A documentary that highlights the deadly combination of sleep deprivation and long days of work. Focusing in particular in the film industry's. Unsettled by the preventable death of a coworker, filmmaker Haskell Wexler learns that sleep deprivation and long work hours are a deadly combination. Interweaving medical findings with personal accounts, his camera reveals how a 24/7 work culture affects all Americans.
top of page
Geoff Boyle was born in a council estate in the Northeast of England in 1950. At eight he was given his first Brownie 127 camera, which started him on lifelong image-making. He dropped out of his final year in art school to work as a stills assistant at the studio used as the location for “Blow Up”, working mostly in fashion and advertising. He also worked as a stills photographer covering music for notorious underground magazine Oz.
One day in 1973 he was asked if he knew anyone who could film a concert, and of course he did! He switched to film work entirely, shooting news, documentaries, and music promos for everyone from Bowie to Zeppelin. In 1985 he moved to commercials, and by the '90s Kodak said he was one of 10 cinematographers shooting 80% of national spots in the UK. After 20 years in commercials he focused on long-form drama, from the digital production “Mutant Chronicles” in 2006, to multiple 3D projects, the series “Wallander” shot on REDs, and action film “Streetfighter: The Legend of Chun-Li” shooting 3-perf 35mm, among others. In the process he garnered awards from SMPTE, BKSTS, BSC, ACS, and NSC.
In 1996, while bored late one night in a hotel room during the middle of a shoot, he started the Cinematography Mailing List, which has grown to over 12,500 members worldwide. He has also taught workshops in the USA, UK, Europe, Australia, and Asia, and was appointed a Visiting Professor at the University of the West of England in 2013. He was always eager to exploit new technologies, but always in service to the image: “F*** the numbers!” was his rallying cry whenever people would obsess over resolution or bit rates instead of looking at the picture, along with “‘good enough’ is not good enough and ‘close enough’ is miles away from good.”
Geoff died Tuesday October 5th in Zoetermeer, NL after a long and feisty battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Deborah.
Guild member and Director of Photography
PAUL LANG HAS WRITTEN A NEW BOOK titled HOLLYWOOD TO CRICKLEWOOD DELIVERING DURING A PANDEMIC
My Grandma kept telling me to write down all the things that had happened to me over the years as a Cameraman.
It took a Worldwide Pandemic before i finally got around to it. But it's not about filming.
Well, it's been a time none of us will ever forget. When the Pandemic hit and filming work and travel vanished overnight i put away my Light Meter and started driving groceries around London to make ends meet.
This is the result of writing down my experiences of delivering to a city coping with a crisis.
I hope you enjoy it. If you do, then please do leave some feedback on Apple book and share it.
A percentage of the profits are going to St Luke's Hospice in Plymouth.
It is available HERE
bottom of page