MAXIMILIAN SCHMIGE | DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Maximilian Schmige is a cinematographer based out of Los Angeles and originally from Berlin Germany with German and Finnish roots. He grew up in the film industry and is the son of the well-known German screenplay writer Hartmann Schmige. He studied film history and film theory at UC Santa Barbara and later went on to receive his MFA in cinematography from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He was mentored by ASC cinematographer Karl-Walter Lindenlaub, has over 15 years of industry experience with close to 200 aired episodes of television and a Daytime Emmy Nomination.  His career has encompassed a wide range of work in narrative, documentary, scripted episodic, unscripted television, music videos, and commercial productions. His credits reflect a versatile command of visual storytelling across genres and production formats.

His credits include the Saturn Award nominated sci-fi action-drama series Pandora on The CW, the award-winning documentary feature Long Promised Road on Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys, and TV shows for musicians Toby Keith, Dolly Parton, Nelly, Tamela Mann, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, as well as directing multi-cam stage television with Ru Paul’s Drag Race Germany for Paramount Plus. 

Music videos include top European artists such as Booba, Superbus, Irma, Jenn Ayache, Griefjoy, Asaf Avidan and many more. The videos have collected over 150 million views on YouTube and he received a Berlin Music Video Award Nomination for Best Cinematography for Asaf Avidan’s Over Me Head video. In commercials, he lensed the award-winning fitness campaign for Nordic Track, which utilized creative techniques with motion-controlled cameras and large studio sets.  Notable short films include the AFI Fest Jury Prize nominated and Oscar Qualifying Go for Grandma starring Justine Lupe from Succession and Academy Award nominated Amy Madigan; and the short film Salvation Road starring Russel Hornsby, Michael Harney, and Roger Guenveur Smith, which won the DGA Jury Prize, Caucus Award, FujiFilm Grant and screened on HBO.

He recently completed production on the feature film Where Did the Adults Go?, a family drama directed by Academy Award nominated Courtney Marsh and starring Cary Cox, Amadeus Serafini, and Carson MacCormac. Other films include the romantic comedy Can’t Have You with Charlbi Dean, Steve Agee and Michael Nathanson and the mystery thriller Double Exposure with Kayhun Kim and Alexander Calvert.

He has traveled to film across the US and international such as in Bulgaria, Colombia, Costa Rica, Germany, Greece, India, Jordan, Mexico, Malaysia, Norway, and Serbia. His work has been aired by NBC, CBS, The CW, National Geographics, Paramount Plus, BET, TV One, Fox, NBC Sports, and many more.