Lance Acord [Cinematographer]

By: Julian Chavez | June 24, 2010 | Ten by Ten

Lance Acord is an award-winning cinematographer, director and entrepreneur from Marin County, Calif. As a director of photography, his feature film credits include Where the Wild Things Are, Marie Antoinette, Adaptation, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Buffalo ’66, Being John Malkovich and Lost in Translation, for which he received a Chicago Film Critics Association Award in 2004. In addition to his revered feature cinematography, Acord is a well-known and award-winning television commercial director. He directs spots through his company, Park Pictures, and his commercial directing credits include spots for Nike, Mercedes, Gucci, Coca-Cola, Adidas and numerous globally recognized brands. Acord has directed and/or shot music videos for artists including Sheryl Crow, Bjork, Monsters of Folk and Elastica. Further kudos includes three Gold Lions at Cannes for his spot work and nominations from the Directors Guild of America and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for his feature-film cinematography.

What inspired you to work in the entertainment business?
I never really set out to work in the entertainment business. In my teens, I fell in love with photography and film. I feel lucky to be involved in making things that people find entertaining.

In one or two sentences, how would you describe the current state of the industry?
“Donald … please don’t use the word industry.”

In your opinion what constitutes great storytelling?
The creaking sound of Ruth Popper’s (Cloris Leachman) bed in The Last Picture Show.

What contemporary artists do you admire and why?
Rinko Kawauchi — she photographs things in her day-to-day life. As in the tradition of Frank, Eggleston, Winogrand, she observes things in the real world and creates photographs that are transcendent.
Cannon Hudson — he is a great painter.
Jacques Wirtz — a Belgian landscape gardener responsible for some of the most beautiful spaces on planet Earth.
Robert Bechtle — the longer he does what he does, the more I learn how great it is.
Rasa Barzdukas — a young Lithuanian artist with a big career ahead of her. This list could go on and on …

Please list your top five films of the decade and why?
It is hard to keep it to five so I need to categorize a bit:
Y Tu Mama Tambien for the joy in the filmmaking; it makes me want to pick up a camera and go make a movie.
Little Children for the emotional connection and sure-handedness of the direction.
The New World and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly because Terrence Malick and Julian Schnabel, respectively, both go beyond narrative storytelling and use film to make art.
Let the Right One In and There Will be Blood are both masterpieces on many levels but are the best of the decade in terms of cinematography.
Together reminds me of being a kid — all the crazy conflicting emotions and flawed humanity revealed in the aspirations of parents in the ’60s and ’70s.

What do you consider your greatest career achievement?
Shooting Where the Wild Things Are.

What do you consider your greatest career failure?
After several great years, finding that I am no longer able to shoot in bare feet.

What do you believe is the biggest problem currently facing the entertainment business?
The entertainment business? That’s a pretty big fish! Honestly, I do not feel qualified to say. In terms of making films, specifically independent films, it seems to be distribution. It’s unfortunate, but unlike music and television, the Internet has yet to revolutionize the way films are distributed. Great films go unseen every year because they lack a distributor that will stand behind them. For all the Oscar hoopla, very few people saw The Hurt Locker or Crazy Heart during their theatrical releases. 

What new technology currently having an impact on your industry are you most excited about and why? What technology are you most afraid of and why?
One in the same: the seemingly endless possibility to change and manipulate an image in post. Left in the wrong hands, this can also be the scariest. 

What is the best career advice you’ve ever received, and who gave it to you?
Never have a nicer hotel room than the person you are working for. — Bruce Weber, photographer

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