“
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
Matthew Lewis
AN ALL-TIME
TECHNICAL MASTERPIECE .”
“ THE LONG TAKES ARE CLEVERLY AND SEAMLESSLY EXECUTED. THEY ONLY SERVE TO MAKE THE SHOW STRONGER IN NEARLY EVERY WAY.”
“STUNNING.
“One of the best shows of the year.”
This month’s Interview Issue got me thinking about the tens of thousands of people I’ve worked with over my 50-plus-year career in the film and television industry. Not just in the U.S., of course, but all over the world – Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Thailand, Japan, China – you name it. What I’ve found over that time is that despite the many different cultures that are involved, the world of filmmaking is symbiotic. Even though crews might not speak the same language, one thing we do all share is the language of filmmaking.
There’s a mutual understanding with the work we all do and this great mix of creativity and technical skill that links us all together. One thing I’ve also found to be true wherever films are made: to receive respect, you have to respect others, and that means respecting someone else’s culture at all times. Collaboration is at the heart of what we do, so even if there are multiple languages being spoken on a set, pulling together as a team – and everyone understanding the common language of filmmaking – is how we get the work done.
As for getting the work done, I’m proud of the three years I’ve spent as Local 600’s national president and what we accomplished as a union, together. Were there challenges? You bet there were. But recovering from COVID, searching for a new national executive director, withstanding
back-to-back strikes and then going into negotiations were all moments in this union’s history that I will look back on with pride. Working closely with our National Executive Board, we gave this membership support through the toughest of times. For me, events like our large holiday parties and our first-ever family picnic show that this union is not only made up of working families; we are a family ourselves.
As your outgoing president, I want to emphasize my support for every member in every region in this union, especially those in my home state of California. It’s here, where the largest percentage of Local 600 members work and live, that a new incentives bill is working its way through the state legislature. And although it will help bring work back to Hollywood, it’s not just a California bill; I firmly believe these added tax incentives will help bring motion picture production back to the entire country.
That’s why my plan, as I leave office, is to do all I can to continue to support the members of Local 600, and particularly those union film workers here in California.
Thank you for giving me the honor of serving this membership.
Baird Benton Steptoe Sr
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CONTRIBUTORS
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Jessica Kourkounis
Margot Lester
Jon Silberg
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
John Lindley, ASC, Co-Chair
Chris Silano, Co-Chair
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June/July 2025 vol. 96 no. 05
IATSE Local 600
NATIONAL PRESIDENT
Baird B Steptoe VICE PRESIDENT Chris Silano
1ST NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT
Deborah Lipman
2ND NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT Mark Weingartner, ASC
NATIONAL SECRETARY-TREASURER Stephen Wong
NATIONAL ASSISTANT SECRETARY-TREASURER Jamie Silverstein
NATIONAL SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Betsy Peoples
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Alex Tonisson
ADVERTISING POLICY: Readers should not assume that any products or services advertised in International Cinematographers Guild Magazine are endorsed by the International Cinematographers Guild. Although the Editorial staff adheres to standard industry practices in requiring advertisers to be “truthful and forthright,” there has been no extensive screening process by either International Cinematographers Guild Magazine or the International Cinematographers Guild.
EDITORIAL POLICY: The International Cinematographers Guild neither implicitly nor explicitly endorses opinions or political statements expressed in International Cinematographers Guild Magazine. ICG Magazine considers unsolicited material via email only, provided all submissions are within current Contributor Guideline standards. All published material is subject to editing for length, style and content, with inclusion at the discretion of the Executive Editor and Art Director. Local 600, International Cinematographers Guild, retains all ancillary and expressed rights of content and photos published in ICG Magazine and icgmagazine.com, subject to any negotiated prior arrangement. ICG Magazine regrets that it cannot publish letters to the editor.
ICG (ISSN 1527-6007)
Ten issues published annually by The International Cinematographers Guild 7755 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA, 90046, U.S.A. Periodical postage paid at Los Angeles, California. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ICG 7755 Sunset Boulevard Hollywood, California 90046
Copyright 2024, by Local 600, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. Entered as Periodical matter, September 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Subscriptions: $88.00 of each International Cinematographers Guild member’s annual dues is allocated for an annual subscription to International Cinematographers Guild Magazine. Non-members may purchase an annual subscription for $48.00 (U.S.), $82.00 (Foreign and Canada) surface mail and $117.00 air mail per year. Single Copy: $4.95
The International Cinematographers Guild Magazine has been published monthly since 1929. International Cinematographers Guild Magazine is a registered trademark. www.icgmagazine.com www.icg600.com
une/July, the second of four print issues, is themed around our yearly Interview section, which has gone through various iterations over the years. What began in 2010 as a way to hear from ICG members around the Alliance has grown over time into an annual treat of voices from all over the entertainment industry. Past Interview sections included stellar teams of union members – directors of photography and locations managers, lighting designers and board programmers, operators and camera assistants, unit stills and photo editors and many more. We’ve featured stand-alone Q&A’s with unit and studio publicists, video controllers, chief lighting technicians, editors, 1st AD’s, production designers, technologists, colorists, film archivists, VFX supervisors, stunt coordinators, producers, and UPM’s – anyone and everyone who works in our industry.
For this issue, I’m pleased to report, we get to hear from three industry craft segments that have not enjoyed nearly enough real estate in this magazine: drone operators, commercial DP’s and live-sports shooters.
Starting in the skies, we have Dexter Kennedy, who co-founded his own drone/aerials firm after learning the craft with New Jersey-based rentals group Monster Remotes. Kennedy notes (in Margot Lester’s article, page 61) “that as drone technology has advanced, it has transformed the way we approach aerial cinematography. The more reliable the drones and their systems become, the less time we spend troubleshooting and dealing with technical issues.”
Next up is Pittsburgh, PA-based drone operator John Tremba, working on Season 3 of the Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown. Tremba began his career with Iron City Grips, where he began constructing remote-control flyers from bounce-board remains. “Talk about a learning curve!” he laughs. “Weight distribution, center of gravity, lift. I failed many times before I could fully fly and control one of my aircraft. My father watched me and insisted I purchase a drone, so I did: a DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus. I couldn’t wait to bring it to set!”
Finally, there’s Chicago-based Director of Photography Michael Monar, working on Season 2 of Dark Matter . An early advocate for drone
operators to be included in the Guild, Monar worked closely with former Central Region Local 600 Business Representative Justin Conway to help get drone work recognized as an accepted union classification by the studios. “I was troubled by the recurring theme of being told by major studios that I would need to invoice for labor for myself and crew instead of going on timecard as union members – or they would find someone else to do the job,” recalls Monar, whose company, Monar Aero Inc., provides drones, stabilized remote heads, cable cams and their operators to Midwest productions. “The fact that they wouldn’t even include my camera operators under Local 600 was particularly problematic.”
Closer to the ground we have two camera operators who have spent more than three decades shooting live sports. Although Huntington Beach, CA-based Denise Marble has had a passion for surfing her entire life, her favorite sport to shoot is NHL hockey. “The game camera is particularly challenging,” Marble shares, “because it’s taken live for most of the game. You must follow the puck wide and usually include all the players while trying to make all your moves smooth – you try not to whip abruptly when the puck is shot all the way to the other end of the ice.”
L.A.-based John “Jumpin’” Weinsheim is something of a legend among sports operators. Weinsheim went from being a bike-repair tech in a local shop to working with the pioneers of SoCal live sports, Kurt Struve, Dennis Shannon, Andy Italiano, and Lester Booker – “all the guys who were doing it before the work was unionized,” Weinsheim recounts. “I heard John Trask, Struve and Shannon saying to sports camera people, ‘We’ve got to get organized.’ And that’s how I got started with the sports bargaining unit,” he adds. “I went around telling everybody, ‘If you want to start getting costof-living increases every year and health benefits, you need to come and join us because we’re going places and doing things.’ And that’s what I still tell them now.”
“Going places and doing things” is a wonderful metaphor for all the many voices who have contributed to our Interview section over the years, and this June/July issue is no exception. So, please, dive in (hands first since this is print!) and enjoy.
David Geffner Executive Editor Email: david@icgmagazine.com
To Catch A Thief, Stop Motion
“When I started on Your Friends and Neighbors I had just come off of another Apple TV+ series called Dope Thief. A number of folks from the camera crew were on both shows and it had a great family feel. The shows were both crime-related, but they couldn’t have been more different going from the gritty streets of Philadelphia to the posh homes of Westchester. The one thing that is always the same, though, is my love for the crews I work with and the new people I meet.”
Web Exclusive: The Four Seasons “I’ve covered this industry for more than 25 years, and I’m also a Local 600 Stills member. Speaking with Director of Photography Tim Orr for the Netflix series The Four Seasons, which is based on the 1981 feature film, I found that with the source material and this new series, the cinematography was often about capturing the beauty of the characters’ lush vacation spots without letting it overshadow the comedy and drama – a delicate balance that Orr effectively pulls off.”
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This versatile slider-skater combo adapts to Chapman and Fisher tracks, as well as to the Speed-Rail. It can even be configured to under-sling the camera, so the Speed Rail is above the crew and talent. The rig comes with adjustable three-foot and four-foot tracks that can be mounted to the dolly. You can configure it to slide on an extension ladder or a wooden twoby-four, remove the camera plate and deploy it as a skater to slide on any smooth surface or table. Also in the package are L-brackets that secure the Slider and act as a brake. The rig is toolless, relying on a stepped universal ball/bowl head adapter and a four-keyway Mitchell mount. “It allows you to get those tough shots in tight spaces with ease, offering incredible flexibility and stability,” notes Operator Leslie Morris. “Whether you’re navigating narrow corridors or shooting in cramped environments, the SLIDE-R1 delivers smooth, professional-grade results every time. It’s a must-have on any set.”
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BY MARGOT LESTER
Disaster recovery is a complex endeavor. Restoring lives and livelihoods takes time and a phalanx of supporters, including friends and family, mutual aid groups, government agencies and – for Local 600 members – The Richard F. Walsh/Alfred W. Di Tolla/Harold P. Spivak Foundation. The charitable organization has been releasing funds to IATSE members and retirees affected by natural disasters to pay for food, clothing, shelter and other necessities. Its most recent effort benefited Southern California union members trying to rebuild after the January fires.
While the fires blazed, IATSE staff reached out to members in identified burn and evacuation zones to offer support and financial assistance. “This sort of focused outreach got members help when they were overwhelmed and still trying to figure out which way to turn,” remembers IATSE International Vice President (and 16-year Local 600 member) Vanessa
Holtgrewe. As things settled down, IATSE used its communications channels and Local offices to get the word out. Applications are submitted through Local offices to keep the process streamlined and responsive.
Funded primarily by IATSE members and administered through the Union’s Disaster Response Committee, the foundation donates 100 percent of the money raised to members in need. “At the end of the day, it’s members helping members,” says committee member Steven Chaussee.
To date, in support of L.A. Wildfire relief, the fund has awarded $1,018,391 to 379 members, and applications are still being accepted.
Holtgrewe and Vice President Mike Miller were at the IATSE West Coast office to meet with members picking up relief checks.
“To see members’ charity in action turned the concept of union strength into a powerful
reality,” Holtgrewe adds. “We’re stronger when we stick together. Always. This was also evident at the IATSE, Teamsters and Basic Crafts resource fair that the West Coast locals quickly put together to connect impacted members with resources. Local 600 was there every step of the way. I’m very proud of my Local and union!”
Chaussee agrees. “The overwhelming solidarity and generosity from fellow members and Locals have been remarkable,” he notes. “The collective effort to support those affected despite the significant pullback of film and TV production in the region, and the country more broadly, showcases the strength of our union community.”
The Walsh Di Tolla Spivak fund began to offer scholarships to children of IATSE members supporting their educational pursuits. As climate change has accelerated, however, the foundation evolved into a broader disaster-relief fund, encompassing, Chaussee says, “both immediate aid and long-term investment in members’ families.
“It’s not just the severity of individual [climate] incidents, it’s the frequency too,” Chaussee continues. “The rise in climaterelated disasters has prompted the foundation and the International’s Disaster Response Committee to enhance preparedness and response strategies. Each disaster is different and warrants adapting our operations to ensure timely and effective support for members facing such challenges, but we’re as prepared as any labor union in the movement for the next disaster.”
In fact, IATSE has a legacy of responding to major disasters. Members were part of the effort to keep Ground Zero illuminated during the search-and-recovery work after the 9/11 attacks and helped the federal government and FEMA construct field hospitals and vaccination sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Walsh DiTolla Spivak Disaster Relief Fund is part of that legacy,” Chaussee says. “From January 1, 2018 to today, we have given out $1,398,182 in disaster relief. We’ve learned the importance of swift action and clear communication in disaster response. Timely assistance not only helps alleviate some of the hardest moments some members will ever face, but also lets folks know their union sisters, brothers, and kin are behind them in and out of the workplace.”
BY MARGOT LESTER PHOTOS COURTESY OF EMILY RUSSO
“As a born-and-raised Cincinnatian who never headed out to ‘make it’ in L.A. or New York, I care deeply about this city and the crews who work here,” asserts 2nd AC Emily Russo. “They’re the ones who supported me, taught me what I know, and helped me get to where I am. I still think it’s incredible that I’ve been able to build a career in my hometown.”
Such sentiments are why Russo is such a big booster for Midwestern crews. “Out-oftowners come here all the time with low – or no – expectations,” she laments. “But then they get on set with us. They see how hard we work, how prepared we are, how much we know – and every time, their expectations are blown out of the water. During production
they go out and enjoy the city – typically OTR, Downtown, The Banks, Findlay Market and Northside. So, when a show is over and they say they’ll miss it here, I believe them.
“The same people who didn’t even know we had a film industry end up saying they’d come back for another show anytime,” Russo adds. “To me, that just proves what we already know: Cincinnati is a great city, and our crew here is the real deal. And that feels good.”
What doesn’t feel so good, Russo explains, is a long-standing perception of the region that persists, to the detriment of the Queen of the West’s film community and the industry overall. “Too many decisions are made based on assumptions about this city – assumptions
that fall apart the moment someone steps on one of our sets and works with our crew,” Russo continues. “And I think it’s about time that changes. Film and film production are a part of our culture, and we deserve to be part of the national conversation within this industry.”
Russo joined the Local 600 community in 2019 after studying electronic media at the University of Cincinnati. She completed certificates in Film & Media Studies and Creative Writing and began learning photography, which led to her appreciation for cinematography. She interned on Miles Ahead (2015) while still in college, which introduced her to the professional film community and led
to more opportunities. After graduating, Russo landed gigs as a PA, in the production office, and even in transportation, which gave her a broader understanding of the industry. A lot of the work was in nearby Louisville, Kentucky, which, she says, “sees a lot of indies and gets more films per year than most people realize. It was the perfect place to start my transition into the camera department. Louisville’s film community embraced me, and I’m grateful for the start I got there.”
Her career peak (so far) was loading film on Nutcrackers (2024), shot on 35mm by 19-year Local 600 Director of Photography Michael Simmonds. “I had done training with Local 600 pre-COVID,” Russo reflects. “But Nutcrackers was my first real chance to load for real. I was further trained and then handed full responsibility when our loader left for the holidays. Working with film is rare these days, and being trusted with something so specialized made me feel proud and incredibly grateful.” Russo also loaded film on 2024’s Liz
Here Now, shot in 16mm by Kyle McConaghy. “Film loading is a role I really enjoy and hope to do more of. While I love my hometown, I’m happy to travel!”
