Crescenzo Notarile, ASC, AIC, was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., by Italian immigrant parents who were artists; his father was a painter and a famed art director, and his mother was a sculptor and interior designer. After studying filmmaking at New York University and the New York Institute of Technology, where he earned a BFA, Crescenzo worked as a PA at his father’s ad agency and then joined IATSE Local 644 to begin his career.

More than 40 years have passed since then, but Crescenzo points to some of his earliest professional credits as his favorite experiences. “They stand out because they still inspire a powerful emotional response in me,” he says. “I was very impressionable, and I was experiencing new worlds. My eyes and creative heart were like a sponge.”