Production designer Brandon Tonner-Connolly and cinematographer Mark Schwartzbard discuss their influences for the new FX series The Lowdown, created by Reservation Dogs' Sterlin Harjo — from '70s New Hollywood noir to the climate of Tulsa, Okla. This conversation, hosted by Ankler Media deputy editor Christopher Rosen, is sponsored by FX.

When Dan Gilroy sat down with his brother, Andor creator Tony Gilroy, and fellow writers Tom Bissell and Beau Willimon, to work on the Emmy-nominated show’s second and final season, he knew they had a tall task ahead. “On a lot of shows, climax means spectacle, and throwing a lot of money on the screen and looking for things to break and crash,” Dan Gilroy says to Ankler Media deputy editor Christopher Rosen on the latest episode of the Art & Crafts podcast. “That was not our climax. Our climax is a moral, character-driven climax, and in many ways, it’s driven by Rogue One [the Star Wars prequel movie that introduced audiences to the Andor title character, played by Diego Luna]. So the audience knows what’s going to happen to these people at the end, when this is all said and done. Most of them are going to die, which is a very unusual starting place. However, it gives you tremendous power as you’re barreling toward your climax.” Listen to Gilroy, director Janus Metz and costume designer Michael Wilkinson discuss their Emmy-nominated work in the episode, sponsored by Disney+.

The sound design of the FX comedy series The Bear is often so noisy — heated conversations, shattered plates, clanging pots and pans — that when the Emmy Award-winning show goes quiet, it can feel like a primal scream. Never had the power of silence been more apparent on the series than in the season 3 episode “Doors,” which opens at a funeral service for the mother of pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce). “It was a real gift that they gave us that nice quiet moment before devolving into even more chaos of this episode,” The Bear supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer Steve “Major” Giammaria, MPSE, tells Ankler Media deputy editor Christopher Rosen during the latest episode of Art & Crafts, sponsored by FX.

The Netflix animated series Love, Death + Robots has featured several innovative and unexpected episodes during its four-season run, but perhaps none as unique as “400 Boys,” where an army of gigantic babies threatens to end the world. “There’s a lot of sound design that we can play around with for something like that,” says supervising sound editor Brad North, MPSE, about the conceit of the episode. On the latest edition of The Ankler’s Art & Crafts podcast, North and fellow Emmy nominee Eliot Connors (Arcane) discuss the their acclaimed work with moderator Alexandra Fehrman, CAS. This episode, sponosred by Netflix, was recorded at the American Society of Cinematographers’ Clubhouse in Los Angeles on Aug. 7.

“There was a magazine called Famous Monsters of Filmland that they used to sell at a 7-Eleven near my family’s house. And one day, I looked in the back of it, and there was a photo of them putting a man into the Godzilla suit. And I went, ‘Oh, wow, it’s a suit. Somebody makes this stuff,’” saysThe Umbrella Academy visual effects supervisor and Emmy nominee Everett Burrell. “And that was totally the rocket ship in my brain to want to do this.” In a conversation with moderator Rob Legato, ASC, VES, Burrell discusses the inspirations for The Umbrella Academy and why he wanted to become a VFX artist in the first place. This episode, sponsored by Netflix, was recorded at the American Society of Cinematographers Clubhouse in Los Angeles on Aug. 7.

In a conversation with set decorator Claire Kaufman, SDSA (and an Emmy Award nominee this year for The Studio), Emmy-nominated production designers Rob Tokarz (HBO Max's Hacks) and Ruth Ammon (Apple TV+'s Pachinko) discuss how they build the intricate sets for their respective shows — and their mutual apprecation. “I was Ruth’s art PA on my first union show — Heroes season 4,” Tokarz says. “I learned so much.” This episode, sponsored by Apple TV+, HBO Max and Universal Television, was recorded at the American Society of Cinematographers Clubhouse in Los Angeles on Aug. 7.

In a conversation with Molly Shock, ACE, Emmy-nominated editors Eric Kissack, ACE Apple TV+’s The Studio, Jamie Martin, ACE MTV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race and Peggy Tachdjian Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story chat about how their work helps guide the audience in the direction they need to go. “That is ultimately what drives everything we do,” Shock says. “But you all have three very different vehicles by which you are telling your stories.” This episode, sponsored by Apple TV+, MTV and Netflix, was recorded at the American Society of Cinematographers Clubhouse in Los Angeles on Aug. 7.

In a conversation with James Whitaker, ASC, Emmy-nominated cinematographers Adam Bricker, ASC (HBO Max's Hacks) and Jessica Lee Gagné (Apple TV+'s Severance) discuss the pressure that comes with returning to a hit series, how they each evolved the looks of their respective shows during the most recent season and how the production design informs their photography choices. “I didn’t know what season 2 was gonna be about,” Gagné says. “I wanted to do something new. I can’t stand lighting a set the same way twice. So there were a lot of challenges in this. But when I read the synopsis for season 2, I saw how the world was expanding, so that got me excited." This episode, sponsored by Apple TV+, HBO Max and Universal Television, was recorded at the American Society of Cinematographers Clubhouse in Los Angeles on Aug. 7.

In a conversation moderated by four-time Emmy-nominated cinematographer and director Michael Goi, ASC, three of the creators behind Disney+’s Andor — costume supervisor Kate O’Farrell, production designer Luke Hull and composer Brandon Roberts — detail how they collaborated with creator Tony Gilroy to build the world of his acclaimed Star Wars spinoff series. The two-season drama, set prior to the events of Rogue One, follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) as he grows from smuggler to a stalwart of the rebellion. For O’Farrell and Roberts, working on a Star Wars show was a dream come true, while Hull was drawn in also by Gilroy’s desire to shake up storytelling in that universe. Hull’s memory of Gilroy’s initial pitch: Join up “if you want to be a pirate and do something different with it.”

In a conversation moderated by Emmy-nominated editor Michael Ruscio, ACE, three of the pros behind FX’s Say Nothing — creator and writer Joshua Zetumer, director Michael Lennox and cinematographer Stephen Murphy — delve into the process of crafting the haunting historical drama. Adapted from the nonfiction book of the same name by Patrick Radden Keefe, the scripted series conveys the complexity of the Troubles in Northern Ireland during the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. Lennox, a Northern Ireland native, originally thought the Troubles were a story that he — like anyone from the area — knew in full. But his experience on the series opened his eyes to many of the details and horrors from the traumatic period. “We know what happened in the late ’60s to the present day, but I didn’t quite know it to this depth,” he says. “I felt that this could be an important piece of television which asked some really profound and tough and interesting questions, and I wanted to be part of that.”