George Spiro Dibie

George Spiro Dibie was, until his retirement a few years ago, one of the best and most respected video cinematographers in television. He also did some filmed shows, like the cult classic Buffalo Bill, but his main specialty was making videotaped shows look good; his most famous credit was as cinematographer of Barney Miller, and in the ’80s he shot literally every multi-camera comedy pilot produced by Warner Brothers television. When videotaped sitcoms became popular in the ’70s, he was called upon to train other cinematographers in the art of shooting on video while still giving the lighting and camerawork a film-like feel; some veteran Hollywood film cinematographers including James Wong Howe turned up at the workshop. He’s also credited with a number of innovations in the art of video shooting, including new rear-projection and lighting techniques. In an interview, he talked about what he felt was the best work he had ever done in all the hundreds of TV episodes he shot: