Production designer Martin Childs, whoโs been with the series from its inception, picks up his 6th career nod
By Robert Goldrich, The Road To Emmy Series, Part 16
LOS ANGELES --Adriano Goldman, ASC, BSC, ABC and Sophia Olsson, FSF earned Emmy nominations this year for Outstanding Cinematography for a One-Hour Series on the strength of their work on The Crown (Netflix)–Goldman for the showโs finale, โSleep, Dearie Sleep,โ and Olsson for the โRitzโ episode. These are two of the 18 nominations bestowed this year upon The Crown, including for Outstanding Drama Series.
This marks the sixth nomination that Goldman has received for The Crown, having won twice–for the โBerylโ episode in 2018 and the โFairytaleโ installment in 2021.
Meanwhile Olsson joined The Crown in this, itโs sixth and final season. This is her first career Emmy nomination. While SHOOT has chronicled Goldmanโs exploits over the years, particularly on The Crown, and most recently in phase one of the current Emmy Awards season, Olsson hadnโt been in our โRoad To Emmyโ spotlight–until now. She lensed the first and eighth episodes of season 6, both directed by Alex Gabassi who brought Olsson into The Crown fold. He was drawn to her feature work and reached out to the Swedish cinematographer about the possibility of shooting The Crown.
The pivotal season 6 โRitzโ episode dealt with extraordinary familial relationships, particularly between sisters Margaret and Elizabeth–as well as oneโs relationship with the past. The latter dynamic was reflected in the life of a declining Margaret who had endured a series of strokes. She recalls a wild night with her sister at the Ritz in 1945 only to return for a current celebration of her 70th birthday there.
Olsson related that the โRitzโ episode contains many scenes and situations that are quite emotional, casting light on the relationship between Elizabeth and Margaret. The key from a cinematography standpoint was not to let those emotions take over and be over-exaggerated, instead trying to delve thoughtfully and insightfully into the intimacy between the two, particularly in their later years. Olsson credited director Gabassi with attaining that delicate balance while also doing justice to the fun, comic moments that help lift the episode.
Olsson and Gabassi made the choice to keep the camera close to the sisters in the 1990s when they come together for the 70th birthday festivities. โNot too many long lenses, not standing too far away,โ said Olsson who brought the camera โcloser and in their sphere.โ
This provided a contrast to the visual expression chosen to convey 1945–often deploying longer lenses, for instance. During yesteryear, there were people around and about all the time. By the 1990s, the sisters were more often โvery much alone,โ prompting Olsson to not only move in on them but in select shots go wider to underscore their aloneness in the present time.
Particularly helpful and gratifying for Olsson was getting the opportunity to compare notes with cinematographer Goldman as the two were often prepping at the same time. โIt was so much fun to have Adriano to talk to, to ask about past things that they had done,โ said Olsson, picking up valuable context but at the same time realizing that the season 6 work had requirements and creative considerations all their own. In that vein, Olsson shared that series showrunner/creator Peter Morgan was open-minded relative to how she and Gabassi wanted to approach the story visually, creatively and in terms of problem solving.
โAlex had a close relationship with Peter,โ said Olsson, noting that over six seasons, The Crown amassed vast resources and talent. Yet even with this โbig machineโ behind the show, Morgan preserved the creativity and freedom needed to do full justice to the narrative. And of course, thereโs the inherent advantage of being able to work with a stellar cast. โWith such a big crew and so many people, we could still be intimate,โ said Olsson, when in the core of a scene with the actors who were โso professional and always presentโ in the moment.
Testament to the actorsโ talent and commitment are the current Emmy nominations for their performances–Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Dominic West (as Prince Charles), Lead Actress for Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth II), Supporting Actor for Jonathan Pryce (Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), and Supporting Actress nods for both Elizabeth Debicki (Princess Diana) and Lesley Manville (Princess Margaret).
The Crown is not the only source of major recognition this year for Olsson. She lensed writer-director Rรบnar Rรบnarssonโs feature When the Light Breaks, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival this past May where it was in the running for the Un Certain Regard Award.
Martin Childs
Production designer Martin Childs has worked on The Crown from its inception. He just earned his fifth career Emmy nomination for the series, winning twice–for the โSmoke and Mirrorsโ episode in 2017, and โAberfanโ in 2020.
