Benjamin Kasulke (Born May 30th, 1977 in Syracuse, New York) is an American film director and director of photography from Ray Brook, New York . He attended the Northfield Mount Hermon School and went on to study film production and still photography at Ithaca College and FAMU. He was the recipient of the Roy H. Park School of Communications Department of Cinema And Photography awards for Achievement in Junior Filmmaking and Achievement in Critical Film Theory in 1998 followed by departmental awards for Achievement in Art Direction, Best Senior Film, and the James B. Pendleton Grant in 1999.
He began his professional career working as a negative cutter and film archivist in Seattle, Washington. Kasulke began his shooting career working extensively with the dance film community in the Pacific Northwest and particularly attributes the start of his cinematography career to his work with the Seattle based performance group 33 Fainting Spells[1]. Ben moved from photographing short films into shooting performance, documentary films, online web series, investigative news, and music videos.
In 2005, The Film Company hired Ben as the staff cinematographer, prompting a move into feature film production. His first feature film credit as Director of Photography was on Guy Maddin's Brand Upon the Brain! Ben received the Kodak Vision Award at Slamdance Film Festival[2] and the Best Cinematography Prize at the Torun Film Festival[3] for his work on Lynn Shelton's We Go Way Back in 2006. Other feature film credits include Linas Phillips' Walking To Werner[4], Lynn Shelton's My Effortless Brilliance[5], Erika Yeomans' Pose Down, Joe Swanberg's Nights And Weekends, and Adam Sekuler's Merely Mouthpiece'.
His Music video, performance, and studio camera credits include work with Einstürzende Neubauten, Built To Spill, Harvey Danger, The Lights, and Andrew Bird.
Ben was commissioned by Slamdance Film Festival to create a $99 Special Film, entitled Crustväska to premiere in 2008[6]. In 2007 he was shortlisted by The Stranger, an alternative Seattle weekly, for its annual Genius Award in Film[7].
Ben Kasulke's third cousin thrice removed is cinematographer Sol Polito.
Director Of Photography Filmography
editFeature Films
Improvement Club 2012 Your Sister's Sister 2011 Nights And Weekends 2008 Merely Mouthpiece 2007 My Effortless Brilliance 2007 Pose Down 2006 Walking To Werner 2006 We Go Way Back 2006 Brand Upon the Brain! 2006
Web Series
What The Funny? 2007 Young American Bodies 2008
Short Films
Crustväska 2007 Achemy of The Oracles 2007 Gold 2007 Berlin 2007 Kisses 2007 Third Day's Child 2007 Holding This For You 2007 If & When 2006 Number 5ive 2006 The Down and Derby 2004 EBE-4 2004 To Wander 2004 Entry 2002 Tribute To Jean-Luc Godard 2002
Music Videos
Today Let Your Candle Burn All Night 2007 Andrew Bird Imitosis 2007 The Lights Setting Sun 2007 Harvey Danger Moral Centralia 2007
Director Filmography
editCrustväska 2007 Sediment 1999 Torque 1998
External links
edit[Benjamin Kasulke's Website http://www.benkasulke.com]
[Brand Upon The Brain! Film Website http://www.branduponthebrain.com]
[Pose Down Film Website http://www.posedownthemovie.com]
[My Effortless Brilliance Film Website http://www.myeffortlessbrilliance.com]
[On Screen Magazine December 2007 articles covering the Seattle Dance Film Community and the production of My Effortless Brilliance http://www.onscreenmag.com/onscreenDec07.pdf]
[Kodak InCamera Article April 2007 article covering the production of Pose Down http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/newsletters/inCamera/apr2007/poseDown.jhtml]
[The Stranger Genius Award Film Shortlist September 12, 2007 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=316783]
[Benjamin Kasulke on IMDB http://imdb.com/name/nm1848388/]
Notes And References
edit1. On Screen Vol. 18 #1 p. 29 [1]
2. Slamdance Film Festival 2006 Awards Announcement [2]
3. Torun Film Festival 2006 Awards Announcement [3]
4. Walking To Werner crew biographies [4]
5. On Screen Vol. 18 #1 p.18-19 [5]
6. Slamdance Film Festival 2008 Crustväska Film Synopsis [6]
7. The Stranger Vol. 17 #1 p.25 [7]
- ^ http://www.onscreenmag.com/onscreenDec07.pdf
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/maria_full_of_grace/news/1646308/
- ^ http://festivaltoffi.pl/index.php?akcja=newsy&lang=en&id_nr=17
- ^ http://www.linasfilms.com/2007/06/crew-biographies.html
- ^ http://www.onscreenmag.com/onscreenDec07.pdf
- ^ http://slamdance.bside.com/?_view=_filmdetails&filmId=43686771
- ^ http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=316783