Doug Hart returns to Rockport in June to lead the Camera Assistant for Film & HD workshop. This is his 31st year at the school, demonstrating his dedication to education while pursuing a rewarding freelance career as a first camera assistant in the industry.
He is known throughout the industry as the man who “wrote the book” on camera assisting. In The Camera Assistant: A Complete Professional Handbook, he describes the important facets and duties of the first and second camera assistants' jobs, whether in feature films, episodic television, documentaries, commercials, or music videos. Teaching notes for his Maine class became the book in 1996, because until then, there was no textbook for this work.
Doug has worked as first camera assistant on feature films, documentaries, television shows, and commercials for more than 35 years, including 10 years (and 10 films) as working with Gordon Willis, ASC. Projects include Presumed Innocent, Stardust Memories, Hannah and Her Sisters, NBC's The Cosby Mysteries, and CBS's Central Park West. He is a member and former president of the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600, IATSE, and currently serves on their National Executive Board and National Training Committee. He is also currently teaching Cinematography at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
“I came to Rockport first as a student at the Feature Film Lighting Workshop 30 years ago, and fell in love with the place and the idea,” Doug recalls. “I've been back every year since, first as assistant instructor and now as instructor. I love teaching, but I always learn something, too, from the other instructors and from the students. We never stop learning, and MMW is the best place I know of to do that.”
Doug stays in Maine after his Workshop to assist with Camera Operator. These classes can be taken individually, in sequence, or as part MMW’s Cinematography Residency program.