including a first prize at the Atlanta Film Festival and a Cine Golden Eagle. He has been a Hollywood-based Director of Photography since 1975. His feature credits include Life Lessons with Mario van Peebles, Bird on a Wire with Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn, The Hard Way with James Woods and Michael J. Fox, Money Talks with Charlie Sheen and Chris Tucker, A Murder of Crows with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Aspen Extreme. Episodic television work includes Felicity (Emmy for cinematography in 1999 and ASC award nomination in 2000), MDs (ASC award 2002 - 1st ASC award to a digital show), Young Americans, thrirtysomething and Quantum Leap. Pilots include M Street (w/Helen Mirren), Reasonable Doubts (ASC award nomination), Malibu Shores, The Pastor's Wife, Golden Gate, All Together Now, and Get Smart. His numerous television movies include My Antonia (Emmy for cinematography in 1995 and Cable Ace Nomination in 1995), Harrison: Cry of the City (Emmy nominee for cinematography in 1996), Sandy Bottom Orchestra and Sealed with a Kiss. Mr. Primes has done extensive work as a director/cinematographer and director of photography on television commercials and has done special effect photography on such features as Total Recall and Rumblefish. He was a director of photography on the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, directed the first short film, Theo Plays Chopin (1998) shot on progressive-scan digital television and won a Pixie award nomination for his cinematography for his cinematography of the first internet feature Quantum Project (2000). He is a pioneer in 24P High Def and won the 1st ASC nomination for a TV series shot in that medium. He has studied directing actors with Judith Weston since 2000 and directed Harold Pinter's Night with her company in 2002.

He served as a vice president of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), has supervised the educational programs for their meeting since 1994, is chairman of their museum committee and is currently treasurer of that organization. He also serves on the national executive board of the International Cinematographers Guild, chaired their Election Study Committee, their Residency Committee and is vice-chair of their Scholarship Committee. He has also represented American cinematographers in Tokyo and twice in Madrid, where he judged international feature film cinematography

Mr. Primes serves on the advisory boards of the National Film Preservation Board and The Wide Screen Film Festival. He also holds an honorary doctorate from Columbia College in Los Angeles. He has served on the faculty of the American Film Institute and has lectured at UCLA, California Institute for the Arts, the North Carolina School of the Arts, the University of Texas, the International Film Workshops and Rockport, Maine and gives an annual seminar on crew relations for the Directors Guild of America. He has also given shot creation demonstrations for the International Cinematographers Guild, the Society of Operating Cameramen and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

Mr. Primes has championed the rights of cinematographers and directors to have their work presented as is was originally created and has lobbied for Artists Rights issues with Martin Scorsese in Washington D.C. He served on the SMPTE committee on high definition TV formatting, has been a judge for the Motion Picture Academy technical awards and regularly participates in and moderates panels for the International Cinematographers Guild, SMPTE, Sho-Biz Expo, etc.

In 1995, Ryan started his career by forming a small video production firm called Imagination’s Edge that produced cooperate/industrial films for such companies as Alta Dena Dairies, Dean Foods of California, Bongran France and Charter Cable. From there Ryan went on to attend the California State Summer School for the Arts where he received the California Governors Metal for Artistic Achievement and also became a graduate of the New York Film Academy. During his collage years, Ryan worked as an operator and 1st AC on independent shorts and features and from Aug. 2000 to Aug 2002, worked for Birns & Sawyer as a Digital Cinematography Technician. There, he developed and built the companies HD equipment and service infrastructure. Ryan also taught the B&S one day Panasonic Varicam & Sony Cine Alta HD camera workshops.
Ryan’s film and HD Director of Photography Credits include music videos for such bands as Voo Doo Glow Skulls & Poison the Well (Both airing on MTV2), short films including Ti Amo, Dust to Dust and All Souls Midnight and multiple documentaries and commercials. Ryan was the 2001 “Brew it Yourself” Project Green Light winner with director friend Marco Guerra and most recently served Andrew Dunn, BSC as Digital Imaging Technician on Robert Altman’s, “The Company” shot with Panavised Sony Cine Alta’s. Ryan will be serving as one of the primary instructors of the Panasonic Varicamp, Varicam workshops offered by HDExpo later this year.

C.R. Caillouet, Jr.

C. R. has been involved in the television business for over 30 years and has worked in high definition production for more than half that time. For the past 20 years, he has worked as an independent contractor and has contributed to many milestone productions in the development of the high definition television industry.

C.R. has worked with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Japanese Broadcasters NHK and TBS, PBS stations KCTS, WETA and KERA, HDTV production houses 1125 Productions, HD VISION and REBO Studios, vendors Sony and Panasonic, producers for Nova and the PBS network and has presented papers at SMPTE, NAB and ITS national conferences.

Among the HD productions that he has technically coordinated are Woodstock 94, Bob Dylan's 30 Anniversary Celebration at Madison Square Garden, Verve Records in Carnegie Hall, Sting at the Hollywood Bowl, Dionne Warwick at Universal City, Gipsy Kings at Wolftrap, Muddy Waters Tribute at Kennedy Center, Texas Wild, WWII: When Lions Roared, Soulsville, several Shuttle Launches and numerous sporting events, concerts and documentaries.

