As a precursor to our 12-part The Road To Emmy series which gets underway June 6 on SHOOTonline and in The SHOOT>e.dition, we connect with varied artisans who have a hand in notable TV shows, several of whom have Emmy nominations or wins in their filmographies. We start out with the cinematographers on season one and season two of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, and then segue into a director who earned her first career Emmy, and a helmer whose latest endeavor is the upcoming Tina Fey-created primetime series for NBC. Then we touch base with the DP who lensed season two of Netflix’s House of Cards.
A number of these artisans also have spotmaking/branded content endeavors to their credit. Here’s SHOOT’s initial rundown of talent behind the TV screen:
Vanja Cernjul, ASC, HFS
Since 1998, Vanja Cernjul has been a member of the Croatian Cinematographers Society—hence the HFS designation after his name. Just last year, underscoring his successful transition to the U.S. community, he earned the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) mantle, of which he is especially proud. “I’m from Croatia and [the ASC magazine] American Cinematographer was as I was growing up my main window into the American film industry. I read it religiously and through that, this organization educated me when I was very young. Now being an ASC member is very special to me.”
In that vein, also special was Cernjul earning an ASC Award nomination in 2012 for Outstanding Cinematography for a Half-Hour Episodic/Pilot Television on the strength of the “Forget the Herring” episode of Bored to Death. Cernjul additionally has two primetime Outstanding Cinematography Emmy nominations to his credit—in 2008 for the “Rosemary’s Baby” episode of 30 Rock, and two years later for the “Apple Bong” episode of Nurse Jackie.
He may well be in the running for a third Emmy nomination based on his lensing of season one of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black. The hybrid comedy-drama is based on Piper Kerman’s memoir, "Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison."
The series revolves around Piper Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling), a woman living in NYC who is sentenced to 15 months in a women’s federal prison for transporting drug money to her former girlfriend, Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), an international drug smuggler. Since the time of her offense, Chapman moved on to a crime-free, comfortable life in New York’s upper middle class. She’s uprooted from that existence and placed in prison where she reunites with Vause as they re-examine their relationship and deal with hardened inmates.
Helping to open the door for Cernjul on Orange is the New Black was Michael Trim, a cinematographer turned director who ended up directing the pilot for the show as well as a number of episodes. Trim and Cernjul have a shared history. During season one of 30 Rock, cinematographer Trim had to leave the series for a stretch during which Cernjul filled the void. “Michael brought me up to speed on 30 Rock, his approach and so on, so that I could transition more easily into the show,” recalled Cernjul. “We later met at the Emmy Awards—he was nominated for shooting Weeds and I was nominated for Nurse Jackie. We spent some time together, got to know one another. I joked that he took the Emmy Award from me that year. He then went on to direct during the final season of Weeds.”
Trim introduced Cernjul to Orange is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan. “It was very early on. Jenji didn’t have a script yet—just the book,” recollected Cernjul. “Jenji already had a vision of how she wanted to tell the story. She gave me the book to read and said she was interested in three distinct looks for the show. I read the book and liked it a lot. It was interesting and well written. The three looks were for the three storylines—prison life, life in New York City outside of prison, and flashbacks to Piper’s life before prison as part of New York’s middle class. I was fortunate enough to get the job and had conversations with Michael and Jenji about the three distinct looks. We decided to shoot the prison life hand held and as close to natural, existing lighting as possible. We built sets to accommodate this approach, with natural sources of light. Life outside prison was a more traditional studio approach with a more controlled look, more lit and designed. And for the flashbacks to Piper’s previous life, we were also in a studio mode but the lighting was more romantic and colorful, a sharp contrast to her current existence.”
As for the biggest challenge Orange is the New Black posed to him as a cinematographer, Cernjul observed, “I very much wanted to avoid having the prison look like some sitcom version of a prison. It had to be as real as possible. And the challenge was how to make the set work to accommodate so many actresses. We’d have scenes with 40 actresses, with many of them having lines [of dialogue]. The prison had to feel real while still enabling us to shoot as fast as possible and get all the coverage we needed of all these actresses. We spent the first couple of months perfecting it and the show really came into its own.”
Cernjul too has come into his own relative to Netflix. At press time he was scheduled to travel to Malaysia to shoot the Netflix series Marco Polo produced by The Weinstein Co.
