People
Thomas E. Ackerman
Camera · follow into films and chains
Biography
Cinematographer Thomas Ackerman was born on 14 September, 1948 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and enrolled in the University of Iowa, where he took a cinema course. He was hired by the university to shoot football games and training films for its School of Dentistry. In 1968 he went to work for Oscar-winning filmmaker Charles Guggenheim, who became his mentor. After a stint in the US Air Force he went back to work for Guggenheim in Washington, DC. He moved to Los Angeles in 1973, hooked up with his Air Force buddy Mike Robeand was hired as a camera operator on a succession of Hollywood films, includingFrancis Ford Coppola's One from the Heart (1981). He was director of photography onBeetlejuice (1988) for director Tim Burton (for whom Ackerman had previously shotFrankenweenie (1984)). In addition to cinematographer, he has also served as a second-unit director, notably onAlvin and the Chipmunks (2007) and Furry Vengeance (2010).
Notable films
Where to start
Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Jumanji
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Beetlejuice
Director of Photography
Dennis the Menace
Director of Photography
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Director of Photography
George of the Jungle
Director of Photography
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Director of Photography
Rat Race
Director of Photography
Chains
KinoChain journeys
Public chains that pass through their films — or name them as a bridge.
It was Miss Scarlet, in the cinema...
Celebrating Lesley Ann Warren's 80th birthday with a journey through board game adaptations, from the witty whodunit of Clue to the explosive naval warfare of B...
8 films
25 Years of Flailing: How Bridget Jones Perfected the Best Worst Fight Scene Ever
From Bridget Jones's iconic street brawl to a Greek restaurant showdown, trace the lineage of cinema's most gloriously awkward fights.
5 films
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