The Studio

This was a dream shoot for me on many levels. The show is such a sharply crafted, entertaining portrayal of Hollywood’s inner workings—and, of course, features an absolutely legendary cast.

We had just 3–7 minutes with each subject for solo portraits, plus about 15 minutes to capture two group shots and a cover. Given the tight timeline, the magazine wisely suggested we shoot all the solos on a single set. I listened politely… and quietly started mapping out six unique setups in my mind.

I proposed concepts inspired by the golden era of Classic Hollywood: high-key lighting, the warmth of tungsten, and heavy vignetting. But I didn’t want to contribute to the visual trope of Hollywood actor + lights in the background. The old studios have this mythical, surreal quality to them - and I wanted our images to capture that air while feeling modern at the same time.

To make it all happen under the limited time allotted, my two-person lighting team and I pre-lit and marked each setup in reverse order of the shoot schedule, building 6 sets in a large circle inside the stage. It took six hours. Three minutes after we finished lighting the last set, the talent walked on. From there, it ran like a well-oiled machine—our team moving in sync through a choreographed dance of lights, flags, smoke machines, and effect fans.

While prepping the shoot, I made individual playlists for each subject based off of interviews they had given, this took the edge off and made everyone comfortable under the pressure cooker of bright lights and an unyielding schedule. I smiled through my viewfinder every time someone said, “This is my favorite song!”

I am proud of these images and very grateful to the cast for being excellent collaborators, to the team at The Wrap for trusting and supporting my vision and to my hard working crew.