Training isn’t the only thing Russo appreciates about the Union.
“It protects working people,” she explains. “Film sets can be unsafe, unpredictable and demanding. We work incredibly long hours and are often doing manual labor. Having a union means having a safety net – for your health, your pay and your time. Most of us are working-class freelancers just trying to stay afloat. The union is there so we don’t have to navigate this alone. For many crew members, especially in right-to-work states like Kentucky, union representation is still unfamiliar. If I can be a bridge to that knowledge and help others understand their rights, I’m happy to do it.”
Russo participated in her first flip on a non-union project last year. “When the IA reached out to the crew about organizing, I was both excited and nervous,” she
remembers. “Pretty quickly, I realized I had more information – and a direct line to my rep – than most people on set. Even though a good portion of the crew were already union members, many were fairly new or hadn’t been through anything like this before. There was a lot of uncertainty and confusion, so I did my best to share what I knew and help people feel a little more grounded in what to expect.” Chicago-based Central Region Local 600 Business Representative Ashurina Atto was indispensable, Russo says, keeping her updated, answering questions, and building her confidence. “Ashurina’s support made all the difference.”
The crew struck for two days before a deal was reached.
“It felt like a real win, and a powerful learning experience for everyone involved,” Russo concludes. “It gave the crew a stronger appreciation for what it means to be in a union and how much strength we have when we stand together.”
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BY MARGOT LESTER PHOTOS BY JESSICA KOURKOUNIS / APPLE TV+ DIRECTOR YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS
Growing up in Cincinnati, Stephanie Laing liked watching people go about their lives. The more she watched, the more she noticed the minor quirks that make mundane daily activities unique and special. Using her keen observational skills, Laing says she witnessed how tiny details and individual characteristics can make stories come alive.
Pursuing her love for storytelling, Laing studied journalism in college, working her way through school as a bank teller. A customer who ran a commercial production company hired her to PA, and when film productions came to town, she started working for them as well. This was her entry into film and TV production. She left Cincinnati for Los Angeles, eventually working on Tracey Ullman’s ground-breaking, awardwinning shows.
Laing says these early experiences made her a “planner and a big believer in prep. I also know how to budget and, therefore, what things cost,” she laughs. “I always knew I wanted to be a director, but first I needed to figure out what stories I wanted to tell and how I wanted to tell them.”
The DGA member recently formed her own production company, Cake or Death Pictures, which launched with Laing’s third feature, Tow,
starring Rose Byrne, Octavia Spencer and Ariana DeBose. The project, which hits the festival circuit this fall, is based on the true story of Amanda Ogle, an unhoused Seattle woman whose life is upended after the car that held it all together is impounded and the towing company demands a whopping $21,634 to hand back over the keys. Laing previously directed Netflix’s Irreplaceable You and Family Squares, which she co-wrote with Brad Morris.
Her TV directorial credits include the Amazon series Mammals, written by Jez Butterworth; the pilot and multiple episodes of the Max series Made For Love; and many more. More recently, she’s helmed different episodics for Apple TV+, including the streamer’s Emmynominated shows Palm Royale and Physical , which she also executive produced. Her latest Apple project is Your Friends & Neighbors , which reunites her with Showrunner/Writer/ Producer Jonathan Tropper, whom she first met on Banshee and who produced all three of her feature films. Your Friends & Neighbors, which was already renewed for Season 2, follows a disgraced hedge fund manager (Jon Hamm), who robs his rich pals to cover his enormous living expenses.
ICG correspondent Margot Lester sat down with the L.A.-based director to get the details.
ICG: You’ve had a nice run recently with Apple episodics. What’s the appeal? Stephanie Laing: I’ve done a lot of work with Apple and directed a lot of TV for them, and they could not be better partners. They’re always supportive of the creatives and have smart notes. I’m drawn to stories that are character-driven and portray people in honest ways, flaws and all; and Jonathan [Topper] is an incredible writer. I would describe Your Friends and Neighbors as heightened naturalism – gritty, refined and grounded in the real world, while we’re watching our characters make very bad decisions.
Does your approach vary from TV to features? SL: I approach the storytelling the same way in film or TV. Protecting the characters, tone and story are the three most important things. You start with a character [who’s] authentic and grounded in reality. What does that character want scene by scene? What’s the information being given in the scene? What do we want the audience to feel? What is the character feeling? What are they learning? If you start there, you can drill down to how they behave, how they walk, and what their physical tics are. You start to focus on real performance. For example, when I was
doing Physical with Rose Byrne, there was a scene where she and others at the rehab facility all jump in a pool. I worked with the cast to decide how each character jumps into the pool because everybody gets in the pool a different way. Knowing a little detail like that helps me focus on those things in the scene to make it more real.
Tell us more about tone. Protecting tone is everything. If you’re doing a scene at the Berlin Wall and the audience doesn’t believe you’re in Berlin or at the Berlin Wall, then they can only focus on the fact that it’s not really at the Berlin Wall! It takes them out of the story. Protecting the tone is also playing the levels. Let’s say it’s an emotional scene, a fight scene where someone’s yelling at the end. You can deliver that line as a yell and then try one where it’s just a whisper. You may find in the edit that the softer voice is tonally where you want it to be, and that the scream goes too far. It extends to wardrobe and props, too. If you want a prop to say something, it has to say the right thing, or it shouldn’t say anything at all.
And the story itself. How do you protect that? In episodic, a story is over the entire season and carried from season to season – it doesn’t
always pay off right away. So protecting the story is tracking every character’s arc, where they are within their story, and then also from more of a bird’s-eye view – where is their character this season, what are you setting up for the next season and what are you calling back to from the previous season? That’s about working closely with the showrunner and the writers to map it all out so that you don’t miss something.
You’ve done a lot of comedic work but Your Friends & Neighbors checks the dramatic boxes. Humor has been a way through a lot of grief in my life, and it certainly shows up in the stories I tell. I jokingly say comedy is the only thing that hasn’t tried to kill me. [Laughs.] But here I am on this drama with this incredible cast, and I’m still finding organic moments to infuse or shine a light on some darkly comedic moments that are authentic to the tone of the series.
Tell us about working with the show’s Director of Photography, Zack Galler. I hadn’t worked with Zack before, but now we speak telepathically – and I’m only halfjoking! Zack and I have a great collaborative partnership. We start with each episode as
its own little movie within the season and drill down from there. We look at what emotions the characters are feeling and what each scene is telling us and then pull visuals to share. Also, we both like to push the limits and are always finding ways to elevate the material visually while maintaining unique styles. Zack has incredible instincts and taste. He’s always curious and seeking new ways to tell the story, and he’s a true collaborator. Just today we were looking at unique lenses for an upcoming episode of Season 2. He’s an artist who elevates everything he does.
Of the three episodes you shot, which sequences stand out for you? I loved developing the sequence in 108 with the boys out on the town. I equally love the arrest of Coop in episode 107.
Let’s talk about the arrest first. This show does a lot of Steadicam. We have a very active camera, but we also know when to settle and let the audience take a breath and come back into the story. While Zack and I love doing fun shots, we’re also aware of whose point of view the scene is being told from. And this scene is a great example. Some of it is from the point of view of the people watching it happen, some
is us seeing Coop as the audience, and some is Coop seeing others’ reactions. Zack and I worked closely to track all those different perspectives, from the minute he enters the scene, where Coop is, and where all the friends and neighbors are. I wanted to make sure that we saw each of their faces because they all have their own storylines that we’re also tracking. For instance, how does Matt Roush, who plays Gordy Hughes, react to Coop getting arrested? How do Mel, Coop’s ex-wife [Amanda Peet], and his new girlfriend, Samantha [Olivia Munn], react? And how does Coop experience it? This is what he’s been afraid of since we first met him, but he’s been hiding it, and now he’s going to be arrested in front of everybody. It’s humiliating, and he tries to hide his panic. Zack and I worked carefully to frame Coop in certain ways. Sometimes he’s center-punched, and other times he’s not, giving you the hint that things are slightly off.
And that final scene in the club…I jokingly called it The Hangover episode. Those sequences are so fun. I got to think about how Coop and his friends would party, how they would dance. I had individual conversations with each of the cast. I said to Hoon Lee, who plays Barney, “I think you do the Worm. Can
you do the Worm?” And he was up for the challenge. I found inspiration for Coop and the way he dances that was very funny to me. Jon Hamm was completely into it and elevated it in a way that only Jon Hamm can. What I loved about that moment [in the] scene is that we didn’t tell Jonathan or the other writers on set what our shots were, and watching their faces was…[laughs]. The action is crazy, and then in the last shot on the dance floor, Coop disappears in the crowd of people.
Jonathan Tropper described that shot to me as the “chef’s kiss.” I could tell when we shot it because I turned around and he was screaming! It’s fun when you work with such a collaborative group. That’s the other thing I will say about Jonathan: he’s open to ideas and so collaborative. I’ve known him a very long time, and I couldn’t speak more highly of that relationship. It’s so cool, like my relationship with Zack. The writers write something, and then everybody is elevating it, down to [Local 600 Camera Operator] Phil [Martinez], who’s crazy good on the Steadicam, and [B-Camera Operator] Justin [Foster], who’s doing his thing. Everyone’s piling on with ideas to ultimately land on something that you hope resonates with audiences.
THE NEW MAX SERIES DUSTER, FROM J.J. ABRAMS AND LATOYA MORGAN, REVELS IN 1970S ACTION TV, BACKDROPPED BY NEW MEXICO’S STUNNING DESERT VISTAS.
BY MATT HURWITZ
A payphone in the middle of the Arizona desert rings as a fire-engine-red 1970 Plymouth muscle car zooms down the highway. It makes a flying stop, its badging announcing into the lens the word Duster. The car’s driver, Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway), jumps out, gets his instructions from the unseen voice on the phone, and jumps back into his desert chariot, burning a 180-degree spin before he continues on his way. Thus starts this new HBO MAX episodic series from Bad Robot, Tinkertoy Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. Observes the series’ cowriter/EP and co-creator (alongside J.J. Abrams), LaToya Morgan, “It’s the first time we introduce Jim in his world. You see him, and you see the car – those are two of our main characters.”
Duster charts Jim’s journey, as he meets a newly-arrived young FBI agent, Nina Hayes (Rachel Hilson), who begins to cast doubt on Jim’s relationship with his longtime mentor/ boss, Ezra Saxton (Keith David), a Black crime kingpin in Phoenix. (Hayes is the first black female FBI agent in the city.) The payphone scene was actually Abrams’s starting point when he met Morgan, as the pair decided to develop the series.
“J.J. had this kernel of an idea, just an image of the phone booth in the desert,” Morgan adds. “But he didn’t have anything else. So we started to flesh it out and build it together. We wanted to make something that felt like those shows we no longer see on the air,” like The Dukes of Hazzard and Starsky and Hutch, which combined crime solving and hot cars, “but also with a certain degree of freshness.”
The concept appealed to Local 600 Director of Photography Celiana Cárdenas, AMC, who grew up in Mexico City watching those same shows on her local TV station. “It gave me a sense of nostalgia,” Cárdenas notes. “So when Duster came along, I knew I had to do it. And how cool is it to have a female DP doing an action show, with cars, chases, and fights? I feel very privileged.”
Cárdenas was tasked with putting together the camera team, even before her co-DP, Paul Elliott, was brought on board, a recommendation from Producer/Director Patrick Cady. Director Steph Green, who shot her four episodes with Paul while Cárdenas worked with director Darren Grant, calls it “a gift” to work with Elliott. “Paul lived and shot film through that period,” Green marvels. “He has an encyclopedic knowledge of that workflow.”
Elliott, who shot the first two-episode block, also worked with Abrams, Morgan, Green, and Production Designer Jonah Markowitz to develop the look of the series, which takes place in 1972. Key to that goal, explains Markowitz, was to steer clear of the way the 1970s have come to be represented on film in recent years.
“Younger generations think everything in that period looks like That 70s Show, with flower prints, bell bottoms, and disco balls everywhere,” he laughs. “It’s almost like the way we’ve come to represent the era, but it didn’t look like that.” Adds Green, “For us, it was always keeping a close eye to never going into pastiche or parody.” Markowitz was quick to create a palette rooted in primary colors. “In the references in my lookbook,
none of those typical ‘70s’ colors – greens, pinks, purples, oranges – are there. It’s all these primary colors,” he explains.
Elliott also worked with Company 3 Colorist/Founder Stefan Sonnenfeld to provide a pair of LUT’s, one for daytime, borrowed from another Sonnenfeld project. “It’s a warmer LUT,” notes DIT Tim Gregoire. “Paul and the EP’s wanted to have it feel nostalgic. Like pulling Polaroids out of an old shoebox.” A second LUT, used for night exteriors, favored cold shadows, but with warm highlights and sodium vapor light. Elliott also leaned towards a more saturated look, to help bring the image into the right period, more than he would for a contemporary film.
Chief Lighting Technician Ray Ortega, a frequent collaborator of Elliott’s, says the DP “prefers to light a room from outside, giving the actors space to work. And having leads like Holloway and David, with both light and dark complexions. That’s the genius of Paul,” Ortega adds. “It’s a dark room, and you’ve got to bring in light. You still want a dark look, to feel Saxton’s dark office. So we placed a couple of big heads outside the
two windows, and we have 4 by 4 frames with SkyPanel S60s behind them, to control the fill.” The pair also found a new favorite: Aputure MC Pro fixtures. “They’re fairly new small LED tubes, which we can hide anywhere and have complete control over them,” Ortega describes. “Even in Saxton’s office, we could keep the motivation of the windows, but provide Keith an eye light by placing a two-foot Aputure tube clipped onto a small painter’s pole.”
Another set where lighting design played a key part is the FBI office interior, which filled an entire stage at Cinelease Studios, Albuquerque, one of three stages the show used at the facility. For that set, Markowitz delivered a fully open space, allowing the cast to be filmed from any direction. “We’ve seen a million FBI sets from that period,” Markowitz offers. “So we decided, ‘Let’s make ours stand out.’ The trans light was lit with ladder lights, 24 ARRI T12 studio incandescents were rigged high outside the windows as sunlight for the hot desert look.”
“The set had multiple layers, which is something I always love,” Cárdenas notes. “You could play with focus and depth of field because you could see everything.”
Also key to the design was a ceiling
with 230 individual coffers – each with its own controllable ARRI SkyPanel S60C. “You basically have 240 softboxes you can independently control for color temperature and intensity,” Markowitz explains, which, Elliott adds, “we could easily warm up for night scenes.” That was borne out in the many scenes of Hayes and fellow FBI agent Awan Bitsui (Asivak Koostachin) working into the night. The ARRI S60s above were at a working level, with the remainder dimmed 30 percent lower, allowing the size and emptiness of the space to remain visible.
“It’s just enough to feel they’re in their own space, but you still feel the world around them,” states Cárdenas.
