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MillimeterDaryn Okada Elected President of American Society of Cinematographers
Jun 12, 2006 4:08 PM
Daryn Okada has been elected president of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). The organization's officers include vice presidents Michael Goi, ASC, William A. Fraker, ASC and British Society of Cinematographers, and Caleb Deschanel, ASC; treasurer Victor J. Kemper, ASC; secretary Michael Negrin, ASC, and sergeant at arms John Hora, ASC.
"I am both humbled and honored that my colleagues have chosen me for this role," Okada says. "I will rely on the advice and the support of our members and associates as we continue on the historic mission defined by the founders of ASC nearly 90 years ago. We are dedicated to advancing both the art and the craft of filmmaking."
Okada was born and raised in Los Angeles. He got his first camera and began taking black-and-white still photographs when he was 6 years old. Okada began making Super 8 movies when he was 9. "I was always the kid with the camera," Okada recalls. "It was a magical experience when my dad let me buy a splicer and I could edit my own shots."
He was also an avid movie fan. Okada has indelible memories of his parents taking him to see such films as The Sound of Music, The French Connection, and Paper Moon.
When Okada asked his high school career counselor about the possibilities of pursuing a career in the motion picture industry, he was told that it was an impossible dream. He was advised that engineering or being a technician in the medical field were more practical goals.
After Okada graduated from high school at the age of 16, he found work as a projectionist at East Los Angeles City College. The school frequently screened motion picture programs for the community in a 2000 seat auditorium sponsored by the National Foundation for the Arts, including classic archive films from Mexico and Japan. He investigated the possibility of enrolling at the film school at the University of Southern California, but their admissions were at capacity and too expensive. Instead, Okada volunteered to work on student films. That was the first step he took on an unorthodox career path.
By the late 1970s, Okada was working as a gaffer, grip and occasionally as a camera operator on ultra-low budget films while photographing small commercials. He earned his first credit for Nomad Riders in 1981. Okada has subsequently compiled more than 40 credits, including Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, My Father the Hero, Dr. Doolittle, Mean Girls, and Just Like Heaven. His work on the miniseries In a Child's Name in 1991 earned him an ASC Outstanding Achievement Award nomination. Okada is currently shooting the independent feature Sex and Death 101.
"I believe that those of us who are privileged to work in this extraordinary industry have an obligation to the filmmakers who inspired us in the past, to future generations, and the public who are relying on us to explore the next frontiers," he says.
The organization's new board members also include governors Curtis Clark, George Spiro Dibie, Richard Edlund, Francis Kenny, Isidore Mankofsky, Woody Omens, Nancy Schreiber, John Toll, Kees Van Oostrum, Roy Wagner, and Haskell Wexler. Alternate members of the board are Laszlo Kovacs, Stephen Lighthill, and Robert Primes.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.