Roberto A. Quezada (born February 22, 1959 and a.k.a. Roberto Quezada-Dardon) is an American gaffer,

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

, and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

best known for his work with

Don Coscarelli Don Coscarelli Jr. (born February 17, 1954) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born to Italian settlers in Libya, he is best known for his work in horror films. His directing credits include the first four films in the ' ...

including the '' Phantasm'' series and ''

The Beastmaster ''The Beastmaster'' is a 1982 sword and sorcery film directed by Don Coscarelli and starring Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, John Amos and Rip Torn. Loosely based on the 1959 novel '' The Beast Master'' by Andre Norton, the film is about a man who ...

''. Quezada is also a film journalist and a Web site producer best known for his pioneering work with

Amnesty International USA Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is one of many country sections that make up Amnesty International worldwide. Amnesty International is an organization of more than 7 million supporters, activists and volunteers in over 150 countries, with compl ...

and

Planned Parenthood Federation of America The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reven ...

. His father is the Guatemalan journalist, poet, and fiction writer Roberto P. Quezada.

Biography

Roberto A. Quezada was born in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

and raised in the

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. He became interested in film while studying social science and philosophy at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

and then transferred to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in 1976 to study film. At UCLA, he was the recipient of the Jim Morrison Award for first films in 1977. In 1977, he was hired by

and Paul Pepperman as a second camera assistant on '' Phantasm''. One week after the start of production the gaffer resigned and Quezada was promoted to take his place. Responsible for the lighting of ''Phantasm'', finding many of the key locations (cemetery gates, alien planet, etc.) and various visual effects (photography of the silver sphere, the star gate room, door blowing off its hinges, etc.), Quezada was given the title of visual consultant on the finished film. He was also the assistant editor on the film wit
Dena Roth
Four years later in 1981, after working on various films as a gaffer and director of photography and on commercials as a producer, he was again hired by Coscarelli and Pepperman as production supervisor on the film ''

''. His responsibilities on this film included finding all the exterior locations; recruiting the production, camera, electric, and grip crews; and supervising the work of various special effects technicians along with the director and producer. This film was followed by more projects on his own as a gaffer and director of photography until 1987 when Coscarelli tapped him again to work on ''

Survival Quest ''Survival Quest'' is a 1989 survival film written and directed by Don Coscarelli and starring Lance Henriksen, Catherine Keener, and Dermot Mulroney. Plot There are two sets of campers on California's Sierra Madre Mountain. One group is the Bl ...

'' initially as the director of photography and as producer. Two weeks into production, realizing the extreme difficulty of this dual role and the potential a close friend of his demonstrated as a cinematographer, Quezada hired

Daryn Okada Daryn Okada, A.S.C. (born January 2, 1960) is a cinematographer and the former president of the American Society of Cinematographers. In 2015, Okada joined the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A highly prolifi ...

to complete the eight-week shooting schedule as director of photography. Production of ''

Phantasm II ''Phantasm II'' is a 1988 American science fantasy action-horror film and the sequel to '' Phantasm'' (1979). It was written and directed by Don Coscarelli and stars Angus Scrimm, James LeGros and Reggie Bannister. The first film's protagonist, Mi ...

'' started shortly after this. Aside from being the line producer on this film, Quezada also found all the locations and was the second unit director and second unit cinematographer. As a film journalist, Quezada has written extensively about the craft of film for ''

Filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

'' magazine and was a founding editor of

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

. As a web site producer, Quezada was a pioneer, developing the first magazine-style Web sites for

in 1997 and for

in 1998. By they year 2001, plannedparenthood.org was "among the top 10 most frequently visited health websites in the world, with more than 650,000 visits and millions of hits per month."

Gloria Feldt Gloria Feldt (born April 13, 1942) is a ''New York Times'' best-selling author, speaker, commentator, and feminist activist who gained national recognition as a social and political advocate of women's rights. In 2013, she and Amy Litzenberger ...

& Jon Knowles. (2002). Creating Hope for Humanity —

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

— Our Story and Vision for the Future. New York: Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. Roberto A. Quezada is currently a photographer residing in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Selected filmography

(by release dates) *'' Phantasm'' (1979) *''The Frozen Scream'' (1978) *'' The Unseen'' (1980) *''

'' (1982) *''

My Best Friend's Birthday ''My Best Friend's Birthday'' is a 1987 amateur comedy film directed, edited, co-written, co-produced and starring Quentin Tarantino. The film was shot in black-and-white and was originally meant to have a runtime of 70 minutes, but only 36 min ...

'' (1987) *''

'' (1988) *''

'' (1989) *''

Pastime A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing oth ...

'' (1990) *''The Gifted'' (1999) *''Stars and Bars'' (2006)

References

External links

*
Biography at phantasm.comNew technology article on Filmmaker MagazineWeb award for Planned Parenthood Federation of America Web site
* ttp://old.d-word.com/homepage/indy.html Article in the Independent Film and Video Journalbr>Ardillas Enjauladas by Roberto P. Quezada on Google Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quezada, Roberto A. American film directors American people of Guatemalan descent Living people 1959 births