Anna Foerster

German-born cinematographer Anna Foerster broke out working on major science fiction, action, and adventure films, most often collaborating with prolific blockbuster helmer Roland Emmerich. Anna J. Foerster was born in Germany in 1971, and pioneered her career in the movie industry in her early 20s, working as a camera operator on the Richard E. Grant-starring German short film "Calliope" (1994). Although she began with such a small project, it would only be two years before she'd graduate to the big leagues: Foerster's second movie was fellow German-born filmmaker Roland Emmerich's "Independence Day" (1996), on which she worked as a director of photography. The alien invasion-themed megahit would be the first of several Emmerich-directed feature films on which Foerster would work. Foerster's next big piece was "Alien: Resurrection" (1997), again as a director of photography, this time in the pyrotechnics division. The very next year, she reteamed with Emmerich for a film that would receive far less critical appreciation than "Independence Day," "Godzilla" (2008), working as a visual effects director of photography on the poorly-received monster movie. The early 2000s saw Foerster expand her reach further, working on the Vin Diesel sci-fi "Pitch Black" (2000), the time-traveling rom-com "Kate and Leopold" (2001), the action-horror send-up "Eight Legged Freaks" (2002), the family film "Stuart Little 2" (2002), and the road comedy "Johnson Family Vacation" (2004), on which she acted as a cinematographer. In the same year as the latter, Foerster again united with Emmerich for the Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004), fostering her return to the high-concept blockbuster filmmaking game. Next, she took on a director of photography position for the superheroine picture "Aeon Flux" (2005), before effectively signing onto Emmerich's team in perpetuity. Foerster played director of photography on his next two movies, "10,000 B.C." (2008) and "2012" (2009), before branching out to explore her own directorial work on television. Starting in 2009, Foerster began helming episodes on the popular crime series "Criminal Minds" (CBS 2005-), tossing in some work on shows like "Unforgettable" (CBS 2011-14) and "Army Wives" (Lifetime 2007-2013), although she'd continue to play director of photography for Emmerich movies like "Anonymous" (2011) and "White House Down" (2014). The blossoming director Foerster became a regular creative force on the British-American sci-fi TV series "Outlander" (Starz 2014-) before developing her first directorial feature, a sequel to screenwriter Ben Ripley's sci-fi hit "Source Code" (2011), which starred Foerster's "The Day After Tomorrow" colleague Gyllenhaal.