Keith Gruchala

American born Cinematographer Keith Gruchala has shot feature films, commercials and music videos all over the world. Raised in San Francisco, California, he made his first film at the age of 12 years old on a catamaran sailboat using an old super 8 camera. Now you'll find him working mainly in Hollywood, though he has lensed projects in Mexico, India, Canada, and all over Europe including the further eastern countries of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Russia. He's collaborated with companies such as American Zoetrope, been featured in respected trade magazines like American Cinematographer and Kodak's 'In Camera', and worked with nearly every international ad agency from JW Thompson in Kiev to Lintas in Bombay to Leo Burnett in Prague. As a freelancer he has worked with dozens of independent producers around the world and prided himself on being able to work successfully in even the most difficult situations, where the infra-structure for production may leave something to be desired. Having earned his degree from the greatly respected Brooks Institute of Photography more than 15 years ago, he began his career with a bang when his thesis project was a contender for the student academy award in experimental short cinema. His early professional efforts focused on special effects for which his technical background gave him a good working knowledge. At one point he helped build a motion control system and green screen stage in Eastern Europe to service foreign productions coming into Prague for features. Two of his latest features will soon be released; "Pomegranates" done in conjunction with American Zoetrope and "Beyond the Soul" which was an unusual collaboration with the Indian director Rajiv Anchal (a former foreign Academy Award contender) which has just won Best Picture at the New York Independent Film and Video Festival. This has led to him being currently in demand in Bombay, shooting dozens of commercials for local agencies in what is now known popularly as 'Bollywood'. Keith has just finished a feature here in the US entitled "The Bridge to Nowhere" starring Ving Rhames, Bijou Phillips, and Blair Underwood.