Haskell Wexler, A.S.C. joined Bryan Hart and Louis Normandin at Cinematic Immunity Studios for their second episode in 2014

On December 27, 2015, the legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler, A.S.C. passed away at the age of 93. He lived an incredible life, including a tour in the US Merchant Marine during World War II, and had an amazing career running from 1953 through his death, including winning two Academy Awards. With 80 credits as cinematographer, he was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers by members of the International Cinematographers' Guild.

Haskell's first big-budget feature as a cinematographer was Elia Kazan's America, America in 1963. In 1966 he was cinematographer for Mike Nichols' film adaptation of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, for which he won the last ever Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black & White). The year after that, he was the cinematographer for the Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night starring Sidney Poitier. His work on that was extremely notable because it was the first major Hollywood film shot in color to be lit properly for a person of African descent.

In 2014, our friends at the Cinematic Immunity Podcast released a show featuring their interview with Haskell Wexler. Both in light of his recent passing and the fact we’ve had so little information from the film world on this show, we’d like to share it with you now. Cinematic Immunity features the art and craft of movie making and the stories that define it. They are readying their second season for launch now, with more full-length interview shows like this one, as well as episodes that answer questions through a series of comprehensive interviews.

It is the brainchild of Louis Normandin, a cameraman based in Los Angeles who has worked on feature films and television of all sizes for the last 15 years. He’s also cast plenty of light himself as a gaffer and electrician. His co-host and producer is Bryan Hart, a First Assistant Director, Unit Production Manager, and Line Producer in the independent film world, who is the third generation of a filmmaking family and who also happens to have been your host's Best Man.

Thanks for downloading, thanks for listening, and have a happy new year!