Ned and I had the great opportunity to work on Barbara Walter’s interview with Paul Newman at Lime Rock Speedway back in September of 2007. It was a wonderful sunny afternoon on the track and a day I will not soon forget. A true legend...

Our business relies heavily on the good word of mouth provided by our clients, friends and colleagues. This month was no exception, thanks to a call from Ali Grapes at Hotcam NY, (I worked previously with Ali on the 2004 reality show “Things I Hate About You” w/ Mo Rocca) we were referred to Elizabeth Byrne, Producer of “Dinner With Portillio”(which airs on BBC4) in Northern Ireland. She hooked us up with DP Roy Estabrook and a brilliant bunch of lads from Belfast. Liberty Lighting supplied the lighting and grip gear and rigged out a 20x20 truss for a 360 degree Multi-camera shooting space in a suite at New York’s Waldorf Hotel. The project required an intimate dinner for 8 with lighting that wasn't flat but moody and well modeled on each of the participants. The photograph above depicts the completed rig with lighting about 80% finished, during first round of camera tests.

Our hats off to Scott Morette and Gary Nardilla of Citicam. We have done quite a bit of work w/ them over the years and they have always been a class act. This year we’ve been busy with tons more work; (below) another round of the tounge-in-cheek “Made in Eureka” Promo Spots, shot at Ceco Stages.

(Left) A Bravo Promo for “Shear Genius” with Gary Nardilla as DP; (right and below) The 2008 Sang Lee International Three Cushion Billiards Tournament at Carom Billiards in Flushing Queens. I was the Gaffer for all three of these projects.

Thanks to our good buddies at Sherpa Productions (aka everyone needs a sherpa) we were introduced to LA DP Adam Meltzer. Could not have had more fun on a commercial shoot. Below an in-progress set for a Casio spot. We have now done several other spots with Adam all thanks to Rick Kaplan of Sherpa Productions. White-on-White with lots of Maxi Brutes and a little AC/DC (and not the commercial stuff...)

What seemed like an ordinary press junket with Steve Carell for the new “Get Smart” movie was in disguise a Cartoon Network “Jib & Crash” production. Filmed at an undisclosed NYC Hotel. I could tell you who the Gaffer was, but then I would have to kill you....

Bookends for the ABC News show “Secrets of the Sistine Chapel” hosted by Martin Bashir. Multi-camera set-up shot in NYC in early April with a set requiring 5 rear screen projections and 4 custom light tables. LD Chuck Lofthouse & John Roche Gaffing...

This past week my partner Ned Hallick was busy recreating the look of vintage Dating Game Lighting. What's an LD to do except more multiple shadows and more hard lights... The spot was shot at Silver Cup Studios for Cablevision. Production company was Washington Square Films with Citicam's Gary Nardilla working as Director of Photography. Jim Lange and Chuck Barris would be proud.

Ned Hallick, Gaffer. John Roche, Key Grip on this recent Citicam production of a promotional spot filmed in SOHO.


Two cool things: my new iphone arrived and I got to work with Mo Rocca (again) doing man in street for a goofy Bank of America web spot. You must check out Mo on one of my favorite podcasts, the PBS "Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me" radio show.

Hectic year already around the Liberty Lighting shop, and personally I can't recall a busier January than 2008. My bad for not updating the work blog since last August. Here is a small collection of Pics from the latter half of '07....


From last summer, interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob Costas at Kareem's Harlem home; part of a documentary based on his book "On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance". (with DP Don Lenser and Mark Roy on sound)


(left) DP Tony Rossi mans the TRIPLE threat on last summers ABC Soap Promos. Just in case you wondered how they got wide, medium and close-ups on your favorite soap promo... (right) And so it goes... when i was in college I spent many a late night watching Linda Ellerbee. What a treat to cover my friend, gaffer Kevin Hunt on a Lucky Duck Productions Green Screen Shoot for Nick News.


Pre light day on a CBS Holiday Promos, where I worked as Best Boy for our good friend and Gaffer Phillip Sorensen. Liberty supplied the Lighting & Grip equipment.

Still taken by DP Mark Raker on a shoot I gaffed for the "Flying Karamazov Brothers" new DVD. Lots of great fire effects and a lighting challenge given the small budget and minimal crew.