Shooting Albuquerque for Phoenix allowed the filmmakers to take advantage of New Mexico’s strong filmmaking infrastructure and crews, as well as its beautiful vistas and skies. And with three seasons of Dark Winds behind him, Elliott had a strong pool to draw from; all local hires except Chilean-born A-Camera/Steadicam Operator Manolo Rojas, SOC (recommended by Cárdenas from the series A Friend of the Family they’d shot in 2022), Key Grip Trevor
Rogers (known for his extensive car work), and Ortega.
Rojas, who was the only Steadicam operator in Chile for 19 years, has used the classic rig for more than three decades. One of his preferred methods is one he calls “rough Steadicam,” grabbing the rig with both hands when running with a character, something one couldn’t do with handheld due to camera bounce. “With the Steadi, you can run full speed,” Rojas shares, “and then switch back to soft, academic Steadi, and never have to cut.” New Mexico-based Chris Taylor, SOC, operated B-Camera. The pair worked well together, both in dramatic scenes and fights, crafting complementary frames. “Chris is so good at finding shots,” Rojas adds. “He has his phone in his hand all the time, and when we’re planning the A-Camera, he’s always looking for an interesting shot.” Pulling focus for Rojas was 1st AC Liza Bambenek. B-Camera focus was handled by Sebastian Vega (before the show paused due to the WGA/SAG strikes) and then picked up by Cheri Barnard.
Elliott and Cárdenas landed on the ALEXA Mini LF for its image quality and ability to make use of wide-angle lenses. The series was shot at a 2:1 aspect ratio,
with Panavision Anamorphic G Series and T Series lenses (with the rear elements expanded on each of the two sets provided). “There’s an incredible amount of falloff on these particular lenses,” Bambenek explains. “They were made for 35-millimeter production, and we’re shooting on an LF with ARRIRAW 4.5K. So, we’re using a massive amount of the sensor, well beyond the sweet spot of these lenses. And we had to rename all of the lenses, for accuracy, using finders,” with Artemis’ Nic Sadler helping to do the math after the team tested each element. “A lens that came to us as a G Series 35-millimeter ended up becoming a 48-millimeter, and a 40-millimeter became a 54-millimeter,” adds Bambenek. “So, we had a whole odd series of numbers, but everybody got into the groove of using them.”
Another issue the camera team noticed in shooting the first few episodes was that the expanded wide-angle anamorphics tended to bend lines, particularly on establishing shots of the FBI set or the front of Saxton’s office building. “We realized that the wide-angle lenses distorted the image,” Cárdenas notes. “It looked funny, but not in a nice way – it was a bit like being in a
fun house.” The solution lay in obtaining Panavision’s VA spherical primes, for use where a wide-angle lens was needed, ranging from 14mm through 35mm, jumping to the anamorphics thereafter. Two sets of Panavision Anamorphic Telephoto Zooms were also used – a 10:1 50-500mm and 2:1 45-85mm, along with a spherical VA 30-80mm zoom.
Like the shows that inspired it, Duster is filled with fun car chases and expertly choreographed fights. As Morgan describes: “We wanted a swagger to the visual look and style. There’s an attitude to where we place the camera in our fight scenes and action sequences – a boldness in the moves and shot choices that the camera department delivered in spades.” Stunt coordinator Troy Brown worked with the actors and stunt team on a soundstage, taping out the dimensions of the location, sometimes months ahead of the shoot date. “They’ll build the whole thing, with boxes so we could see how it would look in the space,” Cárdenas recalls. Brown would shoot the rehearsals on his phone, and then go over
them with the director, DP and operators. “It really helped,” says Rojas, “because it takes out the guesswork. He’ll show us a shot, and we go, ‘Troy, let’s see. . . Oh – I got it. Let me do that.’”
While many of the fights were built on storyboards ahead of Brown’s work, Green says, “You can only storyboard so far. You need the previs to see what the stunt team is suggesting. You need the stunt coordinator to be savvy enough about where the camera can go, to hide the stunt players. In each setup, there’s this dance – how close can I get with our actors before I have to swap-in our stunt players? The cameras adjust slightly to hide that stunt player – and show the real actor – and then we swap, to get the other character’s perspective.” Adds Cárdenas: “During the shoot, Troy will also be there to help us find the best angle when a punch is thrown. Because we’re looking for performance – but we need the punch to sell.”
One memorable fight takes place in a bowling alley, where Jim battles a gangster named “Sunglasses” (Patrick Warburton) over a pair of blue suede shoes. Markowitz had to update four lanes’ worth of alleys
(at TenPins & More in Rio Rancho) to bring them back to 1972, removing and covering modern scorekeeping equipment and ball returns, with VFX supervisor Pauline Duvall then tiling that into a full facility. Elliott lit the two actors talking in silhouette, noting, “I don’t think I added any lights. I just went with what was there because it worked.”
The fight was choreographed to move the two characters down from the throwing end of the lane to the pinsetter, where Sunglasses meets a messy demise. To get them there –and to make it plausible – Sunglasses’ gun is kicked down the lane, so the audience will follow the fight as each tries to retrieve it. As Rojas recalls: “Chris and I will always shoot from the same axis because you don’t want the audience to get lost. You want people to understand they’re going to the pinsetter.” (Sunglasses’ head-crushing final moment was created on stage with a mockup of the pinsetter rig, a dummy head – with lots of blood – and a precise recreation of the lighting and color tone of the location.)
During the battle, Taylor found magic shots that not only moved things along but helped to tell the story. “Manolo, on the A-Camera, was inside the pinsetter, looking out, capturing the stunt performers in the distance, fighting,” Taylor recalls. “So I had the idea of putting the blue suede shoes in the foreground, with the fight happening out of focus in the background. The audience needs to be reminded what the fight was about – the shoes!”
The centerpiece of the series is, of course, the Duster. Or, more precisely, four 1970 Dusters, each differently equipped by the transportation department and picture car coordinator Ted Moser (who also assembled 65 period-cars for the series). Two were designated for free driving, with one of those souped up with a Corvette engine, manual transmission, shocks, and brakes for stunts, while another had an automatic and nonmatching interior.
Shooting car conversation scenes practically – and there were many – meant mounting cameras in a way that, as Cárdenas put it, “We want it to feel like we are in the car with them. If the car vibrates, the camera does as well.” That job fell to veteran Key Grip Rogers, known for a particular skill with car mounts and special rigs. “I have the process down pretty well, and that’s why Paul likes to have me onboard,” Rogers states. “I’m kind of the key grip that always does car movies,” he laughs.
To that end, Rogers utilizes grip systems comprising suction cups and rods/rails
obtained from Dallas-based 9.Solutions. “Those big, green suction cups are rated for 1200 pounds,” he shares. “Some are stronger than any metal we could put on the car.”
The driving scenes began with the DP identifying shots with a finder, and Rogers marking the spot on the car body with tape. “There’s only so many places to put a camera in a driving scene,” Elliott shares. “So you try and come up with something that’s going to offer a different angle. I might have one camera mounted on the hood, looking back at a two-shot of Josh and Luna. And if there’s a way to get another camera on the side, that might be rigged at the same time. Or we’d have two cameras on the hood – one on a two-shot, and the other would be a single of Josh. We might do a few takes, and then have a single camera swing around to Luna.”
A hostess mount was used to capture those scenes between two characters. In such cases, the conversation is often handled by one camera, with Bambenek doing thoughtful rack focus pulls between them as they talk. “Liza is so smart,” Elliott adds. “With a good focus puller, they feel the scene. They’re on headphones and paying attention to the drama.” Focus pulls were another way to conjure the period, when such moves were typical. “I love telling a story with a cut,” states Green. “But I also love seeing the tension in the frame, as opposed to cutting between the frames for tension. When you keep both characters in frame, you’re keeping the relationship.”
One striking focus pull comes in a car scene in which Jim is sitting with Saxton, who reveals something that makes Jim realize he’s been betrayed. Holloway is seen through a hood-mounted camera, with the focus going from his face to his knuckles, ferociously gripping the steering wheel, and back to his face again. “That was written in the script,” Morgan reveals. “All he can do is white-knuckle the steering wheel. We wanted the audience to feel the impact that moment is having on Jim.”
A key tool for the driving scenes was the Zephyr, provided by Mark Terrien and Camera Cars, Inc. in Albuquerque. Like the Biscuit, Jr., (with which it is often confused), the Zephyr is a self-driving process trailer with a very low platform that can be lowered to the ground for easy mounting of the car. “It’s silent and can go over 100 miles per hour because it’s electric, while the Biscuit uses a gas-powered Cadillac engine,” Rogers explains. The vehicle’s driver operates from a pod, connected via cable to the engine and steering mechanism, which can be easily moved by two grips anywhere along the Zephyr’s frame – front, back, side or top
– allowing it to be placed out of view of any camera. “You wouldn’t doubt for a second the car is driving,” notes 2nd Unit Director Cady.
Car chases were mostly shot by main unit, particularly when principals were seen in shots. But they were also served by 2nd unit, run by Cady, a longtime ICG cinematographer and Producing Director. “We just didn’t have time in the shooting schedule to have weeks of car work follow the shoot,” Green explains. “Because we had multiple cars, we could wrap in an evening, and Patrick could go out that night with the Duster and get interstitial pieces that were so important to connect Jim from one spot to the next. Because of his experience, Patrick could do more with these cars. In a way, that blew out the scope of the show and made it feel more like a true road movie.”
Cady even brought glamorous highlights to what might otherwise be the simplest of road inserts. For example, as Jim begins to head quickly off to Palm Springs, the camera follows the Duster on the road, facing down at its roof as it travels at speed, before pulling itself back to follow him from behind at windshield level. For that shot, Cady used a Pursuit arm (also from Overland, the local Pursuit dealer).
“There’s a handsomeness that we wanted to have,” Morgan shares. “But we also wanted those flourishes, something you don’t expect, which Patrick always gave us. We tried to sprinkle them into every episode, and he always found a way to deliver.” While 2nd unit never had a dedicated director of photography, it often had Cárdenas or Elliott, who would take a break from prepping their upcoming episodes (while the other was busy shooting their block) to work with Cady. “Sometimes Paul shot them for me, sometimes I did for Paul,” Cárdenas explains. Kevin Emmons was an additional DP for some car stunt work, and Corey Weintraub shot additional inserts.
The second unit utilized a second set of the G and T series anamorphics, which were the lesser set as determined by tests made early on by Sebastian Vega. “Panavision was kind enough to let us hold that second set of lenses,” Bambenek recounts. “There was no way we would have been able to return it and recoup the same serial numbers every time. If we had had to re-prep every time, it would have been costly and time-consuming. Panavision’s cooperation was key.”
Drones were sometimes used, but always with care. “It was a big conversation,” Cady recalls. “Because while we can do very cool stuff with drones, in 1972 they only had
“WHEN I THINK ABOUT THAT PERIOD, THE MUSCLE CAR BECOMES YOUR HORSE. A LOYAL FRIEND THAT WILL RIDE AND DIE WITH YOU.”
CO-DP CELIANA CÁRDENAS
helicopters. I told the drone pilots: ‘Think as if you’re piloting a Bell helicopter with a camera mounted to it.’ We wanted the camera to reflect the period.” For certain shots, Rogers and his team would be called upon to craft everything from crash housings to custom rigs. In the pilot episode, Jim is chased by two guys who end up crashing and flipping their 1969 AMC AMX. The setup was rigged with five cameras, including two welded-steel crash-cam housings, holding smaller cameras (such as Cady’s Sony). The housing is fitted with a piece of filter glass on its front, to allow it to be detected if the car had rolled onto it. “In every cool ’70s car chase, I can see a lens getting destroyed,” Cady laughs.
Cady was particularly skilled at planning camera placement for crash sequences. “Because of my background as a DP, and especially coming up in indie features, and then television, my brain works in multicamera pretty easily,” he explains. “I can look at the storyboards and go, ‘Okay, if we have five cameras, I can do these five shots at the same time. They won’t see each other. And now, these two should be ALEXA; these two should be still cameras,’ et cetera.”
Another episode features Jim colluding with a knife-throwing assassin (“Enrique the Blade”) to take care of a nerdy car thief. They pull up, at speed, next to the thief, with windows down, and Enrique throws one of his trusty knives at the driver – the camera taking the knife’s POV as it makes its way toward the man’s head. While the script called for a knife to go between cars, with a VFX knife doing the work, Cárdenas asked Rogers, “Why don’t we do part of the shot practically, with the camera traveling from one car to the other, and landing in the actor’s face? Trevor loves any kind of rigging, so he said, ‘Okay, give me three days, I’ll have something for you.’ And he did it!”
As Rogers picks up: “We had a jousting pole that went through one car, into the other car, with the two cars photographed in front of a green screen. The knife goes by Josh’s face, into the other guy’s head, and that camera POV follows the knife” with two cameras – one smaller than an ALEXA, and another smaller one mounted above it, attached to the pole – capturing the movement at 120 fps, to best service VFX.
steed, the Duster, a different entrance every time. “Back in the day,” Cady observes, “you’d see these types of shots all the time on TV – but these days, not so much. It’s hard to lock up a street to have some car skidding through an intersection and park, for a scene to start. We wanted to bring that fun back.”
Most of the entrance shots were filmed by main unit, with 2nd unit handling those requiring a stunt driver. But for many shots, it was Holloway doing his own driving. “We wanted to showcase Josh doing as much of his own stunts as we could,” Morgan shares. Adds Taylor, “Josh was good at hitting marks, and that meant my shot, in particular, would turn out that much better. The door’s opening, I go to his face – and it’s heroic.” Such shots were often devised on-the-fly. “We’d want to make sure we’re seeing the building he’s arriving at. Manolo would get most of the car, wide, doing that action. And I’d be in a bit tighter, getting a detail of the car, and then a closer shot of Josh getting out. Other than that, it’s easy to make a car like that look cool.”
As noted, the entrance seen in the pilot, pulling up to the desert payphone and landing the “Duster” logo badge into the lens, took some planning. “It was a great idea if we could make it look right,” Green recounts. “But if it felt weird, it wasn’t going to work.” Having a Steadicam operator stand still and have a car coming flying at him isn’t the best practice for safety. “But I’d done something before, on a Coen Bros. movie,” Elliott recalls, “where we simply shot it in reverse. I suggested to Steph – to start with the word ‘Duster’ right next to the lens, and then back up and run it in reverse, as a crane shot. And that’s what we did.”
To make it look real, a little additional effort was required.
As Cady explains: “When you do this, you have to have someone on the front bumper push the car down, and then, as the car backs away, you get a sense – especially an old car with leaf springs – that it had come to a hard stop. It can’t be totally clean, which it would be if it simply pulled away. You have to think about those things. And we’ve all seen shots when it doesn’t feel right.” The result, says Green, “gives the Duster the greatest entrance a character could hope for.”
As with any great piece of filmmaking, it’s all about relationships.
Each time Jim shows up in the Duster is a visual moment. “We talked about this being a car show,” says Green, “which meant we had to meet certain expectations where the cars are reflective of the people driving them.” That meant giving Jim and his loyal
“When I think about the late 1960s and early ’70s,” Cárdenas concludes, “the muscle car becomes your horse. That loyal friend that will ride and die with you. That will save you. And to me, Duster is that car. The Duster is Jim’s best friend that goes on all his adventures. It’s what saves him.”
