Mexican cinematographer behind "House of the Dragon" talks Hollywood success
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Alejandro Martínez at work. Photo: Courtesy of Alejandro Martínez
Mexican cinematographer Alejandro Martínez, who has worked on "Fallout" and "House of the Dragon," tells Axios Latino that being part of a team behind two of TV's biggest successes has been a blast and creative boon.
The big picture: Although there is no data on crew members, past reports show that Latino directors, scriptwriters and showrunners in TV are still few and far in between, according to UCLA's yearly Hollywood diversity report.
Zoom in: Martínez, born in Mexico to a family steeped in the local film industry, was nominated last year in the TV categories of the American Society of Cinematography's awards for his work on the ninth episode of the first season of "Dragon." He's the lead cinematographer for this Sunday's episode of the show's second season.
What they're saying: "It's massive wading into these worlds that have a sort of baggage in terms of fan expectations, where some things need to be faithful but you can also play creatively," Martínez says.
- "Both shows are massive endeavors made by people who come from all over, and the feeling of so many working in tandem for the same cause is indescribable."
- He adds that he's glad there's also a growing recognition of crew members, as seen after last year's Hollywood strikes, "because there's truly so much thought and talent going into these productions."
Martínez's first major credit was 2006's Mexican horror film "KM 31," based on a legend about a highway outside of Mexico City.
- He says the film's popularity in genre festivals outside of Mexico led to him getting work in the U.S., helping him build a movie résumé both in Hollywood and beyond.
- He's done work on shows like the TV adaptation of "Scream" and on "The Alienist." Those helped net him the "House of the Dragon"' job, "which was major because I obviously was already a huge fan of the 'Game of Thrones' world," he says.
Martínez says he hopes the deep pool of talent from Mexico and other places is increasingly recognized so those numbers are boosted.
- "We're so capable, making interesting things, breaking ground often within the industry," he says.
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