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Rachel Morrison

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Rachael Morrison.

Rachel Morrison
Morrison at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Born (1978-04-27) April 27, 1978 (age 46)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationConcord Academy
Alma mater
OccupationCinematographer
Years active2002–present
Notable credit(s)Fruitvale Station
Mudbound
Black Panther
Spouse
Rachel Garza
​
(m. 2011)​
Children2
Websitewww.rachelmorrison.com

Rachel Morrison (born April 27, 1978)[1] is an American cinematographer and director. For her work on Mudbound (2017), Morrison became the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.[2] She has twice worked with director Ryan Coogler, as cinematographer on the films Fruitvale Station (2013) and Black Panther (2018).[3] Morrison's feature film directorial debut is the biographical sports drama The Fire Inside (2024).[4]

Early life

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Morrison grew up in a Jewish family[5] in Cambridge, Massachusetts,[6] and graduated from Concord Academy in 1996.[7] She took up photography at a young age, and attended New York University, where she completed a double major in film and photography because she was unable to choose between the two; by the end of her degree, she had decided to concentrate on cinematography.[8] She then attended the AFI Conservatory's graduate cinematography program and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in 2006.[9]

Career

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Morrison began her career in television, working on series and telefilms for a number of networks. Her cinematography on the 2005 television documentary Rikers High, about high school education within the Rikers Island prison complex, was nominated for an Emmy Award.[10][8]

Morrison worked on The Hills[11] for two years, then shot Zal Batmanglij's Sound of My Voice, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.[11] Over the next two years, she photographed Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie and Fruitvale Station, which premiered at Sundance in 2012 and 2013 respectively,[11] as well as Any Day Now (2012), Some Girl(s) (2013) and The Harvest (2013).[10]

At the 2013 Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards, Morrison was awarded the Kodak Vision Award for her work in cinematography and her collaboration with other women filmmakers.[10] The same year, Variety named her as one of the "Up Next" in their Below The Line Impact Report,[12] while Indiewire named her as one of their "Cinematographers To Watch".[11]

In 2014, she photographed Cake, directed by Daniel Barnz,[13] which she followed up with the 2015 film Dope. Dope premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, making it Morrison's seventh film to screen at the annual festival in six consecutive years.[14]

2014 marked Morrison's first foray into directing, as she was offered the chance to direct an episode of the television series American Crime, which aired in 2015.[14] In 2017 she became a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.[15]

Morrison was the cinematographer for Dee Rees's 2017 film Mudbound.[16] For her work on the film, Morrison became the first woman to win the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematographer,[16] the first woman to be nominated for the feature category of the American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards,[17] and the first woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.[2]

Morrison served as cinematographer for Marvel's Black Panther (2018).[3]

On June 19, 2019, it was announced Morrison would make her directorial debut on Flint Strong,[18] which was later retitled The Fire Inside and released in 2024.[4]

In March 2023, Morrison directed an episode of the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian season 3.[19]

Personal life

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Morrison married Rachel Garza in December 2011. They have one son, who was born in 2014,[20][21] and a daughter born in 2018.[22]

Filmography

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Cinematographer

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Short film

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Year Title Director Notes
2002 Alchimie Anna Condo With Bill Heuberger, Alec Jarnagin and Michael Vicarelli
Citlalli's Prayer Diana Kongkasem
2004 House Broken Michael Jason Schiff
2005 Lost and Found Rhiannon Hyde
2007 Redemption Maddie Aaron Drew King
Still Life Mahesh Pailoor
2009 Ceremonies of the Horsemen Peter Biegen
Sunday Afternoons Erin Daniels
Rich Dicks Jonathan Krisel
2011 The Terrys Tim Heidecker
Eric Wareheim
Last Words of the Holy Ghost Ben Sharony

Feature film

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Year Title Director
2007 Palo Alto Brad Leong
2011 Sound of My Voice Zal Batmanglij
Dorfman in Love Brad Leong
2012 Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie Tim Heidecker
Eric Wareheim
Any Day Now Travis Fine
2013 Fruitvale Station Ryan Coogler
Some Girl(s) Daisy von Scherler Mayer
The Harvest John McNaughton
2014 Little Accidents Sara Colangelo
Druid Peak Marni Zelnick
Cake Daniel Barnz
2015 Dope Rick Famuyiwa
2017 Mudbound Dee Rees
2018 Black Panther Ryan Coogler
2019 Seberg Benedict Andrews

Television

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Year Title Director Notes
2003-2009 Room Raiders
2007 Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County Gary Shaffer
2008-2009 The Hills Hisham Abed 24 episodes
2011 Funny or Die Presents... Ken Marino
Matt Piedmont
Jordan Vogt-Roberts 		1 episode
2020 Homemade Herself Episode "The Lucky Ones"
2021 VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World Ryan Polito TV special

TV movies

Year Title Director
2016 Confirmation Rick Famuyiwa
2023 Play is your superpower Ellen Kuras

Documentary works

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Film

Year Title Director Notes
2003 Just an American Boy Amos Poe With Duke Johnson, Abdul O'Toole, Amanda Phillips, Nick Tiger Poe and Lindsey Tibbetts
2015 Life on the Line Isaac Feder

