Ueli Steiger

Following his graduation from the University of Zurich, cinematographer Ueli Steiger attended London Film School. When he finished, he returned to Switzerland and worked as an assistant cameraman and documentary filmmaker. In 1982, he received his first international credit working as a camera operator for director Michael Hoffman on a British production, "Privileged." He worked again with Hoffman on the 1987 picture "Promised Land," which starred Meg Ryan and Kiefer Sutherland. The attention he received in the United States for this picture led him to relocate to Los Angeles soon after. In 1990, he had his first Hollywood job working with Dennis Hopper on his crime drama "The Hot Spot," which starred Don Johnson and Virginia Madsen. From there, he climbed to the top of Hollywood, working with top filmmakers in all sorts of genres. Other directors he has worked with include Cameron Crowe on the generation-X romance "Singles" (1992) and Frank Oz on the comedy "Bowfinger" (1999), which starred Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy. He has also worked extensively with director Roland Emmerich on some of his big-budget blockbusters, like "Independence Day" (1996), "Godzilla" (1998), and "10,000 BC" (2008).