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(written from a Production point of view)

Dan Mindel, ASC, BSC (born 27 May 1958; age 65) is the cinematographer for Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness under the direction of J.J. Abrams. Mindel worked with Abrams on several other projects: 2006's Mission: Impossible III, 2015's Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens, 2018's The Cloverfield Paradox, and 2019's Star Wars Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.

Born in South Africa and educated in Australia and Great Britain, Mindel began his career working as a camera loader for many years before he became an assistant cameraman on the 1985 British-made film The Emerald Forest, starring Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest actress Meg Foster. He then moved to the United States and began working as a cameraman or photographer for director Tony Scott on several commercials and for the films Revenge (1990, featuring Miguel Ferrer), Crimson Tide (1995), and The Fan (1996). He also worked in the same capacities with Tony's brother, Ridley Scott, for Thelma & Louise (1991, featuring Christopher McDonald) and White Squall (1996, starring John Savage), as well as a number of commercials.

In 1996, Ridley Scott selected Mindel to be Director of Photography for the second unit of G.I. Jane (1997, featuring Jack Gwaltney). The following year, Tony Scott assigned Mindel as principal Director of Photography on Enemy of the State (1998). Mindel later collaborated with Tony Scott as Director of Photography on the films Spy Game (2001) and Domino (2005). He was also cinematographer for such films as Shanghai Noon (2000), Stuck on You (2003, featuring Seymour Cassel), and The Skeleton Key (2005), and was an assistant photographer on The Bourne Identity (2002) and Lions for Lambs (2007).

Mindel has worked with Star Trek aerial photographer David Nowell on several other films. Most notably, Nowell was Mindell's Director of Aerial Photography on the films Enemy of the State, Domino, and Mission: Impossible III.

More recent projects as director of photography include Savages (2012), John Carter (2012), and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014, written and produced by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman).

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