---
name: "Michelle Lawler"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/michelle-lawler"
fi1m_id: "michelle-lawler"
imdb_id: "nm2044345"
tmdb_id: 1464304
wikidata_id: "Q123169255"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 75
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-17T15:29:05.452269+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Michelle Lawler

## Identity

Michelle Lawler

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/michelle-lawler
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** michelle-lawler
- **IMDb ID:** nm2044345
- **TMDB ID:** 1464304
- **Wikidata ID:** Q123169255
- **Same entity:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123169255, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2044345/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1464304

Cinematographer.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Active:** 2016–present
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 81 (1), 2020s 72 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 75 to 74 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, Comedy 1, Mystery 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123169255, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2044345/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1464304

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Insecure*](https://film.one/tv/insecure.md) (81)
- **Netflix:** [*The Boroughs*](https://film.one/tv/the-boroughs.md) (73)
- **Disney+:** [*The Dropout*](https://film.one/tv/the-dropout.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Michelle Lawler is a Los Angeles-based cinematographer working in film and television. She holds an MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute and a bachelor's degree in cinema from San Francisco State University.

She has served as director of photography on episodes of the series *Insecure* (2020), *The Shrink Next Door* (2021), *The Dropout* (2022) and *Based on a True Story* (2023), as well as the films *Rust Creek* (2018) and *Dicks: The Musical* (2023). In 2026 she shot four episodes of the Netflix series *The Boroughs*.

Lawler was named one of Variety's "10 Cinematographers to Watch" in 2020.

*Sources: michellelawlerdp.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *The Boroughs* (2026), Fi1m 73, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-boroughs.md)
- *The Dropout* (2022), Fi1m 70, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-dropout.md)
- *Insecure* (2016), Fi1m 81, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/tv/insecure.md)

## Complete filmography (27)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Boroughs* (2026), series, Director of Photography — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-boroughs.md)
- *Coroner to the Stars* (2025), Director of Photography
- *BULLDOZER* (2025), series, Director of Photography
- *Dicks: The Musical* (2023), Director of Photography
- *The Slumber Party* (2023), Director of Photography
- *Based on a True Story* (2023), series, Director of Photography
- *The Dropout* (2022), series, Director of Photography — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-dropout.md)
- *Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens* (2020), series, Director of Photography
- *Mother Comes to Venus* (2019), Director of Photography
- *Rust Creek* (2019), Director of Photography
- *Insecure* (2016), series, Director of Photography — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/insecure.md)
- *Sisters* (2015), as Handsome Butch
- *MAJOR!* (2015), Director of Photography
- *How to Vajaculate: If You Build It, She Will Come* (2015), Director of Photography
- *The Foundation* (2015), Director of Photography
- *Southern for Pussy* (2015), Director of Photography
- *The Night Is Ours* (2014), Director of Photography
- *You're Dead to Me* (2013), Director of Photography
- *Wild Horses* (2013), Grip
- *Valencia: The Movie/S* (2013), Director, Director of Photography
- *Best Friends Forever* (2013), Director of Photography
- *The Forest* (2013), Director of Photography
- *Ricerche: Three* (2013), Director of Photography
- *Diagnosing Difference* (2009), Director of Photography
- *Forever's Gonna Start Tonight* (2009), Producer, Camera Operator, Director
- *Salomania* (2009), Director of Photography
- *Phineas Slipped* (2003), Actor

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/michelle-lawler