A native of Denmark, Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF, is a three-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer with more than 60 international productions to his name. He has received myriad awards for his work in feature films, television movies, and documentaries.

Laustsen’s interest in photography was awakened in his teen years when, inspired by the stylish black & white imagery in popular magazines, he saved enough money to purchase his first still photography camera. A few years later, he enrolled in a program for fashion photography, but by the end of the program, Laustsen had lost his interest in fashion photography, desiring instead to shoot documentary films with the goal of someday working for National Geographic. It was then that he enrolled in the Danish Film School to learn the art of motion picture photography.

Decades later, Laustsen’s diverse accomplishments in film and television include Academy Award nominations for Cinematography for his work with director Guillermo del Toro on Nightmare Alley, The Shape of Water, and Frankenstein, which followed previous collaborations with the director on Mimic and Crimson Peak. Laustsen also garnered acclaim for his marriage of beautiful lighting with high-energy action sequences on three of Lionsgate’s blockbuster John Wick series of films (John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick: Parabellum, and John Wick: Chapter Four), all of which were directed by Chad Stahelski. He made his foray into Hollywood musicals with Warner Brothers’ The Color Purple (2023) with director Blitz Bazawule.

Laustsen’s work on the Apple TV+ original film, The Gorge, with director Scott Derrickson, helped to earn that production an Emmy Award for Best Television Movie. His latest production is the upcoming Highlander for Amazon Studios, which marks his fourth collaboration with Chad Stahelski.

Honors bestowed on Laustsen include multiple Danish Film Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and a Guldbagge Award nomination from the Swedish Film Academy for Best Cinematography on Lisa Ohlin’s Simon and the Oaks. In 2007, he received Nordisk Film’s Erik Balling Award in recognition of his lifetime achievements as a cinematographer.

Laustsen is a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), and the Danish Association of Cinematographers (DFF).