Game of Thrones Cinematographer in the hot seat
A Leeds Beckett alumnus who has found fame working on the biggest TV shows on the planet is back at his old university sharing some of the secrets of his success with current students.
Fabian Wagner (ASC / MSC) who studied at Leeds Beckett University’s Northern Film School is now a multi award winning cinematographer. ‘Game of Thrones’, Hollywood blockbusters inlcuding Zack Snyders ‘Justice League’, Netflix’s historical epic ‘The Crown’ as well as ‘Spooks’ & ‘Sherlock’ for the BBC are just some of the credits on his stellar CV.
He is delivering a lecture as part of the prominent INSIDE/OUT programme on Wednesday 17 March. The series, run by Leeds School of Arts, brings together some of the most exciting names from the fields of art, architecture, design, fashion, film, music, performing arts and beyond.
As part of the university’s commitment to enhance the cultural life of Leeds, the lectures are open to the public and available to an international audience online.
In this lecture Fabian Wagner will discuss his progression from his film school to award winning television and film work leading to multiple Emmy Award nominations, the prestigious ASC award for cinematographers and an invitation to join the American Society of Cinematographers.
Fabian was born in Munich, Germany and started shooting short films from a very early age, working in the film industry even before he finished school.
After doing a diploma in Denmark he came to Leeds to study a masters at the Northern Film School and then started shooting music videos, small commercials and eventually 2nd unit on TV dramas.
His first job as the main cinematographer was a 10 episode spin off of the BBC1 show Spooks. After that he quickly established himself in the UK shooting many well-known prime time dramas.
With the 2nd season of Sherlock came international success and also his first Emmy nomination and at 34 he was invited to join the British Society of Cinematographers, a dream he had always had, becoming one of its youngest members.
He shot his first studio picture ‘Victor Frankenstein’ for 20th Century Fox and joined ‘Game of Thrones’ for its 4th season. His work on that garnered him a second Emmy nomination and he established himself as one of the shows main cinematographers, shooting some of the biggest and most celebrated episodes of the show. “Battle of the Bastards’ earned him the prestigious ASC award and an invitation to join the American Society of Cinematographers.
He shot another studio picture, Justice League for Warner Brothers and director Zack Snyder. He then shot two Episodes of ‘The Crown’.
For the past 10 years Fabian has been very active in helping and supporting young filmmakers and cinematographers. He is a mentor for BAFTA and takes on trainees privately as well as doing talks and masterclasses all over the world. Helping future generations of filmmakers has become one of his biggest passions.