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Directors
A-Camera
B-Camera
B-Camera
B-Camera
2ND
CHILEAN-BORN MANOLO ROJAS, SOC (ABOVE) OPERATED A-CAMERA/STEADICAM, WHILE NEW MEXICO LOCAL CHRIS TAYLOR, SOC, HANDLED B-CAMERA. FOR THE KEY SHOTS OF THE DUSTER ENTERING A SCENE, TAYLOR SAYS ROJAS WOULD GET MOST OF THE CAR, WIDE, DOING THE DRIVE-UP ACTION. “AND I’D BE IN A BIT TIGHTER, GETTING A DETAIL OF THE CAR, AND THEN A CLOSER SHOT OF JOSH [HOLLOWAY] GETTING OUT.,” TAYLOR DESCRIBES. “OTHER THAN THAT, IT’S EASY TO MAKE A CAR LIKE THAT LOOK COOL.”
ZACHARY GALLER AND HIS SWIFT-MOVING ICG CAMERA TEAM STEAL THEIR WAY INTO NEW YORK’S FINANCIAL WORLD IN THE NEW APPLE TV+ SERIES, YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS
BY MARGOT LESTER
JESSICA KOURKOUNIS / APPLE TV+
There is a tricky tone to this show,” says showrunner Jonathan Tropper of his latest project, Apple TV+’s Your Friends & Neighbors. “It’s somewhat grounded but also a bit heightened. Sometimes it’s a comedic drama, sometimes it’s a dramatic comedy, and often the humor has to be expressed as much by the camera as it is by the actors.”
The nine-episode series chronicles the misadventures of Coop (Jon Hamm), a recently fired high-flying hedge fund manager who – when faced with a stiff noncompete that essentially prevents him from getting another job – hatches a cunning plan. He’ll leverage his access to his rich friends’ homes to steal their stuff and produce the income necessary to continue his way of life.
The project was lensed by Local 600 Director of Photography Zachary Galler [ICG Magazine October 2023], who says that from the first draft he read, the scripts were of a very high quality. “I loved the themes they were playing with,” describes Galler, who splits his time between St. Louis and New York City and leveraged mutual friends to get a meeting. “Ultimately, the show is about family, and being a father, which is something very important to me. It’s also about capitalism and its effects on human relationships, which is a topic I find interesting. I also really liked the dark comedy of the show, especially with the wonderful cast involved.”
Once on board, the showrunner, cinematographer, and pilot director, Craig Gillespie, started prep. “Zack and I spent a lot of time talking about when the tone would be best served by a locked-off shot versus a push-in versus an extreme close-up,” Tropper adds. “Zack has an innate understanding of how to match the camera move to the tone. As he and Craig worked on the pilot, I was able to see the shooting language of the show emerge.”
Galler says figuring out how to tell the story visually was a fun challenge. “Craig brought an amazing amount of experience and taste that helped refine our storytelling choices,” he notes. “We were prepping right around the time David Fincher’s movie, The Killer, had come out. It had beautiful lighting and camera work, so we talked a little about that. I also liked the book Stakeout Diary by Yukichi Watabe. It’s a black-and-white photography book, which, at the time it came out, was considered documentary, almost journalistic. But as time has passed, it feels like an art book to me. It captures the movement and intention of characters
really well and also has some interesting blocking/staging for characters. Craig designed blocking brilliantly and used the tools amazingly well. He set the tone for the speed and movement in the show.”
Galler says the choice of camera was easy: ARRI’s popular Mini LF. Choosing the right glass, however, was trickier, with Galler testing many options because, as he says, the tone was a hard one to hit. “The show needed to feel soft and natural at times and treat our actors with care, while also having enough structure and sharpness to stand up to the wealthy aesthetic of these locations, and be fast as we had a lot of night work,” Galler explains.
Justin Foster, SOC, a New York operator who’s known Galler for many years, was along for one of the tests. “When I inquired about his criteria, Zack mentioned that he was anticipating a need to move quickly through setups and that having a fast f-stop and close focus capabilities was going to be crucial to that mission,” relates Foster, who was the B-Camera operator on the series. “I appreciated that Zack approached
OPPOSITE/RIGHT: DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY ZACK GALLER SAYS CHOOSING THE RIGHT GLASS [TO PAIR WITH ALEXA’S MINI LF] WAS TRICKY. “THE SHOW NEEDED TO FEEL SOFT AND NATURAL AT TIMES AND TREAT OUR ACTORS WITH CARE, WHILE ALSO HAVING ENOUGH STRUCTURE AND SHARPNESS TO STAND UP TO THE WEALTHY AESTHETIC OF THESE LOCATIONS, AND BE FAST AS WE HAD A LOT OF NIGHT WORK,” GALLER EXPLAINS.
the cinematography from a point of view of how he could create a distinctive style that helped elevate the tone of the material while reducing the amount of friction that the execution of that look would cause. This allowed him to expand the possibilities of what kinds of shots and setups we were able to pull off in a short amount of setup time while still delivering a nuanced look.” (Galler eventually chose Panavision’s Primo Artiste lenses, explaining that “the Panavision glass threaded that needle, as it often does.”)
The show was shot in blocks. Gillespie helmed the pilot and Episode 2 (“Deuce”)
Greg Yaitanes and Stephanie Laing (Exposure, Page 28) directed the middle sets and Tropper led the season finale. Galler and his crew were the connective tissue, ensuring visual continuity throughout. Gillespie has a well-earned reputation for liking to shoot fast, and for this show he wanted a lot of Steadicam to produce what Galler describes as “propulsive and
character-motivated” camera movement. Those wider lenses enabled the operators to get super close to the actors.
“By putting the camera inside the action, we were able to shoot in a way that takes our audience for a ride with our main characters,” shares A-Camera/Steadicam Operator Philip J. Martinez, SOC. “I love this approach as it makes me feel like I am participating with the actors organically to achieve the feeling the director and DP want to convey.”
Martinez and 1st AC Waris Supanpong relied on their long-shared work history to pull it off. “I am always secure with Waris as the A camera 1st AC,” Martinez continues. “He gives me the confidence to improvise with the camera a bit. We have a silent communication that allows me to punctuate a moment with a surprise push-in, knowing that it will always be sharp.”
Supanpong echoes the sentiment: “We would crash into very tight close-ups on the rig without much warning. I really had to pay attention to Phil’s body language to know when we were going in tight. Again,
years of working together helps me know what his tendencies are.”
Moving fast didn’t just apply to the pace of production. In Episode 104 (“Literal Dragons”), directed by Yaitanes, Coop sets off an alarm while in the act of burgling and must exit posthaste, with a dog and cops chasing him across several well-manicured lawns and down a residential street.
“It was a lot of logistics for us to light this neighborhood,” Galler recalls. “It was also difficult because of a variable we didn’t plan for: Jon Hamm is a much faster runner than the average actor, and he kept beating our equipment, like the Grip Trix and Technocranes!”
The sequence was memorable for DIT Loïc de Lame, as well. “That was a fun day for me because I rigged my mobile setup to a gator to move around the neighborhood we were in. Off-road DIT!”
Galler relied heavily on Foster to cover for 2nd Unit, as he did on a sequence in Episode 103 (“Theoretical Herpes”), when Coop and his best friend/financial advisor Barney (Hoon Lee) are driving away from
Coop’s place and encounter two suspicious landscaping trucks.
“Greg had the general shape of the sequence but wanted ideas on how to tell the story of the trucks passing by in as few shots as possible,” Foster recounts. “I suggested we start with a sort of clean moving POV looking toward the trucks approaching, and as they pass, whip nearly 180 degrees to reveal Coop and Barney driving in the opposite direction and lead them for a bit before letting them pass. Zack liked the idea and I immediately had the moment of, ‘Well, now I have to deliver on this complicated shot I just pitched!’
“Luckily, the U-CRANE crew was topnotch and game to try it,” Foster continues. “To land on the desired shot of Coop and Barney driving behind us without seeing the chassis of the U-CRANE SUV, the arm, which started in front of us, had to immediately swing out into the lane as soon as the trucks passed to give us an angle on the hero car. And my whippan had to land just right to exclude the back corner of our camera car. Because so many elements were moving, I didn’t have the option to set a soft stop. I believe it took two or three takes, but thanks to the professionalism of the crewmembers involved, we pulled off a very challenging shot with minimal planning.”
The lighting for Your Friends & Neighbors was crucial to deliver the show’s sense of realism – of both the opulent lifestyles of the Westchester elite and the shadowy aspect of Coop’s clandestine capers. “Our amazing lighting crew learned to be nimble and flexible, while also making images that I am very proud of,” Galler asserts. “[It’s] beautiful and naturalistic, while also embellishing the wealth and shiny things these people have. Justyn T. Davis is an excellent New York gaffer who brought a lot of great ideas to the table. He and the Key Grip Ted Lahane were keen on using the CRLS system from Lightbridge, and we used it a lot, both on location and on set. It gave the light a natural feel, while still being very controlled.”
Davis and Galler focused on making the scene work on stage as if it were a practical location. “Coop’s exterior house existed in the real world, so we were able to create a natural sun path on the stage similar to the sun path at the practical location,” Davis recounts. To create irregular shapes and reflections, he used mirrors and other reflective surfaces – like brush metal, glass, Lightbridge CRLS, beadboards, etc. “We worked with Set Decorator Pippa [Culpepper] to place functional diegetic lighting inside the spaces to help light the interior scene and used big HMI’s outside the windows
to create a sun source,” Davis adds. The new Lightstar Luxbeams P12 and B40 were deployed to produce the sun rays. “They were great because they were low power and we were able to run multiple units on one circuit. We could shoot the tethering scene and it would blend cinematically.”
The rest was up to de Lame and Colorist Joe Gawler from the Harbor Picture Company.
“Given this life of luxury of Coop and his neighbors, the look wanted to be sharp and defined,” says the Stockton, N.J.-based de Lame. “Yet it didn’t warrant being slick and polished, as there’s the darker side of thievery present and the private lives of the neighbors. I went to the color sessions for the test shoots to see how the LUT was being constructed and to be present for any notes and discussions to help me understand the priorities for the look. Zack and I would be next to each other throughout the day and would discuss, and tweak as needed. With the color session knowledge and a few days at the start, it became smoother to dial-in the look to get to a starting point faster. During production, I would be in touch with our Harbor dailies team with workflow changes or issues I encountered on set.”
The close communication was particularly valuable in Episode 105 (“A Little Like Steve McQueen”), shot in a CBS studio
using the network’s broadcast cameras to capture an infomercial. “We wanted to shoot on their cameras in their frame rate for TV, 60 interlaced, which didn’t match our project frame rate, 23.98 progressive,” de Lame continues. “Not a new request for me, but always a hurdle since this seemingly small detail has huge ripple effects on set and in post.” The DIT was able to get isolated feeds from the six cameras in 23.98 to record to an external recorder “jammed” to the sound department and a line cut feed at 60 interlaced. “This allowed post to use the line cut or fall back to cutting the infomercial in a different way and within our project time base,” he notes.
When it came time for post, Galler was going to be on another project, so the Harbor team provided a calibrated iPad to view perfectly matched HDR versions of the episodes. He and Gawler would meet virtually for live-streaming fine-tuning. “Zack gave us strong, informed images, so I was never at a loss for where to take the look,” the New York-based colorist recalls. “A constant balance in the grading suite is how to maintain the moodiness and mystery of
certain scenes without going too dark. In the end, I think we landed in a great place. The other challenge had to do with cheating some scenes that were shot in early spring to sell them as summer. We pumped up the greens and added warmth to make the country club look summery and inviting.”
Tension builds throughout the season as keeping up appearances, while doing crimes – and Coop’s anxiety over getting busted – take their toll. In the penultimate episode, When Did We Become These People, we join Coop and his pals for a wild night at the club. Laing, who directed the installment, affectionately calls it “The Hangover Episode.”
“The dance scene was a breaking point for Coop, where all his bad decisions have finally come home to roost and he’s having one last blowout before having to face the music, for crimes he both did and didn’t commit,” Galler explains. “Lighting-wise, the show up until this point has been pretty buttoned up and natural-looking. This was one of only a few opportunities in the season
to get some color and moving lights into a scene.”
The action was captured on location in a basement club in Manhattan. To create the unbridled vibe, the crew switched out some 100 Edison bulbs in the ceiling for controllable LED NYX bulbs. They brought in some other intelligent lights and strobes and invested time in programming patterns and effects. Tropper, who’s collaborated with Laing on several projects, says it’s one of his favorite sequences. “Stephanie and Zack worked out multiple elaborate dance sequences that were just so perfect for what was going on in that moment,” the showrunner concludes.
Its end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it vibe is the perfect setup for the season finale.
“We found this moment with Coop where he’s just letting go and maybe saying goodbye to his life,” Galler adds. “As his friends and other club-goers revel, the camera moves back and Coop begins to recede, while the world goes on around and without him.” Or as Tropper declares: “That final ‘pull-out’ on Coop dancing as the crowd swallows him up is iconic.”
Directors of Photography
Zachary Galler
A-Camera Operator/Steadicam
Philip J. Martinez, SOC
A-Camera 1st AC
Waris Supanpong
A-Camera 2nd AC
Randy Lee Schwartz
B-Camera Operator
Justin Foster, SOC
B-Camera 1st AC
Becki Heller
B-Camera 2nd AC
Nathalie Rodriguez
Loaders
Sean Galcyzk
Margaret Hughes
Richard Pena
DIT
Loic de Lame
Drone Pilot
Eddie Graham
Still Photographer
Jessica Kourkounis
SHOWRUNNER JONATHAN TOPPER SAYS HE AND GALLER SPENT A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT “WHEN THE TONE WOULD BE BEST SERVED BY A LOCKED-OFF SHOT VERSUS A PUSH-IN VERSUS AN EXTREME CLOSE-UP. ZACK HAS AN INNATE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO MATCH THE CAMERA MOVE TO THE TONE. AS HE AND [DIRECTOR] CRAIG [GILLESPIE] WORKED ON THE PILOT, I WAS ABLE TO SEE THE SHOOTING LANGUAGE OF THE SHOW EMERGE.”
Back in his rental house days, five-year ICG member Dexter Kennedy, who grew up in Reading, PA, and lives in Cranford, NJ, made a decision that caused his career to take off – literally! A request for a DJI Phantom drone came into Monster Remotes, where he was working. They couldn’t find one anywhere, so Kennedy bought a rig and started flying it in case another request came in. Soon, a client called looking for an operator to work on a documentary in New Zealand. “I left my job, went to New Zealand, and have been freelancing ever since,” he says.
The experience at Monster Remotes included mentoring from owner Lee Kazista. “Lee has an incredible way of interacting with clients, technicians, and employees that creates a positive environment everyone wants to be a part of,” Kennedy says. “I can’t thank him enough for all the wisdom and knowledge he has shared on good days and bad.” To pay homage to their role model, Kennedy and business partner Jonathan Graham named their company Flying Monsters.
Since those early years, Kennedy has gone on to shoot everything from The Whale to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, and he and Graham each
brought home Primetime Emmys for their work on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
How has the camera tech evolved since you started flying? As drone technology advances, it transforms the way we approach aerial cinematography. The more reliable the drones and their systems become, the less time we spend troubleshooting and dealing with technical issues. That’s a huge game-changer because it allows us to focus entirely on getting the shot right. With more precise control, smoother flight capabilities, and better camera stabilization, we can execute much more intricate and cinematic moves. This opens up a whole new range of creative possibilities for storytelling. Whether it’s complex dolly-like movements, seamless tracking shots, or dramatic overhead angles, the technology is now at a point where it can keep up with our vision. The result is a level of precision and fluidity that lets us push the boundaries of what’s possible on set.
