Biography
As a child, growing up in California, Paul was introduced to photography by his father. He was drawn to painting and sculpture in his teens. After graduating from Rolling Hills High School, he attended Cal State University Long Beach, and the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. While in art school, Babin discovered the love of film making. He returned to Los Angeles, enrolled in the film program at the University of Southern California, where he earned a Bachelors and Masters degree in Cinema, majoring in cinematography and writing. Paul began his career as an assistant cameraman, while at the same time shooting documentary and industrial films. He became a member of the International Cinematographer's Guild and a full time camera operator in 1984. His break as an operator came on Always (1989), a picture directed by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was known for abandoning his director's chair, moving the operator aside and operating the camera himself. At the end of the production of "Always," Spielberg jotted a note to Babin saying, "thanks for keeping me in my chair." In 1992, Paul began working with Director of Photography, Allen Davaiu, ASC. They would do five movies together. A high point in Paul's career came with his work on the movieFearless (1993), directed by Peter Weir. Weir's ability to foster the creative potential within a cast and crew was an inspiring example of collaborative film-making. In the mid-nineties, Babin was the camera operator on two pictures directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola's passion and focus on performance were lasting impressions of Paul's time there. Four projects: The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), True Lies (1994), and T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996) with James Cameron were illuminations on the grand scale of film making and lessons on the importance of detail and story. From 2005 to 2007, Babin was editor and a contributing writer of "Camera Operator" magazine, published by the Society of Camera Operators. It was also during this time that Paul returned to the USC School of Cinema as an adjunct professor. In 2008, Babin was elected to the National Executive Board of the International Cinematographer's Guild. As digital image capture took hold, Babin began to direct. He wrote and directed a 30 minute drama, Two, Four, Six (2009),. In 2009, Babin documented the death of his friend, Douglas Wright, in the documentary short, "The Place Beneath". Wright was a beloved university professor who was diagnosed with lung cancer within months of losing his health insurance. In 2012, Babin was given the 2012 Society of Camera Operator's Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions as Camera Operator. Paul retired from camera operating in 2014, and enrolled at the University of Santa Monica, where earned a Master's Degree in Spiritual Psychology. He went on to complete USM's coaching program, and is currently working as a Certified Life Coach. In 2022, after a long hiatus from film making, Paul co-wrote, directed, cut and scored a short film, 1 (2022).