Short film

Year Title Director
2012 Eye Candy Alexis Spraic

TV movies

Year Title Director Notes
2005 Rikers High Victor Buhler
2010 Summit on the Summit Michael Bonfiglio With Éric Guichard, Kent Harvey and Bill Winters
2011 Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside Davi Russo
2012 Oprah's Master Class: Special Edition Joe Berlinger
Michael Bonfiglio
Bruce Sinofsky
2015 Oprah's Master Class: Civil Rights Special Joe Berlinger
Michael Bonfiglio
Bruce Sinofsky
Annetta Marion 		With Jonathan Furmanski, Robert Richman and Etienne Sauret
Oprah's Master Class: Belief Special With Matt Bass, Jonathan Furmanski, Robert Richman and Etienne Sauret

TV series

Year Title Director Notes
2011 Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind Michael Bonfiglio Segment "Will.i.am"
2012-2013 Oprah's Master Class Michael Bonfiglio
Joe Berlinger
Andrew Flakelar
Annetta Marion
 5 episodes
2014 The System with Joe Berlinger Joe Berlinger Episode "False Confessions"
2022 They Call Me Magic Rick Famuyiwa

Director

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Film

Television

Year Title Notes
2015 Quantico Episode "Kill"
2015–2016 American Crime 2 episodes
2020 Homemade Episode "The Lucky Ones" (Also writer)
2020–2021 Hightown 4 episodes
2021 The Morning Show Episode "A Private Person"
American Crime Story Episodes "Stand by Your Man" and "The Grand Jury"
2023 The Mandalorian Episode "Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore"

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Title Result Ref.
2012 News and Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Achievement in a Craft: Cinematography Rikers High Nominated [8]
2013 Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards Kodak Vision Award — Won [8]
2016 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program What Happened,
Miss Simone? 		Nominated
2017 New York Film Critics Circle Best Cinematographer Mudbound Won [16]
Academy Awards Best Cinematography Nominated [23]
American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Cinematography Nominated [17]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Cinematography Nominated [24]
Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society Best Cinematography Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Cinematography Nominated
2018 Satellite Awards Best Cinematography Black Panther Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Rachel Morrison". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2015. Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Tapley, Kristopher (September 12, 2017). "Oscars: 'Mudbound' Cinematographer Is First Female Nominated – Variety". Variety.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Valentini, Valentina I (November 16, 2017). "'Mudbound' Cinematographer Captures Look of '40s South With Digital Cameras". Variety. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Vlessing, Etan (September 7, 2024). "'The Fire Inside' Director Rachel Morrison on Upending Sports Movie Conventions". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  5. ^ Bloom, Nate (March 22, 2018). "'Black Panther' cinematographer is the first woman nominated for an Oscar in her field". The Jewish News of Northern California.
  6. ^ "Behind the Camera on 'Fruitvale Station'"
  7. ^ "Rachel Morrison ’96: An Authentic Career"
  8. ^ a b c d "ONFILM Interview: Rachel Morrison". Kodak. September 13, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  9. ^ "AFI Member Marquee". American Film Institute. February 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  10. ^ a b c "Rachel Morrison to Receive WIF Kodak Vision Award". Kodak. April 29, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d Lyttelton, Oliver (January 31, 2013). "On The Rise: 5 Cinematographers To Watch In 2013". Indiewire. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  12. ^ "PHOTOS: Below the Line Impact Report – Cinematographers". Variety. August 14, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  13. ^ Workman, Matt (January 22, 2015). "The Cinematography of Cake with DP Rachel Morrison". Cinematography Database. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  14. ^ a b Bernstein, Paula (January 23, 2015). "Rachel Morrison on Her Two Sundance 2015 Films and Being Pegged as a 'Female DP'". Indiewire. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  15. ^ Instagram 17 March 2017.
  16. ^ a b c New York Film Critics Circle Awards: Willem Dafoe Wins Supporting Actor, ‘Mudbound’ DP Makes History – Variety
  17. ^ a b "2018 American Society of Cinematographers Awards Nominations". Hollywood Reporter. January 9, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  18. ^ Kroll, Justin (June 19, 2018). "'Black Panther' DP Rachel Morrison to Make Directorial Debut on Barry Jenkins Script 'Flint Strong'". Variety. Archived from the original on November 26, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  19. ^ Couch, Aaron (January 16, 2023). "'The Mandalorian' Reveals Season 3 Trailer, New Directors". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  20. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (January 23, 2018). "Rachel Morrison Becomes First Woman Nominated for a Cinematography Oscar". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  21. ^ Bendix, Trish (December 9, 2008). "Lesbian cinematographer Rachel Morrison brings us "A Non-Issue?"". AfterEllen. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  22. ^ "Rachel Morrison, ASC. on Instagram: "Welcome Cleo Miró Morrison. Born 8/28/18 at 101PM. 6 lbs 18.5 inches. Needless to say, we are already madly in love..."". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  23. ^ Joey Nolfi. "Oscars: Rachel Morrison first woman nominated for cinematography". EW.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  24. ^ Pedersen, Erik; Hammond, Pete (December 6, 2017). "Critics' Choice Awards Nominations: 'The Shape Of Water' Leads With 14 Nods; Netflix Tops TV Contenders". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
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