By Robert Goldrich, The Road To Emmy Series, Part 7

In his first turn on The White Lotus (HBO), composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer won two Emmys last year–for Original Dramatic Score and Original Main Title Theme Music. He now once again is in the awards conversation for his work on season two of the series.

And while seasons one and two are distinctly different, they share some underlying behind-the-scenes similarities in that series creator Mike White found previous music from Tapia de Veer quite inspiring relative to the stories he was trying to tell.

For example, White was using Tapia de Veer’s music from the series Black Mirror as a temp track or placeholder for the first season of The White Lotus. “Mike was scoring almost every scene with music from Black Mirror,” recalled Tapia de Veer. “There was one particular track that he liked…It happens often for composers that people really like the temp score, and you have to chase that somehow. It was weirder when it’s my own music, It should be easier but it’s somehow harder.”

White, continued Tapia de Veer, had been looking for the right music for the show, which is why they waited so long before hiring someone. Tapia de Veer got the call to take on The White Lotus about a month before the final mix. “Since this track from Black Mirror was the only thing he [White] seemed to like, I had to find a way somehow to come up with a new version, a rethinking of it that would still have enough of those colors from Black Mirror that would work for Mike. In the end it was a really fun adventure.”

Ultimately within a time-challenged schedule, Tapia de Veer created an original score that conjured up the vibe of his Black Mirror work while being true to The White Lotus–as evidenced by the Emmy wins and the mainstream popularity of the music.

Fast forward to season two and Tapia de Veer experienced a bit of deja vu as White again was partial to music from another of the composer’s prior endeavors–The Girl With All The Gifts, a movie that debuted some seven years ago. Tapia de Veer said it was difficult for him for him “to come up with something that somehow gives him [White] what he wants to hear from my track from that movie. This time around, it was a very personal and very particular sounding track that felt authentic for that movie because it was something spontaneous and something particular to that. To try to find something for The White Lotus that is like that was really really hard.”

Ultimately, Tapia de Veer told White that he should just license that track, which he did–and it served as just one of the components for the season two sound of The White Lotus.

There was plenty of room for original music in the second season’s tapestry. The starting point in that vein, related Tapia de Veer, was fairly “standard procedure” as he and White went over the scripts and watched the episodes. Tapia de Veer said that White “explains what he needs to feel about every scene.”

Part of that process, though, that is particularly helpful, observed Tapia de Veer, are White’s “seemingly random directions.” The composer noted, for example, that for season two White didn’t want the situations of young girls trying to hook up with rich guys for their money to musically feel stressful, dark or too edgy. Rather White wanted this all “to feel playful,” even when danger arose. In this context, one such “random” piece of direction from White was that he needed the characters “to feel like little mice running around.”

That translated, continued Tapia de Veer, into the creation of “some playful piano tunes that feel almost like how a musical works.” The end result was a sound that was “rather funny” and yes, somehow it feels in the end like mice running around.”

Tapia de Veer added, “it’s very pleasing to work with someone who is very sensitive like Mike because he does feel when something is truly inspired or not. It’s really inspiring to feel like someone is getting what you are doing and who can push you further or push you in a direction of really being yourself–that is where the best sounds come from. It’s hard to explain but he’s just an inspiring person to work with.”

Tapia de Veer’s awards season pedigree precedes The White Lotus. He garnered his first Emmy nomination for Best Original Dramatic Score in 2018 for the “Crazy Diamond” episode of Electric Dreams. Tapia de Veer also won BAFTA Television and BAFTA TV Craft Awards for Best Original Music in 2017 for the miniseries National Treasure. He was again nominated for a BAFTA TV Craft Award in 2021 for his original music on an episode of The Third Day.

Laura Jean Shannon
When series creator Eric Kripke set out on The Boys (Prime Video), his first hire was superhero/supersuit designer Laura Jean Shannon, a two-time Costume Designers Guild Awards nominee–one for a Smirnoff commercial, the other for the groundbreaking Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster feature, Iron Man. Shannon got the initial opportunity to take on The Boys based on some behind-the-scenes creative work she had done earlier for Kripke, and her experience many moons ago with another project, the pilot for Preacher, which sprung from  a graphic novel by Garth Ennis. (The Boys is based on a graphic novel by Ennis and Darick Robertson.)

Being in on the ground floor of The Boys, Shannon has served as a co-architect with Kripke of the superhero characters in the series spanning its first three seasons, with a fourth on the horizon. The current Emmy-eligible third season required more supersuits than ever before, necessitating a major team effort to design and build assorted superheroes. This major task, though, was made less daunting by prior seasons during which world-building acumen evolved and advanced from year to year. As each season progressed with new suits added to the lineup, so too, observed Shannon, did the wherewithal and resources to innovate the development of those suits. Technology and materials were constantly upgraded as new processes took shape to build the suits. Over these seasons, Shannon has been able to cultivate a stellar team of professionals who benefited from extensive R&D in the early days of the series that has led to a much smarter path to meet the challenges of subsequent seasons, each of which upped the creative ante over the prior year.

