American New Wave 25: Reed Morano

If you haven’t heard of Reed Morano before, then you’ll surely have no choice but to be aware of this workaholic come January of next year. Working back to back on Victoria Mahoney’s Yelling to the Sky , Elgin James’ Little Birds and So Yong Kim’s For Ellen, means this in-demand Director of Photography has a stovetop full of menu items for Park City in 2011. And speaking of kitchen appliances, Morano had a bun in the oven on the last pair of shoots (see proof below). So while her child is most likely going to be the kid in the neighbourhood with the coolest looking home movies, we have have Morano to thank for her contribution to indie film.

Hailing from Brooklyn, this graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts (honored with awards in cinematography) worked herself up the ladder with docs, T.V, commercials and music videos but you could point to the Slamdance-selected Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa as her calling card and subsequently, the hand-held aesthetic capturing the frigid exterior as well as the frigid characters of Frozen River – the breakout indie hit of the 2008 Sundance Film festival. Jeffrey Dean Joseph Brown’s Sold to be shot this winter in India and the feature version of Off the Grid, entitled Land of Enchantment expected to start lensing in 2011.

Photo credit: Marianne Williams