30th ASC Awards to Honor Toll, Bennett, Peterson

They will, respectively, be presented the Society's Lifetime Achievement Award, Presidents Award and Career Achievement in Television Award.

Rachael Bosley

American Cinematographer

ASC members John Toll, Bill Bennett and Lowell Peterson will be recognized for their contributions to the art of cinematography at the 30th ASC Awards for Outstanding Achievement on Feb. 14, 2016. Toll will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award; Bennett will receive the Presidents Award; and Peterson will receive the Career Achievement in Television Award.

“John, Lowell and Bill have set an extremely high bar for all of us,” said ASC President Richard Crudo. “For years they have contributed outstanding work across a variety of platforms — and, of course, they will continue to do so."

John Toll, ASC (Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon, SMPSP)
Lowell Peterson, ASC (Credit: Paul Plannette)
Bill Bennett, ASC

Toll won two consecutive Academy Awards for his work on Legends of the Fall and Braveheart, and he received a third nomination for The Thin Red Line. He also won ASC Awards for Braveheart and The Thin Red Line. His other films include The Rainmaker, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, Gone Baby Gone, Tropic Thunder, The Adjustment Bureau, Cloud Atlas and Iron Man 3. He recently wrapped Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk for director Ang Lee.

Toll received an Emmy nomination for the Breaking Bad pilot, and his television credits also include the ASC Award-nominated pilot The Young Riders and the Netflix series Sense8.

Bennett has shot more than 1,000 television commercials. Known affectionately by his peers as “The Car Guy” for his innovative work on automobile spots, he has also shot spots for top beverage manufacturers, global-communications companies, airlines and fast-food franchises. He is a frequent instructor for the ASC Master Class, where he shares a career's worth of wisdom with cinematographers from around the world, and he also serves on the ASC Board of Governors. The Presidents Award recognizes an ASC member’s remarkable body of work, combined with his or her devotion to the organization.

Peterson first worked as director of photography on the popular CBS series Knots Landing. He received an Emmy nomination for his work on HBO's Six Feet Under, and he received ASC Award nominations for the series Second Chances and Profiler and the telefilm Just Ask My Children. His series credits also include Jane the Virgin, The Fosters, Desperate Housewives, Moloney, Lois & Clark and The Client. He serves on the ASC Board of Governors and the Television Academy’s Board of Governors.