Toby Oliver, ACS is an award-winning cinematographer whose career extends internationally from his native Australia. Named as one of Variety’s 10 Cinematographers to Watch in 2017, Oliver has forged a remarkable and varied range of credits on feature films, documentaries and television.
Most recently, Oliver shot the upcoming Netflix and See-Saw Films limited series 'Apple Cider Vinegar', following real-life wellness guru and cancer fraud Belle Gibson, starring Kaitlyn Dever; in 2021 he shot the action comedy thriller ‘Dayshift’ for director JJ Perry, with Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco as vampire hunters in the San Fernando Valley. His previous release was Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s comedy ‘Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar’ for Lionsgate and Will Ferrell's Gloria Sanchez Productions. The film follows two best friends who leave their midwestern town for the first time ever for a holiday in Florida. Oliver then continued his work with Netflix on the second season of Liz Feldman's acclaimed black comedy series 'Dead To Me'; His current project due for release in 2025 is the Blumhouse / Universal Pictures sci-fi sequel 'M3GAN 2.0'.
Oliver also lensed: ‘The Dirt’, Jeff Tremaine’s biopic film on hard rock band Mötley Crüe for Netflix; ‘Insidious: The Last Key’ for director Adam Robitel; and writer/director Chris Landon’s comic thrillers ‘Happy Death Day’ and ‘Happy Death Day 2U’ for Universal. In Australia he recently shot the musical comedy ‘Seriously Red’, with Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale, directed by Gracie Otto.
He is best known for his work on Jordan Peele’s racially-charged thriller horror ‘Get Out’ starring Allison Williams and Daniel Kaluuya. The film premiered at a midnight screening at the Sundance Film Festival, ranked #1 at the U.S. Box Office on its opening weekend, and went on to earn an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and three other nominations including Best Picture.
Previously, Oliver shot Blumhouse Productions’ thriller ‘The Darkness’ for director Greg Mclean, starring Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell; and lensed indie fantasy drama ‘Wildling’ in New York for Maven Pictures and director Fritz Bohm with Liv Tyler, Bel Powley and Brad Dourif.
Oliver’s work on the Australian WWI suspense war drama ‘Beneath Hill 60’ earned him an Australian Film Institute Award, and the TV movie ‘Beaconsfield’, about a pair of miners trapped over a kilometer underground in a tiny cage, won a number of awards including an ACS Gold Award and the ACS Best in Show. He collected another ACS Gold Award for his vivid outback cinematography on Greg Mclean’s action-horror sequel ‘Wolf Creek 2’ which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, as well as an Australian Academy nod for TV movie ‘Carlotta'. He also worked extensively in mainland China, shooting the hit Chinese language rom-com ‘Waiting Alone’ and the Australia/China co-production ’33 Postcards’ starring Guy Pearce.
A graduate of Melbourne's renowned Swinburne Film School, Oliver created many notable film images early in his career: from the 'beautifully lit' gritty black and white of his debut feature ‘Everynight... Everynight’ which premiered at Venice; the box-office hit teen movie and Australian Film Institute Award winner ‘Looking for Alibrandi’; to the 'painterly approach' of ‘Tom White’, winner of the ACS Gold Tripod Award in 2005. His work has screened at major festivals around the world, including Venice, Sundance, Sydney, Melbourne, Busan, Montreal, Tokyo, Shanghai and Toronto.
Oliver is an accredited member of the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS), and a member of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) and IATSE Local 600.