Nic Sadler is a British/Australian cinematographer, photographer and inventor, living in Los Angeles.

Early life

Sadler was born in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

in May 1965, to an

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

mother and a British-

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

father. His mother Elizabeth "Betty" King emigrated from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1956 with her mother Mavis, siblings Aubrey and Angela "Angie" King, shortly after their father died in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. At age seven he moved with his parent to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. While at

North Lake Senior High School North Lake Senior Campus is a public co-educational high day school, located in , a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. History North Lake Senior High School opened in Kardinya on 4 February 1973 on its present campus at Winterfold Road (known ...

he developed an interest in

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

from Daniel, his photolithographer father, supported by then teacher at NLSH, John Longley (a future crew member of the successful

1980 America's Cup The 1980 America's Cup was held in September 1980 at Newport, Rhode Island. The US defender, ''Freedom (yacht), Freedom'', skippered by Dennis Conner, defeated the Australian challenger, Australia (yacht), ''Australia'', skippered by James Hardy ...

challenger,

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

). Sadler graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from WAIT (Western Australian Institute of Technology), later known as

Curtin University Curtin University (previously Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public university, public research university based in Bentley, Western Australia, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. ...

, in

in 1985, studying under

filmmakers Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwritin ...

Bill Constable and

Steve Jodrell Steve Jodrell is an Australian director of theatre, film and television. He began his career in the theatre before moving into film.

, and renown cultural theorists John Fiske and John Hartley. Sadler began working in the film industry in 1986, first as a

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

Shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

directed Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

his former tutor

Steve Jodrell Steve Jodrell is an Australian director of theatre, film and television. He began his career in the theatre before moving into film.

. In 1997 he got his first job in the camera department as main unit 2nd assistant camera on

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

A Waltz Through the Hills, then as

second unit A second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming s ...

1st assistant camera on Australian

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

Jackaroo.

Cinematographer

After moving to London in 1989, Sadler began working primarily as 1st assistant camera to John Mathieson (cinematographer). By 1992 he had begun working as a cinematographer on music videos, then later on television commercials. In 2005 Nic moved 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, ...

to begin

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

on his first feature film, the low budget

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

Intellectual Property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

Inventor

Sadler formed the company Chemical Wedding in 2007 with Toby Evetts and Simon Reeves, was formed in 2007 to produce software tools for filmmakers on the newly established

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

platform. Helios, an early

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

application for filmmakers to pre-visualise the effect of sunlight on locations and people, was released in 2008. This was followed by the release of Artemis Digital Directors Viewfinder in 2009, the first digital directors viewfinder on a mobile phone platform. In 2016 Chemical Wedding began production of the Artemis Prime, a hybrid hardware / digital director's Lens finder system. The system is in wide use, notably by camera operator Jim McConkey with cinematographer David Mullen on the television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Sadler & his partners at Chemical Wedding were awarded both an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

and the

British Society of Cinematographers The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) is an organisation formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British c ...

Bert Easey awards for the development of Artemis and Helios. From 2017 to 2024 Sadler was Consultant to Caldwell, an optics company based in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

, in their production of the Chameleon Anamorphic motion picture lenses, used on the production on

The Mandalorian ''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise and begins five years after the events of the fil ...

from

Disney Studios The Walt Disney Studios is a major division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company best known for housing its multifaceted film studio divisions. Founded on October 16, 1923, and based mainly at the namesake s ...

Photographer

In 2014 Nic began a creative photographic partnership with Julia Sandberg Hansson under the name SHSadler. Working closely with LA

Make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and Prosthetic makeup, prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other simil ...

Satya Linak, their award winning work has been widely published in art magazines and journals.

Other Professional Interests

From February 2014 until June 2018 Nic was a co-host on over 200 episodes of the political podcast From the Bunker wit
Richard BeattyDavid Schockett
an
Jody Hamilton
daughter of

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American comedian, actress, singer and writer. Burnett has played dramatic and comedic roles on stage and screen. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Carol Burnett, nu ...

. Jody is currently Executive Producer of th
Stephanie Miller Show
Nic lectures in Cinematography at numerous institutions, including the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

CSUN California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge, Los Angeles, Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as o ...

, and

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

Filmography

Short films

Feature films

Television

Music videos (partial list)

Concert films

Photography

in partnership with Julia Sandberg-Hansson as SHSadler

Awards

Australian International Film Festival Emmy Awards Tokyo International Photo Award British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sadler, Nic Living people 1965 births English cinematographers Primetime Emmy Engineering Award winners