Jimmy Chin
Biography
Jimmy Chin is an American mountaineer, photographer, and filmmaker who has spent more than two decades on The North Face athlete team as a professional climber and skier. Born in Mankato, he organized trips to Pakistan's Karakoram range from 1999 to 2001 and in 2006 made the first American ski descent from the summit of Everest. In 2011 he, Conrad Anker, and Renan Ozturk completed the first ascent of the Shark's Fin on Meru Peak, an achievement he documented in the film Meru (2015). Chin began shooting film in 2003, and with Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi he directed Free Solo (2018), which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, a BAFTA, and seven Primetime Emmys. Their later work includes The Rescue, about the Tham Luang cave rescue. His photography book There and Back landed on the New York Times best seller list in 2021.
53years old
Turns 54 on October 12in 336 days
- Born Mankato
- Star sign: LibraThe sign runs September 23 to October 22
Movie Career
- Films
- 4
- Career span
- 6 years2015 to 2021
Every film, newest first
- 202114 Peaks: Nothing Is ImpossibleIMDb rating 7.7
- 2021TornIMDb rating 7.4
- 2018Free SoloIMDb rating 8.1
- 2015MeruIMDb rating 7.7
Genres
Photos
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Early training
Chin started filming in 2003 with Rick Ridgeway as his mentor. He worked as a cinematographer on the National Geographic television special Deadly Fashion.
Behind the camera
Chin launched Camp 4 Collective, a commercial production company, in 2010 alongside Tim Kemple and Renan Ozturk. Four years later, he sold the business to his partners.
Behind the camera
Chin headed a team that recorded Alex Honnold's first rope-free ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park on June 3, 2017. Working again with Vasarhelyi, he produced and directed Free Solo, which earned the 2018 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
A first
Chin's first book of photography, There and Back, documents his career in the mountains and became a New York Times Best Seller in 2021.
Jimmy Chin movies on Netflix
Worked with
Jimmy Chin shares three films with Conrad Anker, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Conrad Anker's page
Alex Honnold's page
Tommy Caldwell's page
Grace Chin's page
Jeremy Jones's page
Reinhold Messner's page
Elizabeth Chai VasarhelyiDirector, 2 films, 2015 to 2018
Awards
Four awards and honors from 2019 to 2022, three of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | |||
| 2019 | Best Documentary Feature Film | Free Solo | Won |
| Emmy Awards | |||
| Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program | Won | ||
| Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program | Won | ||
| Other honors | |||
| 2022 | Ken Burns American Heritage Prize | Won | |
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.