Randy Feemster

As a kid growing up in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Randy Feemster always had two great passions: movie-making and aviation. He was either hanging out at the local airport or grabbing his parents' 8mm camera and some friends to make a short movie about something. Randy graduated in 1976 from the University of Arkansas, and entered military service becoming a USAF pilot. He went on to fly several fighter aircraft in the USAF, all the while studying cinematography in his spare time

Randy left the military for several years to insert himself in the motion picture business in the mid-80s. His break came as Camera Operator on the popular feature Can't Buy Me Love in early 1987. He steadily increased his experience, joining Local 659 and the L.A. Experience Roster in 1988 which enabled him to step up to increasingly larger shows. Randy returned to military aviation for several years at this time as a part-time Air National Guard member where he flew the F-16 as an instructor pilot while continuing to grow his career in motion pictures.

Randy enjoyed busy years as a B-Camera Operator on increasingly larger, more prestigious features through the 90s. In 1996 Randy was invited and inducted into the prestigious Society of Operating Cameramen, and the "SOC" suffix would follow his screen credit from that time forward.

Although not given screen credit as such due to territorial disputes between camera locals 666 and 659, Randy was the Second Unit Director of Photography and Aerial Director of Photography for the feature A Time to Kill in 1995. Director Joel Schumacher assigned Randy to shoot virtually everything in the film that did not include the actors' faces. This included routine things such as the title sequence and inserts, but also virtually all of the pivotal violent rape scene of the minor daughter of the main character. The first unit shot only one set-up from this sequence; a POV of the rapists' faces. But the task of telling the story of the violent act of control, attempted murder, and disposal of the young girl was assigned to Randy's unit. Per Joel Schumacher's vision of the act, the rape sequence was shot in close-ups of the struggle for control of the victim, the attempted hanging, and key story exposition elements in the scene. Due to the union dispute, Randy was only credited as B-Camera Operator on A Time to Kill.

Having met in 1996 on Dante's Peak, Director Geoff Murphy called on Randy to be the A-Camera Operator on The Magnificent Seven pilot he directed in early 1997, and Randy's transition to A-Camera was permanent from that time on. Having been forged by some demanding directors, and mentored by excellent DPs, Randy enjoyed excellent relationships with directors, DPs, and actors as an A-Camera Operator. He was specifically called on as the Camera Operator with first-time directors/actors Bill Paxton and Dennis Quaid. Randy also utilized his aviation background to begin working as an Aerial Director of Photography, shooting with Wescam, Spacecam, and Tyler systems for features and commercials.

By the mid-2000s, Randy began to shift to shorter-term projects such as commercials and aerials. In a career diversification move also at that time, Randy attended specialized training such as the THX program at Skywalker Ranch and a number of others, and formed his own successful company designing screening rooms and home theaters. Randy and his wife, Laura, reside permanently near Tucson, Arizona near their two adult children.