You and [Graham] are kind of famous for a cool move you made on The Greatest Showman, aren’t you? My first major Union gig was on that project, and it was a turning point in my career. Jonathan and I performed
our first ever “drone catch,” where we flew a DJI Inspire, modified with handlebars, inside a circus tent and seamlessly guided it into a camera operator to continue the shot handheld, all in one continuous take. That oner, in the film’s opening number, put us on the map.
How do you help directors, producers and directors of photography understand what your rig can deliver? Drone work often involves translating a director or DP’s creative vision into something technically achievable. Being able to explain the drone’s capabilities and its limits clearly and confidently makes a big difference. It’s all about clear communication and setting realistic expectations. First I take the time to understand the creative vision and the specific shots they want. Then, I break down the technical aspects of what’s required to achieve those shots. I’m very transparent about what can be done and, just as importantly, what can’t be done safely or effectively. Some shots might look great on paper but are tricky due to factors like low light, wind conditions or tight spaces. In those cases, I can propose alternatives that still align with the vision but are technically achievable. A big part of my job is managing expectations without stifling creativity. Sometimes it’s about offering creative solutions that they may not have considered, whether it’s a new flight path, a different drone model or even a hybrid approach where we incorporate traditional rigs alongside drone work. Ultimately, I want to make sure they get the shot they envision, but with a clear understanding of what’s feasible given the constraints of the technology and the environment.
Can you share an example? I’m especially proud of the aerial work we did throughout season two of Severance on Apple TV+, particularly in episode four, “Woe’s Hollow” (2024). Being brought into the creative process by Ben Stiller and Jessica Lee Gagné was a true honor. They trusted us to help shape the tone and atmosphere of the show, and that level of collaboration made a huge impact on the final product. The sequences we captured were moody, intentional, and cinematic. It was one of those rare projects where everyone on set was pushing for excellence, and I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished together.
What do you wish more people understood about drone cinematography? One big
misunderstanding is that drones are just gadgets or toys, when in reality they’re fullfledged camera systems. That means the drone and its crew should be treated like any other camera crew on set. We’re not off to the side doing our own thing, we’re part of the storytelling process. And like any other camera crew, we rely on support from multiple departments, including AD’s, locations, grips, safety and more. When everyone’s on the same page, the drone becomes a powerful tool to elevate the production.
Anything else? Yes, having a skilled tech on set is absolutely invaluable. They’re not only there to ensure everything is functioning properly, but they also help troubleshoot onthe-fly, manage batteries, maintain the aircraft between takes and monitor safety protocols. That support allows me to stay focused on framing and executing the shot, knowing the technical side is being handled with precision. In fast-paced environments where time is money, a great tech keeps the day moving efficiently and helps prevent small issues from becoming big problems. It’s a role that often goes unrecognized, but it’s critical to the success of any drone team. At the end of the day, having someone I trust by my side makes all the difference – not just for performance, but for peace of mind.
You’ve been at this for a minute. Any lessons learned? One crucial lesson is the importance of preparation: both technical and creative. Early in my career, I had a shoot where I focused so much on the creative vision that I overlooked a few basic preflight checks. Nothing catastrophic happened, but we lost valuable time troubleshooting something that could’ve easily been caught the day before. Since then, I’ve made it a point to over-prepare, triple-check gear, scout locations thoroughly and have backup plans for weather, equipment and flight paths. The best drone operators aren’t just good pilots, they’re reliable team players who make sure everything runs smoothly before the first take. Preparation builds trust on set, and that trust is what brings you back for the next job.
Part of that prep is paperwork, right? A big part of the prep is knowing the regulatory environment and filing the right paperwork well in advance. The documentation depends on the location and airspace. For example, flying in New York City’s five boroughs requires a special drone permit from the
NYPD, which involves submitting flight plans, proof of insurance, and security clearances. If we’re operating within five miles of an airport – or in any controlled airspace – we also need FAA airspace authorizations, which can take time depending on the location and altitude needed. Additionally, depending on the project, we may need local film permits, coordination with law enforcement or event staff, and proof of Part 107 certification.
What’s your top tip for people who want to get into drone-based camera work? Buy some drones and go start flying! The cost of entry is lower than ever, and even budgetfriendly models come packed with technology that’s perfect for beginners. While simulators can help you build basic skills, nothing compares to real-world flight experience. Just get out there, experiment and learn by doing. But flying is only half the equation. You’ve got to have an eye for cinema – flying in a way that moves the camera to appropriately tell the story is a necessary skill. As drone operators, we’re responsible for the frame, so understanding composition, camera movement and how to enhance a scene cinematically is essential. A beautiful shot means nothing if it doesn’t serve the story. You’ve also got to be calm under pressure. Aerial work often comes with unpredictable variables: last-minute creative and scheduling changes, weather, technical glitches, et cetera. A level head not only ensures safety, it also builds trust with your team, which is invaluable on set.
Speaking of safety and trust, tell me what you like best about being in Local 600. The best thing about being in the union is the peace of mind that comes from having reliable, high-quality health insurance. As a husband and father, providing for my family’s well-being is everything. Knowing that we’re covered gives me the freedom to focus on my work without constantly worrying about unexpected medical costs. It’s one of the most meaningful ways I can take care of my family. Of course, joining the union is a big life decision. But, ultimately the union exists to protect you and ensure you’re treated fairly. It negotiates better pay, health and retirement benefits, safer working conditions and fair hours – all things that often get ignored on non-union jobs. If you ever run into trouble on set, the union has your back. And ultimately, when more of us join, it raises the standards for everyone.
PHOTO BY SANDY MORRIS
For eight-year Local 600 member Michael Monar, the union is more than a card. “It gives me access to a vast array of work that I wouldn’t otherwise have,” he notes. The Chicago-based director of photography was an early advocate for drone operators to be included in the Guild, working closely with Central Region Local 600 Business Representative Justin Conway to initiate the movement to recognize drone work as an accepted union classification by the studios.
“I was troubled by the recurring theme of being told by major studios that I would need
to invoice for labor for myself and crew instead of going on timecard as union members – or they would find someone else to do the job,” recalls Monar, who’s also an aerial director of photography, camera/gimbal operator, and founder of Monar Aero Inc., which provides drones, stabilized remote heads, and cable cams and their operators to productions in the Midwest. “The fact that they wouldn’t even include my camera operators under Local 600 was particularly problematic,” he adds. “How is operating a DJI Ronin 2 remote head attached to a drone any different than operating that same Ronin 2 on a telescoping crane? Their
arguments for our exclusion were specious at best, so I was more than happy to speed the cause.”
Which were you into first: cinematography or flying machines? Photography was my first love, long before the days of drones. My grandmother bestowed upon me a Polaroid camera when I could barely walk! I shot mostly my own thumbs and the kneecaps of anyone close at hand. [Laughs.] There were happy accidents, however. That’s the magic of Polaroids. Flight skills are important, of course, but beyond being technically proficient
in piloting the drone, it’s crucial to have an understanding of fundamental cinematic concerns. You can be the best pilot in the world but be functionally terrible on a film set if you don’t understand lighting, camera movement, narrative flow and so on. Directors want someone who speaks the language of film. I see myself first as a cinematographer, then a drone pilot.
How’d you get your start in the industry? My first foray into the Union world was as a Russian Arm Operator, circa 2012. The gig was a Dior ad featuring Robert Pattinson and Camille Rowe, directed by Romain Gavras. I was a trifle green. Gavras must have sensed my nascent terror, for he offered something to the effect of, “Just flow with it.” The advice worked. We got gorgeous shots, and no Twilight denizens were dinged. We did, however, sink a charming little BMW convertible in the Long Island surf.
And then you added drones to your remote repertoire. What did that entail? When I began pursuing commercial drone operations, the FAA had not yet established a clear legal framework for remote pilots. Essentially, they required a special exemption to existing rules referred to as Section 333 and for drone pilots to hold an actual pilot’s license for manned aircraft. This involved either lavishing serious cash on a lawyer specializing in aviation law or DIY’ing an extensive application for exemption. I opted for the latter, cloistering myself away for two months in the office to write a 500-page application that included a Flight Operations and Procedures Manual, risk assessment matrices, training manuals, and untold reams of legalese. For the pilot’s license, I commuted to Griffith, Indiana, to train on a Cessna 142 possessing all the charm and dubious mechanical worthiness of a Yugo from the 1980s. [Laughs.] The work paid off. I was one of the early recipients of the Section 333 Exemption in 2015. This allowed me to establish Monar Aero Inc. while the barriers to entry in the industry were still quite high. Nowadays, one can get a Remote Pilot license with an hour of time and $5.
What was your first job with drones? My first major drone gig was for Kenyon College in Ohio, circa 2015. We used a heavy lifter drone built in my apartment. Referring to our remote gimbal, a prototype Photohigher AV200, as “stabilized” would involve considerable generosity. Its spasmodic fits and random oscillations better befit a late-stage alcoholic than a proper piece of cinema gear. We survived the shoot, but the AV200 went in the trash soon after.
Sounds like those early days were a combination of the Wild West and “move fast and break things.” To fly anything better than a GoPro during the frontier days of aerial cinematography, one was compelled to build their own heavy lifter. For most, myself included, this involved a significant learning curve and tolerance of pain, both financial and emotional. Today, those old drones are great conversation pieces, but they don’t get any more flight time. The DJI Inspire 3 has been a real game-changer. Its Hasselblad-derived lenses, 8.1K full-frame sensor, dual native ISO, non-stepped iris and shocking control link and video range make it an ideal aerial platform. The nimble 7.7-pound craft easily outmaneuvers our current heavy lifter, and the X9 Air camera mixes well with almost any other traditional cinema camera. I’m also partial to my Giottos Rocket Air Blaster (Medium). It has a fine Italian form and exhales a strangely satisfying snort whilst banishing schmutz from the optics.
How has the cinematic approach to drones evolved? In the early days of drone work, there was the urge to make a spectacle of the shots: big, grandiose, self-evident moves. Today, there is much more appreciation for using drones on more refined, elegant moves. It is an ingrained part of the filmic language. Oftentimes we act as an infinite Technocrane in that regard.
Any examples? We did a shot for The Batman (2022) with the Heavy Lifter and an ALEXA Mini LF that involved plunging down from the roof of the Chicago Board of Trade, buzzing rooftops of speeding cars for five city blocks, and then landing on top of a moving bus. It was a POV of Batman jumping from the roof in a wingsuit. We did at least a dozen variations of the run at night in subzero conditions, and it was a bit sketchy. I operated the drone while riding on the open deck of a camera car driving at speed. It felt amazing to get such a technically challenging shot and then see it in the movie.
Sounds dangerous. Were all safety protocols observed? Absolutely. The Batman run involved a full lockup of the streets with police at every cross street and a literal army of production assistants to keep an eye on every alley, garage exit and building entrance. The cars and bus were driven by stunt drivers.
What are the special challenges of being a drone DP? The navigation of permitting and legal frameworks are the most common
barriers we confront. Generally, I am required to provide COI’s (certificates of insurance) to clients as proof of liability insurance. The major studios require anywhere from $1 million to $10 million of coverage for each drone. They will also ask for my Remote Pilot Certificate, a recurrent certificate that shows I’m up to date with trainings and registration for each drone to be flown. If flights are to occur within five miles of an airport with a control tower, during TFR’s (Temporary Flight Restrictions) or in other controlled airspace, I’m responsible for securing whatever FAA authorizations are necessary. The FAA’s system allows nearinstant airspace permissions that would have taken up to 30 days to acquire in the past. A successful drone operator must also be irredeemably fastidious. There are myriad pitfalls that can ruin a shot or even result in injuries or damaged property. Equipment must always be impeccable. I’m a bit OCD, but it helps in this business. I know exactly where every cable goes and in what Pelican home it resides when not in use.
You clearly love this work. What keeps you so engaged? Not unlike the film world in general, drone work involves a constant stream of artistic, logistical and technological challenges. This is what makes it such a compelling, satisfying enterprise. I love being thrown problems and figuring out elegant solutions. Showrunners recognize I’ve been doing this for more than a decade and are generally receptive of my creative input. Oftentimes I am involved in the discussion early on and can help to facilitate artistic visions whilst keeping things within the realm of physical possibility. I am always happy to Zoom or chat on the phone about the director’s wish list and attend scouts of the actual locations.
One last example? We did a fun oner for John Lindley [ASC] on Justified: City Primeval. The move began with our heavy lifter tracking an undercover police car. The car pulled into a crime scene where two assistants caught the drone, and a camera operator detached the stabilized gimbal to continue the move through the back seat of the now parked cop car. The camera was passed through the back seat to another camera operator waiting on the other side of the car, who continued the move as the driver stepped out and walked out to the crime scene. Our coordination melded those transitions into a single seamless shot lasting more than a minute. It’s super rewarding when you are given the space, time and resources for extraordinary shots.
Choosing a career path was something of a coin toss for Denise D. Marble. While studying TV and film at San Diego State, the Long Beach, CA native had two distinct options for her senior project: make a movie or executive-produce a sports show.
“Due to financial constraints, I chose to be the executive producer, which required stepping out of my comfort zone to communicate with people for scheduling equipment, arranging sporting events and managing the facilities,” Marble recalls. The experience grounded her in the fundamentals and led to a postgraduate gig at a local TV station as a vacation relief in-studio camera operator for news and morning shows.
It wasn’t incredibly satisfying, and she couldn’t stop thinking about how much she enjoyed working outside and doing sports production. Marble returned home to Long Beach and took jobs as a utility and audio assist to learn about every aspect of setting up a live sporting event. “My first union job was a live sporting event working as a utility,” remembers Marble, who is now based down the 405 freeway in Huntington Beach. “A few years later I was given the opportunity to work as a camera operator.” And after 30 years, she’s still at it.
Were you into sports as a kid? I didn’t grow up watching sports. From a young age, though, I had a passion for the ocean. I enjoyed swimming and visiting the beach. During high school, I joined the swim team, and in college I played water polo and began surfing. The interesting thing about surfing is that we all practice in the same ocean. So, I can be surfing a spot, and one of my surf heroes will be sitting next to me in the lineup waiting for a wave. Or I’m surfing in some foreign land, and I see a surfer I recognize, paddle over and sit closer so I can watch them surf close up.
Have you shot any surfing competitions? I have and that was fun. But surf contests are very long, and staring at the ocean all day through a camera is exhausting. I do love watching surfing recreationally, though. When I was young, you could only see the results of a surf contest in a magazine with a couple of photographs. Now, it’s incredible that you can watch any surf event around the world live.
What’s your favorite sport to shoot? Ice hockey because it’s very fast-moving and the athleticism of the hockey players is fascinating. I enjoy doing the game camera and the ISO camera. The game camera is challenging because it’s taken live for most of the game. You must follow the puck wide and usually include all the players while trying to make all your moves smooth – you try not to whip abruptly when the puck is shot all the way to the other end of the ice. I enjoy the ISO because I can concentrate on one player at a time.
