Shelly Johnson Returns as ASC President as Mandy Walker Terms Out After Historic Tenure

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by Nino LeitnerMay 28^th, 2026

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The American Society of Cinematographers has a familiar face back in the president’s chair. Shelly Johnson, ASC, has been elected to lead the 107-year-old organization, taking the gavel from Mandy Walker, who completed her one-year term as the Society’s first female president. The vote came out of the ASC Clubhouse on May 18, mid-Cannes, and it is worth revisiting now that the festival has wrapped.

Johnson is no newcomer to the role. He previously served as ASC President from 2023 to 2025, a tenure we covered in detail when he first took office and which centered on rebuilding the Society’s outreach after the pandemic years. He handed over to Walker last May and, just twelve months later, he is back. The Board of Governors also confirmed Vice Presidents Charlie Lieberman, Alice Brooks, and John Simmons, alongside Treasurer Charles Minsky, Secretary Scott Cunningham, and Sergeant-at-Arms Chris Chomyn.

So why is Mandy Walker leaving the board?

This is the question several readers asked us, and it is worth answering clearly: Walker did not step down. She termed out. Under ASC governance rules, active Board members can serve only a limited number of consecutive years, and Walker had completed four of them, including her year as president. Her exit is structural, not a resignation or a fallout. In her own words, “It has been an honor and absolute pleasure to have served as the first female president of the ASC.” Walker added that she hands over to Johnson, “who has served me in this role and has helped make the Society what it is today.”

For context on Walker’s tenure, our coverage from last year detailed her historic election as the first woman to lead the ASC in its century-plus history, and our opinion piece on her Elvis work is also worth revisiting. During her year as president, the Society also unveiled the ASC Todd-AO lens collection, a vintage-restoration initiative that became a signature project of her term.

Who is Shelly Johnson?

Johnson is one of those cinematographers whose résumé tends to surprise people who only know him by name. He has a long-running collaboration with director Joe Johnston that started with Jurassic Park III and continued across Hidalgo, The Wolfman, Lumen, and Captain America: The First Avenger. His other feature credits include Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The Last Castle, Honest Thief, Blacklight, Bill & Ted Face the Music, Sky High, Simon West’s Wild Card, Boundless, Elevation, and the upcoming Summerhouse.

He has just wrapped principal photography on Greyhound 2: The Good Shepherd, the World War II drama starring Tom Hanks, due for release later this year. His television work, which earned him four ASC Award nominations, includes Training Day, Falling Water, Smash, The Others, and The Shining.

Johnson’s stated priorities

In his acceptance statement, Johnson emphasized a theme that increasingly defines the ASC’s public posture in 2026, namely how cinematography retains its human core in an industry being reshaped by AI and machine-generated imagery. “Great cinematography is rooted in a deeply human point of view, where every image reflects the cinematographer’s personal vision, shaped by sensitivity, intuition, and intent,” he said. He framed the Society’s next chapter as one of balance, “creating a space where artistry and innovation meet, balancing rapid technological change with the application of tools that serve expression, rather than define it.”

That language echoes the platform he ran on in 2023, when he flagged virtual production and AI as the two forces most likely to reshape the cinematographer’s role. The ASC’s Motion Imaging Technology Council (MITC), established in 2003, has spent the past few years actively studying how generative AI, virtual production, and computational imaging affect the traditional imaging chain. Expect more output from that committee during Johnson’s second term.

A deep bench on the new board

The new Board, elected by the organization’s active membership, includes Natasha Braier, Russell Carpenter, Richard Crudo, Steven Fierberg, Michael Goi, Tommy Maddox-Upshaw, Erik Messerschmidt, M. David Mullen, Cynthia Pusheck, Nancy Schreiber, and Amy Vincent. Alternate members include Ernest Dickerson, Dejan Georgevich, Suki Medenčević, Lowell Peterson, and Rodney Taylor.

It is a serious roster. Carpenter (Titanic, Avatar: The Way of Water), Messerschmidt (Mindhunter, The Killer), and Mullen (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) bring substantial feature and episodic credentials, while Braier (The Neon Demon, Disclaimer) and Schreiber (Sublet, Every Secret Thing) extend the Society’s reach across independent and international cinematography. For an organization that has spent the past several years pushing to diversify both its membership and its committee leadership, this slate continues that trajectory.

Founded in 1919, the ASC currently counts 459 active members with national roots in roughly 20 countries, alongside 277 associate members from ancillary segments of the industry. More information is available at the official ASC website.

Was a one-year Walker term too short to leave a lasting mark, and does Johnson’s return signal the ASC leaning on familiar hands during a turbulent industry moment? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!

Featured image: Shelly Johnson, ASC. Image credit: John Simmons, ASC, via the ASC