The Sustainable Production Alliance: Celebrating the Green Production Guide’s 10-Year Anniversary

As issues of climate change continue to be front and center in every aspect of our lives, many areas of business and industry are investigating new ways in which they can mitigate their carbon footprint and become more engaged in policies that are centered on responsibility toward climate change. Fortunately, the entertainment industry has been ...

By The Credits  |  December 23, 2020
Supervising Sound Editor on Capturing the Sound of “Ted Lasso” Remotely

Ted Lasso began life nearly a decade ago, in what must now seem like a more innocent time, as a character in a series of promos for NBC as they embarked on coverage of Britain’s Premier League. That character, created and portrayed by SNL alum Jason Sudeikis, is an American football coach, hot off a ...

By Mark London Williams  |  November 16, 2020
“The Batman” is Using Technology From “The Mandalorian” For Select Scenes

The reason it took so long to get a proper live-action Star Wars series on TV was because the technology had to catch-up to the demands of television. That finally happened, of course, for series creator Jon Favreau and his team on The Mandalorian. Favreau, cinematographers like Emmy-winner Greig Fraser, and the wizards at Industrial Light & Magic helped ...

By The Credits  |  October 20, 2020

Interview

Producer Special/Visual Effects

“Brave New World” VFX Supervisor & Producer Thomas Horton on Peacock’s Ambitious New Series

For visual effects supervisor Thomas Horton, Peacock’s new series Brave New World, which premiered on July 15, presented a serious challenge. Horton was tasked with overseeing the streaming channel’s ambitious adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s legendary sci-fi novel, which despite being published in 1932 still contains so many unkillable themes and foundational science fiction tropes it remains ...

By Bryan Abrams  |  September 1, 2020

Interview

Cinematographer

Emmy-Nominated DP Greig Fraser on Harnessing Cutting-Edge Tech in “The Mandalorian”

The Emmys have spoken: The ballots are in, and among the most-nominated shows was Disney’s first live action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. One big reason for that was cinematographer Greig Fraser, a previous Oscar nominee for his work on Lion, and now sharing an Emmy nom with Barry “Baz” Idoine on the Disney+ series, ...

By Mark London Williams  |  August 26, 2020

Interview

Editor

“Hanna” Editor Morten Højbjerg on Cutting Amazon’s High-Octane Thriller

Hanna editor Morten Højbjerg cut the first two episodes of season one of creator David Farr’s relentlessly action-packed Amazon series, which was adapted from Joe Wright’s 2011 film (which Farr wrote) that starred Saoirse Ronan in the title role. In the series, Esme Creed-Miles takes over for Ronan as the titular young girl with a ...

By Bryan Abrams  |  August 12, 2020
How They “Live-Captured” Hamilton

In this new clip from the upcoming film version of Hamilton, which is coming to Disney + on July 3, you’ll be able to feel a little bit of the magic that existed in the theater for all those folks who got to see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s blockbuster Broadway musical. Yet as compelling as this clip is, ...

By The Credits  |  June 25, 2020

Interview

Production Designer

Devs Production Designer Embellishes Big Tech Aesthetic in Alex Garland’s Gorgeous, Beguiling Series

What if a Silicon Valley behemoth ran a top-secret project that threatened the well-being of unwitting civilians? That’s the not entirely outlandish premise underlying Devs, now streaming on FX on Hulu. Created by Ex Machina and Annihilation director Alex Garland, the sci-fi limited series largely takes place at a sleek big tech “campus” surrounded by woods. ...

By Hugh Hart  |  May 18, 2020

Interview

Director Screenwriter

How Filipino Filmmaker Keith Sicat is Using Quarantine to Help Fellow Filmmakers (And Entertain Himself in the Process)

“The beautiful thing is, you have to keep occupied right?” So says Filipino writer/director Keith Sicat, speaking from the six-week-long lockdown in Manila. With three projects primed to go into production at the beginning of the year, Sicat now spends in time between project development, teaching filmmaking, and keeping his creative juices flowing on mini-projects ...

By Stephen Jenner  |  May 7, 2020

Interview

Production Designer

How Production Designer Anne Seibel Built a Jazz Club From Scratch in Damien Chazelle’s The Eddy

Contrasting the difficult lives of professional jazz musicians with their joyous, airy music, Damien Chazelle’s (Whiplash, La La Land) new Netflix series The Eddy turns on the personal and professional drama surrounding a titular jazz club in Paris’s down-to-earth 19th arrondissement (premiering on Friday, May 8). A legendary jazz pianist, it’s Elliot’s (André Holland) job ...

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  May 7, 2020

Interview

Cinematographer

Westworld and Snowpiercer Cinematographer John Grillo on Crafting Dueling Apocalypses

Right before lockdown and social distancing began in earnest, we had a chance to talk with notable cinematographer Paul Cameron about his return to Westworld, for which he not only shot the pilot but returned to film the just-concluded season’s opening episode and to direct the fourth. He kept singing the praises of John Grillo, ...

By Mark London Williams  |  May 6, 2020

Interview

Costume Designer

Costumers Organize to Make 16,000 Protective Masks

Seven weeks ago, costumer Nickolaus Brown expected he’d be spending this spring in Atlanta outfitting Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds for their Netflix action flick Red Notice. Instead, he’s now hunched over a sewing machine in his Los Angeles home, making masks for hospital workers. On a recent afternoon, Brown explained, “I’ve done eight so ...

By Hugh Hart  |  April 30, 2020
Film Location Scouts Help New York City Find Hospital Space

The film community has been pitching in to help the healthcare industry deal with the spread of COVID-19, and now the New York Times reports a new way in which filmmakers have stepped up; helping New York City find hospital space. There are few folks who know a given city or area better than location scouts, who have ...

By The Credits  |  April 29, 2020
VFX Producer Andrea Knoll on Creating the Futuristic Yet Natural World in Tales from the Loop

Tales from the Loop, Amazon’s latest sci-fi offering which stars Rebecca Hall and Jonathan Pryce, resists easy definition. Set in Ohio but based on paintings of Sweden, the residents of the small town at the center of the series are all loosely bound by a machine known as the Loop, a technology intended to unlock ...

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  April 21, 2020

Interview

Casting Director Cinematographer

Under Lockdown, Tech & Film Meet in New Ways to Un-Stall an Industry on Hold

The first feature film made entirely over Zoom may still be a blessed long way off, but in accordance with COVID-19 social distancing procedures, formerly eschewed technologies are finding a current warm welcome among the film and television industry. Whether it’s a newfound acceptance of older, familiar names like Skype, or industry-specific digital tools being ...

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  April 17, 2020

Interview

Special/Visual Effects

Oscar-Nominated Visual Effects Supervisor Pablo Helman on De-Aging the Iconic Actors of The Irishman

We’re looking back at some of our interviews with this year’s Oscar nominees in the lead-up to this Sunday’s telecast. This story was originally published on December 6. In 2015, visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman was working with Martin Scorsese on Silence, a stirring film about the Christian faith during 17th century Japan. The two ...

By Daron James  |  February 6, 2020