How does the prep work for hockey? At the beginning of the game, you get a list of the players that they want you to follow on each of the four lines. You must figure out which line is out and find your player. Then, if that player isn’t doing anything and the announcers are talking about someone else, you keep one eye on your player while trying to find the one they’re talking about. It’s challenging and fun! Also, when you’re following one player head to toe, you realize how much of the time he’s skating backward with a stick in his hand while trying to control a tiny little puck the other guy is trying to take away from him. It’s really amazing.
What’s the most common question people ask you about being a sports camera operator? When people see me shooting at a stadium, they ask about the cameras and are surprised that we must manually focus. I guess because of all the autofocus cameras that are out there now, people assume that the big professional-looking camera comes
with an autofocus lens. I am sure technology will catch up and they will invent an auto-focus lens that will be very quick, but we are not there yet.
Had you worked with long lenses in college? Before San Diego State, I majored in photography at Long Beach City College. I was fascinated by the large lenses used in sports, which offer impressive clarity and tight shots. When you zoom in to the end of a long lens, trying to get a very tight shot of a player, focus is critical, especially if you have an arena that is not evenly lit or at an outdoor event in low light, focusing a shot can be a struggle. Personally, I have not seen an autofocus lens that is quick enough to keep up with the quickly changing action of sports.
And what about the cameras? What’s the biggest advancement you’ve seen? Robo cameras enable the placement of cameras in areas that are either hazardous or inaccessible for human operators. This advancement allows for obtaining unique angles that were previously unattainable before the development of the robotic head and camera technology. Operating the robotic cameras presents a unique experience compared to using traditional hard or handheld cameras. You typically follow the play or action from a remote location, relying solely on the monitor as your viewfinder. Unlike hard or handheld cameras, where you can see the surroundings directly, robotic cameras restrict your field of vision to what is captured in the viewfinder, which can be limiting. However, it’s an enjoyable and engaging task and a different kind of mindset. It feels and looks different, and I like the variety of operating different types of cameras.
How does live-event work differ from studio work? When I tell people what time I have to be at work for a 7:00 p.m. game, they are often surprised that I must be there six hours before the event. I must be there so early in case things go wrong, because inevitably a cable doesn’t work or the broadcast truck has an issue. However, I have never experienced a show that didn’t air; the hard-working television professionals always manage to resolve any issues and ensure it is broadcast.
Any other conventional wisdom about shooting sports that’s off the mark? One thing many people do not realize about live sports is that the specific shots do not just magically get on the air. There are announcers who have a story to tell and a director who decides what shots to use to tell it. As camera operators, we must listen to multiple people
simultaneously. I purchased an in-ear monitor headset. These environments can be very loud, and the in-ear monitors allow me to hear the director and announcers more clearly. These headsets are preferable to the large, bulky headset that is provided, as they also effectively reduce the noise from the arena. I wish they had been available years ago.
You’ve been a union member for 31 years – what are some of your best moments? I’ve worked many memorable events. I used to enjoy traveling to do shows around the country and operate handheld for the WNBA. I especially liked doing center-court handheld because you’re very close to the action and feel part of the game. I was covering the game when Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks became the first woman to dunk a ball in a game. That shot has been frequently featured in commercials and documentaries. Witnessing a woman finally dunking in competition was significant and memorable.
Speaking of women in sports, how have things evolved behind the camera? Unfortunately, I don’t feel the opportunities for women camera operators have changed all that much. Currently, there is only one other woman specializing in sports within the Los Angeles area. She frequently travels doing football, which regrettably limits our opportunities to work together. A few years ago, when FOX Sports West regional was the broadcaster for our local sports, they did try to promote women, which I thought was great. They even sent a couple of young women to shadow me, and that was encouraging. Unfortunately, when FOX went bankrupt, all that went out the door.
Any advice to help more women get into live sports production? Make sure you take every opportunity to get behind a camera and practice. Keep asking and looking for new ways to learn. Take advice and listen. You need to learn the down-and-dirty jobs first to get the respect of your colleagues and to earn their trust so that they are willing to give you a chance. Be persistent and do not take “no” as an answer. Stick up for yourself when you know you are right. As in life, you earn more respect when you don’t let people walk on you.
What else should we know about you? I don’t give up. If someone suggested that I couldn’t do something because I’m a girl, it only made me try harder! There are people in this world who, for whatever reason, want to knock you down. But that’s their problem, not yours. I know if I put in the work, I can accomplish whatever I desire.
Ever since he was a kid in Connellsville, PA, John Tremba was enamored with aviation, playing with flight simulators and video games and building model aircraft. A job in entertainment wasn’t on his radar until, while bartending at the local Holiday Inn, The Road came to town. “My ability to chat with the crew got me into the industry,” the Pittsburghbased camera operator shares. “Manny Duran gave me a chance to work one day on set as a grip. I was hooked! Gripping taught me how movies are made – how the departments flow and so on.”
After getting a job with Iron City Grips, Tremba started constructing remote-control flyers
from bounce-board remains. “Talk about a learning curve!” he laughs. “Weight distribution, center of gravity, lift. I failed many times before I could fully fly and control one of my aircraft. My father watched me and insisted I purchase a drone, so I did: a DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus. I couldn’t wait to bring it to set!”
That was then. Now he’s an in-demand drone operator for the growing Pennsylvania production ecosystem. His mentors include Bart Flaherty, Greg Edwards, Mike Zinobile and Patrick “Pat Daddy” Dames (R.I.P.). “The entire Pittsburgh film community has been my family away from family and just more supportive than ever,” Tremba, an 18-year IATSE member
(17 years in Local 489, one year in Local 600) describes. “I also want to give a shout-out to Alison Semenza, Evan Perazzo, Hugh Dillon, and the producers on Mayor of Kingstown For three seasons now, through thick and thin, they’ve had my back.”
How did you execute the transition from grip to drone operator? I’d go out before work and get shots of the sunrise and city, or wherever we were shooting that day, and present my work to the DP and directors. Since I didn’t fully understand cinematography, most of the time I’d get brushed off – though sometimes they’d love it. But I kept pushing, learning, watching the camera guys on set, and watching movies
and shows for unique camera moves. It wasn’t until they needed a shot from above on the film Southpaw that it happened. Antoine Fuqua heard one of the grips had a drone. He sent me up to grab a shot – and that was the beginning. Talk about being on-thespot nervous. From there, I landed more gigs and traveled around for projects like Cold Case Files and the Mr. Rogers documentary, to name a few. It was time to upgrade to a better drone.
What’s the best thing about having a Local 600 card? Solidarity. Everyone shows up knowing their role. And union gigs are more structured. You have the chance to work with and learn from so many great professionals – and to work on big productions. I appreciate the backing of the Camera Guild. It’s a great honor to be a part of it!
What are some of the things you have to deal with on the job that traditional operators don’t? Traditional operators have a more structured routine – they’re doing most of the core show coverage. If I had to put it in football terms, they’re the quarterbacks and linebackers, making the plays. We’re the special teams, there for the extra point. Sometimes we’re asked to hit the long field goal, too.
What’s your prep like? When I scout a location for the first time, I look for overhead obstacles – wires, trees, airspace issues…and birds! Nesting birds of prey will destroy a drone. I’ve seen so many drone pilots lose their rigs to bird strikes. It’s insane. Nobody ever thinks about the birds. Sometimes I feel like a Terminator, constantly scanning for danger. Always have a backup drone. You just never know. Also, drones didn’t exist in historical periods, so for period pieces, you want to keep the “droney” feel to a minimum. But you can still use drones to achieve amazing shots that tie into the world seamlessly.
Anything else? People don’t realize how much preflight work goes into drone operating. Experience is key. Then you need your FAA Part 107 license, basically the written portion of a private pilot’s license. It’s not easy; you must study. Every two years, you need to take a recurrent test. Then you register each drone with the FAA and label them with your registration number. Productions
usually require insurance – often $5 to $10 million liability, with them listed on a waiver of subrogation. You’ll also need permits, airspace maps and flight plans. If you’re in controlled airspace, you must check for temporary flight restrictions and file for Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) clearance.
Is there a bias against drone capture? I think drones scare people. Sometimes people on the street ask what I’m doing, so I’ll show them some playback. This is a great way to defuse tension. You get to see that a-ha moment for them. They’re wowed at how we turn their neighborhoods into cinematic beauty. Once they see what you’re doing and you share with them, they get curious, ask questions, and become super friendly.
How do you work with directors and producers to actualize their ideas?
Directors often pitch tough shot ideas, and most of the time they’re doable. But if it’s clearly unsafe, I’ll call it out. Safety comes first for the set and the public. A lot can go wrong, fast. But you’ve got to offer an alternative solution. You must be creative on-the-fly – pun intended – and open to critique. Try to solve problems and be efficient at what you do. And always be friendly and a team player!
Can you give me an example? For The Pitt [ICG Magazine May 2025], they called me in to meet with John Wells. He had this vision for the opening scene to fly all the way across the Point of Pittsburgh where the three rivers meet, showcasing the city, then drop down low to follow an ambulance crossing the 9th Street Bridge and then tilt up to show Allegheny General Hospital. It was such a long flight; we had to get on top of a 40-story building just to get enough signal. I think we flew it nine times to get different sunrise variations.
There’s a lot of drone work in your current project, Mayor of Kingstown Tell us about that. Our director, Christoph Schrewe, absolutely loves using the drone. I can’t get into too many details, but he challenges me and my team every day with new ideas. Really getting down in it, the lower the better. “Kiss the ground.” He’s such a joy to work with. We love him. With the DJI
Inspire 3, we’re able to do repeatable routes, stacking plate shots with action shots. The last episode of season three, captured on the 16th Street Bridge in Pittsburgh, was intense. We shot all nights for a week. My team –Camera Operator Franklin Carpio and AC Taylor Ryan – kept the drone in the air almost nonstop, cycling batteries, flying inside, around, over, and under the bridge, gunfights, vehicle chases, and explosions. At one point, we had helicopter pilot Cherokee Walker flying alongside us for the police chopper scene. It was intense, but we finished strong.
What do you wish more people understood about the kind of sequences drones can capture? Just because it’s flying doesn’t mean it has to be high up. You can capture shots just as low to the ground as regular cameras. The noise of the motors whizzing is the only real problem with that. The sound department loves me. [Laughs.] And drones can get into spots you could never reach with a ground camera. They can do longer tracking runs and create wide parallax shots with foreground, middle, and background elements moving at different speeds. Pushes, booms, handoffs. First-person view (FPV) drones are really making their way into the industry. Those pilots are incredibly talented and are getting mind-blowing shots. Let me just say, flying FPV is where the real passion is. When the goggles go on, you become one with the drone.
Are there any crucial lessons you’ve learned in your career? Wow, okay. Definitely check your sensor for dust and dirt before flying. I’ve had beautiful shots ruined by a single speck of dust. Beyond that, there’s a whole checklist before liftoff that you cannot skip. It’s a competitive world: learn to adapt on the fly. Observe; don’t be afraid to ask questions. Always bring a change of shoes and never forget rain gear.
What else should we know about you? My family. My first mentors were my parents. I’m a proud husband to my wife Harian and father to two beautiful kids: little Johnny Enzo and Althea. Everything I do is to keep them safe, happy, and healthy. They’re the most important part of my life.
Growing up in Philadelphia, Garrett Hardy Davis was part of an artistic family who watched “all sorts of interesting films. That became the spark,” Davis, a Local 600 director of photography with a long list of credits in commercials, recalls. “Cinematography combines so many of my interests into one profession – fine art, design, architecture – and I would even say it is athletic! To me, it is the most creative job on a film set.”
Davis studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City under Croatian Director of Photography Igor Sunara, HFS. “He was the first to show me what skill and artistry it takes to shoot commercials,” Davis continues. “Through that, I started to discover how many of the narrative DP’s I admired got their start in commercials. It serves as a huge global training ground for directors and DP’s.” Davis’ first union gig was on a Gatorade commercial in 2017; in a busy year now, he might book 20 to 25 spots. “My dad told me a great saying early in my career: ‘You’re not digging ditches,’” the Nyack, N.Y.-based Davis recalls. “As tough and stressful as a film set can be, I always try to enjoy and appreciate my time there. Most people in this world never get to make a living being creative, and I feel honored to have spent my career doing so.”
What’s the best thing about working on ads? For me, the travel has been a truly amazing aspect of commercials. It has brought me all over the world to meet and collaborate with interesting and talented people. You may not speak the same language, but you all understand film language. I’ve shot or scouted incredible places and experienced things you might never get to as a tourist.
Any highlights? I shot a spot for ASICS in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2019 with a director friend named Noah Conopask. On paper, the creative was maybe a bit predictable and less engaging. Noah and I really pushed it to a more unusual and textural place. To me, the tone and feel of the final spot are unlike most other sports commercials.
It remains a piece that directors and DP’s bring up upon meeting me.
You shoot a lot of car commercials. What’s the draw? Car commercials are a blast to shoot. Typically, you’ll be somewhere beautiful at the best time of day using some of the most advanced technology and skilled technicians in the industry. All whilst ripping around chasing a car at 50 to 60 miles per hour. Sometimes it’s hard not to crack a smile while shooting those.
How do you keep the familiar car commercial tropes fresh? Instagram is certainly the hub for all things car commercials. One scroll and you might come across three to four spots that pique your interest.
A lot of ads – especially for cars – are shot in L.A., along the PCH, or in Northern California. What’s another U.S. location that’s seeing a lot of action? I would say Austin, Texas, is very popular at the moment. It provides a lot of looks required for many types of commercials: an attractive city center, interesting homes of all types, and rolling-hills farmland not too far away for a company move.
What’s on your must-have gear list? I like to pick the camera and lenses based on each project. To me, that’s part of the fun of commercials. You can experiment and reinvent yourself on each project. Currently, I would say Sony’s Venice 2 is my favorite camera, and I fell in love with a set of anamorphic lenses called Caldwell Chameleon last year. I would say an EasyRig is one of the most valuable pieces of gear on commercials. You’re often shooting many high-energy takes at all sorts of heights, in a jam-packed 12-plus-hour day, and an EasyRig alleviates some of that stress on your body. While I’m not a very techsavvy DP, wireless control of lighting – to me – is probably the biggest advancement in our line of work. It gives us the nuance and speed of control we all dreamed of.
What’s the biggest change you’ve witnessed in commercial cinematography? There has always been a misconception that
commercial filmmaking moves at a slower pace. That may have been the case many years ago, but I would say the majority of the sets I’ve been on move incredibly fast. Schedules have gotten tighter over the years. What once might have been a three- to four-day shoot is now two. You’re often scheduling things down to 15 minutes or even 7 minutes per setup. There is tons of pressure of time and money with no chance at reshooting, and we always deliver. Also, now there’s typically a stills and social-mediaasset team on many commercials who need to share your talent and locations. It can be quite the puzzle to put together.
How do you collaborate with the agency and client creative teams to execute their visions? That collaboration is one of the most challenging aspects of commercials. You’re ultimately trying to align the tastes and ideas of 10 to 12 or more people. As a DP, you’re one of the last creative roles filled. That script or creative may have been in the works for months beforehand without you, so it’s a delicate dance to inject your ideas and walk away with something you are all hopefully proud of.
