In the beginning of cinema, directors and photographers in the United States had a similar problem: they had "big, ugly white streaks" that resulted from static electricity discharged from the cameras. Two separate groups in the United States worked together to find a solution to this problem. The two groups were the Cinema Camera Club and the Static Club of America. A precursor to the ASC, the Cinema Camera Club in New York City was founded in 1913 by
Arthur Miller,
Phil Rosen, and
Frank Kugler. Arthur and his brother,
William Miller, both filmmakers in New York City, worked together and established a union for cinematography workers called the
Motion Picture Industry Union. Miller left to work in
Hollywood, California, one year after the Motion Picture Industry Union was formed. In 1918, Phil Rosen asked the president of the Cinema Camera Club of California, Charles Rosher, whether he could help reorganize the association by creating a national organization with "membership by invitation and a strong educational component". This reorganisation and the setup of the bylaws occurred on December 21, 1918. The ASC was officially authorized by the State of California on January 8, 1919. In 2014, the ASC admitted its first member with no background in
live action feature film,
Pixar's
Sharon Calahan, who had worked entirely in
computer animation.{{cite web In 2017, John Bailey, an ASC member, was elected as the president of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making him the first cinematographer to take up such a position. == Publications ==