David Worth

Director/cinematographer David Worth has made a heap of low-budget thrillers and action films, his most notable works being a pair of Jean-Claude Van Damme martial arts extravaganzas. Taking an interest in cinema after seeing the Orson Welles classic "Citizen Kane," he went on to study at the UCLA film school, trying his hand at every aspect of the process. Afterwards, he made his break into the business with the 1975 cheapie horror flick "Poor Pretty Eddie," both shooting and co-directing the film. His ability to capture quality images with little funding earned him the attention of Clint Eastwood, who picked Worth to shoot his next two features, "Bronco Billy" and "Any Which Way You Can." After writing a couple of unsuccessful action pictures, he worked on two films with rising star Jean-Claude Van Damme, as cinematographer on "Bloodsport" and as director on the subsequent "Kickboxer." Those films didn't boost Worth's career as much as they did Van Damme's, though Worth continued working on action and martial arts pictures, shooting all over the world. He dabbled in episodic television with "Air America," featuring Lorenzo Lamas, then made a couple of thrillers featuring top talent in less than memorable roles, "The Prophet's Game" with Dennis Hopper chasing a serial killer, and "Time Lapse" with Roy Scheider as the boss of secret agents. Worth has taught filmmaking at UCLA and USC, and he wrote the entertainingly informative book "The Citizen Kane Crash Course in Cinematography."