Jim Frohna
Born
Greendale, Wisconsin
Other namesJames Frohna
Alma materNew York University
Occupation(s)Cinematographer, director
Years active1994 - present
Notable workTransparent
I Love Dick
Shrinking
Big Little Lies
AwardsEmmy Nomination for Best Cinematography (Transparent) (2017)

Jim Frohna is an American cinematographer and director, best known for his work on the ground-breaking, award-winning Amazon series Transparent and I Love Dick as well as the Apple TV+ series Shrinking and the Emmy-winning HBO show Big Little Lies.

Early life and education

Frohna was born and raised in Greendale, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then transferred to New York University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Tisch School of the Arts.

Career

Frohna's work as a director of photography is known for conveying a palpable sense of intimacy[1][2] and for capturing the female gaze.[3] In a 2014 IndieWire interview for Transparent, cast members praised Frohna's approach:

"Jim is probably the most intuitive [director of photography] I've ever worked with. He knows before you know where the action is going to go. During this one scene with an argument, he was lying in the floor just covered in sweat afterward. He's not just photographing it, he's experiencing it. He was all but a cast member."[4]

Frohna began his career as a commercial cinematographer when he stepped in for director of photography Joaquin Baca Asay on the notable Sony Bravia's Sony Balls commercial for director Nicolai Fuglsig in 2005.[5]

Frohna first collaborated with Joey Soloway as director of photography on the comedy-drama Afternoon-Delight, for which Soloway won the award for Best Director at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.[6][7] In addition to Soloway, he has worked as director of photography with over 25 eminent DGA directors, including Andrea Arnold, Mike Mills, Michael Showalter, Zetna Fuentes, James Ponsoldt, Jay Duplass, Peyton Reed, Kimberley Pierce, Davis Guggenheim and Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris. From 2014 through 2019, Frohna continued with what became a long, rich collaboration with Soloway, serving as the cinematographer on all 5 seasons of the ground-breaking, Emmy-award winning Amazon series Transparent, starring Jeffrey Tambor, Gaby Hoffmann, Jay Duplass, Amy Landecker and Judith Light,[8][9] In 2017, Frohna joined Soloway and acclaimed indie director Andrea Arnold on the Amazon series I Love Dick, starring Kevin Bacon and Kathryn Hahn.[10][11] In 2017 Frohna also served as cinematographer on four episodes of the Showtime series I'm Dying Up Here, starring Melissa Leo, Michael Angarano, and Sebastian Stan.

In addition to cinematography, Frohna served as director for multiple episodes of Transparent, including The Book of Life and I Never Promised You a Promised Land, and of I Love Dick for the episode This Is Not A Love Letter.[12]

In February 2018, Frohna began pre-production with director Andrea Arnold for season 2 of the HBO series Big Little Lies, starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Zoë Kravitz, and Laura Dern.[13][14]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2017 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) "If I Were a Bell"
Transparent		 Nominated [15]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Position Notes
1994 Suspicious Electriction Short Film
1995 The Usual Suspects Electrician
2000 Architecture of Reassurance Gaffer Short Film
2002 Adaptation Gaffer (second unit)
2004 Blade: Trinity Gaffer
2005 Thumbsucker Gaffer
2006 Red Hot Chili Peppers: Tell Me Baby Cinematographer Video
2007 Does Your Soul Have a Cold? Cinematographer
2007 Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium Cinematographer
2008 Peep Show Cinematographer TV movie
2011 Grace & Mercy Cinematographer
2013 Afternoon Delight Director of Photography
2014 Break Point Cinematographer
2015 No She Wasn't Cinematographer Short Film
2016 Dr. Del Cinematographer TV movie
2018 Eve Cinematographer, Producer Short Film
2024 The Idea of You Cinematographer

Television

Year Title Position Notes
2014-17 Transparent Cinematographer, Associate Producer Nominated: Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) (2017)
2016-17 I Love Dick Cinematographer, Director
2017 I'm Dying Up Here Cinematographer
Transparent: The Lost Sessions Cinematographer

[16][17][18][19]

Personal life

Frohna is married to artist and producer Diana Kunce; they collaborated on the 2018 Sundance Official Selection short Eve with Susan Bay-Nimoy.[20] and the 2019 Sundance Episodic pilot It's Not About Jimmy Keene. They have two children and reside in Los Angeles, CA.

References

  1. ↑ Grobar, Matt (2017-08-27). "'Transparent' DP Jim Frohna On "Creating Space" Within Character-Driven Drama". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  2. ↑ Lloyd, Robert (11 May 2017). "Amazon's 'I Love Dick' makes an uneasy transition from page to screen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  3. ↑ "How the Cinematographer of 'Transparent' Captures the Female Gaze". Vice. 2017-09-22. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  4. ↑ Valentini, Valentina I. (2014-10-07). "Shooting 'Transparent': From Rehearsal to Lenses to Intimate Family Drama". IndieWire. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  5. ↑ Diaz, Ann-Christine. "Thousands of Colorful Balls Make for an Ad 'Like No Other' in Sony's Bravia Push". Creativity Online. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  6. ↑ Ryzik, Melena (2013-08-22). "'Afternoon Delight' Is Jill Soloway's Sexually Frank Debut". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  7. ↑ "DP Jim Frohna on I Love Dick - Studio Daily". Studio Daily. 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  8. ↑ "» All In The Family". www.icgmagazine.com. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  9. ↑ Visuals, Hurlbut (2015-01-13), Interview with Amazon's Transparent DP, Jim Frohna, retrieved 2018-02-08
  10. ↑ O'Falt, Chris (2017-03-08). "How I Shot That: DP Jim Frohna Brings an Indie Film Approach to Shooting Amazon's 'I Love Dick'". IndieWire. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  11. ↑ "Frame of Mind: Watch How I Love Dick DP Jim Frohna's Framing Heightens Characters' Emotional Conflicts (Video) - MovieMaker Magazine". MovieMaker Magazine. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  12. ↑ "DP Jim Frohna on I Love Dick - Studio Daily". Studio Daily. 2017-05-19. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  13. ↑ "Meet the Filmmakers". EVE. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  14. ↑ O'Falt, Chris (2017-06-14). "5 Great Series With Criminally Underrated Craft Work, From 'Big Little Lies' to 'Transparent'". IndieWire. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  15. ↑ "Jim Frohna - Emmy Awards, Nominations and Wins". Television Academy. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Jim Frohna". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  17. ↑ "NEW RELEASE: Red Hot Chili Peppers "Tell Me Baby"". VideoStatic. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  18. ↑ "mvdbase.com - Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Tell me baby"". www.mvdbase.com. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  19. ↑ Design, Blackmagic. "Splice". www.splicecommunity.com. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  20. ↑ Turan, Kenneth (19 January 2018). "Susan Bay Nimoy's 'Eve' is one of several Sundance films to focus on 'women of age'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
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