Christian Sebaldt is a German

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

best known for his work on the long-running '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' television series, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) in 2010. In addition, he has worked on numerous major motion pictures, including '' Resident Evil: Apocalypse'', '' FearDotCom'', '' Reagan'' and '' Final Destination Bloodlines'', and commercials for companies like

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

Samsonite Samsonite International S.A. is an American Baggage, luggage manufacturer and retailer, with products ranging from large suitcases to small toiletries bags and briefcases. The company was founded in 1910 in Denver, Colorado, Denver, Colorado, U ...

and

Energizer Energizer Holdings, Inc. is an American manufacturer and one of the world's largest manufacturers of batteries, headquartered in Clayton, Missouri. It produces batteries under the Energizer, Ray-O-Vac, Varta, and Eveready brand names and fo ...

Early life

Sebaldt was born and raised in

Munich, Germany Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Sebaldt's first serious exposure to the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

was as a trainee at

Bavaria Film Bavaria Film GmbH is a German film production and distribution company located in Grünwald, Bavaria at the district of Munich. It is one of Europe's largest film production companies and one of the leading production and distribution companies ...

, a studio in Munich. He spent time in multiple departments, including the visual effects unit, gaining experience that later served him well on effects-heavy projects.

Career

Sebaldt's first professional credit was on the

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema moveme ...

film ''Lili Marleen'', where he served as an assistant to director of photography Xaver Schwarzenberger. In 1984, Sebaldt relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and began work on numerous projects, including

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s and

television commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

. He shot 13 episodes of the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

series ''

The Secret World of Alex Mack ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on Nickelodeon from October 8, 1994, to January 15, 1998. The series was co-created by Ken Lipman and Thomas W. Lynch and was produced by Lynch Entertain ...

'', and over 50 episodes of the series ''

America's Most Wanted ''America's Most Wanted'' (often abbreviated as ''AMW'') is an American television program whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Entertainment#Fox Alternative Entertainment, Fox Alternative Entertain ...

''. He served as DP for the first two seasons of the crime drama ''Pacific Blue''. Around this time, he became a regular collaborator of director

Sean McNamara Sean Patrick Michael McNamara (born May 9, 1962) is an American film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter. Life and career McNamara was born in Burbank, California, Burbank, California. He is best known for his feature films ''Soul Sur ...

, shooting films like '' Galgameth, Casper: A Spirited Beginning, P.U.N.K.S.,'' and '' Race to Space''. In total, he has accumulated over 40 feature film credits. Since the 2002

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

science-fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, mutants, i ...

'' Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation'', many of Sebaldt's projects have been filmed on

digital video Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises ...

rather than

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. He applied this style of dark, gritty photography onto films like '' Resident Evil: Apocalypse'' and '' FeardotCom'', and on television series like '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series and a Kodak Vision Award, as well as a nomination for an ASC Award. His most recent project has been the

dark fantasy Dark fantasy, also called fantasy horror, is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror fiction, horror ...

series ''Lucifer''.

Personal life

Sebaldt is a member of the

American Society of Cinematographers The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...

, the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

, the

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the Television in the United States, television industry in the United S ...

, and the

Visual Effects Society The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and p ...

, among others. He has been married since 2001 to script supervisor Mary Anne Seward, with whom he has had one child. Christian currently lives in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Selected filmography

Film

* '' Bloodfist IV: Die Trying'' (1992) * '' Revenge of the Red Baron'' (1994) * '' Caroline at Midnight'' (1994) * '' Galgameth'' (1996) * '' Casper: A Spirited Beginning'' (1997) * '' Casper Meets Wendy'' (1998) * '' Richie Rich's Christmas Wish'' (1998) * '' P.U.N.K.S.'' (1999) * '' Race to Space'' (2001) * '' FeardotCom'' (2002) * '' Resident Evil: Apocalypse'' (2004) * '' The Dark'' (2005) * '' Crossover'' (2006) * ''

Bratz Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment, which debuted in 2001. The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin (Latina), ...

'' (2007) * ''

Parasomnia Parasomnias are a category of sleep disorders that involve abnormal movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams that occur while falling asleep, sleeping, between sleep stages, or during arousal from sleep. Parasomnias are dissocia ...

'' (2008) * '' Robosapien: Rebooted'' (2013) * ''

On a Wing and a Prayer ''On a Wing & a Prayer'' is the seventh studio album by Gerry Rafferty. The album includes three tracks co-written with Rafferty’s brother Jim, also a singer-songwriter, who had been signed to Decca Records in the 1970s. The music was heavily ...

'' (2023) * '' Reagan'' (2024) * '' Final Destination Bloodlines'' (2025)

Television

* ''

'' (1994-1995) - 13 episodes * ''

'' (1995) - 1 episode * ''Pacific Blue'' (1996-1997) - 31 episodes * '' Addams Family Reunion'' (1998) - Television film * ''

Time Share A timeshare (sometimes called a vacation ownership or vacation club) is a property with a divided form of ownership or use rights. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which multiple parties hold rights to use the proper ...

'' (1999) - Television film * ''

The Brothers García ''The Brothers García'' is an American teen sitcom created by Jeff Valdez, Mike Cevallos, and Gibby Cevallos. It was among the first projects of Sí TV, an effort to produce programming featuring Latino characters that are aimed at a diverse ...

'' (2000) - 1 episode * '' The Even Stevens Movie'' (2003) - Television film * '' Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation'' (2004) - Television film * '' Species III'' (2004) - Television film * ''

Phil of the Future ''Phil of the Future'' is an American science fiction comedy television series that originally aired on Disney Channel for two seasons from June 18, 2004, to August 19, 2006. It was created by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile and produced by 2121 Pr ...

'' (2004) - 1 episode * ''

On the Lot ''On the Lot'' is a single season reality show and online competition for filmmaking, produced by Steven Spielberg, Mark Burnett and David Goffin. The show, which aired on Fox, featured filmmakers competing in weekly elimination competitions, w ...

'' (2007) - 3 episodes * '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2008-2015) - 74 episodes * ''Rush Hour'' (2016) - 6 episodes * ''Lucifer'' (2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sebaldt, Christian German cinematographers Living people German expatriates in the United States Year of birth missing (living people) Mass media people from Munich