Cynthia Pusheck (born 1964) is an American film and television cinematographer. She co-founded and co-chairs the ASC Vision committee that supports people from under-represented groups who hope to build a career in cinematography. She was the first woman to serve as Vice-President 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 cine ...

(ASC).

Early life

Cynthia Pusheck was born in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

area, and was raised in Rockford, Illinois. She attended

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduat ...

before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Cinematography

As a camera assistant, Pusheck specialised in underwater cinematography under the guidance of Peter Romano. She worked on ''

Free Willy ''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Picture ...

'', ''

White Squall A white squall is a sudden and violent windstorm at sea which is not accompanied by the black clouds generally characteristic of a squall. It manifests as a sudden increase in wind velocity in tropical and sub-tropical waters, and may be a micr ...

'', '' Flipper'', ''

Waterworld ''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Ch ...

'', ''

Alien Resurrection ''Alien Resurrection'' is a 1997 American science fiction horror film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Joss Whedon, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. It is the fourth installment of the Alien (franchise), ''Alien'' fr ...

'', '' Speed 2: Cruise Control'', ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Sch ...

'' and ''

Sphere A sphere () is a Geometry, geometrical object that is a solid geometry, three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

''. She was the camera operator on the underwater sequences in ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

'', ''

Men of Honor ''Men of Honor'' (released in the UK and Ireland as ''Men of Honour'') is a 2000 American drama film directed by George Tillman Jr. and starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is inspired by the true story of Master Chief Petty Off ...

'', ''

Tomorrow Never Dies ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay by ...

'' and ''

A Nightmare on Elm Street ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American Supernatural horror film, supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), ''A ...

''. She took a job as a camera operator on CSI:Miami in 2003, where she gained her first experience as a Director of Photography (DP) on the second unit. Puskheck then studied cinematography at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

for a year in order to improve her qualifications as a cinematographer. Pusheck has been DP on a range of television/streaming shows, most notably '' Brothers and Sisters'', ''

Revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

'', ''

Good Girls Revolt ''Good Girls Revolt'' is an American period drama streaming television series. It is inspired by Lynn Povich's 2013 book ''The Good Girls Revolt'' and based on real-life events. The show was released on October 28, 2016, on Amazon Prime Video. ...

'', ''

Strange Angel ''Strange Angel'' is an American historical drama streaming television series that premiered on June 14, 2018, on CBS All Access. The series is based on the biography of Thelemic magician and scientist Jack Parsons. ''Strange Angel: The Otherworld ...

'', ''

Sacred Lies ''Sacred Lies'' is an American drama streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to de ...

'', and

The Bold Type ''The Bold Type'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Sarah Watson and produced by Universal Television for Freeform. It is inspired by the life and career of former editor-in-chief of '' Cosmopolitan'' magazine Joanna ...

. She has also been DP on the independent feature film ''

Loving Annabelle ''Loving Annabelle'' is a 2006 American romantic drama film written and directed by Katherine Brooks. Inspired by '' Mädchen in Uniform'', it tells the story of a boarding school student who falls in love with her teacher. Plot Annabelle Till ...

''. Pusheck joined the

(ASC) in 2013, and became the first woman to be elected Vice President in 2017. She held the VP role until 2019.

Recognition

Pusheck received the Kodak Vision Award at the 2010

Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards The Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards—first presented in 1977 by the now–Los Angeles chapter of the Women in Film organization—were presented to honor women in communications and media. The awards include the Crystal Award, the Lucy Awar ...

Filmography

* '' Marisol'' (2002) * ''

Three Days of Rain ''Three Days of Rain'' is a play by Richard Greenberg that was commissioned and produced by South Coast Repertory in 1997. The title comes from a line from W. S. Merwin's poem, "For the Anniversary of My Death" (1967). The play has often been c ...

'' (2002) - feature film *''

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind "Coachella – Woodstock In My Mind" is a song by Ame ...

'' (2006) - documentary film *''

'' (2006) - feature film * '' Brothers and Sisters'' (2006) - TV series * ''

'' (2011-2015) - TV series *''

'' (2016) - TV series *''

'' (2018–19) - TV series *''

'' (2018) - TV series *''

'' (2017-2021) - TV series

References

External links

Cynthia Pusheck's website

Cynthia Pusheck at IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pusheck, Cynthia American cinematographers American women cinematographers 1964 births Living people Columbia College Chicago alumni AFI Conservatory alumni