Thomas C. Christensen (born 1953) is an American

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 ...

, film director, and writer best known for his work on films related to the history of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church), including '' Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration'', ''Gordon B. Hinckley: A Giant Among Men'', ''

17 Miracles ''17 Miracles'' is a 2011 American historical adventure film directed by T. C. Christensen. It was released in 2011 by Excel Entertainment Group. Based on the experiences of members of the Willie Handcart Company of Mormon pioneers following the ...

'', and '' Ephraim's Rescue''. He has made films about the Martin and Willie handcart companies who traversed the plains toward the

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Utah, Murray, Sandy, Uta ...

in late 1856. Christensen is also 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 ...

Biography

Christensen grew up in Layton,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, with nine siblings. He served as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

for the LDS Church in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

from 1972 to 1974. He studied filmmaking at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU) and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

(U of U). Christensen married his wife, Katy, in 1980. They have two children, Tanner and Tess, both of whom have worked with Christensen on his films. His cousin Ron Tanner has also collaborated with Christensen on his films.

Career

While attending BYU and the U of U, Christensen worked as a part-time cameraman for

KSL-TV KSL-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus C ...

in Utah for five years. He declined offers to go full-time because he did not want to pursue a career in news. After leaving KSL-TV, Christensen began freelance filmmaking. He credits fellow filmmaker

Kieth Merrill Kieth W. Merrill (born May 22, 1940) is an American filmmaker who has worked as a writer, director, and producer in the film industry since 1967. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of America ...

as his mentor, with Merrill's children cast in Christensen's ''The Mouth of Babes''. Films by Christensen have received recognition in several film festivals. His ''A Pioneer Miracle'' (also titled ''In the Arms of Angels'') received the Grand Remi Award at the Houston International Film Festival in 2004.'' Seasons of the Heart'', for which he was both director and cinematographer, received multiple awards in film festivals. Christensen has made several films about

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

, founder of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

(

Mormonism Mormonism is the theology and religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationism, Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to va ...

). Among these are '' Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration'' and '' Emma Smith: My Story'', both made in cooperation with Gary Cook. Other

Latter-day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

-themed films include the biography of LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley, made following Hinckley's death in 2008. Christensen wrote, directed, and produced '' Only A Stonecutter'', the story of John R. Moyle, father of James H. Moyle. Christensen has also been the cinematographer for a large number of films. These include ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'', ''

The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd The Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB), originally called the Hotel Utah, is a social center located on the corner of Main Street and South Temple in Salt Lake City. It is named in honor of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint moveme ...

'', ''

Forever Strong ''Forever Strong'' is a 2008 American sports drama film directed by Ryan Little, written by David Pliler and released on September 26, 2008. The film stars Sean Faris, Gary Cole, Neal McDonough, Sean Astin, Penn Badgley and Arielle Kebbel. ...

'', and '' Outlaw Trail: The Treasure of Butch Cassidy''. Having collaborated over the years, T. C. Christensen has been described as the "mentor" of ''

Napoleon Dynamite ''Napoleon Dynamite'' is a 2004 American Independent film, independent Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Jeremy Coon, Chris Wyatt (producer), Chris Wyatt and Sean C. Covel (producer), Sean Covel, written by Jared and J ...

'' and ''

Nacho Libre ''Nacho Libre'' is a 2006 sports comedy family film written by Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess, and Mike White, and directed by Jared Hess. It stars Jack Black as Ignacio, a Catholic friar and secret lucha libre fan who moonlights as a luchador to ...

'' director

Jared Hess Jared is a given name of Biblical derivation. Origin In the Book of Genesis, the biblical patriarch Jared () was the sixth in the ten pre-flood generations between Adam and Noah; he was the son of Mahalaleel and the father of Enoch, and lived ...

. On such films as the first '' Work and the Glory'', Christensen's cinematography was considered by some to be by far the best part of the film. Christensen has also made several

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

films including ''Texas: The Big Picture'' and ''Ozarks: Legacy and Legend''. In the summer of 2011, ''

'' was released across the country. The film depicts the Martin and Willie handcart companies as they traveled across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley in 1856. In 2013, Christensen's film ''Ephraim's Rescue'' about the life of Ephraim Hanks, a notable rescuer of the Martin Handcart Company, was released to good user reviews, and specifically the addressed events of Hanks bringing the first food supplies to the company, who were snow-bound and starving on the

Mormon Trail The Mormon Trail is the route from Illinois to Utah on which Mormon pioneers (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) traveled from 1846 to 1869. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails Syst ...

. In 2015, Christensen wrote and directed '' The Cokeville Miracle'' which tells the story of the school bombing in Cokeville, Wyoming, in 1986. In 2016, Christensen began working on ''Love, Kennedy''. It is based on the true story of Ogden, Utah, teenager Kennedy Hansen's battle with Juvenile Batten Disease. The film was released in June 2017. Christensen is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.

Filmography

All credits come from

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

(IMDb).

References

External links

Official website for T.C. Christensen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, T. C. 1953 births Living people People from Layton, Utah American Mormon missionaries in the United States Brigham Young University alumni University of Utah alumni American cinematographers American Latter Day Saint artists Latter Day Saints from Utah Film directors from Utah

Biography

Career

Filmography

See also

References

External links