fbpx

Jody Lee Lipes ’00

Director of Photography
Jody explores the intersection of cinematography and Quaker morality.

Have Quaker values impacted the manner in which you produce films?

Morality is a big part of what I find interesting, and a lot of the morality that I learned growing up is from Quaker ideas, whether I agree with them or not. I am intrigued by how many moral stances Quaker people have taken that proved to be true in the long term. That’s something that has become a big theme in the movie I’m writing right now. It’s not about Quakers, but it has a solid moral center. I spent a year reading George Fox’s journal and tried to make a movie about his life. It turned out to be too challenging, but Quakerism remains creatively exciting to me, not just something I respect. Maybe I’ll try to tackle George Fox again.

Name a faculty member who had an impact on you.

I credit Scott Hoskins with making sure that people were learning how to do the technical things and making sure that what people were trying to do was what others would perceive.

More about Jody:

At New York University’s film school, Jody says that he was often asked by classmates to help shoot their projects because of his knack for cinematography. From this came a focus on what he now calls his “craft job.” Among his cinematography credits are narrative features Manchester by the Sea and Trainwreck, documentaries such as Ballet 422 about New York City Ballet choreographer Justin Peck, and The Great Invisible on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, television shows, music videos, and commercials from Apple to Verizon. Currently, Jody lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife, raising their young daughter.