Derek VanLint, the Canadian director of photography known from Los Angeles to London for shooting Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 sci-fi horror movie Alien, passed away Tuesday in Toronto, aged 78.
‘Derek was truly an icon his talent and passion for the craft of cinematography knew no boundaries,’ Dora Sesler, VanLint’s long-time Toronto agent, said in a statement Wednesday.
Besides photographing Scott’s visually acclaimed Alien, VanLint also illuminated the 1981 fantasy adventure Dragonslayer for director Matthew Robbins and Paramount Pictures, and directed the 2000 Dennis Hopper-starrer The Spreading Ground.
A long-time member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, VanLint was also head of the Toronto commercial production house Derek VanLint and Associates, a mainstay of Canadian commercial industry in the 1990s.
VanLint personally lensed commercial spots throughout the world for top drawer clients like British Airways, Guinness, Levis and Pepsi.
DVLA repped a host of Canadian-based commercial directors, including David Storey and Stephen Thursby.
VanLint was honoured by Scott at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival with a screening of the director’s cut for Alien before its theatrical re-release that year.
From Playback Daily
