Biography
Jack Carpenter began his career in the motion picture business driving for Pat Hustis Camera Cars in February of 1976.
Born in Hollywood in 1953 he graduated from Sylmar High School in '71 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Although he saw no combat, he served with distinction and was honorably discharged as a sergeant in January '76.
While studying mathematics and engineering at California State University at Northridge he followed his father Ralph Carpenter into the business driving part time for Pat Hustis.
Mentored by the likes of "Chainsaw" Tommy May, Tom Prophet and Gaylin Schultz (all former Cammy winners), he began to truly learn and hone his craft until his first big break doing a pilot for the action TV show "CHiPs" for MGM.
When the show was picked up, cinematographer Robert Sparks, concerned with the risky nature of that show, went to production at MGM and insisted that they put Jack on payroll full time. When for monetary reasons MGM later objected to this arrangement, Sparks threatened to quit the show and take his entire department with him. When both lead actors weighed in with similar sentiments, MGM backed down. The show ran for six seasons.
Moving from TV to feature work, Jack began to build an impressive list of credits and accomplishments on such films as "A View To A Kill", "To Live And Die In LA", "Terminator 2", "Forever Young", "True Lies", "Die Hard With A Vengeance", "Enemy of the State", "Gone In 60 Seconds", "The Italian Job", "Bridesmaids" and "Identity Thief" to name but a very few.
A technical innovator from the start, Jack has continually created or adopted technology that would make it easier to do his job and to keep his fellow crew members safe. He designed and built switchable battery systems that could run everything from nine lights to carbon arc "brutes" without an on board generator. Long before cell phones he equipped his vehicles with public address systems and long distance studio frequency radio equipment to ensure clear communication with his police escort and traffic control.
As the founder of his own company Carpenter Camera Cars in 1981, and an innovator in the use of air suspension technology, Jack went on to design and build every manner of vehicle to make the cameras move, from the first ever camera ATVs to the most sophisticated and modern high-speed camera cars.
As an example, Jack learned early on how to slide a car while it was being towed with actors in the car and with crews manning the cameras. It was all about speed and horsepower, but it put a lot of stress on the equipment and on the crews. Using existing pneumatic technology he created a simple device to control the brakes on the back of a towed vehicle allowing him to slide the car around but at significantly lower and safer speeds.
Jack will be forever grateful for the trust that was placed in him by such accomplished cameramen as: Peter Salim, Richard "Beau" Pease, Robert Sparks, William Fraker (ASC), Harry Stradling Sr., Haskell Wexler (ASC), Adam Greenberg (ASC), Jonathan Taylor (ASC) (VES), Russell Carpenter (ASC) and Don Burgess (ASC). Over the years legendary film makers like: Richard Brooks, Tim Burton, Garry Marshall, Tony Scott, Ron Howard, William Friedkin, and James Cameron have done much the same.
Currently Jack Carpenter resides in Sylmar with his beautiful wife Leslie and their two adopted daughters Hannah and Mia.
