Vanja Černjul

Vanja Černjul, ASC, HFS

Born in Croatia, Vanja Černjul earned his first cinematography degree from the Academy of Dramatic Arts at the University of Zagreb in 1991. His graduation coincided with the onset of the Yugoslav Wars, and shortly after, he applied his skills to reporting on the conflict for international news outlets. Covering the war placed him in hazardous and personally demanding situations, experiences that profoundly shaped his approach to life, work, and aesthetics.

In 1995, faced with a declining domestic film industry and a strong desire to pursue a career as a director of photography in narrative filmmaking, Černjul moved to New York and enrolled in the MFA Film and TV program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Since then, he has worked on 21 feature films and numerous hit television series, earning multiple awards and three Primetime Emmy nominations. He is an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the European Film Academy (EFA), the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), the International Cinematographers Guild, the European Federation of Cinematographers (IMAGO), and the Croatian Society of Cinematographers (HFS).

Among Černjul’s notable projects are the HBO series The Deuce, the Miramax film The Perfection, and the Warner Bros. hit Crazy Rich Asians. He also served as the cinematographer for the Netflix original series Marco Polo, which earned him the ASC Award from the American Society of Cinematographers in 2016. His two most recent projects include HBO’s The Gilded Age, created by Julian Fellowes, and House of the Dragon, created by George R. R. Martin and Ryan Condal.

Černjul is based in New York.