The adventure series about the famed 13th Century explorer is from directors and executive producers Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg (who received a 2013 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination for Kon-Tiki), executive producer/creator John Fusco and exec producer Dan Minahan.
Roenning and Sandberg are known in ad industry circles as the directorial duo Roenberg (handled by production company Sandwick Media).
“This [Marco Polo] is a very different project for me,” related Cernjul. “It’s a costume drama and period piece. I’m looking forward to the challenges it presents.”
Cernjul first established himself in indie features, the nature of which didn’t seem conducive to his making the transition to comedy on television. “I remember telling my agent years ago that maybe I should try something different like comedy. My agent couldn’t believe it, saying my look was ‘so dark and depressing. No one would ever hire you for comedy.’”
But lo and behold he got a call in 2006 from director Richard Shepard (Dom Hemingway, HBO’s Girls) who was working on the pilot for Ugly Betty. Shepard had remembered Cernjul from the two films the cinematographer had in competition earlier that year at the Sundance Film Festival: Forgiven and Wristcutters: A Love Story.
“Richard fought for me and I got to shoot the Ugly Betty pilot,” said Cernjul. “When the show became a success, it opened up a lot of opportunities for me.”
One such opportunity was his shooting 25 episodes of 30 Rock. Cernjul smiled, “I was shooting 30 Rock differently because I didn’t know better. I shot it like I would a feature just because that was what I knew and came from. It turned out to be a great experience. It was important for me to have my work recognized as comedy. It opened up new challenges for me and that’s what I’m always seeking.”
Yaron Orbach
Cinematographer Yaron Orbach is best known for his work in independent narrative features, as well as a notable documentary. Unmistaken Child, which earned him a Golden Frog at Camerimage in 2009. His track record in TV series has largely been in lensing select pilots. But when the opportunity arose to take on season two of Orange is the New Black, he embraced it.
“I was drawn to the diversity of the cast,” said Orbach. I liked the fact that the women are of all shapes, sizes and colors. Instead of seeing beautified women, I saw real people. That and shooting in New York drew me in.”
Also coming into play was his decision in 2013 to more seriously explore a TV series commitment.
“Television had an especially good year with great storytelling and I found the prospect of shooting a full season of something to be appealing,” related Orbach.
He noted that cinematographer Cernjul, ASC, HFS, had done a great job establishing the look and feel of Orange is the New Black during its first season. Orbach took it as a challenge to build upon that with season two in 2014.
There was also for Orbach the creatively stretching challenge of transitioning from indie features to multiple episodes of a single TV series. “Thirteen episodes amount to almost 13 hours of content, which is the length of six-plus feature films. I had to wrap my head around such a long-term commitment and how the show and its characters and visuals would evolve.”
Actually Orbach wound up shooting 11 of the 13 episodes in season two, taking a break to work on Squirrels to the Nuts, an independent feature directed by Peter Bogdanovich. That film—with a cast including Imogen Poots, Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson and Will Forte—is currently in postproduction.
Among its producers is Wes Anderson.
Orbach said he had a great creative experience on his 11 episodes of Orange is the New Black. He got the gig in part because of Neri Kyle Tannenbaum, a producer on Orange is the New Black, who had collaborated earlier with Orbach on the pilot for The Carrie Diaries. Tannenbaum was production manager on The Carrie Diaires.
Reinforcing Orbach’s interest was Tannenbaum telling him to go with what worked well in season one and “inject anything you can to make it yours in season two.” To get that kind of freedom, he said, clinched the deal. As for new wrinkles in season two, Orbach said he used less light as part of “a minimalistic approach, going with more natural light overall.”
And whereas hand-held lensing had been the norm for prison scenes, Orbach gradually decreased that practice, putting cameras on a halo mount, which he described as “a big doughnut the size of an iPad and an inch thick.” He put that halo on a tripod, mounted the camera and found a new kind of flexibility. “The effect is that the camera is kind of always moving, floating through scenes. It brought a dynamic element to the scenes.”
