Igor Chepusov (russian: Игорь Серге́евич Чепусов, ; 1950-2011) was a Soviet and American producer, script writer, director, artist, architect, photographer, director of photography and cameraman. His photography was utilized in eight movies. He came to the United States in 1990 to work as a cameraman for the Russian Television Network. He co-produced several documentaries

Early life

Chepusov was born on July 16, 1950 in Odesa, Ukraine. As a child Igor attended Odesa's art school. He graduated from

Odesa State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture Odesa State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture, was a higher education establishment founded in 1930 as part of the Ukrainian education system. Since 1991 The Academy has been a member of the European and International Association of ...

in 1973 to be an architect, and at the

National University of Theatre, Film and TV in Kyiv National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

to be a director of photography / cameraman in 1979.

Professional career

He worked as a director of photography at the

Dovzhenko Film Studios The Dovzhenko Film Studios ( uk, Національна кіностудія художніх фільмів імені О. Довженка, translit. ''Natsional'na kinostudiya khudozhnikh filmiv imeni O. Dovzhenka'') is a former Soviet film ...

in Kyiv, the

Odesa Film Studio Odesa Film Studio ( uk, Одеська кіностудія художніх фільмів) is the Ukraine, Ukrainian, formerly Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet film studio in Odesa, one of the first in the Russian Empire and the Sovie ...

(1980-1990), and the Gorky Film Studio. As a director of photography, he filmed eight full-length motion pictures, to include ''The Golden Chain'' (1986) based on the novel by

Alexander Grin Aleksandr Stepanovich Grinevsky (better known by his pen name, Aleksandr Green / Grin (spelling varies in non-Russian literature), rus, Александр Грин, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲin, a=Ru-Aleksandr Grin.ogg, 23 August 1880 – 8 July 1932 ...

, ''The Golden Wedding'' (1987), and ''Sanitary Zone'' (1990). Other titles include his debut picture Krupni Razgovor (Large Conversation - 1980) and Ozjog (The Burn) with actress Lyudmila Gurchenko.

Immigration and broadcasting career

Chepusov immigrated with his family to the US on May 22, 1990, where he became the first cameraman on the first Russian Television Network in America (RTN) operated by Russian Media Group, and worked with notable television hosts like

Alla Kigel Alla Grigorievna Kigel (Алла Кигель; born 1932) is a Russian theatre director. She was one of a few female directors in the Soviet Union during the 1960s. Her work followed Stanislavski's system. Her father, Gregory Lvovich Kigel (Гри ...

and

Alexander Gordon (journalist) Alexander Garrievich Gordon (russian: Алeксандp Гаppиeвич Гордон, born February 20, 1964) is a Russian radio and television presenter, journalist, actor and director. He has worked on "NTV" channel and " Channel One". As of ...

. In the fall of 1993 he started work at a new Russian-based network in Fort Lee, NJ - WMNB. He later left the network to join Wostok Entertainment and produced a show for the audience in Russia with Alexander Gordon called New York, New York: America Good and Bad. After several successful seasons of the show, he returned to RTN, which had by now merged with WMNB to remain America's only domestic Russian-language network.

Personal projects

Chepusov continued to produce shows and documentaries on the side with producers like Andrei Zagdansky,

and many others. Some notable documentaries include ''Yesterday and Today'' (2002), ''Fathers and Sons'' (2005) and ''Confessions of an Immigrant'' Igor continued to take photographs and painted with watercolors in his spare time. Also, some weekends were spent producing wedding videos for Russian-speaking customers in New York to help offset his relatively low-paying network jobs. Chepusov died on August 2, 2011http://mccorrybrothers.com/online-obituary/2011-08-igor-chepusov/10020826 in New Jersey. He is survived by four sons.

References

External links

Sanitary Zone on IMDB.com

Russian article about Igor's death

Several examples of Igor's artwork

Igor's Russian film bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Chepusov, Igor 1950 births 2011 deaths Ukrainian film producers