Attila Szalay ASC, CSC, HSC

Director of Photography

Attila Szalay was born in Budapest, Hungary and immigrated with his parents to Canada in 1968, where he became interested in filmmaking.. A progressive high school allowed him to delve into cinematography and by the time he graduated, he had decided to pursue this as a career. 

He attended Sheridan College in Ontario from 1979-1982 graduating with an honors degree in film production and cinematography and began working as a camera assistant. Between 1990 and 1996, he worked with his mentor Laszlo George, CSC, HSC on more than 30 film projects as his A-Camera operator.

Szalay became a Director of Photography in the mid-1990s and has since earned CSC nominations for for the pilot of “Peacemakers” and two episodes of “Smallville”. He won the 2009 Leo Award and the 2010 Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography for the mini-series “Iron Road”. In 2011 he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award  Best Cinematography for the mini-series “Pillars of the Earth” and was granted permanent residency to the United States as an “Artist of Exceptional Ability” . In November of 2013, Szalay was invited by his peers to join the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers.