Like many young dreamers before him, immigrant son John A. Alonzo moved to Hollywood to be an actor. He found his true calling, however, behind the camera and became one of the premiere cinematographers of post-1960 Hollywood. Through interviews with stars, directors, and fellow cinematographers, the documentary looks at how he broke the mold--on and off screen. Overcoming the old boy network to become the first Mexican-American allowed in the cinematographers’ union, John A. Alonzo also helped blaze the trail for applying energetic documentary techniques to feature films, often shouldering the camera himself to get up close and personal with the characters.