Some examples, please. Well, recently, I shot three commercials in one day! The director’s treatment had everything with a warm sunlight-pouring-in-through-thewindows look. We were in a large loft apartment in New York’s Flatiron Building, on the ninth floor, with no chance of a lift reaching big lights from outside. Chief Lighting Technician Justyn Davis and I managed to use all sorts of mirrors, from 1×1 to 4×4 feet, hidden around the sets to give the impression of sunlight kicking in from outside and reflecting off glass windows. My goal is to always leave each project with a positive and lasting impression of myself on the director, crew, and everyone else involved. Some of these collaborations have led to friendships now spanning 10 to 15 years, and I’m so grateful for that.
Many commercials are taking on a more cinematic look these days. What techniques are you using?
Lately I’ve been trying to move the camera less on commercials. I did a sports anthem in Dublin for PTSB bank not too long ago. Although we did do some high-energy sequences, Director Cameron Thuman and I tried to bring an elegance to the camerawork, relying on stronger, more reserved composition with subtle moves.
Are there any misconceptions about commercial cinematography? Many narrative directors often think commercial DPs may not be suitable for film or television projects. The majority of us are true cinephiles and highly film-literate but just happen to specialize in commercials. I think the skill set is largely the same and applies to both realms. Ultimately it comes down to taste and execution.
What does it take to be a successful DP in advertising? Confidence, clarity, conviction. On commercials, you are often far away from home and working with a crew for the first time. You have to project a confidence in your ideas to win over the director, crew, AD, and client or agency all in a short amount of time. You must be clear and communicate what your creative ideas are and what you feel is the best for the project. There will often be many variables, or even people pushing you in the wrong creative direction, and you need to find the right moments to firmly protect the images as you see fit. There is currently a lot of copy-and-paste cinematography out there due to the influx of short-form from all over the world on social media. You must find a way to make your images memorable, to make your work feel special.
What has Local 600 membership meant to you? Being in the union has unlocked a level of excellence in the crews and scale of projects I’m not sure I would have otherwise experienced. All of the best directors and crews I’ve worked with have been union. That, to me, is the level you want to reach as a DP. There is just a different feeling of professionalism and ease of execution on a union set that I can’t say I’ve experienced anywhere else.
His story reads like a logline: “From bike tech to four-time-Emmy-winning camera operator. This is the story of John Weinsheim, a 32year ICG member who parlayed a satisfied customer into an epic career in sports cinematography.” And it’s all true.
Fresh off a degree in television and radio production, Weinsheim, a Wisconsin native, moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in production. But it was the late 80s and jobs were scarce, so he got a job at Bike Sport in the San Fernando Valley, leveraging the skills he learned as a former bicycle racer.
“This guy comes in with a Trek carbon fiber bike – made in Wisconsin – so, of course, I knew how to fix it right,” Weinsheim remembers. “He goes off, wins all the races and comes back into the shop looking for me. He said he won because of my repairs, and if I ever need anything to let him know. So, I blurt out, ‘I’m trying to get into television or film.’ He writes down three names and numbers. And you bet I called them.” Three days later, one of them called back, asking Weinsheim to come lay cables at the L.A. Coliseum for the UCLA-USC football game. Soon after, the bike shop repair guy is now the utility for Camera Operator Mike Joseph, working the handheld along the sidelines.
And he stayed busy, later landing his own operating job at Hollywood Park, where he earned enough hours to be rostered.
The bike shop meet-cute became a crucial lesson that Weinsheim continues to share with aspiring operators. “You’re going to want to always be nice to everyone you meet,” he tells them. “Because you never know who you’re talking to.”
What was it like in those early days? It was great. I got to meet the giants of the television sports industry – Kurt Struve, Dennis Shannon, Andy Italiano, David Bushner –all the guys who were doing it before the work was unionized. Those are the names that got it all started. Back then, there was no pension, no health and no welfare. I was working as a utility for George Dibie [ASC] on one of his shows, when he says, “Hey, John, we’re gonna have our guys get you signed up.” So I was in the Union, Local 659 – before it became 600. I couldn’t believe there were health benefits and long-term benefits and people there to help you with every single thing that you could imagine. And training programs that could assist you on your path. Then I heard John Trask
and Struve and Shannon saying to sports camera people, “We’ve got to get organized.” And that’s how I got started with the sports bargaining unit. We were all gung-ho. I went around telling everybody, “If you want to start getting cost-of-living increases every year and health benefits, you need to come and join us because we’re going places and doing things.” And that’s what I still tell them now.
What was the state-of-the-art rig back then? It was the first handheld camera, a 40-pound rig with a belt pack that would convert the signals from the camera. It was like you had an umbilical cord with a multipin going from that up to the camera. It was always a pain in the butt to get the Triax off the thing when you had to go to the next spot. I don’t miss it. Another thing I don’t miss about the old equipment is a blackand-white viewfinder. It was hard operating in monochrome. Now we’re mostly all color, and it makes a world of difference.
What’s the most important advancement, tech-wise? Super slow motion. It’s one of the most game-changing aspects from the viewers’ perspective. It used to be this very complex setup with a myriad of cables going
to and from this thing we called the “milk jug” that had many sensors and power multi-cables. It was not ergonomic. We would have a separate operator in back of us and someone in the truck to capture and clear the cache after we’d shoot it, because we’d get so much information. Then they would have to render it and send it to the director. Super slo-mo cameras have come a long way since then and are much more ergonomic and user friendly. We need [super slo-mo] for hockey because it’s the fastest sport on Earth and the biggest challenge. You want to get the shot on super slo-mo of a guy doing a slap shot at 100 miles an hour traveling through people, ricocheting off their bodies, ricocheting off a stick, not a redirect, and one of the offensive guys actually putting it into the net. You don’t even know you have it because it happens so fast! When you get one like that, it’s the most satisfying feeling in the entire world.
Anything else? Lenses have come a long way. As a handheld camera operator for the NBA, one of the most important pieces of gear is a longer lens, like an 18×. I mean, the wide angle can be useful for certain looks. It’s great on this end of the court, but when you go down to the other end it’s not tight enough to be usable, it’s just a little bit too large. Wides are still accepted in college hoops, but in the NBA, you need to be closer to the action at either end. The focus is so critical when you start opening the iris and you’re running it between a 2.8 and a 4.0 because they need to light for the 400 frames per second for the super slo-mo. Our lenses on the back are eight millimeters and go to 75 or 80 on the other end, maybe 120. Once you get past like one-third of that lens on the zoom, you’ve got to know where your focuses are.
You’re usually hanging out under the basket at NBA games. Yeah. I love shooting the NBA. However, it’s the most dangerous sport because you’re in a very delicate position. Those guys are big, and when they come flying through, they’re out of control and they slam you. I have videos of me getting hit by Kobe [Bryant], LeBron [James], Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green – the list goes on and on. Seriously, I bet I average 15 to 25 hits per season.
So, union health insurance is pretty important? It is. You have to be physically fit to do this job. You have to be able to
handle this for hours on end with a camera on your right shoulder, because there is no left-shoulder camera. But you know what they say, “The camera guy never dies.”
What are some of your most memorable NBA moments? Watching [Michael] Jordan whenever he came to town was amazing. He was just so good. I worked the Spectrum Sports Kobe special. That was a tear-jerker – a target-rich environment. I was crying so much. Kobe was one of the guys who’d hit you and stop to make sure you’re OK. That was a tough one.
Any other standout moments? After Shaq and Kobe won back-to-back championships, I was getting ready for this semi-studio setup with a lot of flags and lighting. I was C- or 3-camera. I hear this commotion in the hallway and see Shaq and Kobe coming down the hallway, whipping each other with towels and spraying champagne. I grab my camera off the plate and run. The director, Rupert Thompson, had no idea what I was doing, but I knew he was going to love the shot and he did. He took it live. Getting ready for the interview, I had a tight shot of Shaq. All of a sudden, something in my head goes, “You have to do this.” I saw the FOX logo up in the corner of the set, and I knew that if I unhooked and went forward and down, I could get the ultimate shot that would go forever. I zoomed it just perfectly so Shaq’s head was directly in the O of FOX ! I did this Dutch angle for around 25 seconds while he was talking, and Fox used that shot in a commercial for six months. Another standout was the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, where I was the first camera operator to use James Cameron’s PACE 3D Super Slo-Mo system. It was an 80-pound rig that required two people to get it on and off my shoulder. It was a behemoth! I think I was an inch shorter after running that camera for the four days of the All Star Game.
One more question, why do they call you “Jumpin’ Johnny”? [Laughs.] I used to compete as a freestyle skier, jumping and doing moguls. Everybody started calling me that, like a buzzword. Someone I knew from that world was visiting me on set once and said my name. Somebody on the crew heard it and then everybody started calling me that. Now, every production monitor says “Jumpin’.” I don’t even know if anybody knows my real name. [Laughs.]
BY TERESA MUÑOZ
The input of Local 600 members is of the utmost importance, and we rely on our membership as the prime (and often the only) source of information in compiling this section. In order for us to continue to provide this service, we ask that Guild members submitting information take note of the following requests:
Please provide up-to-date and complete crew information (including Still Photographers, Publicists, Additional Units, etc.).
Please note that the deadline for the Production Credits is on the first of the preceding cover month (excluding weekends & holidays).
Submit your jobs online by visiting: www.icg600.com/MY600/Report-Your-Job
Any questions regarding the Production Credits should be addressed to Teresa Muñoz at teresa@icgmagazine.com
20TH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION
“ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING” SEASON 5
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KYLE WULLSCHLEGER
OPERATOR: DANIEL SHARNOFF
ASSISTANTS: TIMOTHY TROTMAN, DAMON LEMAY, SARA BOARDMAN, AMANDA DEERY
STEADICAM OPERATOR: PETER VIETRO-HANNUM LOADERS: CHAD KEAN, AMELIA MCLAUGHLIN
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: PATRICK HARBRON
A24
“MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES”
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL HERSE, TARI SEGAL, ASC
OPERATORS: ORLANDO DUGUAY, JESSICA LAKOFF CANNON, JESSICA CLARKE-NASH, JUSTIN WATSON, SARA INGRAM, JOHN RONEY, EMILY ZENK
STEADICAM OPERATOR: ORLANDO DUGUAY
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: CHRIS HOYLE LOADER: NICOLA CARUSO
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: ALLYSON RIGGS
UNIT PUBLICIST: SHERYL MAIN
“FLASHLIGHT”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTIAN SPRENGER
OPERATORS: MICHAEL FUCHS, JOHN GARRETT
ASSISTANTS: LIAM SINNOTT, JEFF DICKERSON, JACK SHULTZ, JOHN MCCARTHY
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KYO MOON LOADER: EMILY KHAN
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: BOBBY CLARK
UNIT PUBLICIST: AMANDA BRAND
AP PRODUCTION SERVICES, INC.
“CONVOY” 2ND UNIT
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: PEDRO LUQUE
OPERATORS: GREGOR TAVENNER, REBECCA ARDNT
ASSISTANTS: ERIC SWANEK, TROY SOLA, TYLER SWANEK, CHARLOTTE SKUTCH
LOADER: JORDAN BAN
ARM OPERATOR: ARI MOORE
UNIT PUBLICIST: LARRY GARRISON
BEACHWOOD SERVICES, INC.
“DAYS OF OUR LIVES” SEASON 60
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID MEAGHER
OPERATORS: MARK WARSHAW, MICHAEL J. DENTON, JOHNNY BROMBEREK, JOHN BOYD, STEVE CLARK
CAMERA UTILITY: GARY CYPHER
VIDEO CONTROLLER: ALEXIS DELLAR HANSON
BIG INDIE STARDUST, INC.