The collaborative bond within the costume department starts from the top down on the overall show and extends to every department and artisan, noted Shannon who teamed with costume designer Michael Ground on season three. Shannon’s penchant for nurturing positive collaboration and teamwork was also rewarded as she was additionally made an associate producer on season three.

The Boys is a fun and irreverent take on what happens when superheroes–revered, influential and carrying celebrity status–abuse their superpowers under the guise of doing good. Looking to stop these corrupt superheroes are The Boys, vigilantes who continue their quest to expose the truth about not only the popular so-called “heroes” but also Vought, the huge conglomerate that manages the superheroes and covers up their dirty dealings. The series pits the seemingly powerless against the super powerful

While the show is funny by nature of its “perverse reality” as described by Shannon, she noted that cast and crew are not overtly going for the joke. Rather every aspect of the story is grounded, with the humor growing out of that reality.

And the show’s success has grown in part out of another reality–the strong connection and creative kinship between Kripke and Shannon. “Kripke and I joke that he’s my brother from another mother,” said Shannon. “I feel we’re in each other’s brains. We share long, detailed emails” which, she added, generate immediate detailed responses. “Throughout the process of design and discovery, he is every bit as decisive and collaborative as I am. It’s joyful and exciting.”

Shannon seeks to create cinematic level supersuits within a TV sphere. But it goes well beyond that, doing whatever it takes to support the cast of characters and advance the story. “We’re prepared to say yes to anything Kripke and the writers dream up,” she said, noting that they’re prepared to “spitball on the best approaches” to seemingly impossible tasks. The challenges are fun and invigorating–and in turn, Shannon observed, “You feel the fun that the team has when you’re watching our show.” 

The esprit de corps of cast and crew, she continued, is buoyed by being on “a challenging show with a big vision. There are a lot of surprises around each corner. That’s part of the fun of it. If you don’t love a challenge, you shouldn’t be in the business, certainly not on a show like this….The biggest challenge honestly was dealing with COVID. We were building a season and then COVID struck. Then we were playing catchup, wearing masks. I had a faceshield on that I couldn’t see through in trying to design costumes. We had to move from our space midway through the process. We grew out of our space because of social distancing.

“But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It brought our team closer together–testament to great leadership from the studio, the network, the executive producers who supported us in being able to carry on.” Shannon affirmed that cast and crew share “a great pride that we all feel for achieving something that might be considered impossible in a different arena but is just another Monday or Tuesday on The Boys.”

In a SHOOT Chat Room interview earlier this year, director Nelson Cragg–whose work on The Boys included the much talked about season three episode “Herogasm”–addressed the impact of COVID on the show. “We were in Toronto, quarantined [per COVID protocols]. We couldn’t leave, We couldn’t bring our family or friends. We were able to build relationships with the cast that you couldn’t have done in normal times. Because we were isolated up there, there was an intense kind of familial bond. It allowed us to go a little deeper with the actors and their characters than you would in normal television….I love working with Eric Kripke. I love the cast. They delivered great performances.”

Steven Meizler
An Emmy and ASC Award winner in 2021 for his lensing of the “End Game” episode of The Queen’s Gambit–which also earned him BSC Award and Camerimage Golden Frog nominations–Steven Meizler is now part of current awards season banter for White House Plumbers (HBO), a political drama with comedic overtones. The series centers on two historical figures, former CIA official E. Howard Hunt (portrayed by Woody Harrelson) and ex-FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux) who planned and executed the break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate hotel and office complex. 

Created by writers/executive producers Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, White House Plumbers taps into the comedy acumen of director/EP David Mandel whose writing credits include Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, with directorial turns on the latter as well as Veep. Mandel’s comedic sensibilities dovetailed nicely with the absurdities of the Watergate scandal, without diminishing its significance which ultimately led to President Nixon’s resignation.

Meizler got the opportunity to take on White House Plumbers thanks in part to a recommendation from cinematographer Salvatore Totino, who was originally slated to shoot the limited series. Totino had embarked on White House Plumbers only to have the project shut down in the middle of prep due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By the time it restarted, Totino had another job, 65, a feature starring Adam Driver. Totino suggested Meizler to Mandel.

Meizler was about seven years old at the time of Nixon’s resignation. As an adult, the DP was intrigued by the prospect of delving into what led to that historic event, including the four break-in attempts at the Watergate complex. Meizler said he’s long been fascinated by the Watergate era, and the “caper-esque” nature of the story. White House Plumbers, he added, provided a different perspective on that story by focusing on the masterminds behind the plot. Furthermore, those masterminds and their decisions reflected priorities and values that got twisted, making the narrative all the more interesting.

