Demetri Portelli
- Director of Photography
- Camera Operator
- Director
Demetri works as a cinematographer, IATSE camera-operator and 3D stereographer (3D supervisor). His newest feature 'Chasing Midnight' (2024) for director James Allen Bradley was shot with Sony Venice 2 cameras and Panavision 70mm lenses. With 'ReVerb 3D' (2024) for director Cyprien Gaillard, Demetri combines digital cinematography with his passion for immersive 3D images, capturing the entire project at 120FPS/4K/3D with ARRI Alexa 35 cameras for a 10 city shoot in Germany. More upcoming cinematography, also captured in 3D, is the live performance film 'Mosquito's Wedding' (2024), a festival piece celebrating 75 years of the famous Ukrainian Shumka dancers.
For Demetri's 3D work on 'Hugo' for Martin Scorsese, he accepted The Lumiere Award for 'Best Live-Action Stereography,' The Advanced Imaging Society's Creative Arts Awards (2012). The film also won the Oscar for Cinematography which was an achievement for a natively captured and optically 'hand-crafted' 3D film. He again received a 'Best Live-Action Stereoscopy' Lumiere Award for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 3D film 'The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet' (2014) another beautiful project awarded 'Best 3D Film' during Poland's CameraImage Cinematography Festival. Demetri was also the stereographer on '47 Ronin' and supervised the stereo VFX deliveries at Universal Pictures for the project. He has overseen 2D-3D conversion work in Moscow on Bezelev's feature 'I am Dragon' and enjoyed applying 3D cinematography techniques for the animated film 'Next Gen' which was rendered in 3D. Demetri's technical abilities to capture quality live 3D initially proved itself at The 2010 Winter Olympics in front of an international audience. Demetri has since gone on to capture two ground-breaking films in native 3D for director Ang Lee, 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk,' and 'Gemini Man,' both of these projects being the first in the world to record at 120FPS and dual project theatrically at 120FPS/3D on laser projectors. For their HFR work with Ang Lee, Demetri and his team received The 'Technical achievement' Lumiere Award from The Advanced Imaging Society (2019). Demetri directed 'Flamenco in TrueMotion,' (2017) a dance film shot at 120FPS in 3D, to demonstrate the beauty of human motion in depth using greater detail and visual information.
Demetri started his career directing and shooting music videos and short films in Toronto. He has shot documentary television programs (Discovery & Nat Geo), television comedy and live shows. He has extensive experience as a camera technician and works as a camera-operator on television and feature film projects frequently. As DP/Operator on the heist movie 'Scratch' (2016) Demetri received The American Grindhouse 'Best Cinematography' Award at the Miami Film Festival.
Demetri completed a Fine Arts four-year intensive program at Arts York. He studied directing and scene study at The London Academy, and holds his undergraduate degree in English Literature and Cinema Studies from The University of Toronto, University College.
For Demetri's 3D work on 'Hugo' for Martin Scorsese, he accepted The Lumiere Award for 'Best Live-Action Stereography,' The Advanced Imaging Society's Creative Arts Awards (2012). The film also won the Oscar for Cinematography which was an achievement for a natively captured and optically 'hand-crafted' 3D film. He again received a 'Best Live-Action Stereoscopy' Lumiere Award for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 3D film 'The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet' (2014) another beautiful project awarded 'Best 3D Film' during Poland's CameraImage Cinematography Festival. Demetri was also the stereographer on '47 Ronin' and supervised the stereo VFX deliveries at Universal Pictures for the project. He has overseen 2D-3D conversion work in Moscow on Bezelev's feature 'I am Dragon' and enjoyed applying 3D cinematography techniques for the animated film 'Next Gen' which was rendered in 3D. Demetri's technical abilities to capture quality live 3D initially proved itself at The 2010 Winter Olympics in front of an international audience. Demetri has since gone on to capture two ground-breaking films in native 3D for director Ang Lee, 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk,' and 'Gemini Man,' both of these projects being the first in the world to record at 120FPS and dual project theatrically at 120FPS/3D on laser projectors. For their HFR work with Ang Lee, Demetri and his team received The 'Technical achievement' Lumiere Award from The Advanced Imaging Society (2019). Demetri directed 'Flamenco in TrueMotion,' (2017) a dance film shot at 120FPS in 3D, to demonstrate the beauty of human motion in depth using greater detail and visual information.
Demetri started his career directing and shooting music videos and short films in Toronto. He has shot documentary television programs (Discovery & Nat Geo), television comedy and live shows. He has extensive experience as a camera technician and works as a camera-operator on television and feature film projects frequently. As DP/Operator on the heist movie 'Scratch' (2016) Demetri received The American Grindhouse 'Best Cinematography' Award at the Miami Film Festival.
Demetri completed a Fine Arts four-year intensive program at Arts York. He studied directing and scene study at The London Academy, and holds his undergraduate degree in English Literature and Cinema Studies from The University of Toronto, University College.
