# Steve Gainer

Steve Gainer, ASC ASK (born October 25, 1962) is an American cinematographer, director, and producer. He is a member and museum curator of the American Society of Cinematographers, a member of the Directors Guild of America, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
From 1991 to 1994, he was the manager of the Paramount Pictures Corporation film lab, Where he met future director Dave Meyers, who later shot over thirty music videos with him, as well as the feature film Foolish.
Since 1994, he has been director of photography on dozens of films, commercials, and music videos.
In 2013 and 2015, Gainer directed episodes of the MTV comedy-drama series Awkward. In 2014, he won a Daytime Emmy for a PSA based on that series. In 2018 he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for the Amazon movie An American Girl Story – Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance
Gainer and his wife, Karen, were married on January 22, 2000. The couple have two children Sebastian and Lexi.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1994 | Ceremony | Joe Castro | |
| 1997 | Expose | Brian Rudnick | |
| 1997 | Macon County Jail | Victoria Muspratt | With Harry C. Box |
| 1997 | Don't Sleep Alone | Tim Andrew | |
| 1997 | Shadow Dancer | Stanley Lee Stanley Yung | With Michael E.J. Miller |
| 1999 | Road Kill | Matthew Leutwyler | |
| 1999 | Foolish | Dave Meyers | |
| 1999 | Facade | Carl Colpaert | |
| 2001 | Bully | Larry Clark | |
| 2004 | Black Cloud | Ricky Schroder | |
| 2004 | Mysterious Skin | Gregg Araki | |
| 2004 | A Dirty Shame | John Waters | |
| 2005 | Wassup Rockers | Larry Clark | |
| 2007 | You Are Here | Henry Pincus | |
| 2007 | Remember the Daze | Jess Bond | |
| 2008 | While She Was Out | Susan Montford | |
| 2008 | Punisher: War Zone | Lexi Alexander | |
| 2009 | Taking Chances | Kit Umbrage | With Brian Sweeney |
| 2010 | Super | James Gunn | |
| 2010 | Dirty Girl | Abe Sylvia | |
| 2011 | Setup | Mike Gunther | Direct-to-video |
| 2012 | Nature Calls | Todd Rohal | |
| 2013 | A Haunted House | Michael Tiddes | |
| 2014 | Everly | Joe Lynch | |
| 2014 | Catch Hell | Ryan Phillippe | |
| 2015 | Big & Rich: Gravity Long Form Project | Trey Fanjoy | |
| 2017 | Mayhem | Joe Lynch | |
| 2019 | The Last Laugh | Greg Pritikin | |
Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1996 | Trust Games | Adam Prince | |
| 1998 | Luz de la mission | Martin Flores | With Peter Rieveschl and Mario Zavala |
| 2001 | Note come due | Jordan Freid | |
| 2002 | Heroes | Johnathon Schaech | |
| 2004 | Lonely Place | Kevin Ackermann | |
| 2009 | One Night Only | Chadd Harbold | |
| 2013 | The Thread | Steven Brill | Segments of Movie 43 |
| 2013 | Victory's Glory | Rusty Cundieff | Segments of Movie 43 |
| 2013 | Beezel | James Gunn | Segments of Movie 43 |
| 2018 | Day of Reckoning | Jeff Wolfe | |
| TBA | The Runt | Christy Stratton | |
Documentary film
| Year | Title | Director | Note |
| 1999 | Three Days | Kevin Ford C.B. Smith | With Kevin Ford and Luke Geissbühler |

### Television

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1997 | Click | Rolfe Kanefsky Hamilton Lewiston Brian Rudnick | Episode "Secrets Revealed" |
| 2008 | Camp Rock Freestyle Jam | Art Spigel | TV short |
| 2009 | Sugarland: Live on the Inside | Shaun Silva | TV special |
| 2011 | Awkward | | 71 episodes; Also directed episodes "Taking Sides" and "Digging Deep" |
| 2013 | Starting Strong | | |
| 2014 | Happyland | Ryan Shiraki Peter Lauer Rebecca Asher David Katzenberg | 7 episodes |
| 2015 | Just Add Magic | | |
| 2016-2017 | Sweet/Vicious | Joseph Kahn Rebecca Thomas Brian Dannelly Todd Biermann Elodie Keene Andrew Young | All 10 episodes |
| 2017 | Will vs. The Future | Joe Nussbaum | |
| 2019-2020 | Schooled | | All 34 episodes |
| 2021 | On My Block | Valerie Finkel Eli Gonda Lauren Iungerich | 4 episodes |
| 2021-2022 | Puppy Place | | All 16 episodes |
| 2022 | Life by Ella | Christine Lakin Ryan Shiraki Juanesta Holmes Nimisha Mukerji Aprill Winney Linda Mendoza | All 10 episodes |
| 2023 | With Love | Paris Barclay Kim Nguyen Eli Gonda Kabir Akhtar | Season 2 |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 2002 | Teenage Caveman | Larry Clark | |
| 2013 | Our Wild Hearts | Ricky Schroder | Also producer |
| 2013 | Ladies' Man: A Made Movie | Ryan Shiraki | |
| 2016 | An American Girl Story: Maryellen 1955 - Extraordinary Christmas | Valerie Weiss | |
| 2017 | An American Girl Story: Ivy & Julie 1976 - A Happy Balance | Sasie Sealy | |
| 2017 | An American Girl Story: Summer Camp, Friends for Life | Alison McDonald | |
Documentary film
| Year | Title | Director | Note |
| 2010 | Boys of Fall | Shaun Silva | With Blake McClure |