Hillary Fyfe Spera
Hillary Fyfe Spera is an American director of photography. Rather than following a conventional film-school path, she began in still photography and then “learned by doing,” taking on whatever camera or operator work she could find and evolving into being a director of photography. Early in her career, Spera built a diverse body of work that includes documentary features such as After Tiller (2013) and Oxyana (2013), and narrative features such as Wildlike (2014) — the latter filmed on location in Alaska and starring Bruce Greenwood and Ella Purnell. It was for Wildlike that she received the Gerald Hirschfeld A.S.C. Award for Cinematography (Narrative Feature) at the Ashland Independent Film Festival in Oregon in 2015. As Spera’s work progressed, she moved into more high-profile television and streaming productions. She served as director of photography on the mini-series Dexter: New Blood (2021–22), working in highly challenging conditions of snow, cold, and extended exterior shoots. She also brought a distinctly cinematic style to the series Daredevil: Born Again (2025-), drawing inspiration from 1970s New York thrillers and employing vintage anamorphic lenses to bring texture, width, and character to the visual world. Spera emphasises the collaborative nature of cinematography and the idea that a cinematographer serves the crew just as much as the director: “we are only as good as our team — we are not doing this solo.” Although she does not come from a formal graduate-level cinematography program, she counts influential cinematographers such as Harris Savides, Gordon Willis, and Vilmos Zsigmond among her artistic inspirations.
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Biography from TMDB.
- Cinematographer
- 23 on MovieCove · 32 credits in all
What are Hillary Fyfe Spera's films like?
Across their 20 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 2 · Earnest 15
A split, not a type: Light 10 · Serious 3 · Dark 5
Grounded 15 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 0
Gentle 5 · Charged 9 · Intense 4
A split, not a type: Steady 9 · Shifting 7 · Whiplash 2
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 10 · Some laughs 5 · Funny 3
Slow burn 9 · Even-paced 9 · Relentless 0
A split, not a type: Casual 11 · Engaged 6 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 6 · Affecting 6 · Heavy 6
Resolved 12 · Open-ended 5 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet12
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous5
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Hillary Fyfe Spera's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 18 of their 23 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (6).
Subscription and free streaming for Hillary Fyfe Spera's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
32 credits, 23 with a MovieCove page.
The Parenting(2025)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
Daredevil: Born Again(2025)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all shows
Extrapolations(2023)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all shows
The Flight Attendant(2020)
Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all shows
Run(2020)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
The Craft: Legacy(2020)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films
Saturday Church(2017)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
You(2018)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all shows
The Package(2018)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Duck Butter(2018)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films
Dude(2018)
Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all films
Sidelined (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Alex Strangelove(2018)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Submission(2017)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Band Aid(2017)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
Jack of the Red Hearts(2015)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Wildlike(2014)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
Breaking a Monster(2015)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all filmsUnlocking The Truth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Maidentrip (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Oxyana(2013)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
After Tiller(2013)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all filmsI Don't Wanna Go Into the Darkness (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Black Rock(2012)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
American Juggalo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
Stray Dawg (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)
The Freebie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
The Bowler (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Who Killed Amanda Palmer? (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Alice Neel(2007)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
Darkon(2006)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 31 titles from 2006 to 2025.
Biggest box office
Run (2020)
Highest rated
After Tiller (2013)
Most popular right now
Daredevil: Born Again (2025)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Hillary Fyfe Spera's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 55th percentile, the median of all 18; across their 18 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 54th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th9
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th5
Shape of the crowd
10 of their 23 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Cult Classic2
- Crowd Pleaser10
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed8
Reviewers score the cinematography 57/100 in their films, across 13 reviewed titles; fans 66, detractors 44. The element that speaks to their work as a cinematographer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Hillary Fyfe Spera's work okay for kids?
Across up to 12 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity and profanity run heavier than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Hillary Fyfe Spera work with?
People who share at least 2 of Hillary Fyfe Spera's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Andrew Neel shares the most, 3.
Directors
- Andrew NeelShared titles: Breaking a Monster (2015), Alice Neel (2007), Darkon (2006)See all 3 shared titles with Andrew Neel
- Luke MeyerShared titles: Breaking a Monster (2015), Alice Neel (2007), Darkon (2006)See all 3 shared titles with Luke Meyer
- Craig JohnsonShared titles: The Parenting (2025), Alex Strangelove (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Craig Johnson
- Zoe Lister-JonesShared titles: The Craft: Legacy (2020), Band Aid (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Zoe Lister-Jones
Actors
- Nik DodaniShared titles: The Parenting (2025), Alex Strangelove (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Nik Dodani
- Daniel DohenyShared titles: Alex Strangelove (2018), The Package (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Daniel Doheny
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Nathan LarsonShared titles: The Parenting (2025), Alex Strangelove (2018), Saturday Church (2017)See all 3 shared titles with Nathan Larson
- Ethan PalmerShared titles: Breaking a Monster (2015), Alice Neel (2007), Darkon (2006)See all 3 shared titles with Ethan Palmer
- Libby CueninShared titles: The Craft: Legacy (2020), Band Aid (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Libby Cuenin
- Jennifer LeeShared titles: Alex Strangelove (2018), Submission (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Jennifer Lee
Producers
- Jared GoldmanShared titles: The Parenting (2025), Alex Strangelove (2018), Submission (2017)See all 3 shared titles with Jared Goldman
- Cass Marie GreenerShared titles: Daredevil: Born Again (2025), Oxyana (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Cass Marie Greener
- Sean DunneShared titles: Daredevil: Born Again (2025), Oxyana (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Sean Dunne
- Colin FrederickShared titles: Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults (2020), The Package (2018)See all 2 shared titles with Colin Frederick