If you’ve spent any time on the MPTF campus and visited the Saban Center for Health and Wellness, chances are you’ve seen our hallway filled with incredible 
behind-the-scenes special photography capturing iconic and visually clever moments from decades of movies and TV shows. Curated by renowned photographer Anthony Friedkin and author/publicist Bob Hoffmann, this gallery is an evolving look at the talents behind and in front of the camera in ways you’ve never seen them before. One of the contributing photographers is David James, who has chronicled Steven Spielberg’s productions since 1993 and famously captured 
Tom Cruise atop the Burj Khalifa in tandem with the making of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Gifted with his first basic box camera at the age of eight, David played hooky from his village school in England to observe an MGM production next door and, upon spying a man walking around taking pictures, thought to himself, “I want that job!”
A founding member of The Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers, David felt MPTF would be a great place for his photos, including a stunning portrait of Barbara Streisand and a striking monochrome image of legendary cinematographer Conrad Hall. David wanted to put these images “somewhere they would be appreciated” and told us he’ll be adding an awesome color photo of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening from Love Affair, and another great one of Ben Kingsley from Schindler’s List. “We were shooting at an old Schindler factory on the Czech border. The light on him was beautiful, and as soon as I shot the picture he said, ‘David, come here.’ I stepped forward, and a lump of the ceiling fell down and hit my back heel. If he hadn’t said that, well… That portrait is very special to me!” Now retired, David continues to give back by mentoring students through our award-winning Passing The Torch program, sharing his deep experience in photography and storytelling with the next generation of creatives. “I love being part of a community,” he says. “I appreciate it when I’m with others in this industry who have their stories. Everybody has them; it’s a bit like being a soldier in a war zone. There’s always a different subject, a different feeling, and the friendships you’ve built are forever.”
