DP Hamid Shams, shooting for Verizon in Brooklyn NY back in March. Our small 3-ton lighting truck wedged in driveway off to left. I wish I could remember the guys name sitting on the stoop, as he was a word class harmonica player who keep us entertained all day.

Filming the New York City segment of a commercial for the lovely beaches of the Dominican Republic. Nothing better than a cold rainy morning to contrast and compare. I have found that I can never have too many gaffers on a job, I mean who needs second electrics anyway... Here I am with fellow gaffers and friends Bob Bushfield (left) and Kevin Hunt (right) and yeah, that’s me in the center.

The set of for the cooking show “Avec Eric” rigged out in the production office. My partner Ned Hallick was LD while I played second rigging Grip for the build out days.

ABC Earth 2100 special with host Bob Woodruff which airs next week. My Partner Ned and I worked under our long time friend and colleague, Lighting Director Chuck Lofthouse. We had two generator plants as this whole set was several football fields long. Xenon and Mole Beam HMI’s at one end with Arri 4K’s sprinkled about. Key lights done simply with ETC Source Four Lekos.

It just doesn’t get any better than working in Central Park on a beautiful day. This was a shoot for PBS with host Alan Alda, and DP Larry Engel & producer Graham Chedd.

My partner Ned Hallick was the Lighting Director for Billy Crystal’s host wraps on the PBS series “Make ‘em Laugh: The Funny Business of America.” I worked as gaffer and Liberty Lighting supplied the bulk of the Lighting and Grip equipment.

Press junkets used to stick the star next to a poster of the movie and someone asked a whole lot of dumb questions. These days the promos we do have become a much more complicated affair. Here is another Jib & Crash Cartoon Network Promo for the movie “Pink Panther 2” with Steve Martin. Rig required two Dolly Tracks, one for both puppeteers, one for the camera with two outriggers for lighting moving in tandem with talent and puppets. The whole scene was shot in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which transformed to look like an art gallery. Mel Williams Director of Photography, John Roche Gaffer, Michael Vazquez Key Grip.

Here we are at Lehman College in the Bronx for an Insanity Exercise Video. The Lighting while not Rocket Science, is still a test of the capabilities of the Arri Max 18K (plus several 6K Par’s) to hold stop against a bunch of old big gym windows and Mother Nature. If we had the budget and time a Softsun would have been most welcome... but we made it work and the output of the Arri Max was quite impressive.

(Above) A Throwdown! with Bobby Flay near Union Square. Winner: Desert Truck Guy. Sorry Bobby. (Below) Stills from this years Holiday Promos for Food Network called “Season’s Eatings”. I have to confess that I am a HUGE fan of Alton Brown’s show “Good Eats”. It’s a terrifically fun and innovative show and I was so happy to finally be able to work with Alton.

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.

(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.

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.

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.

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]

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".