John Mahaffie is a New Zealand filmmaker, steadicam operator, second unit director, and second unit director of photography.[1] He is most well known for his work on superhero movies (both in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe series of films) and his collaborations with director Martin Campbell.
Mahaffie, alongside Geoff Murphy, Rick Porras, Barrie M. Osborne, and George Marshall Ruge, served as second unit director on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, under Jackson's supervision via satellite feed.[2]
Other films Mahaffie has directed second unit on include The Avengers and its sequel , Aquaman and its sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Shazam, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, , Edge of Darkness, The Legend of Zorro, Zero Dark Thirty, Racing Stripes, , and Where the Wild Things Are.[3]
| Year | Title | Second unit director | Second unit director of photography | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Peter Jackson | |||
| 2002 | ||||
| 2003 | ||||
| 2005 | The Legend of Zorro | Martin Campbell | ||
| Racing Stripes | Frederik Du Chau | |||
| 2006 | The Painted Veil | John Curran | ||
| Charlotte's Web | Gary Winick | |||
| 2007 | Jay Russell | |||
| 2008 | Andrew Adamson | |||
| 2009 | Aliens in the Attic | John Schultz | ||
| The International | Tom Tykwer | |||
| Where the Wild Things Are | Spike Jonze | |||
| 2010 | Edge of Darkness | Martin Campbell | ||
| Michael Apted | ||||
| 2011 | Green Lantern | Martin Campbell | ||
| 2012 | The Avengers | Joss Whedon | ||
| Snow White and the Huntsman | Rupert Sanders | |||
| Zero Dark Thirty | Kathryn Bigelow | |||
| 2013 | Alan Taylor | |||
| 2014 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Marc Webb | ||
| 2015 | Joss Whedon | |||
| Ant-Man | Peyton Reed | |||
| 2016 | Gareth Edwards | |||
| 2017 | Jon Watts | |||
| 2018 | Aquaman | James Wan | ||
| The Meg | Jon Turteltaub | |||
| 2019 | Shazam! | David F. Sandberg | ||
| 2020 | Mulan | Niki Caro | ||
| 2021 | Home Sweet Home Alone | Dan Mazer | ||
| 2023 | Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom | James Wan | ||