# Tak Fujimoto

Takashi Fujimoto ASC (born July 12, 1939) is a retired American cinematographer, known for his frequent collaborations with directors Jonathan Demme and M. Night Shyamalan.
He had won a Primetime Emmy Award, and was nominated for the BAFTA and Satellite Awards. In 2016, he was named one of the 11 best cinematographers to have never won an Academy Award.

## Early life and education

Takashi Fujimoto (Japanese: 藤本 隆) was born in San Diego, California to Japanese American parents. His father, Morizo, was an Issei (first-generation) from Hiroshima, and his mother, Emi, was a Nisei (second-generation) born in Glendale, California. His older brother, Jack Fujimoto, was a well-known academic. During World War II, Fujimoto and his family were interned at the Poston War Relocation Center due to Executive Order 9066.
Fujimoto graduated San Dieguito High School from 1957. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley and the London Film School. He began his career as an assistant to Haskell Wexler at his production company Dove Films.

## Career

Fujimoto's first film as cinematographer was Chicago Blues, a 1970 music documentary featuring the likes of Dick Gregory, Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters. He was one of three directors of photography that worked on Terrence Malick's 1973 directorial debut Badlands, earning rave reviews. He shot a string of low-budget exploitation films for producer Roger Corman, including Death Race 2000 and Switchblade Sisters (as second unit photographer). He was also one of several second unit cinematographers who worked on the first Star Wars film.
During this period, he also began his long-running collaboration with director Jonathan Demme. Their first film together was Caged Heat in 1974. He would shoot a total of 11 films with Demme, as well as the 2013 pilot episode of the television drama A Gifted Man. He also had fruitful collaborations with M. Night Shyamalan, shooting The Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Happening.
Fujimoto has been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers since 1997.

## Personal life

Fujimoto had retired by 2015, and lived with his wife Anthea in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is the younger brother of academic Jack Fujimoto.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1970 | Chicago Blues | Harley Cokeliss | Documentary film |
| 1973 | Badlands | Terrence Malick | With Stevan Larner and Brian Probyn |
| 1974 | Caged Heat | Jonathan Demme | 1st collaboration with Demme |
| 1974 | Bootleggers | Charles B. Pierce | |
| 1975 | Death Race 2000 | Paul Bartel | |
| 1976 | Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde | William Crain | |
| 1976 | Cannonball | Paul Bartel | |
| 1977 | Chatterbox | Tom DeSimone | |
| 1977 | Bad Georgia Road | John Broderick | |
| 1978 | Remember My Name | Alan Rudolph | |
| 1978 | Stony Island | Andrew Davis | |
| 1979 | Last Embrace | Jonathan Demme | |
| 1980 | Where the Buffalo Roam | Art Linson | |
| 1980 | Borderline | Jerrold Freedman | |
| 1980 | Melvin and Howard | Jonathan Demme | |
| 1983 | Heart Like a Wheel | Jonathan Kaplan | |
| 1984 | Swing Shift | Jonathan Demme | |
| 1986 | Pretty in Pink | Howard Deutch | |
| 1986 | Ferris Bueller's Day Off | John Hughes | |
| 1986 | Something Wild | Jonathan Demme | |
| 1987 | Backfire | Gilbert Cates | |
| 1988 | Married to the Mob | Jonathan Demme | |
| 1988 | Sweet Hearts Dance | Robert Greenwald | |
| 1988 | Cocoon: The Return | Daniel Petrie | |
| 1990 | Miami Blues | George Armitage | |
| 1991 | The Silence of the Lambs | Jonathan Demme | |
| 1991 | Crooked Hearts | Michael Bortman | |
| 1992 | Gladiator | Rowdy Herrington | |
| 1992 | Singles | Cameron Crowe | With Ueli Steiger |
| 1992 | Night and the City | Irwin Winkler | |
| 1993 | Philadelphia | Jonathan Demme | |
| 1995 | Devil in a Blue Dress | Carl Franklin | |
| 1995 | Grumpier Old Men | Howard Deutch | |
| 1996 | That Thing You Do! | Tom Hanks | |
| 1997 | A Thousand Acres | Jocelyn Moorhouse | |
| 1998 | Beloved | Jonathan Demme | |
| 1999 | The Sixth Sense | M. Night Shyamalan | |
| 2000 | The Replacements | Howard Deutch | |
| 2002 | Signs | M. Night Shyamalan | |
| 2002 | The Truth About Charlie | Jonathan Demme | |
| 2004 | The Final Cut | Omar Naim | |
| 2004 | The Manchurian Candidate | Jonathan Demme | |
| 2007 | Breach | Billy Ray | |
| 2008 | The Great Buck Howard | Sean McGinly | |
| 2008 | The Happening | M. Night Shyamalan | |
| 2010 | Devil | John Erick Dowdle | |
| 2013 | Gods Behaving Badly | Marc Turtletaub | |
Short film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1982 | Growing Yourself | Bob Giraldi | Segments of National Lampoon's Movie Madness |
| 1982 | Success Wanters | Bob Giraldi | Segments of National Lampoon's Movie Madness |
| 1994 | The Complex Sessions | Jonathan Demme | |

### Television

TV movies
| Year | Title | Director |
| 1976 | Almos' a Man | Stan Lathan |
| 1978 | Lawman Without a Gun | Jerrold Freedman |
| 1979 | Some Kind of Miracle | Jerrold Freedman |
| 1982 | Divorce Wars: A Love Story | Donald Wrye |
| 1984 | The Seduction of Gina | Jerrold Freedman |
| 1985 | Seduced | Jerrold Freedman |
| 1985 | Blackout | Douglas Hickox |
| 1989 | Cast the First Stone | John Korty |
TV series
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1978 | At Home with Shields and Yarnell | Andrew Davis | TV short |
| 1985 | MacGyver | Jerrold Freedman | Episode "Pilot" |
| 2008 | John Adams | Tom Hooper | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | A Gifted Man | Jonathan Demme | Episode "Pilot" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
| 1991 | Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Cinematography | The Silence of the Lambs | Won |
| 1991 | BAFTA Awards | Best Cinematography | The Silence of the Lambs | Nominated |
| 1995 | National Society of Film Critics | Best Cinematography | Devil in a Blue Dress | Won |
| 1998 | Satellite Awards | Best Cinematography | Beloved | Nominated |
| 1998 | Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Cinematography | Beloved | Nominated |
| 1999 | American Society of Cinematographers | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography | The Sixth Sense | Nominated |
| 2008 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Cinematography | John Adams | Won |
| 2008 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Cinematography | John Adams | Nominated |