“JACK RYAN” NY UNIT
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ARNAU VALLS COLOMER
OPERATORS: DAVID THOMPSON, CONNIE HUANG
ASSISTANTS: CHRISTOPHER ENG, EMMA REES-SCANLON, KEITH ANDERSON, MARC LOFORTE, PATRICK O’SHEA
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MATTHEW SELKIRK
LOADER: CONNOR LYNCH
LIBRA TECH: DANIELLE WILCOX
SCORPIO TECH: BRADY WESTON
CRANE TECH: MARCEL CIUREA
BLIND FAITH PRODUCTIONS, LLC
“DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN” SEASON 2 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: HILLARY SPERA, JEFFREY WALDRON
OPERATORS: THOMAS SCHNAIDT, BLAKE JOHNSON
ASSISTANTS: CHRISTOPHER WIEZOREK, STEPHEN MCBRIDE, YALE GROPMAN, GREGORY PACE
STEADICAM OPERATOR: THOMAS SCHNAIDT
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: PATRICK CECILIAN
LOADERS: MCKENZIE RAYCROFT, BRIANNA MCCARTHY
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JOJO WHILDEN
UNIT PUBLICIST: NICOLE KALISH
COIN TOSS, LLC
“A PLACE IN HELL”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MENNO MANS
OPERATORS: MARK SCHMIDT, ARI ISSLER
ASSISTANTS: JAMES SCHLITTENHART, ALEC NICKEL, TROY DOBBERTIN, FRANCES DE RUBERTIS
LOADERS: LIZZY COMPTON, PAUL SPANG
COOLER WATER PRODUCTIONS
“EUPHORIA” SEASON 3
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MARCELL REV, ASC, HCA
OPERATORS: JOSH MEDAK, ROCKER MEADOWS, ASSISTANTS: NORRIS FOX, DAN SCHROER, JONATHAN CLARK, DAN URBAIN
LOADER: CHESTER MILTON
DIGITAL UTILITY: VICTORIA BETANCOURT
REMOTE HEAD TECH/OPERATOR: SIMON TERZIAN
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: EDDY CHEN
“THE CHAIR COMPANY” SEASON 1
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ASHLEY CONNOR
OPERATORS: JENNIE JEDDRY, ADAM MCDAID
ASSISTANTS: DEAN MARTINEZ, EVAN WALSH,
ALEC FREUND
LOADER: MASHA PAVLOVA
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: SARAH SHATZ
CRANETOWN MEDIA, LLC
“MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN” SEASON 4
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL MCDONOUGH OPERTORS: ALAN PIERCE, BRIAN OSMOND
ASSISTANTS: CORY STAMBLER, KIMBERLY HERMAN, BENEDICT BALDAUFF, BRIAN BRESNEHAN
DIGITAL UTILITY: MATTHEW BERAN
LOADERS: THOMAS HENRY HOLMES
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: DENNIS MONG
DXO EAST PRODUCTIONS, LLC
“DEXTER: RESURRECTION”
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: RADIUM CHEUNG, JOSEPH COLLINS
OPERATORS: ELI ARONOFF, ERIC ROBINSON
ASSISTANTS: JOHN REEVES, BLAKE ALCANTARA, SARAH SCRIVENER, MAX COLLINS
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ILYA AKIYOSHI
LOADERS: VINCENT FERRARI, OFELIA CHAVEZ
STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: ZACH DILGARD, ANNE JOYCE, MYRNA SUAREZ
NBC UNIVERSAL TELEVISION, LLC
“CHICAGO MED”SEASON 10
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SHAWN MAURER
OPERATORS: JOE TOLITANO, BILLY NIELSEN
ASSISTANTS: GEORGE OLSON, PATRICK DOOLEY, BRIAN KILBORN, RICHARD COLMAN, MATTHEW WILBAT, JJ LITTLEFIELD
STEADICAM OPERATOR: CHRISTOPHER GLASGOW
LOADER: TREVOR SNYDER
DIGITAL UTILITY: TRENTON LUETTICH
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: GEORGE BURNS
2ND UNIT
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: WILLIAM NIELSEN
“CHICAGO PD” SEASON 12
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMES ZUCAL
OPERATORS: VICTOR MACIAS, JAMISON ACKER, CHRIS HOOD
ASSISTANTS: KYLE BELOUSEK, DON CARLSON, NICK WILSON, MARK MOORE, CHRIS POLMANSKI, STEVE CLAY
STEADICAM OPERATOR: VICTOR MACIAS
STEADICAM ASSISTANT: KYLE BELOUSEK
LOADER: REBECCA JOHNSON
DIGITAL UTILITIES: JACOB OCKER, JACOB CUSHMAN
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: LORI ALLEN
“SNL - CLOTHING AD” SEASON 50
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LANCE KUHNS
OPERATORS: CALVIN FALK, ZACK SCHAMBERG
ASSISTANTS: J. GORDON ARKENBERG, AARON SNOW, MORGAN ARMSTRONG, SANCHEEV RAVICHANDRAN
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MATTHEW MARTIN
“SNL - LIFE INSURANCE” SEASON 50
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDY KUGLER
OPERATORS: JOHN SCHWARTZ, KOREY ROBINSON
ASSISTANTS: KEVIN WALTER, SCOTT HALL MILLER, SAM ELLIOT, AUSTIN KITE
NETFLIX PRODUCTIONS, LLC
“THE LINCOLN LAWYER” SEASON 4
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ABRAHAM MARTINEZ
OPERATOS: DOMINIC BARTOLONE, WILL DEARBORN
ASSISTANTS: JOE CHEUNG, TODD AVERY, BRANDON DEVANIE, RYAN JACKSON
STEADICAM OPERATOR: DOMINIC BARTOLONE
STEADICAM ASSISTANT: JOE CHEUNG
DIGITAL LOADER: J. CORRIA SOTOMAYOR
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: FRANCESCO SAUTA
“THE WHISPER MAN”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER DEMING
OPERATOR: FRANCIS SPIELDENNER
ASSISTANTS: COURTNEY BRIDGERS, TONY COAN, JAMES DRUMMOND, AMBER MATHES
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JESSICA TA
LOADERS: JEFF DICKERSON, NATHAN CARR
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: DAVID LEE
UNIT PUBLICIST: JULIE KUEHNDORF
PEACHY CLEAN PRODUCTIONS, LLC
“DTF ST. LOUIS”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMES WHITAKER, ASC
OPERATOR: BRIGMAN FOSTER-OWENS
ASSISTANTS: SEBASTIAN VEGA, JOHN HOFFLER, MAX JUNQUERA, PAUL SAUNDERS
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KYLE SPICER
LOADER: TAYLOR SEAMAN
DIGITAL UTILITY: ALEX NGUYEN
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: TINA ROWDEN
“THE ENGLISH TEACHER” SEASON 2
“JEOPARDY!” SEASON 39
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFF ENGEL
OPERATORS: DIANE L. FARRELL, SOC, MIKE TRIBBLE, JEFF SCHUSTER, L. DAVID IRETE
JIB ARM OPERATOR: MARC HUNTER
HEAD UTILITY: TINO MARQUEZ
CAMERA UTILITY: RAY THOMPSON
VIDEO CONTROLLER: JEFF MESSENGER
VIDEO UTILITIES: MICHAEL CORWIN, JEFF KLIMUCK
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: TYLER GOLDEN
“WHEEL OF FORTUNE” SEASON 40
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFF ENGEL
OPERATORS: DIANE L. FARRELL, SOC,
L.DAVID IRETE, RAY GONZALES, MIKE TRIBBLE
HEAD UTILITY: TINO MARQUEZ
CAMERA UTILITY: RAY THOMPSON
VIDEO CONTROLLER: JEFF MESSENGER
VIDEO UTILITIES: MICHAEL CORWIN, JEFF KLIMUCK
JIB ARM OPERATOR: STEVE SIMMONS
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: CAROL KAELSON
SUBURBAN PSYCHO MOVIE, LLC
“SUBURBAN PSYCHO”
OPERATORS: BARRET BURLAGE, DAN JONES
ASSISTANTS: MATTHEW MEBANE, NICHOLAS BROWN, EMILY RUDY, JAMES K. THOMAS
A
DANIEL PARROT, A CAMERA DOLLY GRIP
JUSTIN DEGUIRE, A CAMERA 1ST AC
KELLY POOR, B CAMERA 1ST AC
NASSRIN ABRIL, DIGITAL UTILITY
KELLY HARLE, A CAMERA 2ND AC
CHRISTINE KAPO NG, DP MARK GILMER, DIT
SAGAR DESAI, B CAMERA 2ND AC, CORDIS BROOKS, B CAMERA DOLLY GRIP
CATHERINE GREENE, B CAMERA OPERATOR
BY STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: STEVE “SWISH” SWISHER
STAMFORD MEDIA CENTER AND PRODUCTIONS, LLC
“KARAMO” SEASON 3
OPERATORS: VICTOR MATHEWS, RON THOMPSON, CHARLES BEDI, DOMINICK CIARDIELLO, JON ROSE, ED STAEBLER, THOMAS TUCKER
JIB ARM OPERATOR: ANTHONY LENZO
CAMERA UTILITIES: FRANK CAIOLA, ROBERT FRITCHE
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOE MANCUSI
“WILKOS” SEASON 18
OPERATORS: VICTOR MATHEWS, RON THOMPSON, CHARLES BEDI, DOMINICK CIARDIELLO, MARC NATHAN, JON ROSE
JIB ARM OPERATOR: ANTHONY LENZO
CAMERA UTILITIES: ROBERT BENEDETTI, FRANK CAIOLA, ROBERT FRITCHE
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOE MANCUSI
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THINKFILM, INC.
“MECHANICAL” SEASON 3
DC UNIT
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID FRANCO
OPERATORS: LAWRENCE MCCONKEY, ANDREW SCHWARTZ
ASSISTANTS: IAN AXILROD, BRANDON BABBIT, JASON HOCHREIN
TECHNOCRANE TECHS: BRADY WESTON, AL RODGERS
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOHN VALLON
LOADER: PATRICK MCALLISTER
LIBRA HEAD TCH: SEAN FOLKL
SCORPIO HEAD TECHS: ARTHUR ELLIS, LANCE RIECK
UNIVERSAL CONTENT PRODUCTIONS, LLC
“THE BURBS” SEASON 2
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JONATHAN FURMANSKI
OPERATORS: TOM VALKO, MARC CARTER
ASSISTANTS: RYO KINNO, BENNY BAILEY, JOSH GREER, JOHN CARREON
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: PASQUALE PAOLO
DIGITAL LOADER: WILLIAM RANDALL
DIGITAL UTILITY: AUSTIN LOGAN
UNIVERSAL TELEVISION
“SUITS LA” SEASON 1
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOE GALLAGHER
OPERATORS: JASON BLOUNT, DANIEL WURSCHL, PAIGE THOMAS
ASSISTANTS: TONY MARTIN, CHRISTOPHER GARLAND, RICH HUGHES, ALDO PORRAS, GRETCHEN HATZ, TOMMY IZUMI
LOADER: EMILY TAPANES
DIGITAL UTILITY: DILSHAN HERATH
WARNER BROS
“LEANNE” SEASON 1
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVEN V. SILVER, ASC
OPERATORS: EDDIE FINE, DAMIAN DELLA SANTINA, JAMIE HITCHCOCK, JON PURDY
ASSISTANTS: MEGGINS MOORE, SEAN ASKINS, NIGEL STEWART, JEFF JOHNSON, WHITNEY JONES
CAMERA UTILITIES: COLIN BROWN, MATT FISHER
VIDEO CONTROLLER: KEVIN FAUST
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: BENJAMIN STEEPLES
ARTS & SCIENCES
“GEICO”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MIKE GIOULAKIS
OPERATOR: ANDREW LABOY
ASSISTANTS: LIAM SINNOTT, SEAN FRISOLI, EMILY BROWN
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: TODD BARNETT
CRANE OPERATOR: JOE DATRI
CRANE TECH: JESSE VIELLEUX
HEAD TECH: CHRIS SMITH
BANCHAN, LLC
“BEDFORD PARK”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID MCFARLAND
OPERATOR: SAM WOOD
ASSISTANTS: MIKE GUASPARI, EDGAR VELEZ
LOADER: MADELEINE KING
BISCUIT
“LIBERTY MUTUAL”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BEN SERESIN, ASC
OPERATOR: ROHAM RAHMANIAN
ASSISTANTS: MICHAEL FOO, CHRIS SLANY, NOAH GLAZER, ANDREEA CORNEL BAHARA, JUSTIN CHEFE, RIO NOEL ZUMWALT
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: NATALIE CARR
CANADA LOS ANGELES, INC
“WALMART”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: PEPE AVILA DEL PINO
ASSISTANTS: CONNOR LAMBERT, JORDAN OGLESBY, JOSEPH SORIA
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ELI BERG
“HANNAFORD GROCERY”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DOUG CHAMBERLAIN
ASSISTANTS: JILL TUFTS, THOMAS BELLOTTI
STEADICAM OPERATOR: JOHN KOPEC
“OLD NATIONAL BANK”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JORDAN LEVY
ASSISTANTS: MICHAEL KUBASZAK, MATT BROWN, DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ERIC ALMOND
“DELOITTE”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JONATHAN SELA
ASSISTANTS: JIMMY JENSEN, TRISTAN CHAVEZ
STEADICAM OPERATOR: BRIAN SERGOTT
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MATT LOVE
HEAD CRANE TECH: LUCAS BALLY
CRANE TECH: NICO BALLY
“CELSIUS”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GAUL PORAT
ASSISTANTS: ETHAN MCDONALD, ALAN CERTEZA
STEADICAM OPERATOR: DEVON CATUCCI
LOADER: CRISS DAVIS
HUNGRY MAN PRODUCTIONS
“AMAZON”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTIAN SPRENGER
OPERATOR: JEFF BOLLMAN
ASSISTANTS: LIAM SINNOT, JOE SEGURA, JORDAN CRAMER, MELIA HALLER
RONIN OPERATOR: CHRIS HERR
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MATT LOVE
“ILLINOIS LOTTERY”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC SCHMIDT
ASSISTANTS: JOSEPH BRADY, MATT ARREDONDO
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JASON HELGREN
REMOTE HEAD TECH: MICHAEL MONAR
FIRST MAN FILMS
“TOPPS BOWMAN”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TOM CAMARDA
OPERATOR: DOUGLAS GORDON
ASSISTANTS: JILL TUFTS, DANIEL MASON, TALIA KROHMAL
ICONOCLAST
“NIKE”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: AUTUMN DURALD, ASC
ASSISTANTS: ETHAN MCDONALD, STEPHEN EARLY, RODRIGUE GOMES
STEADICAM OPERATOR: XAVIER THOMPSON
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ZACH HILTON
MAGNA STUDIOS, INC.
“CHEVY”
DIRECTOR OHF PHOTOGRAPY: LOGAN TRIPLETT
OPERATOR: ADAM CARBONI
ASSISTANTS: KEN THOMPSON, MICHELLE SUN, NATHANIEL PINHEIRO, YAYO VANG
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MICHAEL KELLOGG
DRONE PILOT: JONATHAN GRAHAM
DRONE OPERATOR: DEXTER KENNEDY
DRONE TECH: ANDREW PEISTER
EDGE CRANE OPERATOR: DUSTIN KELLER
REMOTE HEAD TECH: PAUL MCKENNA
EDGE TECH: SEAN FOLKL
DRONE ASSISTANT: MATTHEW MONTALTO
PEANUT GALLERY GROUP, INC.
“CHANEL COCO CRUSH”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STUART WINECOFF
ASSISTANTS: PAYAM YAZDANDOOST, ERICK AGUILAR, AMANDA DAROUIE
STEADICAM OPERATOR: ARI ROBBINS, SOC
STEADICAM ASSISTANT: ERICK AGUILAR
LOADER: BEN SHURTLEFF
RADICAL MEDIA
“MAYBELLINE”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SCOTT CUNNINGHAM
ASSISTANTS: WALTER RODRIGUEZ, JON SANDIN
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: THOMAS WONG
ROAD TRIP FILMS
“SAN DIEGO SAFARI PARK”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KRISTIAN KACHIKIS
ASSISTANTS: SCOTT KASSENOFF, DANIEL HANYCH
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: CASEY SHERRIER
ROBERTS MEDIA, LLC
“A CHRISTMAS SPARK”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: RYAN GALVAN
ASSISTANT: MICHAEL THOMPSON
STEADICAM OPERATOR: SAWYER OUBRE
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: TRAVIS CANNAN
“AXE”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GARRETT DAVIS
ASSISTANTS: CHEVY ANDERSON, WYATT MAKER
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: PAUL SCHILENS
BTS: SHANE DUCKWORTH
“GM-LA”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: PATRICK GOLAN
OPERATOR: JOHN SKOTCHDOPOLE
ASSISTANTS: ERICK AGUILAR, ERIC UGLAND, BRYAM AGUILAR, DUMAINE BABCOCK
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: DANIEL HERNANDEZ
SPARE PARTS, INC.
“FOX SPORTS ADIDAS”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEREMY EMERMAN
ASSISTANTS: J. LOUI LEROY, JOHN WILLIAMS
“HONDA”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BILLY PENA
ASSISTANTS: SAMUEL BUTT, JACOB ROSENBLATT, KEVIN MILES
STEADICAM OPERATOR: HARVEY GLEN
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MICHAEL HARDWICK
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW “SPECTRUM”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANTHONY ARENDT
ASSISTANTS: CHRIS TOLL, SAL ALVAREZ, HENRY NGUYEN
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: CALVIN REIBMAN
TOOL
“MENTOS”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MARKUS MENTZER
ASSISTANTS: CHAD RIVETTI, NATHAN MIELKE
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: RAFFI VESCO
UNSIGNED, LLC
“SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL OPEN
2025”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CHUCK OZEAS
ASSITANTS: DENNIS LYNCH, RYAN MHOR, JAY HARDIE, TRAIANA NESCHEVA
STEADICAM OPERATOR: CHRIS CUNNINGHAM
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: NICK FRY
LONDON ALLEY
“ED SHEEREN - DRIVE”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JARED FADEL
ASSISTANTS: ERICK AGUILAR,
JESSE AMORRATANASUCHAD, TRAVIS FRANCIS
STEADICAM OPERATOR: ZAC STANKE
DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: RAFFI VESCO
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This shot was taken on our final day of shooting at Cipriani’s in lower Manhattan. There were one or two big crane shots and a lot of “seeing the world” Steadicam shots. I always have a good time dancing with the Steadicam, especially with Operator Phil Martinez, pictured here. Phil’s easy to work with, but he also will make some last-second decisions to switch things up each take; I find it fun to have to make those quick moves to stay out of frame! The vibes were great that day and the crew all shared in that mix of excitement and sadness as the production came to an end.
