Writer-director-producer John Wells will receive the American Society of Cinematographers’ 2014 Board of Governors Award. Wells will be honored at the 28th annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards gala, Feb. 1 at the Hollywood & Highland Ray Dolby Ballroom.
“John Wells is an extraordinary talent whose long career has exposed the world to superlative cinematography across a wide array of features and television,” said ASC president Richard Crudo.
Wells has notched over 830 credits during his prolific career. He is the creative force behind multiple hit television series, including the Emmy-winning ER and The West Wing. He served as an executive producer on the critically acclaimed Southland (TNT), and the award-winning Mildred Pierce (HBO) and China Beach (ABC). Currently, he is the executive producer on Showtime‘s Emmy-nominated Shameless.
Shows produced by Wells have received over 270 Emmy nominations with 55 Emmy wins. During its 15-year run, ER earned 122 Emmy nominations. A seven-time Writers Guild Award nominee, Wells received the WGA‘s prestigious Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television in 2007, given to writers who have advanced the literature of television and made outstanding contributions to the profession of television writers. In 2005, the Producers Guild of America awarded Wells the David Susskind Lifetime Achievement Award in Television.
Wells’ successes also span across cinema screens. Most recently, he directed the Oscar-nominated August: Osage County, starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Ewan McGregor. Wells wrote and directed The Company Men, featuring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper. Previous feature production credits include Carroll Ballard‘s acclaimed drama Duma, Peter Kosminsky‘s White Oleander, Neil Jordan‘s The Good Thief, Andrzej Bartkowiak‘s Doom, Michael Mayer‘s A Home at the End of the World, Todd Haynes‘ Far From Heaven and I’m Not There, Mark Romanek‘s One Hour Photo and Robert Altman‘s The Company.
Wells also served as president of the Writers Guild of America, West from 2009-2011, and previously served as its president from 1999-2001.
The ASC Board of Governors Award is given to an individual who has made extraordinary achievements in advancing the art and craft of filmmaking. Previous recipients include Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Christopher Nolan, Warren Beatty, Francis Ford Coppola, Sally Field, Morgan Freeman, Ron Howard, Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.
