Lawrence Sher, ASC[1] (born February 4, 1970) is an American cinematographer and film director, best known for comedy films such as Garden State, The Dictator, and The Hangover series, frequently collaborating with directors Todd Phillips and Zach Braff.[2][3][4] He made his directorial debut with Father Figures, which began a wide theatrical release on December 22, 2017, by Warner Bros. Pictures. He was nominated for an Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography for the 2019 film Joker, directed by Phillips.

Lawrence Sher
Sher in 2023
Born (1970-02-04) February 4, 1970 (age 54)
Occupation(s)Cinematographer, film director
Spouse
Jessica Aronoff
(m. 1998⁠–⁠2017)
PartnerHema Patel
Children2

Life and career

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Sher was born to a Jewish family[5] and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he attended and graduated in 1988 from Teaneck High School. His father, Paul, had been a doctor at New York University Medical Center, while his mother, Joan, was a teacher and taught at the Queens-based Lexington School for the Deaf. It was on a high school-sponsored trip to Paris that Sher first developed a love for photography, after his father convinced him to take a 35mm camera along with him on the trip. Sher has maintained his connections to Teaneck, staying in the basement of his aunt's home there during the filming of Garden State, where he was able to use love of his home state to make location shots there make it appear as what The Record described as a "verdant wonderland". He expressed great pride for his hometown of Teaneck and its diversity, recalling how he "spent a lot of time with an eclectic group of people. There's nothing homogenized about Teaneck even though you're in the middle of suburban New Jersey."[6]

He attended Wesleyan University, where he had initially planned to pursue a career in medicine followed by his identical twin brother Andy, who later became a urologist. After taking a course on film history, Sher developed an immediate interest in cinema, recalling that "All I wanted to do was spend every waking moment learning about movies and cinematography." He decided on majoring in economics and graduated from Wesleyan in 1992.[6]

After graduating from college, he moved to Los Angeles and immediately pursued a career in motion pictures. He started as a gaffer on a video shoot and an assistant on commercials before working his way up to cinematography. Sher's first major release was the 2001 film Kissing Jessica Stein. He achieved critical success with the 2004 movie Garden State.[6] Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter, in his review for the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, credited Sher's compositions with "pack[ing] insight into the character's psychological states".[7] Sher also has worked on 2007's Dan in Real Life starring Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche and the 2009 release I Love You, Man with Paul Rudd. While Sher aspires to direct, he is in no rush given that "I don't think I’ve fulfilled all of my goals as a cinematographer yet".[6]

As cinematographer of the 2009 film The Hangover, Sher described how a scene early in the movie shows the main characters on the roof of their hotel overlooking a stereotypical shot of the Las Vegas Strip; Sher indicated that he had tried to evoke the behind-the-scenes Vegas—after the characters wake up the following morning—by shooting a scene behind the hotels where the real action takes place. Actor Bradley Cooper credited Sher's visual style with enhancing the film's comedy, noting how Sher has "a great eye, a lot of energy and he just knows what's funny" and that "Some guys just can’t shoot comedies, but Larry knows exactly what he's doing."[6]

With the success of Zach Braff's Kickstarter, Sher worked on Braff's 2014 feature, Wish I Was Here.[8]

In January 2020, Sher was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on the movie Joker, but lost to Roger Deakins for 1917.

Personal life

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As of 2019, Sher lives in Los Angeles, California, together with his partner Hema Patel and his 13-year-old son, Max, and daughter Matilda.[6] He was previously married to Jessica Aronoff from 1998 to 2017.

Filmography

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Director

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Film

Television

Cinematographer

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Short film

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Year Title Director
1992 The Return of Wes Lauren Scott Wiper
1999 12 Stops on the Road to Nowhere Jay Lowi
2000 Boxing's Been Good to Me Temple Brown
2020 Nv er Theodore Melfi

Feature film

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Year Title Director Notes
1995 Captain Jack Scott Wiper Also producer
1997 Courting Courtney Paul Tarantino With William McDonald, Tom Oetzel and Serge Rodnunsky
2000 A Better Way to Die Scott Wiper
2001 Kissing Jessica Stein Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
2002 Emmett's Mark Keith Snyder
2004 Garden State Zach Braff
Club Dread Jay Chandrasekhar
2005 The Chumscrubber Arie Posin
The Dukes of Hazzard Jay Chandrasekhar
Life of the Party Barra Grant
2006 Grilled Jason Ensler
2007 When a Man Falls in the Forest Ryan Eslinger
Dan in Real Life Peter Hedges
2008 The Promotion Steven Conrad
Tucker James Mottern
2009 I Love You, Man John Hamburg
The Hangover Todd Phillips 1st collaboration with Phillips
2010 Due Date
2011 The Hangover Part II
The Big Year David Frankel
Paul Greg Mottola
2012 The Dictator Larry Charles
2013 The Hangover Part III Todd Phillips
2014 Wish I Was Here Zach Braff
2016 War Dogs Todd Phillips
2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters Michael Dougherty
Joker Todd Phillips
Most Likely to Succeed Pamela Littky Documentary
2021 The Starling Theodore Melfi
2022 Black Adam Jaume Collet-Serra
2024 Joker: Folie à Deux Todd Philips
2025 The Bride! Maggie Gyllenhaal Filming

Television

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TV movies

Year Title Director
1998 On the Border Bob Misiorowski
1999 Shark Attack
2003 Legally Blonde Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
2009 The Eastmans Jason Ensler
2017 Cheeky Plates for Target Sophia Banks

TV series

Year Title Director Notes
2001 The Wonderful World of Disney Charles Herman-Wurmfeld Episode "The Facts of Life Reunion"
2007 Andy Barker, P.I. Jason Ensler Episode "Pilot"
Cavemen
2011 Enlightened Mike White Episode "Pilot"
2021 Kanye with Special Guest Drake
Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert
Aus Taylor
Michael Gaertner
Concert film

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Title Result
2019 Camerimage Golden Frog Joker Won
Audience Award Won
Academy Awards Best Cinematography Nominated
BAFTA Awards Best Cinematography Nominated
American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Nominated
Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Cinematography Nominated
Houston Film Critics Society Best Cinematography Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Cinematography Nominated
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Best Cinematography Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "The ASC Roster". American Society of Cinematographers. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  2. ^ "LAWRENCE SHER".
  3. ^ "Lawrence Sher Credits - Movies, TV Shows - Hollywood.com". 3 January 2013. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "LAWRENCE SHER - Director Of Photography Interview".
  5. ^ Bloom, Nate (December 19, 2017). "Norman Lear goes to the Kennedy Center, the Pentagon Papers go to the movies". The Jewish News of Northern California.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Longsdorf, Amy. "Cameraman always has eye on Jersey roots", The Record (Bergen County), June 1, 2009. Accessed June 2, 2009.
  7. ^ Byrge, Duane. "Garden State", The Hollywood Reporter, January 19, 2004. Accessed June 2, 2009.
  8. ^ "WISH I WAS HERE".
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