David Stump

David Stump began his career in film in the late 70's, first as a TV Producer for several cable shows and then at ABC where he helped put together a late night TV show entitled Completely Off the Wall.  From there he worked with film Director's Clive Donner and Francis Ford Coppola.  He worked with Mr. Coppola in the camera department at Zoetrope Studios during the production of One from the Heart.  David continued working on all of Zoetrope's films until the Studio moved to San Francisco.  In 1981 he began work on The Day After, a ground breaking TV miniseries that won a Visual Effects Emmy Award.

Over the next few years he worked as a Director of Photography shooting films for Roger Corman, as Visual Effects Supervisor at Cannon Films on Runaway Train and he worked as cameraman for Apogee Productions, where he Directed Photography for John Dykstra.  In 1991 David started his own rental company, while he continued his work as a freelance Cameraman and VFX Supervisor.  By 1996 his rental company had grown well beyond just a couple of cameras out of a small warehouse and into Motion Control Rental Services - the model for Visual Effects rentals in Hollywood.

Over the last twenty years David has worked on numerous motion pictures and television productions including as Director of Photography, as Visual Effects Director of Photography and as a Visual Effects Supervisor, earning another Emmy nomination, and an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Acheivement.  His credits include such high profile projects as The Resident, Quantum of Solace, Flight Plan, Fantastic Four, X-Men 1 & 2, Into the Blue, Red Riding Hood, Garfield, Panic Room, Batman Forever, Hollow Man, Men of Honor, Deep Blue Sea, Stuart Little, The Sphere, Contact, Batman & Robin, Mars Attacks, Executive Decision, Stargate, Free Willy, and What Love Is, among others.

David has been involved in Digital Visual Effects for over 20 years - since the advent of Computer Generated Images for film.  He has also been involved in shooting High Definition images for many years and has been an advisor and consultant to numerous HD camera manufacturers.  In 2001 David was accepted for full membership into the American Society of Cinematographers, where he is currently chairman of the Camera Subcommittee of the ASC Technical Committee.  His work there helps to shape the future of digital cinematography.