C. R. has worked in all areas of HDTV production, from pre-production through field acquisition to post production and presentation. He also edits and encodes HD programs for broadcast and special venue distribution in his office and production studio. In addition, C. R. is the technical director for the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and Technical Symposium and has worked with the Festival since 1997.

For a recent press article on C.R. Caillouet Jr, click here.

A graduate of the National Australian Film Television & Radio School with a Masters Degree in Cinematography, Sion has won National and International Awards, including five Golden Tripods at the National ACS Awards for his Commercial, Drama, Music Video and Documentary work. In September 2003, Sion was accredited by the Australian Cinematography Society, and given the right to use the letters ACS after his name.

Sion excels in shooting Commercials, Drama, Music Video and Documentary, whether color, black & white, film or digital. His passion is to tell a story with captivating, visually compelling imagery, whether it be in 30 seconds or 120 minutes.

As the film world shifts towards digital and HD, Sion has dedicated himself to pushing the new medium to its most cinematic look. A documentary series, "Beyond The Fatal Shore", which Sion shot on HD across Australia for the BBC, earned him a British Academy Award Nomination for Best Cinematography.

His commercial clients include Nissan, McDonalds, BMW, Chevrolet, Acura, Ford, Adidas, Converse, Coca Cola and Raybans, ('Cinema Commercial of the Year', Shots Showcase '97),

In September 2004 Sion lensed the National Award winning spot, 'Klownen' for Converse, directed by Judy Starkman featuring improvised hip hop dance unique to Los Angeles. It was shot on Varicam.

Most recently he has shot a National Campaign for Nissan USA for
Director, Bob Rice at Plum Productions in Los Angeles on HD.

Sion was the Second Unit DP on the Dreamworks Picture, 'Memoirs of a Geisha', which won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Sion's latest feature film "Laura Smiles", shot for Director, Jason Ruscio, which Variety Magazine called "an independent 'American Beauty", premieres theatrically in April 2007.

He is currently in preproduction on the feature film, The Box, for Kindred Media and is to be shot on with a mixed palate of 35mm and HD.
Sion is represented by Sherry Rousso Associates in NY. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

Steve Fracol, SOC

Steve Fracol’s artistic career can be tracked all the way back to the 5th grade when his drawing of George Washington gained the attention of his entire school. And it was this interest in drawing, painting and sculpting that would later earn Steve a scholarship from the Friends of the Arts-Kansas City to attend the prestigious Kansas City Art Institute.

In 1986, Steve’s professional career began in earnest as a handheld cameraman shooting college football and basketball, professional soccer and wrestling as well as rock headliners of day: Bockman Turner Overdrive, Leon Russell, Edgar Winter, and the Marshall Tucker Band to name a few. But it wasn’t until 1987, when Steve landed a job with Kansas City’s public television station, that he cut his teeth in the art of visual storytelling; an art form he quickly mastered and that would lead to jobs shooting news for Kansas City’s NBC affiliate where he won the first of five Emmy Awards at the age of 24.

Later, after accepting an offer from RSVP, a prominent Kansas City production company, Steve traveled the United States shooting for a variety of high-profile clients including Wal-Mart, Sprint, Yellow Freight, Utilicorp, Hallmark Cards, and Anheiser Busch.

Then in 1994, Steve and his wife Stacey started their own company and on January 1st, 1994, New Vision Pictures was born. In just a few short months, Steve would build a business – and a reputation – shooting award winning news promotions for television stations across the county. In addition, he was quickly building a client base and a standing among Kansas City’s Advertising community as a DP/Director of choice for both local and national ad campaigns.

As owner and operator of his Arriflex, Sony and Panasonic cameras, Steve would become, over the next ten years, a very prominent Director of Photography shooting for Directors and Producers from New York and Los Angles. But it was Steve’s love of movies and passion for beautiful and motivated camera movement that would be the driving force in the next phase of his professional evolution.

In the spring of 2004, Steve completed the first of two very intense Steadicam Operators Association Workshops in Pennsylvania with instructor/mentors Garrett Brown (Steadicam Inventor/Operator; Rocky,Star Wars VI Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and many, many more) and Jerry Holway (Steadicam Operator; As Good as it Gets, Donnie Brasco, and many more).

As a result of this training and Steve’s desire to be the very best at his craft, he now owns and operates a Tiffen, Ultra Cine Steadicam; arguably the best and most versatile Steadicam invented to date. Steve also owns a 2nd Steadicam rig, a highly modified EFP model that he uses as a complete back up system and a light weight running rig. And to extend his creative range, Steve co-created a unique shooting rig for the Steadicam to mount on any SUV or pick-up truck with a 2 inch receiver-hitch as well as various vehicles of his own design; a highly modified, quiet electric golf cart, a 4-wheel drive ATV, and a very small dolly-style Rickshaw.

