Rion Gonzales – Director of Photography

Rion Gonzales has been a Toronto-based cinematographer since 1994 and has extensive experience in filming and lighting dramatic themes and documentaries for cinema and television, both on location and in studio. His work has screened around the world, including screenings at the Sundance Film Festival, Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin, Toronto International Film Festival, NSI Film Exchange, and the Worldwide Short Film Festival.

Over his fifteen-year career, he has been the director of photography for numerous documentaries, commercials, television series, short films, and most recently, the independent feature-length film Webdultery that is currently in post-production. Some examples of his body of work include credits as the Director of Photography for the Canadian Film Centre’s short films, In Shadow, directed by Shirley Cheechoo and Short Hymn_Silent War, directed by Charles Officer, and for several documentaries directed by Min Sook Lee, including Badge of Pride, which aired on CBC.

Rion has thorough knowledge of lighting for film motion picture formats and has used High Definition analog and digital video technology since it became available, including tapeless workflows and direct-to-web productions. His experience includes special effects shooting where green or blue screen is used. He also worked with motion control camera rig systems and large screen rear projection.

His experience at the post-secondary level includes teaching a fall/winter film production course at the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1997. And has also acted as a guest lecturer in lighting for production at OCAD for several years. He is a graduate of OCAD, having received five scholarships in new media during his time there. In the spring of 2009, he taught a lighting class at Humber College as a guest lecturer. And also a weekend course funded by the government of Prince Edward Island on lighting for cinematography in Charlottetown in September 2010.

Rion’s professional associations include my membership in IATSE Local 667 and my associate membership in the Canadian Society of Cinematographers.