Aaron Schneider (born July 26, 1965) is an American filmmaker and cinematographer. His short film '' Two Soldiers'' (2003) won the

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

. He won an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

for his feature film debut, '' Get Low'' (2009).

Early life

Schneider was born in 1965 in Springfield, Illinois, and raised in Dunlap, Illinois. He is a graduate of the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. He is of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

background, and his father Delwin Schneider was a Korean War veteran.

Career

His cinematography work includes the TV series '' Murder One'' (for which he was nominated for a 1996 Emmy Award) and the pilot episode of the series '' Supernatural'', as well as the films '' Kiss the Girls'' and ''

Simon Birch ''Simon Birch'' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film loosely based on the 1989 novel ''A Prayer for Owen Meany'' by John Irving and written for the screen and directed by Mark Steven Johnson in his directorial debut. The film stars Ian Michael ...

''. He was also the second unit director of photography for ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

''. In 2004, he won the

for the live action

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

'' Two Soldiers'' (shared with producer Andrew J. Sacks). The 40-minute short was based on a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

written by

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...

. Schneider's first feature film, '' Get Low'', drew positive reviews when it premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, and was subsequently purchased for distribution by

Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produce ...

. The film was released in the US on July 30, 2010. It stars

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

in a much-lauded performance, in addition to

Sissy Spacek Mary Elizabeth Spacek (; born December 25, 1949) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for four Britis ...

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

, and

Lucas Black Lucas York Black (born November 29, 1982) is an American film and television actor. He is best known as the main character Sean Boswell in '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006), of which he would later reprise the character in '' Fur ...

. It earned Schneider the

Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature The Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It is usually given to the director (or directors) and producer (or producers). The "first feature" designation is applied to the director not the p ...

. In 2020, after a decade hiatus from features, Schneider directed ''

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

'', a World War II drama centered on the Battle of the Atlantic and starring

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Filmography

Film

Feature films

Short film

* (2003) '' Two Soldiers''

Cinematographer

* (1997) '' Kiss the Girls'' * (1998) ''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Aaron 1965 births American cinematographers Crossroads School alumni Directors of Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners Film directors from Los Angeles Living people