Reed Morano

When you work as a cinematographer, the actors look to you for reassurance. When you're lighting them, they can never think you're making an adjustment because of the way they look. If they are nervous, it impacts their performance, which impacts the story.

A lot of TV and film commits to one tone.

Most of the people I know in the film business here in New York, the moms and the dads, just take different turns working. So everybody's a working parent, and nobody bats an eyelash at it.

I really hate having to put 'female' in front of any title, because it puts us in some kind of weird category for handicapped people or something.

When I read 'Meadowland,' I could see the potential for a very internal, quiet story that could be powerful and emotional but also disturbing and dark.

As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.

A sad truth I learned as a DP starting out was that it doesn't matter how beautiful I make it if the story and performance are not there. That should be number one.

It can be insulting to an actor when the director comes out, and they have no notes on the performance, and all they care about is that the camera has to do this one technical thing.

Don't think of your gender as a handicap.

My father passed away when I was 18. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but it is not like that all the time. Not every moment is dark.

I want to make the movies that move people in a way they've never been moved before.

In America, we tend to be very sheltered, and I'm speaking from personal experience because I feel sheltered.

My family lives on Long Island.

I know how a cinematographer wants to be treated by their director, and so I already have a leg up in that department, and I know what would be insulting to say to a DP because I've been one for so long.

I don't want to step on the DP's toes. That's the first lesson I learned when I started directing with other cinematographers.

No, I'm not doing 'Star Wars.'

Whenever a woman wields a gun in a film, it ends up looking like they're trying to be sexy rather than they actually know what they're doing.

We moved around every winter. I don't know. Maybe my dad was, like, on the run from the law.

A lot of male cinematographers stick a pillow to their stomachs so they have somewhere to rest their elbows while shooting.

I always like to do sound design, and in movies, you have more leeway with that, but I don't really notice that sound design is being used in TV other than just location sound.