Matthew Skala

Russian film director V.I. Pudovkin once said, "To show something as everyone sees it, is to have accomplished nothing".
Cinematographer Matthew Skala strives to show audiences something they've never seen. His collaborators and critics agree, and they praise his work and his work ethic.
Skala has worked with 16mm, 35mm, High Definition and Digital Video formats on both feature-length and short movies.
The cinematographer's work includes the short film Universal Theories of the Duke of Zeppelin, which was selected for an Academy Award, won Best Film at the Southern Exposure Film Forum, and received a Cine Gold Eagle Award. He also shot a film called Being Naked, collaborating with some of the creators of the TV show One Tree Hill.
Skala has received much critical acclaim for his cinematography, including praise for his work on Little Girl Lost. The Winston-Salem Journal said, "The film benefits from Matthew A. Skala's evocative cinematography".
As a still photographer, he shot the production stills for several projects including, Two Soldiers, which won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short and Best Short over 15 minutes at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. He has also worked as a professional photographer, shooting everything from portraits to landscapes.
As a child, Skala spent endless hours drawing sports cars. In high school, this passion for art developed into a passion for photography.
He later attended the Academy of Art College in San Francisco to study still photography and worked as a professional photographer until he decided to expand his vision by exploring motion pictures at the North Carolina School of the Arts.
Skala received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Cinematography from the North Carolina school, and was honored with nominations for both an American Society of Cinematographers Award and the Budapest Cinematography Masterclass.
Additionally, he's one of the few graduate cinematographers at the North Carolina School of the Arts to be offered work by his former instructors.
Skala admires strong collaboration as much as he admires the power of images.
Successful collaboration drives his passion for a project, and he claims that it is crucial in the creation of a great project.
Producers, directors, actors and others speak highly of Skala's work ethic and his collaborative skills. He's known to be very prepared and can stick to a plan, yet he's also proven to be very spontaneous when he needs to be. And his past collaborators say he's a wonderful problem solver.
Skala says communication in an international language is powerful and rewarding. He strives to create memorable images while helping storytellers tell great stories.