He has been mentioned as a major influence on the thinking of David Cameron and other Tories in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis. He advocates a civic state as the ideal, where the common good of society is valued and solutions emerge from local communities. Blond's ideas also parallel the socioeconomic tradition of distributism, as is evidenced by Blond's appearance at a distributist conference at Oxford University in 2009 sponsored by the G. K. Chesterton Institute for Faith and Culture. Blond's Red Toryism has been embraced by traditionalist conservatives in the United States, such as journalists Rod Dreher and economist John Medaille. The editors of the web log "Front Porch Republic", however, define Red Toryism as a ""left" or "socialist" conservatism" and further go on to say that it is "not a traditionalism that happened to oddly pick up a few egalitarian rhetorical tropes along the way." This is more in keeping with the typical dictionary definition of the term as: "(Canadian) a Conservative who holds liberal or mildly socialist views on certain fiscal and social issues." In this regard, Phillip Blond's views are probably closer to what has been referred to as High Tory. American Society of Cinematographers  The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinematography and gather a wide range of cinematographers to discuss techniques and ideas and to advocate for motion pictures as a type of art form. Currently, the president of the ASC is Kees van Oostrum. Members use the post-nominal letters "ASC". On the 1920 film titled "Sand", cinematographer Joseph H. August, who was an original member of the ASC, became the first individual to have the "ASC" appear after his name on the onscreen credit. Only film cinematographers and special effect supervisors can become an ASC member. Basic requirements include being a director of photography for a minimum five out of the last eight years, having a high professional reputation and being recommended by three active or retired ASC members. In the beginning of cinema, directors and photographers in the United States had a similar problem: they had "big, ugly white streaks" that resulted from static electricity discharged from the cameras. Two separate groups in the United States worked together to find a solution to this problem. The two groups were the Cinema Camera Club and the Static Club of America.