Биография
Growing up in California, Paul was introduced to photography by his father during childhood. In his teenage years, he developed an interest in painting and sculpture. After graduating from Rolling Hills High School, he attended California State University Long Beach and the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland. While studying art, Babin discovered a passion for filmmaking. He later returned to Los Angeles and enrolled in the film program at the University of Southern California, earning both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Cinema, with a focus on cinematography and writing.
Paul started his career as an assistant cameraman while simultaneously shooting documentary and industrial films. In 1984, he became a full-time camera operator and joined the International Cinematographer's Guild. His breakthrough as an operator came with the 1989 film Always, directed by Steven Spielberg. Known for often leaving his director's chair to operate the camera himself, Spielberg left Babin a note at the end of production thanking him for "keeping me in my chair."
In 1992, Paul began collaborating with Director of Photography Allen Daviau, ASC, working together on five films. A significant moment in Paul's career was his work on Fearless (1993), directed by Peter Weir, whose talent for nurturing the creative potential of cast and crew exemplified collaborative filmmaking. In the mid-1990s, Babin served as camera operator on two films directed by Francis Ford Coppola, whose dedication to performance left a strong impact on Paul.
Working with James Cameron on four projects—The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), True Lies (1994), and T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996)—offered Paul insight into large-scale filmmaking and the critical importance of detail and story. Between 2005 and 2007, Babin contributed as an editor and writer for Camera Operator magazine, published by the Society of Camera Operators. During this period, he also returned to USC’s 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 technology advanced, he began directing, writing and directing the 30-minute drama Two, Four, Six (2009). That same year, he created the documentary short The Place Beneath, which chronicled the death of his friend Douglas Wright, a beloved university professor diagnosed with lung cancer shortly after losing his health insurance.
In 2012, Paul received the Society of Camera Operators’ Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions as a Camera Operator. He retired from camera operating in 2014 and enrolled at the University of Santa Monica, where he earned a Master's Degree in Spiritual Psychology. He also completed USM's coaching program and now works as a Certified Life Coach. After a long break from filmmaking, in 2022 Paul co-wrote, directed, edited, and scored the short film 1.