Orbach is adept at experimenting with camerawork. He shot the John Carney-directed feature Begin Again—which is slated for release on July 4—in a self-described “free spirited, hand held manner, finding the movie as we went along.” Orbach credited Carney with affording him the freedom to facilitate that approach. Carney also wrote the screenplay for the soul-stirring comedy about what happens when lost souls meet and make beautiful music together. Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her long-time boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) are college sweethearts and songwriting partners who head for New York when he lands a deal with a major label. But the trappings of his new-found fame soon tempt Dave to stray, and a reeling, lovelorn Gretta is left on her own. Her world takes a turn for the better when Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a disgraced record-label exec, stumbles upon her performing on an East Village stage and is immediately captivated by her raw talent. From this chance encounter emerges a mutually transformative collaboration, set to the soundtrack of a summer in New York City.
As for what’s next after Begin Again and having recently wrapped shooting of season two of Orange is the New Black, Orbach said it looks like he will soon be headed to Ireland to shoot another feature for Carney.
Also part of Orbach’s filmography are select commercials which have found him working regularly with such directors as Scott Vincent of Hungry Man and Jesse Peretz of RSA. Orbach also shot Peretz’s Our Idiot Brother, a 2011 feature starring Paul Rudd in the title role.
Gail Mancuso
Last year, Gail Mancuso became the second woman to win an Emmy Award for directing a comedy series.
She earned the honor for the “Arrested” episode of Modern Family. (The first female director to win was Betty Thomas in 1993 for the “Peter’s Sake” episode of Dream On.)
“I still can’t believe it,” said Mancuso of her Emmy win. “I don’t even remember that moment when they announced my name and what happened right after.” Luckily, someone else was chronicling the moment as can be witnessed on the Emmy website. A designated person wearing Google Glass followed Mancuso all the way through what happens backstage after getting an Emmy. The hour-plus experience was distilled down to about a four-minute piece.
Mancuso now has two Emmy career directorial Emmy nominations, the initial one coming in 2011 for the “Slow Down Your Neighbors” episode of Modern Family. Earlier this year, Mancuso became a first-time DGA Award nominee for the Modern Family episode titled “My Hero.”
Now Mancuso is working on a TV pilot for TBS, Your Family Or Mine, a show based on a popular Israeli series centering on a married couple who shuttle back and forth from one spouse’s family to the other’s.
Mancuso and TBS have teamed on original comedy before with her serving as director and an exec producer on Ground Floor, a series which was recently picked up for a second season.
Mancuso broke into primetime series directing with Roseanne for which she went on to helm numerous episodes. Her directorial credits over the years include Friends, Dharma and Greg, Gilmore Girls and 30 Rock.
For the latter she won a Gracie Award in 2008 for Outstanding Director of an Entertainment Series or Special.
Now she’s embarking on a new chapter in her career, landing at her first official commercial production company home, joining TWC Films for exclusive worldwide representation in spots and branded content.
She gravitated in part to TWC because of her prior favorable experience at the house which produced webisodes she directed several years ago introducing Breyer’s Smooth and Dreamy ice cream for agency Mindshare. For the “Dreamy”-themed web fare, new live action featuring Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) was meshed into classic movies such as Gone With The Wind and King Kong.
The director’s ad experience also spans other collaborations with Mindshare in recent years, including: several episodes of the Suave/Sprint digital series In The Motherhood starring Chelsea Handler, Jenny McCarthy and Leah Remini; and Skin Season, a series of digital shorts for Vaseline featuring Sarah Chalke of Scrubs and Roseanne fame.
Mancuso’s big career break as a director was on Roseanne. She was working on the show as an assistant director when its staff director had to leave for another project. Mancuso recalled asking Roseanne if she could direct the upcoming episode. In typical Roseanne fashion, the series star repled, “Well go ahead.”
The next season Mancuso was hired as a full-time director and wound up helming more than 50 episodes of the show.
“I owe a lot to Roseanne,” affirmed Mancuso. “She believed in me and ended up hiring me for the next two seasons.”
From the Roseanne series on, Mancuso has formed strong working relationships with the actors she directs. “Relationships with actors are important and they cross over to anything you’re shooting. I’ve experienced that in the advertising work I’ve done. I’m a filmmaker. I love to tell stories. And this [diversifying into advertising] is an extension of that.”
Tristram Shapeero
Director Tristram Shapeero is shooting the pilot and first episode of an as yet untitled primetime show for NBC created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, colleagues on 30 Rock.
