Jonathan Pears — cinematographer and director of photography, London

Jonathan Pears
A boy silhouetted against a glowing plastic curtain in a warehouse doorway Looking down on a woman in a white dress at a diner counter, a checkered floor behind her A couple in a tense embrace under a pendant light A woman at prayer in a shaft of light in a stone room A Mustang passes a lone phone box on a dusty country road A prison kitchen at night: a cook, an officer and an inmate in pools of low light A woman in a blood-soaked dressing gown in front of her house A figure at a glider on a dark airfield, two lamps glowing
Coming soon Move to look around.
01

Not John

dir. Teresa Decher · short · 2026
Festivals
World premiereNFMLA, Los Angeles 2026
International premiereTOHorror Film Fest, Turin 2026
A couple in a tense embrace under a pendant light
Over his shoulder, she looks up at him under bare bulbs
Over her shoulder, he looks down at her under bare bulbs
Two figures in silhouette against a wall of hanging lights
02

Kandahar

dir. Ric Roman Waugh · starring Gerard Butler · Thunder Road · feature · 2nd unit DP · UK unit DP
Release
Open Road FilmsUS theatrical, 2023
UniversalDigital & home entertainment
NetflixNo. 1 film, 2025
Gerard Butler on the phone on a rooftop, the city hazy behind
A hooded man walking down a lamplit night street
A vehicle crossing a rocky desert beneath sandstone towers
A man in a turban by lamplight
Butler crouched outside a tent, smoke on the horizon
Two men in headsets in a helicopter cockpit
Two men forehead to forehead, blue light across one face
Armed men in a desert camp beneath a canopy
03

A Recipe for Redemption

dir. Will Scott · short · 2025
Awards
Audience Choice AwardSJV BlackSNO Film Festival 2026
Best Indie ShortVenice Shorts 2026
Best Ensemble CastIndieX Film Festival 2025
Best Indie ShortWorld Class Film Awards 2025
Best ShortCine Paris Film Festival 2025
Best Indie ShortWorld Film Festival in Cannes 2025
Selections

Golden State Film Festival, TCL Chinese Theatres / Huntington Beach Cultural Film Festival / Muses Film Awards, Livadia (nominee) / Moondust Helsinki Film Awards (nominee) / Creator X Awards (nominee) / Cal Film Festival (nominee) / Hollywood Verge (nominee) / Independent Shorts Awards (finalist) / Thessaloniki Free Short Festival (honourable mention) / Athens Monthly Art Film Festival (honourable mention)

A prison kitchen at night: a cook, an officer and an inmate in pools of low light
An inmate in the prison kitchen
A prison officer watching
Handcuffed hands held at the waist
04

Into the Valley

dir. Emily Sandifer · short · 2023
Awards
Best CinematographySioux City International Film Festival 2023
Best NorCal ShortSacramento International Film Festival 2023
Best Short Film DirectorLondon Women Film Festival 2024
Special Award of MeritWest Lothian Film Festival 2024
Selections

LA Shorts International Film Festival (world premiere) / HollyShorts Film Festival / San Jose International Short Film Festival / Arizona International Film Festival / Alameda International Film Festival / Yountville International Film Festival / Borrego Springs Film Festival / AutoMoto Film + Arts Festival / SIMI Film Festival (12 nominations)

From the back seat: two women and the open road ahead
A woman at the wheel, hand to her forehead, wheat fields behind
A man on a kitchen phone in warm window light
Looking down on a woman at a diner counter, a checkered floor behind her
05

Atlas Fly

directed & shot · Atlas Lens Co. · 2023 · anamorphic
A figure at a glider on a dark airfield, two lamps glowing
A pilot in sunglasses in the cockpit
A glider banking over mountains, sun flaring off the wing
Under the wing: the tail and a cloud trail against blue sky
A glider on a mountain runway under heavy cloud
A pilot silhouetted by an open glider canopy
06

The Exceptionally Boring Life of Mallory

dir. Teresa Decher · short · 2020
Festivals
PremiereLA Shorts International Film Festival 2021
Official SelectionFemale Voices Rock 2021
Official SelectionPhoenix Film Festival 2022
A woman in a blood-soaked dressing gown in front of her house
Hands placing a taped parcel on a patterned floor beside a notebook
Breakfast
07

Coming soon

short · in post · 2025
A boy silhouetted against a glowing plastic curtain in a warehouse doorway
A boy lit by a TV in a vast dark warehouse
A boy with a torch beside a desk lamp in an old office

