Jac Cheairs is an Multi-award winning American cinematographer whose work has screened worldwide and is best known for KENOBI: A STAR WARS FAN FILM (2019) [ EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2022 - Official Selection ] , THE KISS-OFF (2019) [ Bite Size Film Festival - Official Selection ] , and THE LEDGE (2019).
His film TIGHTROPE (2018)directed by Andreas Enehaug was an Official Selection of Cannes Film Festival, Court Métrage in 2018. Over the past decade his films have been accepted into film festivals including Sitges International Film Festival (LAST SEEN WEARING), The Bite Size Film Festival (THE KISS-OFF) *WINNER: Best Female Director, Elizabeth Lippman, The Montclair Film Festival (GIRLS’ SHOW), and The Williamsburg Indie Film Festival (BEN N’ ANNA) . The International Cinematographers Guild honored Cheairs with winning the 24th Annual Emerging Cinematographer Awards 2022, the prestiges cinematographer film festival in Poland EnergaCAMERIMAGE screened the ECA films and was awarded the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant (worth $74k) to help fund his next feature film- that same grant funded REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. His award winning commercial work brought him The Webby Awards People's Voice 2021 win for Diversity & Inclusion as well as The Addy Awards Gold Regional 2021 win for ‘UPS - Free Mom Hugs’. Cheairs also won The Fifty 2018 Ad Club CO ‘Confessions of Love’ - I and Love and You commercial.
Cheairs recently wrapped the documentary THE COMPASSION PRISON PROJECT: HONOR YARD directed by Grammy-Award winning producer Fritz Hortzman. Cheairs also finished his first Adjunct Professor position at UCLA School of Theater, Film and TelevisionWorkshop by Design Advance Cinematography course for 24 Italian graduate exchange students as well as being a Guests Artist at CSU Fresno - ‘Summer Arts’workshop teaching Virtual Production and Cinematography usingUnreal Engine. Cheairs has currently wrapped production on SON OF THE 11TH HOUR, directed by Raouf Zaki. Based on true events in 2015, a young African man searches for his estranged father in Libya becoming entwined with the fate of 20 captive Coptic men, they forge an unbreakable bond of brotherhood and faith, facing the brutalities of modern‑day slavery and religious extremism.
Cheairs worked with fashion photographer and Director Peter Lindbergh, Director and Cinematographer Wally Pfister, Rodrigo Prieto, and Academy Award nominated Director John Singleton on the Showtime tv series ‘Billions’. He has also shot numerous commercials, fashion, beauty, documentary, and music videos throughout the US and EU.
Some notable celebrities he has collaborated with include: Beyoncé, Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Charliz Theron, Adam Driver,Serena Williams, Tom Brady, Zoë Kravitz, Steve Martin, Kim Kardashian, Odell Beckham Jr., Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Janelle Monáe, Johnny Depp, Ice T, Daveed Diggs, Bella Hadid, Naomi Campbell, Robbie Gould, Kelly Rowland, Jihae, Behati Prinsloo, Josh Duhamel, Nicole Richie, Elizabeth Banks, and Carla Gugino to name a few.
Cheairs has worked with diverse clients that are eclectic including: Nike, Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, TD Ameritrade, Toyota, McDonald’s, Burger King, Samsung, Lowes, Chase, Netflix, Amazon, Pfizer, A&E, USA Network, IBM, Tabasco, Dior, Dior Homme, Bloomingdales, Urban Decay, GILT Groupe, Reebok, Jenny Packham, Geico, The New York Times, Allure, Great Big Story, Brahmin, Comcast, Dodge Ram Trucks, ESPN, Hewlett Packard, Sears, Chili’s, Welch’s, CNN, Tommy Hilfiger, Harpers Bazaar, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Shu Uemura, and Nowness.
