Ira Tiffen
Ira Tiffen New VP of Motion Picture Filters for Schneider Optics
Ira Tiffen has joined Schneider Optics, Inc., as Vice President of Motion Picture Filters. He will have overall responsibility for the division, including production, marketing and product development.
“I expect Ira’s considerable experience in the industry generally and specifically with Motion Picture Filters, to be of great value to Schneider in advancing the strength of our product range and of our brand,” says Dwight Lindsey, C.E.O, Schneider Optics, Inc. “He will be responsible for R&D and Marketing in the MPTV Filters Department, working with the existing team to expand production of current products, as well as to create and market new products that meet the evolving needs of the cinematographer and the industry in general.”
During his more than thirty years at The Tiffen Company, Ira Tiffen created many filter effects that were in response to the expressed needs of cameramen. More recently at his own company, Optefex™ LLC, he developed the Optefex Blue Streak filter line, a technology that he brings with him to Schneider.
Ira Tiffen credits the late Bob Zupka for his much pivotal work at Schneider. “Bob’s enthusiasm left an indelible impression on many,” he says. “I am excited about being part of this innovative and forward-thinking team, where we will continue to make important advances in filter effects.”
Ira Tiffen has been working with glass for more than forty years, developing specialized optics for the film, television and stills market. He served as Vice President for Research and Development at the Tiffen Company until 2004, where he developed the original Tiffen® Low Contrast, Double Fog and Coral filters and went on to create the Pro-Mist®, Soft/FX®, Diffusion/FX®, GlimmerGlass® and many other important products and effects. A creative innovator, he holds several patents on photographic accessory designs, including one for snap-on filter rings, for a matte box that eliminates the need for a filter frame, and for an unusually useful tripod handle.
An Associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) since 1992, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) in 2002. He received a Technical Achievement Award in 1992 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the Ultra Contrast Filter Series, as well as a Prime-Time Emmy Award, in 1998, from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).
Tiffen will work out of Schneider’s Hauppauge, New York offices.
For more information please contact Schneider Optics, 7701 Haskell Avenue, Van Nuys, CA 91406, telephone (818) 766-3715; fax (818) 505-9865; email itiffen@schneideroptics.com or at: 285 Oser Avenue, Hauppauge, NY 11788, telephone (800) 645-7239/(631) 761-5000, fax (631) 761-5090; www.schneideroptics.com
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Information Prepared by Lewis Communications: susan@lewiscommunications.net September 4, 2012