No... It's Lance Thunderbolt doing promos for Sci-fi Networks second season of "Who wants to be a Superhero?" Here on the grounds of the Super Agent Institute, DP Gary Nardilla and Dolly Grip Stian Nilsen capture the art of leaping and bounding. Just out of frame, I'm doing super human gaffing... DOH!

My partner Ned Hallick just returned from a two week stint as Gaffer/Lighting Director for HBO's "Cathouse: The Musical (working title). Shot in an old opera house outside Reno with DP Tom Hurwitz.

"Build Day 1" and view of completed set.


Two views from the working set...



Neal Brown 2nd Camera w/ DP Tom Hurwitz and Ned Hallick; Gaffer/LD Ned Hallick at the controls.

Yes, we occasionally do still photo shoots. Recently, there appears to be a trend of still photographers working with "Hot Lights" as opposed to stobes, or hot lights in combination with stobes. My work with still photographer Stewart Cohen is a good example of this.


Two images of scenes lit w/ HMI, supplemented w/ strobe. Image on the left also uses a 400 Joker HMI Bug-A-Beam thru a ETC Source 4 Leko w/ pattern.


(L) Twilight shot supplemented with soft HMI gelled with CTB & magenta. (R) Night shot w/ HMI back edge and Kinoflo w/ Double Full CTO.

One last image, again using HMI hot lights...

All photos copyright 2007 Stewart Cohen Pictures

This week I was Lighting Director for a series of spoof infomercials for the Sci-Fi Network's show "Made in Eureka". Three promo spots made in conjunction with Citicam Productions, shot at Cinemaworld Stages in Brooklyn, New York. Should one really claim "Lighting Director" credit on an infomercial? EUREKA! [APPLAUSE]

I finally got some photos (courtesy Jake Sauerbrey) of the Nike Green Screen Spot I gaffed for DP Brian O'Carroll last year. The spot required a very dramatic look, always difficult when shooting green screen. Below, two views of a 360 degree dolly move around talent. You can view the two completed Nike spots on our "Reel" page.

Gaffer John Roche and Best Furry Boy Murray; Cobble Street Park, Brooklyn

We do a fair amount of multi-camera interviews. This one was 5 cameras with Diane Sawyer interviewing Robert De Niro, Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie for an ABC segment discussing the movie "The Good Shepherd".

Green Screen Wrap-A-Rounds for Barbara Walters Special; LD Chuck Lofthouse; Sony Studio Main Stage.

I have done a lot of large and small scale green screen set ups this year. This one I did today was fairly straight forward but you can check out the Nike spots I did earlier this year with DP Brian O'Carroll on our Reel Page. For those we needed a much more dramatic look, with very hard edges and bodies in silhouette. We were saved, in part, due to the much improved post process - they can pull a matte from almost anything these days....

Believe it or not, there exists a 47 acre farm located in Queens NYC. The Queens County Farm Museum dates back to 1697 and is the longest continuously farmed site in New York State. It served as our location for a Sesame Street Music Video "Elmo's Favorite Country Songs". Although not technically challenging by music video standards (we worked primarily with available light) the sun was out and it proved to be a fantastic November day. John Popper (Blues Traveler) and John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) were the featured perfomers.

The video was produced and directed by Mustapha Kahn and shot by cinematographer Marc Kroll.

Key Grip Jake Sauerbrey and Gaffer John Roche

Sadly I only made it to the beach once this summer and it was for work with Texas photographer Stewart Cohen. Somedays it's just a piece of beadboard and a warm breeze.... life could be worse.

This past week I was gaffing the NYC segment of the 3D Imax feature film "Dinosaurs Alive!". The principal crew had just returned from weeks of shooting in Mongolia. We shot 5 days at the Musuem of Natural History in NYC with DP William Reeve, CSC at the helm.

Photos of the Imax 3D "Solido" camera, about the size of a small fridge. Best Boy Electric, Burke Heffner mans the fridge.


Left shows rear of Imax 3D "Solido" Rig; on the right a dual 35mm 3D rig with twin Arri's.

35mm Rig on Chapman Hybrid. DP William Reeve, CSC; 1st AC & Camera Op Dylan Reade

35mm Imax twin Arri rig on Mike Vazquez's Panther Crane above the T-Rex. The Solido Imax 3D rig with remote head at close to 600 pounds proved to be too bulky for tight moves around a sea of glass. Line Producer, Bruce Elfstrom (founder of OverlandExperts) informs me the next Imax gig is in Siberia... in January. Think I'll take a pass, January sucks bad enough here in NYC.