In 2008 Tom Houghton received an Emmy nomination for his DP work on the critically acclaimed FX television series “Rescue Me” starring Denis Leary, produced by Leary and Peter Tolan, which he shot for seven seasons, through 2011. He also DP’d the CBS series “Love Monkey” starring Tom Cavanagh, “Canterbury’s Law” starring Julianna Margulies for Fox Television, early episodes of NBC’s “30 Rock,” the 2012 MTV series “I Just Want My Pants Back” produced by Doug Liman (“Bourne Identity”) and did additional first unit photography on NBC’s “Smash.”
Tom Houghton's most recent feature film, “They Came Together,” starring Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd and directed by David Wain, will be released by Lions Gate in 2013. He also photographed “Finding Amanda,” written and directed by “Rescue Me” co-creator Peter Tolan and starring Matthew Broderick, Brittany Snow, Maura Tierney and Steve Coogan. His other DP feature work includes the Warner Bros. release “Fire Down Below” starring Steven Seagal, Marg Helgenberger, Stephen Lange, Kris Kristofferson and Harry Dean Stanton, directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá; “The Cookout” starring Danny Glover, Meagan Good, Jenifer Lewis, JaRule and Queen Latifah and “State Property 2” (a Lions Gate Release) directed by Damon Dash, starring Beanie Siegel, Young Guns, Freeway and Noreaga. Second unit and F/X unit DP work includes: “Spider-Man,” “Spider-Man 2,” “Godsend” (starring Robert De Niro,) “STAY,” “Stuart Little 2,” “Deeds” and “Path to War,” directed by John Frankenheimer.
Houghton has photographed a number of independent features and shorts including “By Courier” directed by Peter Riegert, which was nominated for an Academy Award®, and “Jazz Night” directed by Wallis Nicita, starring Beverly D'Angelo and John Heard, which was presented as part of Lifetime Television's Third Annual Women's Film Festival.
Houghton has also photographed major commercials for Federal Express, AT&T, MCI, Bloomingdale’s and Coke and has been a regular contributor to “Saturday Night Live,” shooting parody commercials with Jerry Seinfeld, Kelly Ripa and The Olsen Twins. Earlier in his career, he photographed the feature length documentary film "The Beat Generation: An American Dream," with William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso, directed by Janet Forman.
Houghton’s film career began in high school at a local TV station in Redding, California. He attended London’s Slade School of Fine Arts and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in film from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts