Template:Realworld Matthew F. Leonetti, A.S.C., (born 1941) is an American cinematographer who was Director of Photography on Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection for director Jonathan Frakes. Educated at Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois and having served in the U.S. Army, Leonetti has been working in the film industry for nearly four decades. He started out as a camera assistant on the Robert Scheerer-directed drama Adam at Six A.M. and as a photographer on TV commercials.
Leonetti's first work as a cinematographer was the 1974 horror film, The Bat People (starring Stewart Moss, Michael Pataki, and Paul Carr), for which Leonetti also served as executive producer. Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, he worked as a cinematographer on a large number of made-for-TV movies and a few feature films, including 1979's Breaking Away, starring Dennis Christopher and Paul Dooley.
In 1981, Leonetti directed photography on the horror film Poltergeist and the comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High, both of which became box office hits after their release the following year. The latter film featured two Star Trek: The Next Generation alumni in the principal cast: Ray Walston, Vincent Schiavelli, and Scott Thomson. Leonetti's subsequent film credits during the 1980s included the 1984 drama The Buddy System (starring Wil Wheaton), the 1985 fantasy comedy Weird Science (featuring Michael Berryman), the 1985 thriller Jagged Edge (featuring Michael Dorn), the 1985 action hit Commando (featuring Branscombe Richmond), the 1986 action comedy Jumpin' Jack Flash (starring Whoopi Goldberg and Stephen Collins), and 1987's Dragnet (featuring Christopher Plummer and Bruce Gray).
Leonetti was Director of Photography on four films for director Walter Hill: 1987's Extreme Prejudice (which featured Clancy Brown and Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Jr.), 1988's Red Heat (featuring Ed O'Ross), 1989's Johnny Handsome, and Paramount Pictures' Another 48 Hrs., the 1990 sequel to the 1982 hit 48 Hrs. In addition to star Eddie Murphy, Another 48 Hrs. featured Bernie Casey, David Anthony Marshall, Ed O'Ross, and Kevin Tighe in supporting roles.
Leonetti was also cinematographer on action star Steven Seagal's second film, 1990's Hard to Kill, which also starred William Sadler and the aforementioned Branscombe Richmond. Throughout the rest of the 1990s, Leonetti was the cinematographer on such hit films as Disney's 1994 remake of Angels in the Outfield (featuring Christopher Lloyd and Neal McDonough), the 1994 crime comedy A Low Down Dirty Shame (featuring Salli Elise Richardson and Gregory Sierra), the 1995 science fiction thriller Strange Days, the 1996 action thriller Fled (featuring Robert Hooks and Ken Jenkins), the 1997 video game adaptation Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (starring Brian Thompson and Musetta Vander), and the 1998 science fiction sequel Species II (featuring James Cromwell).
Since then, Leonetti's films have included Paramount's 2001 crime thriller Along Came a Spider (featuring Anton Yelchin), the 2001 action comedy sequel Rush Hour 2 (featuring Harris Yulin and Saul Rubinek), the 2003 action thriller 2 Fast 2 Furious, the 2004 science fiction thriller The Butterfly Effect, and Zack Snyder's 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead (featuring Matt Frewer). He has also directed photography on two romantic comedies for the Farrelly brothers: 2005's Fever Pitch (featuring Willie Garson, Jack Kehler, and James B. Sikking) and 2007's The Heartbreak Kid.
More recently, Leonetti worked on the 2008 comedy What Happens in Vegas, in which Michelle Krusiec appeared. His most recent film was the 2008 comedy Soul Men.
External links
- Template:IMDb-link
- Leonetti's entry on the Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers