Jonathan Sela (born April 29, 1978) is a French-born Israeli cinematographer. He has shot numerous commercials,

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s and

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s, including ''

John Wick ''John Wick'' is an American action thriller media franchise created by Derek Kolstad and centering around John Wick, a former hitman who is forced back into the criminal underworld he had abandoned. The franchise began with the release of '' ...

'', '' The Midnight Meat Train'', '' Transformers: The Last Knight'', and ''

Deadpool 2 ''Deadpool 2'' is a 2018 American superhero comedy film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequel to ''Deadpool'' (2016) and the eleventh installment overall in the ''X-Men'' film series. ...

'', as well as numerous collaborations with directors John Moore and

David Leitch David Leitch (born November 16, 1975) is an American filmmaker, actor, stunt performer and stunt coordinator who made his directorial debut on the 2014 action film ''John Wick'' with Chad Stahelski, though only Stahelski was credited. Leitch the ...

Life and career

Sela was born in

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. At the age of 10, his Polish grandfather took him to the set of ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film f ...

'' in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, which inspired him to pursue a career in filmmaking. Four years later, he began working in Israel as a cameraman and lighting technician on numerous television films and shows, first as lighting technician, then as gaffer. He emigrated to the United States at age 19, enrolling in the American Film Institute in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. He served as assistant to cinematographer

Vilmos Zsigmond Vilmos Zsigmond ASC (; June 16, 1930 – January 1, 2016) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer. His work in cinematography helped shape the look of American movies in the 1970s, making him one of the leading figures in the American New Wa ...

for two films before making his debut as director of photography with the music video for Cypress Hill's ''Lowrider''. After shooting several shorts, he made his feature film debut with the 2004 comedy film ''

Soul Plane ''Soul Plane'' is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Jessy Terrero (in his feature film directorial debut). The film stars Tom Arnold, Kevin Hart, Method Man and Snoop Dogg. Supporting actors include Mo'Nique, Loni Love, K.D. Aubert, D.L ...

''. In 2006, he shot the remake of ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spen ...

'', the first of several collaborations with director John Moore. In 2008 he shot both the

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

adaptation '' The Midnight Meat Train'' and ''Max Payne''; a neo-noir action film based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name. Some of Sela's more recent projects include the F. Gary Gray-directed crime drama '' Law Abiding Citizen'', the fifth entry of the ''Die Hard'' film series ''

A Good Day to Die Hard ''A Good Day to Die Hard'' is a 2013 American action thriller film and the fifth and final installment in the ''Die Hard'' film series. The film was directed by John Moore and written by Skip Woods, and stars Bruce Willis as John McClane in h ...

'', and the action thriller ''

''. Sela was director of photography on 2017's '' Transformers: The Last Knight'', the fifth entry in the science fiction action franchise. Sela has also worked on commercials for companies like

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

, KFC, Gillette, and

Mary Kay Mary Kay Inc. is an American privately owned multi-level marketing company. According to '' Direct Selling News'', Mary Kay was the sixth largest network marketing company in the world in 2018, with a wholesale volume of US$3.25 billion.

, and has shot music videos for artists like Rihanna and Green Day.

Personal life

Sela lives in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

with his wife, photographer Megan Schoenbachler, and their two sons.

Filmography

Television

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sela, Jonathan 1978 births Living people Cinematographers from Paris Israeli people of French-Jewish descent Israeli cinematographers