Biography

Jack McDonald is a second-year Fellow at the AFI Conservatory, where he will earn his MFA in Cinematography in spring 2020. He previously earned his BFA in Film & TV from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Before AFI, he worked in the grip and electric departments on dozens of feature films, including as gaffer on the award-winning THE RIDER (2018) and GOOD TIME (2017), both of which premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. He has gaffed numerous commercials including for Ford, Google, LG, and ESPN, and music videos such as for Pussy Riot and Pusha T. Outside of his work for AFI, his DP credits include the short films SKETCH (dir. Mariama Diallo), which premiered at Lincoln Center’s African Film Festival; BUG BITE (dir. Emily Ann Hoffman), which is currently playing festivals including the 2019 Palm Springs ShortFest, Maryland Film Festival, and the upcoming AFI FEST; and COFFEE SHOP NAMES (dir. Deepak Sethi), which won the 2019 Soho House ScriptHouse contest, and is currently submitting to festivals for 2020. He has also shot a variety of work on super8, 16mm, and 35mm, including a music video for a recent AFI graduate, a concert documentary, and an upcoming USC MFA thesis film.

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