Alexander Yellen
| Alexander Yellen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Alexander Brooks Yellen January 26, 1981 Washington, DC, U.S |
| Other names | Alexander Yellen |
| Occupation | Cinematographer |
| Years active | 2003–present |
Alexander Yellen (born January 26, 1981) is an American cinematographer, who is best known for his work on giant monster and disaster movies airing on the SyFy channel such as Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus and Titanic II.[1][2][3] The former earned praise for Yellen's photography.[4]
Early life
Born in Washington D.C. to archaeologist John Yellen and anthropology professor Alison Brooks, Alexander Yellen attended St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.), graduating in 1999. He studied film at Wesleyan University where he received a B.A. in 2003.
Career
After college, Yellen moved to Los Angeles. To learn the craft of cinematography, he began working for free as a camera assistant on a number of student films at the American Film Institute. While working up the ladder and having joined the International Cinematographers Guild as a camera assistant, Yellen had the opportunity to shoot second unit footage under Eric Steelberg on Quinceañera. Quinceañera won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. This helped Yellen secure a job shooting film for The Asylum. The number of feature films for which he has served as Director of Photography (DP) now totals 20, including the cult classic Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus. He has been DP on 45 projects. Yellen also shot the film Born Bad for the Lifetime (TV network) and the independent high school comedy Sports Heaven.
Participating in the Race Across America as a crew chief for Team Beaver Creek,[5] Yellen and his team won the race in 2006 and 2007.