NBC has committed to 13 episodes of the new half-hour series which stars Ellie Kemper (The Office) as a woman who escapes from a doomsday cult after 15 years and decides to start a new chapter of her life in New York City.
“It’s a series that shows how hard it is to break the human spirit,” observed Shapeero. “This woman who’s been kidnapped and held against her will still has sweetness and forgiveness—and no bitterness. It’s a touching story that Tina at the same time has made very funny.”
Shapeero feels fortunate to be working with Fey. In fact, his career has been on the ascent ever since moving some five years ago to the U.S. from the U.K. where he was already an accomplished comedy director with BAFTA TV nominations for such shows as Gimme Gimme Gimme, Brass Eye, Bremner, Bird and Fortune, Green Wing, Pulling and Peep Show.
His comedy chops have translated well in the stateside market. Shapeero’s first American show out of the gate was Parks and Recreation. His credits since have included multiple episodes of Bored to Death, Nurse Jackie, Veep, Children’s Hospital, New Girl and Community. He has directed more episodes of Community than anyone else and became an executive producer of the series during season four.
Shapeero’s rapport with Community star Joel McHale has also been extended to the feature and branded content arenas. On the former front, Shapeero has wrapped his feature filmmaking debut, A Friggin’ Christmas Miracle starring Robin Williams and McHale. The comedy is slated for release in November.
As for branded content, Shapeero worked on a web-based “What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar?” initiative. Emceed by McHale, last year’s summer-long contest thrust several celebs into situations—suggested by winning contestants—requiring them to do something for the ice cream treat. The contestants too had to perform the same deed for Klondike gratification.
Production house harvest films worked in concert with GolinHarris on the Klondike content. Shapeero had such a favorable experience collaborating with the harvest ensemble—including company co-founder/executive producer Bonnie Goldfarb and executive producer Rob Sexton—that he joined the shop’s roster for commercials and branded content. Goldfarb said that she was drawn to Shapeero’s command of performances in the world of comedy and dialogue which should dovetail nicely with the spot and branded entertainment needs of advertising agencies and clients.
Igor Martinovic
Like his fellow DP Cernjul, Igor Martinovic, HFS, is from Croatia where he went to film school. He came to the United States and broke in as a documentary shooter in the 1990s, the most notable film being director James Marsh’s Man On Wire, winner of the Best Feature Documentary Oscar in 2009.
Martinovic and Sean Kirby were DPs on The Tillman Story, director Amir Bar-Lev’s film which won a News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Long-Form Programming.
Martinovic has additionally showed his mettle on the narrative feature filmmaking front, lensing among other movies director Christopher Zalla’s Sangra de mi sangra (originally Padre Nuestro) which won a Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and garnered nominations for Zalla at the Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Feature and Best Screenplay.
Martinovic’s most recent coup was being tabbed by executive producer/director David Fincher to serve as cinematographer on the recently released season two of Netflix’s House of Cards. There was a lot to live up to as Eigil Bryld won the primetime Emmy Award last year in the category Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series on the strength of House of Cards, “Chapter 1.”
But Fincher made it easier for Martinovic to step in and put his own artistic imprint on the series.
“David told me simply, ‘Take it. Own it. It’s yours,’ recalled Martinovic. “He gave me space to do whatever was needed for season two. That was the beauty of the project. Also there was no interference from Netflix or any executives, not a single call about the look for this season. Directors were given absolute freedom as well. All this is unusual in the television landscape. We all felt blessed being able to do what we felt was right. Netflix was very smart. They employ creative people and they give them the freedom to do what they do best. They trust them to come up with something worthwhile.”
Martinovic observed that the cinematography for the first season of House of Cards was “already pretty well established in terms of framing, camera movement and approach. This was orchestrated by David.
For the second season, we decided to change the lighting.
“The first season ended on more of a film noir-ish style with a crime element. That made it feel appropriate to go with a darker look this season—shadows, silhouettes and so on. The overall challenge, though, remained the same—to successfully go with a feature film approach on a television schedule. We took on the show like it was a long feature film.”
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 12, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 11, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 10, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 9, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 8, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 7, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 6, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 5, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 4, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 3, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 2, click here.
To read The Road To Emmy, Part 1, click here.
To read Primetime Talent, Pre-Road To Emmy feature 2, click here.
