Sean Price Williams

Last updated
Sean Price Williams
Born
Occupation(s) Cinematographer
film director
Years active2007–present

Sean Price Williams is an American cinematographer and film director. Williams is known for his work as a cinematographer, frequently collaborating with Alex Ross Perry and the Safdie Brothers. He made his directorial feature film debut with The Sweet East (2023).

Contents

Early life

He was born in Wilmington, Delaware and lives in New York City. [1] [2]

Career

Williams is known for his textured, fluid camerawork (often handheld) and a heightened attention to available light. The New Yorker film critic Richard Brody described Williams (in a memorial appraisal of documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, for whom Williams served extensively as cameraman) as "the cinematographer for many of the best and most significant independent films of the past decade, fiction and documentary." [3] Among the films Williams has shot are Frownland , Yeast , Fake It So Real, The Color Wheel , Young Bodies Heal Quickly, Listen Up Philip , Heaven Knows What , and Queen of Earth .

In a 2013 article for Film.com, critic Calum Marsh deemed Williams "micro-budget filmmaking's most exciting cinematographer." [4] Marsh would go on to write in a 2014 article in Toronto's National Post that "Williams, in particular, has proven indispensable to the [2010s American independent film] movement, and over the past several years has distinguished dozens of the films with his all but peerless talent for photography, from experimental nonfiction work like Maiko Endo's Kuichisan to more conventional comedies like Bob Byington's Somebody Up There Likes Me ." [5]

Along with other celebrated figures of the New York independent film scene such as Perry, Kate Lyn Sheil, Robert Greene, Luke Oleksa, and Michael M. Bilandic, Williams was a long-time employee of famed New York video and music store Kim's Video and Music. [6]

In 2020, Williams began preparing for his feature directorial debut, The Sweet East. Written by film critic Nick Pinkerton, it stars Talia Ryder as a runaway high school student who weaves her way through a series of American countercultural groups, extremists, and outsiders. It features Simon Rex, Jacob Elordi, Jeremy O. Harris, and Ayo Edebiri. [7] The Match Factory acquired The Sweet East for sales before its premiere in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The film garnered positive reviews. [8]

Filmography

Feature films

Documentary films

Music videos

Related Research Articles

Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or highlight subjects hidden behind reality. It is sometimes called observational cinema, if understood as pure direct cinema: mainly without a narrator's voice-over. There are subtle, yet important, differences between terms expressing similar concepts. Direct cinema is largely concerned with the recording of events in which the subject and audience become unaware of the camera's presence: operating within what Bill Nichols, an American historian and theoretician of documentary film, calls the "observational mode", a fly on the wall. Many therefore see a paradox in drawing attention away from the presence of the camera and simultaneously interfering in the reality it registers when attempting to discover a cinematic truth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wes Anderson</span> American filmmaker (born 1969)

Wesley Wales Anderson is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity, distinctive visual and narrative styles, and frequent use of ensemble casts. With themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families, critics have cited Anderson as an auteur. Three of his films have appeared in BBC Culture's 2016 poll of the greatest films since 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Film Academy</span> Private film and acting school in the US

New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a private for-profit film school and acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. The New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, a former film, television and theater producer. It was originally located at the Tribeca Film Center. In 1994, NYFA moved to 100 East 17th Street, the former Tammany Hall building in the Union Square. After 23 years of occupancy, the academy relocated from Tammany Hall to 17 Battery Place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarsem Singh</span> Indian film director (born 1961)

Tarsem Singh Dhandwar, known professionally as Tarsem, is an Indian director who has worked on films, music videos, and commercials. He directed The Cell (2000), The Fall, Immortals (2011), Mirror Mirror (2012), Self/less (2015), and Dear Jassi (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert and David Maysles</span> American documentary filmmaker duo

Albert Maysles and his brother David Maysles were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films include Salesman (1969), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Grey Gardens (1975).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrzej Bartkowiak</span> Polish cinematographer and film director

Andrzej Bartkowiak, ASC is a Polish cinematographer and film director based in the United States.

Guerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by ultra-low micro budgets, skeleton crews, and limited props using whatever resources, locations and equipment is available. The genre is named in reference to guerrilla warfare due to these techniques typically being used to shoot quickly in real locations without obtaining filming permits or providing any other sort of warning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warwick Thornton</span> Australian film director

Warwick Thornton is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. His debut feature film Samson and Delilah won the Caméra d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. He also won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Film in 2017 for Sweet Country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanna Polak</span> Polish director, cinematographer and producer

Hanna Polak is a Polish director, cinematographer and producer. For her short documentary film, The Children of Leningradsky, about a community of homeless children living in the Leningradsky railway station in Moscow, she was nominated for an Academy Award and an Emmy Award. In 2003, she was awarded Best Producer of Documentary Movies at the Kraków Film Festival for Railway Station Ballad.

Black women filmmakers have made contributions throughout the history of film. According to Nsenga Burton, writer for The Root, "the film industry remains overwhelmingly white and male. In 2020, 74.6 percent of movie directors of theatrical films were white, showing a small decrease from the previous year. In terms of representation, 25.4 percent of film directors were of ethnic minority in 2020. Of the 25.4 percent of minority filmmakers, a small percentage was female.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerald Fennell</span> English actress, filmmaker, and writer

Emerald Lilly Fennell is an English actress, filmmaker, and writer. She has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

The Crested Butte Film Festival is a celebration of international films, held annually over four days in the last weekend of September, in Crested Butte, Colorado.

The Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens in Cinematography is an annual award that pays tribute to a prominent international director of photography at the Cannes Film Festival. The award originated in 2013.

Ashley McKenzie is a Canadian director, screenwriter, and editor. She is known for her feature film directorial debut Werewolf (2016), which won numerous accolades, including the $100,000 Toronto Film Critics Association prize for best Canadian film of the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Elordi</span> Australian actor (born 1997)

Jacob Elordi is an Australian actor. After moving to Los Angeles in 2017 to pursue an acting career, he gained prominence with his role as Noah Flynn, the bad boy love interest, in Netflix's The Kissing Booth film series (2018–2021). He also became known for his role as troubled high school football player Nate Jacobs in HBO's teen drama series Euphoria (2019–present). In 2023, he starred as Elvis Presley in the biographical film Priscilla and as a wealthy university student in Saltburn, which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Addison Rae</span> American singer, songwriter and actress (born 2000)

Addison Rae Easterling is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Rae rose to fame on TikTok and amassed over 88 million followers, making her the fifth most-followed individual on the platform. She then found success in her music and acting career by starring in major film studio productions and collaborating with significant music producers.

Impact Partners is an American film production and television production company founded in 2007, by Dan Cogan and Geralyn Dreyfous. The company primarily produces documentary films focusing on social issues.

<i>The Sweet East</i> 2023 American film

The Sweet East is a 2023 American satirical surrealist road film directed by Sean Price Williams in his directorial debut from a screenplay by Nick Pinkerton. It stars Talia Ryder, Earl Cave, Simon Rex, Ayo Edebiri, Jeremy O. Harris, Jacob Elordi and Rish Shah.

Mary Bronstein is an American actress and filmmaker best known for the 2008 mumblecore film Yeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diet Pepsi (song)</span> 2024 single by Addison Rae

"Diet Pepsi" is a song by American singer and songwriter Addison Rae. It was released on August 9, 2024, through Columbia Records, as her major label debut single, marking also her first single release in three years since "Obsessed" (2021). "Diet Pepsi" emerged as Rae's early breakthrough, peaking at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100. Outside of the United States, "Diet Pepsi" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Ireland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top 20 of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

References

  1. Fishman, Margie (September 26, 2014). "'Hellaware' film means no offense to First State". The News Journal . Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  2. Yepes, Julia (August 17, 2017). "The cinematographer behind all of your favorite underground films". Interview . Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  3. Brody, Richard (March 6, 2015). "Postscript: Albert Maysles, 1926-2015". The New Yorker . Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  4. Marsh, Calum (July 17, 2013). "Meet Micro-Budget Filmmaking's Most Exciting Cinematographer". Film.com . Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  5. Marsh, Calum (October 24, 2014). "America's most vital filmmaking movement finally shows its face on Canadian screens". National Post . Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  6. "The Story of Kim's Video & Music, Told By Its Clerks and Customers". Bedford + Bowery. August 22, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  7. Skipper, Clay (8 August 2022). "How Jacob Elordi Became Gen Z's Leading Man". GQ .
  8. Ford, Rebecca (2023-05-16). "Cannes First Look: 'The Sweet East' Wanders Around America". Vanity Fair . Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  9. Lipshutz, Jason (2024-08-12). "Cool New Pop Songs: Addison Rae's 'Diet Pepsi' is a Sugar Rush, and Potential Turning Point". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-09-24.