Plaudits for Childs span features and TV. He is a two-time Oscar nominee–winning for Shakespeare in Love in 1999, and nominated in 2001 for Quills.
Childs recalled being drawn to The Crown by the story and two great storytellers–creator/showrunner/writer Morgan and director/executive producer Stephen Daldry.
The production designer feels itโs only fitting that his last nomination on the series would be for the finale, โSleep, Dearie Sleep,โ directed by Daldry–nine years after Childs production designed the very first episode, โWolferton Splash,โ which too was helmed by Daldry. Childs described Daldry as โa fantastic storytellerโ whom he could collaborate with on a tiny detail and build it out to help the narrative blossom. Daldry this year is an Emmy nominee for his directing on The Crown, specifically for โSleep, Dearie Sleep.โ Daldry has eight career nominations–all for The Crown, three for directing, five for Outstanding Drama Series. He won for the latter in 2021, three years after he won for directing. Daldry is also a three-time Best Director Oscar nominee–for Billy Elliot in 2001, The Hours in 2003, and The Reader in 2009.
As for The Crown creator Morgan, Childs related that the writer had a penchant for coming up with a script that โwould surprise and delight me.โ Childs added that Morgan would never describe an environment in his scripts but made sure to convey the weight that it needed to carry in a given episode. โHe never described the set,โ said Childs while affording his team โthe license to surprise and hopefully delight him.โ
Helping Childs surprise and delight have been his core team collaborators–supervising art director Mark Raggett and lead set decorator Alison Harvey. The latter was promoted to lead set decorator succeeding Celia Bobak who departed after the first season, recalled Childs, because she lived so far away from the studio, making for an arduous commute. Childs, Raggett and Harvey have a strong creative rapport thatโs only intensified over their years together on The Crown. The continuity of a loyal team attuned to one anotherโs likes, dislikes and preferences has been key in meeting the needs of The Crown which entail a huge number of finely detailed sets.
Childs noted that his collaborative bond with Raggett predates The Crown, going back some 30 years when they first worked together on The Madness of King George. Childs was production designer Ken Adamโs art director on that feature. Childs recollected that another artisan was needed in the art department and someone suggested heโd get along well with Raggett–which proved to be right on varied fronts. โWe have a kind of rapport, the same sense of humor,โ observed Childs. โI get frustrated by different things than he gets frustrated over. Weโre good at calming each other down.โ
Childsโ experience was largely in theatrical features prior to his getting The Crown gig. And in some respects, he feels that he treated The Crown like a 60-hour feature film. He just kept hoping heโd be asked back from one season to the next so he could complete the film–which he did with the wrapping of season 6.
(This is the final installment of SHOOTโs weekly 16-part The Road To Emmy Series of feature stories. Creative Arts Emmy winners will be covered on September 7 and 8, and primetime Emmy ceremony winners will be reported on come September 15.)
Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2” Named Closing Night Film At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that the world premiere of Clint Eastwoodโs Juror #2 will close the 38th edition of AFI Fest. The Warner Bros. Pictures film stars Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Gabriel Basso, Zoey Deutch, Cedric Yarbrough, Leslie Bibb and Kiefer Sutherland. Juror #2 will screen as the AFI Fest Closing Night Red Carpet Premiere at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre on October 27.
โThere is only one Clint Eastwood--and AFI is proud to present the world premiere of this next chapter in his historic canon,โ said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. โWe are honored to bring the community together once again--artists and audiences--to celebrate an American icon.โ
The premiere of Juror #2 continues a long relationship between Eastwood and AFI. Eastwood launched the World Premieres of American Sniper, J. Edgar and Richard Jewell at AFI Fest. In 1996, Eastwood received the 24th AFI Life Achievement Award--the highest honor for a career in film, and in 2009, AFI conferred an Honorary Degree upon Eastwood for contributions of distinction to the art of the moving image.
Juror #2 follows family man Justin Kemp who, while serving as a juror in a high profile murder trial, finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma...one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict--or free-โthe accused killer.
Juror #2 is written by Jonathan Abrams; produced by Eastwood, Tim Moore, p.g.a., Jessica Meier, p.g.a., Adam Goodman and Matt Skiena; and executive produced by David M. Bernstein, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Jeremy Bell. The film features the work of Yves Bรฉlanger, director of photography; Ron Reiss,... Read More