I believe that good cinematography is good visual storytelling. I care deeply about point-of-view and emotional subtext, and I try to use expressive lighting and careful camera placement to highlight both. Most of all, I think film should be about human connection - exploring relationships in the context of a story and also what we feel for the characters on screen.
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I live and work in Los Angeles.
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Education:
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BA in Mathematics, Harvard University
MFA in Cinematography, American Film Institute
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Apprenticeship, Ellen Kuras (Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
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LOCAL 600
Representation:
Features: Danica Pupa
dp@intrinsic-la.com
hkitasei@gmail.com
917-741-2842
Commercials: Michael Kirschner
mk@instrinsic-la.com
Features
Worth the Wait
Director: Tom Lin
Producers: Rachel Tan, Dan Mark, Vincent Xie, Marcus Englefield, George Lee
Starring: Lana Condor, Ross Butler, Andrew Koji, Sung Kang, Elodie Yung, Karena Kar-Yan Lam, Osric Chau, Kheng Hua Tan, Ali Fumiko Whitney, Ricky He
King Street Pictures
Waymaker
Jupiter Peak Productions
Salvation
Director: Mackenzie Munro
Producers: Jason Armstrong, Rob Goodrich, Kari Skogland
Starring: Claire Forlani, Skeet Ulrich, Thomas Jane, Ashley Moore
Walk Like a Duck Entertainment
Blonde Mamba
American Solitaire
Director: Aaron Davidman
Producers: Lisa Bruce, Aaron Davidman, Dylan Kussman, David Oyelowo
Starring: Joshua Close, Gilbert Owuor
Complexity Pictures
Daughter
Director: Corey Deshon
Producers: Tracy Chitupatham
Starring: Casper Van Dien, Vivien Ngo, Ian Alexander, Elyse Dinh
Thirteenth Floor Pictures
OneWorld Entertainment
Lady
Director: Marianna Palka
Producers: Robin Conly, Amy Byer Shainman, Devin Sidell
Starring: Devin Sidell, Jaime King, Michael Roark, Leslie Ann Warren
Lady Parts
Paulie Go!
Director: Andrew Nackman
Producers: Jake Greene, Lauren Hogarth, Laura Ivey
Starring: Ethan Dizon, Madison Wolfe, Bernard White
Tate Productions
1091 Pictures
Unconformity
Director: Jonathan DiMaio
Producers: Jonathan DiMaio, Frank Hall Green, Joseph Stephans
Starring: Alex Oliver, Jack Mulhern, Jeremy Holm
Topiary Productions
Indie Rights
Surviving the Sleepover
Director: Patricia Frontain
Producers: Jacob Horn, AJ Kelly
Starring: Josh Bertell, Sloan Mannino
Lifetime
Goodflix
Johnson Production Group
The Unborn
Director: Tal Lazar
Producers: Ohad Ashkenazi, Tal Lazar, David M Milch, Assaf Mor, Phil Newsom
Starring: Clifton Samuels, J Richey Nash, Manni L Perez
MiLa Media
Giant Hunter Media
Mor Productions
Commercials and Music Video (Selects)
Client
Director
Prod. Co.
Hallow (Superbowl Commercial),
featuring Mark Wahlberg & Jonathan Roumie
Timothy Reckart
Venture
East West Bank
Evan Leong
Arowana Films
Holoplayer One
Najeeb Tarazi
Sandwich Video
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Timothy Reckart
Knox Avenue Films
Kevita Kombucha
Michael Langan
BuzzFeed
Queen Sugar Featurette, featuring Ava Duvernay
OWN
ULTA
Najeeb Tarazi
More Media
Hippo Campus | Western Kids
Najeeb Tarazi
Bond Films
Amazon Featurette | A League of Their Own
FrameworkLA
Documentary and Short Form Work (Selects)
Meet Cute, starring Juno Temple & John Bass | Dir. Ben Smith and Megan McDonnell
Strong Independent Women, starring Maria Bamford |Dir. Jennette McCurdy
Kenny | Dir. Jennette McCurdy
Lives of Women: Ep. Milana Vayntrub | Dir. Kestrin Pantera | 60 Sec Docs
Larry in the Sky with Diamonds, starring Peter Kim & Rex Lee | Dir. David Sonnenborn
Or (Someone) Else, starring Emily Althaus & Peter Mark | Dir. Caroline Rose Giuliani
Momma | Dir. Corey Aumiller
Grand Opening | Dir. Timothy Reckart
The Myken Project, feature project | Dir. Saya Kitasei
Layers: The Art of Hadi Salehi's Photography | Dir. Bita Shafipour, Prod. Chris Boyd
Ching Chong Blues, 3 Episode Series, starring Nelson Cheng, Stephanie Drake | Dir. Joshua Fu, Prod. Sarah Winshall
Panchagavya |Co-Dir. Shriya Pilgaonkar
Hit it and Quit It | Dir. Shelby Farrell