Kenny Gronningsater
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
- Director
Kenny Gronningsater brings twenty-five years of motion-picture, production experience to Key Visions Inc. His career spans the gamut of genres: from TV news-magazine to documentaries to features. His first foray into independent feature work was as a Steadicam Operator for The Brothers McMullen (1995), written and directed by Edward Burns. In 1999 he was Director of Photography for Payday, a short dramatic film starring Jimmy Breslin, Theodore Bikel, and Patrick Tull. His cinematography on that project earned him a Finalist Award at the 2000 New York Festivals, International Film and Video Competition. He was Director of Photography on E/Z (2007) and Murder Rhapsody (2003), full-length features film written and directed by Alex Tana. Kenny Gronningsater co-directed E/Z with Alex Tana. Other Camera credits include The Sound and Fury, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2004. Camera credits for documentaries that aired on PBS are many: Old Enough To Do Time (1983- Public Policy Productions), narrated by Daniel Travanti, received an International Film and Television of New York Award, a Silver Gavel Award, and was nominated for a national Emmy. Health Care on The Critical List, narrated by Jack Klugman, was awarded the Special Jury Award in the 1985 San Francisco International Film Festival. The Power Struggle, narrated by Meryl Streep, won a Blue Ribbon at The American Film Festival in 1986. Gronningsater regularly works as a lighting cameraman for ABC's 20/20 and Dateline-NBC. In January of 2014 he was contracted by Al Jazeera America to serve as Director Of Photography for Talk To Al Jazeera, which ceased its operation in the USA in 2016. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognized his camerawork (Emmy Camera Certificate of Recognition) on stories he shot for the networks in 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1998. Kenny Gronningsater is a member of the cinematographer's guild IATSE 600, NABET 16, and IBEW 1212.