Joseph Urbanczyk

Joseph Urbanczyk, SOC (born December 10, 1956), is an American camera operator and cinematographer.

Biography

Urbanczyk was born in Jersey City and raised in Wayne, New Jersey. After an undergraduate degree in Communications at Ramapo College, he received an M.F.A. from New York University's Graduate Division of Film, specializing in cinematography and studying with Nicholas Ray, László Benedek, and Beta Batka. Before graduation, he received a Kosciuszko Foundation Grant to spend two months at Poland's renowned Wroclaw University Film Institute. He then went to Los Angeles as a Cinematography Fellow at the American Film Institute on a Sherrill C. Corwin Fellowship. While at the A.F.I., he shot an adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's The Horse Dealer's Daughter for which he won the Benson Award at the Denver Film Festival for Best Cinematography. In his final year at the A.F.I., he interned with legendary cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond on Mark Rydell's The River, featuring Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek, and this initiated his twenty-five year professional relationship with the Oscar-winning Zsigmond.

Film & Television Career

Although Urbanczyk has served as the Director of Photography for various films throughout his career, most of his work in the industry has been as a camera operator, and Dean Semler, the Oscar-winning Cinematographer, has described Urbanczyk as "one of the best operators in the business" (International Cinematographers Magazine, July 2000).

Selected Films

  • The Black Dahlia (2006, Director: Brian De Palma)
  • Fifty First Dates (2004, Director: Peter Segal)
  • Jersey Girl (2004, Director: Kevin Smith)
  • The Hunted (2003, Director: William Friedkin)
  • Life as a House (2001, Director: Irwin Winkler)
  • Miss Congeniality (2000, Director: Donald Petrie)
  • Nutty Professor II (2000, Director: Peter Segal)
  • Playing by Heart (1998, Director: Willard Carroll)
  • Face Off (1997, Director: John Woo)
  • Out to Sea (1997, Director: Martha Coolidge)
  • Trial and Error (1997, Director: Jonathan Lynn)
  • The Crossing Guard (1995, Director: Sean Penn)

Selected Television

  • Grey's Anatomy (16 episodes)
  • Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles (46 episodes)
  • Crossing Jordan (21 episodes)
  • The Young Riders (48 episodes)
  • Tales from the Dark Side (15 episodes)

References

  • "Joseph D. Urbanczyk: Obsessed with Light," International Cinematographers Magazine, May 2000

See Also

Paul Edwards (cinematographer)

Paul A. Edwards is an American cinematographer, camera operator and television director. He has...