John Schwartzman
Alma mater USC School of Cinematic Arts
Notable work Seabiscuit (2003)
Website johnschwartzmandp.com

John Leonard Schwartzman, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer who is best known for his work on Jurassic World, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Rock and Seabiscuit, for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography.

Early life and career

Schwartzman is the son of producer Jack Schwartzman and the stepson of actress Talia Shire. He is the brother of Stephanie Schwartzman and half-brother to actors/musicians Jason Schwartzman and Robert Schwartzman. John graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 1985.[1]

Schwartzman works as a cinematographer. He is best known for his collaborations with directors Michael Bay, John Lee Hancock, Colin Trevorrow, James Foley and Paul Feig.[2]

Schwartzman prefers shooting on film stock over digital cinematography and claims to have conducted blind experiments with filmmaking professionals comparing various digital and film camera formats, with the result being a unanimous preference for the 35mm Panavision anamorphic format.[3]

Filmography

Short film

Year Title Director Notes
1984 Last Chance Dance Phil Joanou With Robert Brinkmann
1986 Video Valentino Richard Martini

Film

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Title Director Notes
1988 You Can't Hurry Love Richard Martini With Peter Lyons Collister
1989 Red Surf H. Gordon Boos
1990 Rockula Luca Bercovici
1993 Benny & Joon Jeremiah S. Chechik
1994 Airheads Michael Lehmann
1995 A Pyromaniac's Love Story Joshua Brand
1996 Mr. Wrong Nick Castle
The Rock Michael Bay 1st collaboration with Bay
1997 Conspiracy Theory Richard Donner
1998 Armageddon Michael Bay
1999 EDtv Ron Howard
2001 Pearl Harbor Michael Bay
2002 The Rookie John Lee Hancock 1st collaboration with Hancock
2003 Seabiscuit Gary Ross
2004 Meet the Fockers Jay Roach
2007 National Treasure: Book of Secrets Jon Turteltaub With Amir Mokri
The Bucket List Rob Reiner
2009 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Shawn Levy
2011 The Green Hornet Michel Gondry
2012 The Amazing Spider-Man Marc Webb
2013 Saving Mr. Banks John Lee Hancock
2014 Dracula Untold Gary Shore
2015 Jurassic World Colin Trevorrow
2016 The Founder John Lee Hancock
2017 Fifty Shades Darker James Foley
The Book of Henry Colin Trevorrow
2018 Fifty Shades Freed James Foley
The Unicorn Robert Schwartzman With Michael Rizzi
A Simple Favor Paul Feig 1st collaboration with Feig
2019 The Highwaymen John Lee Hancock
Last Christmas Paul Feig
2021 The Little Things John Lee Hancock
2022 Jurassic World Dominion Colin Trevorrow
Mr. Harrigan's Phone John Lee Hancock
The School for Good and Evil Paul Feig
2024 Atlas Brad Peyton
Jackpot! Paul Feig
2025 Another Simple Favor
The Housemaid

TV movies

Year Title Director
1991 To Save a Child Robert Lieberman
1992 Industrial Symphony No. 1 David Lynch

Music video

Year Title Artist(s) Director
1990 "Can't Stop Fallin' into Love" Cheap Trick Nigel Dick
"Wherever Would I Be"
1994 "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" Meat Loaf Michael Bay
1995 "Strange Currencies" R.E.M. Mark Romanek
1999 "What a Girl Wants" Christina Aguilera Diane Martel
2012 "One More Night" Maroon 5 Peter Berg

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Year Title Category Result
2003 Seabiscuit Best Cinematography Nominated

American Society of Cinematographers

Year Title Category Result
2001 Pearl Harbor Outstanding Cinematography Nominated
2003 Seabiscuit Won

Satellite Awards

Year Title Category Result
2001 Pearl Harbor Best Cinematography Nominated
2003 Seabiscuit Nominated

See also

  • Coppola family tree

References

  1. ^ Notable Alumni Archived 2008-02-24 at the Wayback Machine, USC School of Cinematic Arts; accessed March 10, 2008.
  2. ^ "Schwartzman, Crawley Join Oct. Master Class on Shooting Film". The American Society of Cinematographers. Retrieved 2025-12-30.
  3. ^ "ONFILM Interview: John Schwartzman, ASC". Kodak ON FILM. May 5, 2014. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014.