Commercial

Selected
Directed & shot, unless noted Atlas Drive · 2021 Toyota · 2nd unit DP · 2024 FightCamp · 2024 Aston Martin · 2023 Olipop · spec · 2023 Atlas Garage · 2022

Other clients include Amazon · Netflix · Hulu · Hyundai · Porsche · Honda · Meta · Fujifilm · COROS · Momentous · FOX · Lifetime

Atlas Lens Co. — To Be Alive Is To Drive · directed & shot · 2021
Toyota — Hide and Seek · 2nd unit DP · 2024
FightCamp — The Noise · directed & shot · 2024
Aston Martin — Vantage · directed & shot · 2023
Atlas Lens Co. — Atlas × Garage · directed & shot · 2022
Olipop — Nature In A Can · spec · directed & shot · 2023
Toyota — Red Light · 2nd unit DP · 2024

Music

Selected

Artists include Leif Vollebekk · Black Eyed Peas · Cardi B · ZZ Ward · Ultrabloom · Chelsea Williams · Shoshana Bean · Colin Devlin · Benjamin Haycock · Garren & Cohan · Steel Panther · Joyce Kwon

Leif Vollebekk × BBC Symphony Orchestra

directed, shot & cut · Barbican & Maida Vale, London · out November 2026
Leif Vollebekk smiling out of a van window
A distant figure at a piano seen through a dark backstage doorway
A flight case stencilled BBC S.O. Violin
ZZ Ward — Baby Don’t · dir. Adam Ward · 2023
Ultrabloom — How Do You Know? · dir. Matt Nicholas · 2023
Black Eyed Peas — Bailar Contigo · dir. Kevin Chao · 2023
Shoshana Bean — All To Me · directed
Benjamin Haycock — Homeless Winters

Credits

Shooting since 2008 · UK · US · Middle East · Europe
Narrative & television
2026
Fallout Shelter Prime Video · VFX DP
2026
Bait Prime Video · Run of Show · dir. Riz Ahmed
2026
Young Sherlock Prime Video · Run of Show · dir. Harry Cauty
2026
Not John Short · dir. Teresa Decher
2025
Coming soon Short · in post
2025
A Recipe for Redemption Short · dir. Will Scott · festival run
2024
Wreckless Abandon Short · dir. Harry Guest
2023
The Fall Guy Universal · 2nd unit DP (VFX) · dir. David Leitch
2023
Black Cake Hulu · series
2023
Porsche — Dan Clarke Documentary · directed & shot
2023
Steinbergs Hollywood Series · dir. Doug Davies
2023
Into the Valley Short · dir. Emily Sandifer · Best Cinematography, Sioux City IFF 2023 · LA Shorts, HollyShorts
2022
Kandahar Feature · Thunder Road · 2nd unit DP · UK unit DP · dir. Ric Roman Waugh
2021
Too Pretty To Die Short · dir. Kelly Walker
2020
The Exceptionally Boring Life of Mallory Short · dir. Teresa Decher
2020
FOX · Hulu · Lifetime Network promos · 2020–2022
2019
Subject 3 Short · dir. Teresa Decher
2008
Red Bull & action sports Skydiving, motorsport, speed — where it started
Commercial, selected

Prime Video · Porsche · Aston Martin · Toyota · Honda · RAM · Hyundai · Meta · Fujifilm · COROS · Atlas Lens Co. · FightCamp · Momentous

Network & streaming

FOX · Hulu · Lifetime · BBC

Music
2026
Leif Vollebekk × BBC Symphony Orchestradirected, shot & cut
2023
Black Eyed Peas — Bailar Contigodir. Kevin Chao
2023
ZZ Ward — Baby Don’tdir. Adam Ward
2023
Ultrabloom — How Do You Know?dir. Matt Nicholas
2023
Joyce Kwon — You Me & A Song
2022
Steel Panther — 1987 · Never Too Latedir. TJ Arbogast
2019
Chelsea Williams — Dreamcatcherdirected & shot
2019
Colin Devlin — Lost In The Silencedirected & shot
Chelsea Williams — Fool’s Golddirected
Shoshana Bean — All To Medirected
Guild Wars 2 — A World Without You

Notes

Behind the scenes & how-tos All notes →
Video · 8 min · 2022 · 15K views What people ask me about anamorphic lenses
Conversation · 4 min · 2024 · 3.9K views Atlas Orion vs Silver vs Mercury, with founder Dan Kanes
Video · 3 min · 2022 · 18K views Exploring the Fuji GFX 50S II: a cinematographer on stills