Early on Meizler developed a rapport with Mandel as they crafted their approach to that narrative. The cinematographer said of the director, “He has a great comedic background. This was his first foray into drama. His dramatic instincts were really great.”

Meizler embraced the chance to tap into a major visual reference when it came to the Watergate scandal, All The President’s Men, the four-time Oscar winner directed by Alan J. Pakula and shot by Gordon Willis. Meizler said that Willis was a great influence on him, describing his photography as inspiring. Another visual reference was Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, particularly when it came to the surveillance scenes in White House Plumbers. The Conversation was lensed by Bill Butler and Haskell Wexler.

Meizler deployed the RED Ranger camera with Monstro sensor on White House Plumbers, pairing it with Zeiss lenses. The cinematographer noted that he’s enjoyed an extensive, positive experience with RED digital cinema cameras. Some lensing took place in historic venues, including room 214 of the Watergate hotel from which Hunt and Liddy surveyed the break-in. As depicted in White House Plumbers, the Watergate is “almost a character in and of itself,” observed Meizler. 

As for what came after White House Plumbers for Meizler, at press time he had wrapped shooting on Judgment, a pilot for ABC.

Incidentally Meizler’s Emmy history predates The Queen’s Gambit. In 2018, he earned his first career Emmy nomination for the miniseries Godless.

Margot Ready
A fan of Yellowjackets (Showtime) in its first year, production designer Margot Ready jumped at the opportunity to take on season two. She recalled wrapping the pilot for Quantum Leap last spring and hearing through the industry grapevine that Yellowjackets was looking for a designer. She asked her agent to reach out to the producers, ultimately landing the plum assignment to follow in the footsteps of Yellowjackets season one production designer Brian Kane. 

“I loved the work he did in season one and wanted to honor that,” said Ready who also sought to “honor the level of deep thought that the writers put in.” Ready affirmed that the story comes heavily into play for a production designer. “Every set you do has to be tied into story in a meaningful way.”

Among the settings Ready had to create for Yellowjackets was the cabin in the 1990s’ timeline, used sparingly in season one, but growing into prominence for season two. Originally a tiny cabin on location for the first season, the setting had to be built for season two with removable walls to afford producers more control over the environment. The cabin, though, had to have a snowy forest around it, matching up with the outside environs seen in season one. “I learned over the years that putting real pieces into an artificial environment can work,” said Ready who brought real trees on set, accounting for about 30 percent of the forest trees surrounding the house. Real trees and bark in every shot made the foam trees seem all the more real. Eyeballs seem to accept that mix as authentic. Additionally, the snow was a major challenge with Ready deploying effects and sculpting teams for what became a big R&D craft project, concocting different stages of snow.

Ready also cited the creation of the late Adam’s loft as challenging. Shauna and her husband Jeff visit the loft only to discover that Adam painted portraits of her even though she never posed for him. Ready related that we see Shauna through Adam’s eyes. It’s a deteriorating vision, reflecting that he was possibly going insane or perhaps he was starting to recognize the darker shadings of her. Ready noted that the environment and the artwork itself had to be appealing yet ominous. Along those lines, the production designer observed, “The beauty and the horror of Yellowjackets will consume you” through a mix of surprises, subliminal elements and images from the subconscious. It’s elusive yet realistic at the same time. “Adam’s paintings play into that–both beautiful and horrifying.”

Ready said she was fortunate to inherit great talent that carried over from the first to the second season, including the art, sculpting, props and construction teams. Coming on board for season two was set decorator Mark Lane, whom Ready had collaborated with previously on The Magicians, a series which she also joined in its second season. Ready said Lane made invaluable contributions.

While Ready had respect and admiration for Yellowjackets before she became a part of it, she now understands what makes the series so successful, citing the writers’ close connection to the crew. “This makes the crew feel very much like part of the bigger whole,” she observed. 

“The writers are incredible communicators–kind, intelligent and thoughtful,” assessed Ready. “The show is both well planned and exploratory. The writers enjoy the exploration. They make you feel you’re part of a larger team working with them to fulfill their vision. It’s a collaborative experience in which we move forward together. Their communication and collaboration with the crew allows the show to reach their level of writing.”

Beyond Yellowjackets, The Magicians and the Quantum Leap pilot, Ready served as production designer on the Netflix limited series Devil in Ohio, and the pilot and season one for Warner Bros.' Kung Fu. On the feature side, Ready served as art director on tentpole features including Steven Spielberg’s The BFG and Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

This is the seventh installment of SHOOT’s weekly 16-part The Road To Emmy Series of feature stories. Nominations will be announced and covered on July 12. Creative Arts Emmy winners will be reported on during the weekend of September 9 and 10, and primetime Emmy ceremony winners will be covered on September 18.

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