Joe Gawler began his color career grading for The Criterion Collection where he remastered over 80 films, including works by Tarkovsky, Kurosawa, Fellini, Visconti, and Altman. Joe is a founding member of Harbor and was instrumental in cultivating the color department and its talent pool. He has built long-standing collaborations with respected cinematographers including Ellen Kuras, Harris Savides, Ed Lachman, Bradford Young, and Florian Ballhaus.
Joe’s recent work includes Pablo Larraín’s Maria and El Conde both of which earned Ed Lachman nominations for Best Cinematography at the Academy Awards. Joe also collaborated with Eigil Bryld on The Holdovers which won multiple awards including Best Cinematography at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Additional titles on Joe’s resume include David Tedeschi’s Beatles 64, Universal’s Till and Halloween Ends, Apple TV+’s See, Todd Haynes’ The Velvet Underground for AppleTV+, Disney’s Hamilton, Ron Howard’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, and FX’s Fosse/Verdon.
In 2020, The Lighthouse and Little Women earned nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Picture, respectively. In 2018, Mudbound earned a nomination at the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography as did Arrival in 2017. Additionally, Gawler worked on Sundance Best Cinematography award winners: Ain’t Them Body Saints, Pariah, and Personal Velocity.
Joe’s work on Levis’ 150th Anniversary campaign garnered him an AICP award for Best Color Grading.
