Created by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck and directed by David Mandel, the five-part miniseries White House Plumbers shines a fresh light on the real-life comedy of errors that burst out of the infamous Watergate scandal. Light Iron provided dailies and final color for the project, which reteamed cinematographer Steven Meizler and supervising colorist Ian Vertovec. As Vertovec explains, The tone of the series can be almost comedic at times, but we always wanted the show to look and feel like a political thriller.
Meizler and Vertovec began collaborating early on to create a custom shooting LUT ahead of principal photography. My prep process was to bring the camera to location and take pictures to later go through with Ian to carve out a LUT, the cinematographer recalls. Its very important for me to come up with a LUT in prep because I don't like to color on set. I dont want to spend one second of the day coloring when I know I could be shooting instead.
The collaborators also shared a number of visual references, including director Alan J. Pakula's feature All the President's Men, shot by Gordon Willis, ASC. Meizler notes, We didnt want to copy it Gordon Willis amazing work isn't something to copy but David Mandel said to me early on in prep that he wanted this to be like a sister project to that. We also looked at these Polaroid images from Davids look-book and used them as a jumping-off point to make it gritty and give it an edge that really leans into the darkness and shows the duplicitousness of these people while staying grounded in the reality of the 70s.
Vertovec notes that another Pakula-Willis collaboration provided additional inspiration. We also talked a lot about The Parallax View, which has some really interesting wide-angle work that emphasizes the architecture of the period, the colorist explains. Also, the Eastman film stock used at the time had strong earth tones without diminishing primary colors.
During the grade, we made sure to maintain the restrained palette of the references, but we also focused on the contrast of each location, Vertovec continues. The more it looked like a serious political thriller, the more you felt the ridiculous behavior of the main characters.
With the final grade, the filmmakers sought to place viewers in the period setting without overtly calling attention to it. There's something about warm yellows that make you feel like youre in the 70s that I really wanted to stay away from, Meizler details. So in the color process, I watched it a few times with Ian to really get a sense of the look, and I kept going back and saying, No, I want some more yellow taken out of that,' and every time we would get more color separation.
It's important to go over and over it again to find things that we both think are good, the cinematographer continues. Weve become attuned to each others aesthetic. Based on what we both see and what we both like, there's a shorthand. Hell put a window in before Ill even say, Maybe we should put a window there.'
Meizler and Vertovec's shared credits also include episodes of the Netflix series The OA and the recent Apple release The Beanie Bubble. Light Iron has always been supportive through the years, and Ian has been really huge, the cinematographer shares. He inspires me to bring stuff to projects that I usually wouldnt.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
30/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
The An Evening with Emerson, Lake and Palmer tour brings one of rock's most iconic bands back to the stage. These performances seamlessly blend live foota...
30/09/2026
Schibsted Media, one of Norways largest and most influential digital media publishers and content producers, has invested in mixers and digital signal processor...
30/09/2026
Big Blue Marble announces the addition of live multiview channels to Cloud Video Kit, its broadcast-grade video processing platform. The feature is powered by A...
30/09/2026
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's largest provider of telecommunications and TV services, is open...
30/09/2026
PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Conference featuring 24 sessions over two days ...
30/09/2026
IBC2026 Show Report
David Kirk September 29, 2026
0 Comments
The International Broadcasting Convention has long been Europe's equivalent of the US...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...
30/09/2026
New Solution Expands Harmonic's Network Intelligence Portfolio and Brings Comcast-Developed Fiber Monitoring Technology to Broadband Operators, Providing Re...
30/09/2026
Thank you to Film-TV Video for the original article - you can view it here
It was early 1983. I had just turned 21 when I joined Hitachi Denshi's European...
30/09/2026
How to Shop Well Now starts Monday at 9.35pm
on RT One and RT Player
On the...
30/09/2026
Building on nearly a decade of co-engineering, CoreWeave has built NVIDIA compute, networking and software into a cloud purpose-built for AI that's still re...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Created by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck and directed by David Mandel, the five-part miniseries White House Plumbers shines a fresh light on the real-life comedy of errors that burst out of the infamous Watergate scandal. Light Iron provided dailies and final color for the project, which reteamed cinematographer Steven Meizler and supervising colorist Ian Vertovec. As Vertovec explains, The tone of the series can be almost comedic at times, but we always wanted the show to look and feel like a political thriller. 
