Hiro Narita

Hiro Narita , né Morikawa, is an Emmy Award-nominated cinematographer who was the Director of Photography on .
Narita was brought in by the movie's co-producer, Steven-Charles Jaffe, a personal friend ever since the latter (then a location manager) had brought him in as an uncredited cinematographer on the 1978 movie Who'll Stop the Rain (on which Richard H. Kline served as director of photography, and William Ware Theiss as costume designer). Narita has spoken at length on his involvement in the The Undiscovered Country in the January 1992 issue of the American Cinematographer magazine. 
== Early life ==
Narita was born as Hiro Morikawa in Seoul to Japanese parents during the time Korea was under Japanese rule. His family moved to Japan when he was four years old, and to Hawaii in 1957. He studied graphic art and story illustration at the San Francisco Art Institute before venturing into cinematography. After serving as a designer and photographer in the US Army from 1964 through 1966, Narita apprenticed under director and cinematographer for over three years. The two first worked together on (1972).
== Career ==
=== Television ===
It was John Korty who gave Narita his first work as cinematographer, NBC's Farewell to Manzanar (1976), for which Narita received his first Emmy Award nomination. Clyde Kusatsu and James Saito were part of the cast of this production.
In the early 1980s, Narita was a cinematographer for such TV movies as The Haunting Passion (1984, featuring Paul Rossilli), (1984, starring s Avery Brooks), and (1985, starring Paul Winfield). He later photographed NBC's Mothers, Daughters and Lovers (1989, featuring Jim Beaver, Jack Blessing, and Robert Duncan McNeill), and (1991, co-starring Jerry Hardin).
In 1992, Narita photographed an episode of , featuring the voice of John Kassir as the Crypt Keeper. Narita then reunited with John Korty for (1993), after which he worked on the TV movie Long Shadows, which starred Matt Frewer. His more recent TV works include (2000)and the 2001 special Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks, both of which garnered him Emmy nominations. He was also cinematographer on the pilot for the WB series Gilmore Girls}}.
=== Film ===
Narita was a director of photography on the musical documentaries The Last Waltz and Rust Never Sleeps and a camera operator on (1979, starring Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen) and (1979). He also worked as an additional cameraman on (1983) and (1983). 
His first feature film as cinematographer was (1983), which earned him a number of awards, including the 1983 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography. He later directed photography several other Disney films, including (featuring Matt Frewer, Amy O'Neill, Carl Steven, Mark L. Taylor, and Cherie Tash), (starring Billy Campbell, with Max Grodénchik, Darryl Henriques, Clint Howard, Ed Lauter, Terry O'Quinn, Tiny Ron, and Paul Sorvino), (1993, with Charles Rocket, Michael McGrady, Doug Jones and Teda Bracci), and James and the Giant Peach (featuring Steven Culp). He also served as the live-action director of photography for Tummy Trouble and Rollercoaster Rabbit, two animated short films based on the motion picture Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Narita's other feature film credits as Director of Photography include (1985, starring Theodore Bikel, Kenneth Mars, and William Windom), (1986, featuring Virginia Madsen and Tim Russ), (1994, starring Patrick Stewart), (1996), the 1997 thriller Sub Down (featuring Tony Plana and Nikki Cox), and 1999's Fortress 2 (co-starring Beth Toussaint and Willie Garson). He was later the Second Unit Director of Photography on the films The Time Machine (whose screenplay was written by John Logan), (starring The Rock and featuring Branscombe Richmond), and Anger Management. 
Narita was the Director of Photography on (2006, starring Winona Ryder) and (2006, starring Bruce McGill and featuring Cully Fredricksen). He was also the camera operator on the episode of the talk show Shrink Wrap which focused on Robin Williams. In 2009, he photographed the drama film La Mission and in 2015, the comedy Love & Taxes.
==Star Trek interview==
*"Narita Leads Enterprise Camera Crew", Ron Magid, American Cinematographer, January 1992, pp. 42-50
== External links ==
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es:Hiro Narita
Category:Cinematographers