Brianne Murphy, ASC was the first woman invited to join the American Society of Cinematographers (1980). She was the first woman to win a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Cinematography (Five Finger Discount) (1978) as well as the first woman to be nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series — One Hour (Breaking Away) (1981). Throughout her career, she was nominated for four Emmys (three Primetime and one Daytime) and won an Academy Award for Scientific and Engineering Achievement (1982).

She was also the first woman to serve as director of photography on a major studio film (Fatso) (1980) and the first woman to join the Cinematographers Guild (1973)