For examples of Steve’s work, credits, and behind-the-scenes photos, check out www.fracol.com or … simply give Steve a call at 816-213-0141.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Matt grew up making photographs from a young age when he was given a Kodak instamatic still camera. After high school and various college still photography classes, he attended and graduated from the Academy of Photographic Arts in North Hollywood, where he learned the art of commercial studio still photography, (both product and portraiture).

While working at a job processing film in a commercial photography lab for Disneyland, he became more and more influenced motion picture work and decided to attend to UCLA's film school, where he also became a teaching assistant in the visual design and classes so that he could continue to be exposed to the ideas of production design in relation to cinematography; the very ideas that changed his direction to that of cinematography instead of still photography.

Matt's break came in 1987 when he was asked to take over the 2nd unit Director of Photography / additional photography duties on the feature film, "Promised Land" starring Meg Ryan and Kieffer Sutherland, where he worked closely with Swiss cinematographer Ueli Steiger, (who recently photographed "The Day After Tomorrow"). Ueli's work as well as the work of Academy Award winning production designer, Eugenio Zanetti, had a major influence on Matt's visual training. In 1989 at the Sundance institute Matt met New York director Elliot Caplan and dance choreographer Merce Cunningham and began a (3) film collaboration. starting with "Changing Steps," a dance performance piece narrated by Robert Redford, "Cage/Cunningham" a feature length documentary exploring the career-long collaboration of Merce Cunningham and music composer John Cage, and "Beach Birds for Camera” (35mm b&w/color), a theatrical dance performance film. All three films have won numerous international awards.

In 1993 Matt served as on of the director's of photography on the staff at the Sundance institute's Director's Lab, where the participants work on various scenes from upcoming projects. During this time period Matt continued to shoot commercials, features, (2) TV series; "Hollywood Detective" (A & E's first in-house dramatic project), and the television series, "Encyclopedia Brown:Boy Detective" for HBO.

In May of 1999 matt completed all 3 seasons (68 episodes) as director of photography on the CBS Network show, "Promised Land," a dramatic tv series which was a spin-off of the top rated "Touched by An Angel," of which he also photographed several episodes. Matt believes strongly that a good cinematographer should have a broad range of experience, and be versed in as many as the disciplines and styles of shooting rather than be pinioned-holed into just one style of shooting. This philosophy led Matt to take up one of the biggest challenges, IMAX. Some of the projects have included, "Hearst Castle: Building the Dream", "NSYNC: Bigger Than Live", "Stephen Hawking's: Beyond The Universe", "India: Kingdom of The Tiger", and 2nd unit / additional cinematography on Disney's latest IMAX project, "Roving Mars" as well as the recent "Wired to Win: Surviving The Tour de France", where Matt shot the dramatic re-creation sequences for the film.

That same open-mindedness led Matt head on into the emerging high definition world several years ago. Matt was one of 7 cinematographers chosen to shoot, "Bud Greenspan's Stories of Olympic Glory" the Official Film of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Also on 24p, Matt photographed the award winning, "Hiding in Walls", which had its World Premiere screening at HDFEST's 2003 World Tour and HD Film Festival, where it won best HD Short Film, and Best HD Comedy. The growing list of projects on 24p HD includes commercials, features, as well as various television projects. Last year’s campaign for Children's Miracle Network, was shot on 24p hd, edited in 1080 / 24p hd and scanned to 35mm film, where the resulting 2200 prints were screened theatrically nationwide, as well as the soon to be released "Boxboarders" a comedy feature shot on the Varicam High Definition format.

Matt currently works in both film and high definition, ranging from feature films, television projects, IMAX, commercials, and is versed in a wide variety of production formats from 16mm, 35mm, 65mm (5-70, 8-70 and 15-70 formats), to the latest 24p High Definition formats. Matt has been involved with Panasonic Broadcast for several years now, and shoots many of the Panasonic promotional HD materials, including the Panasonic/Apple Access HD announcement for NAB in 2004 and the film festival trailer "Waiting" highlighting the wait for the HVX-200 last fall, which was shot with a Varicam, not an HVX-200. You can find Matt on the web @ http://www.williamsdp.com. He is represented by Susan Wright / Criterion (818) 998-8885.

Chicago based artist and technology trainer Gary Adcock, having worked as a producer, photographer, cameraman, editor, director and general techno geek, is currently consulting and training in HD and Film production after finishing recent projects for Target, IPG, Tribune Media, Leo Burnett and J. Walter Thompson –Detroit.

As Chair for the HD Track at NAB 2006 national meeting, he is a speaker at numerous industry events on HD acquisition and production, evident in the 184 presentations relating to HD in given 2005.

Other clients include Adobe, Apple, A&E, Blockbuster Entertainment, Citibank, Discovery Channel, Erricson, Fox News Network, H&R Block, McDonalds, Miller Brewing, MSNBC, NBA Entertainment, Orlando Sentinel, Panasonic, Sears, Sony, Sun Sentinel, Taco Bell, TLN, Tribune Entertainment, and United Airlines.