Clubhouse Conversations — A Friend of the Family

In this episode, cinematographers Celiana Cárdenas, AMC and Hilda Mercado, AMC are joined by interviewer Patrick Cady, ASC to discuss their work on A Friend of the Family — the dramatic miniseries that recounts the true story of a family who fell victim to kidnapping twice over a period of two years.

A Friend of the Family follows one Robert Berchtold (Jake Lacy), a close friend of the Idohoan Broberg family who kidnapped 12-year-old Jan Broberg (Mckenna Grace) twice — first in 1974 and again in 1976. Cárdenas and Mercado split shooting duties for the series' nine episodes, with the former shooting Episodes 1, 3, 5, 6 and 9, and the latter shooting Episodes 2, 4, 7 and 8.

In this interview, the cinematographers discuss the importance of close collaboration when alternating as directors of photography from one episode to the next; their unconventional use of Technocranes to execute lateral camera movement; and the personal and professional lessons they’ve learned thus far in their careers.

Celiana Cárdenas, AMC is a cinematographer whose credits include the features The Cuban and Foreverland and the series Diggstown.

Hilda Mercado, AMC is a cinematographer whose credits include the features I See You and Black Box and the series Dead Silent, The Resident and the upcoming The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.

Patrick Cady, ASC studied filmmaking at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and has since carved out an extensive cinematography career in both film and TV. He broke out in 2000 after shooting his first feature, director Karen Kusama’s award-winning drama Girlfight, and went on to shoot many series including Cold Case, Rectify and Insecure, for which he earned a 2018 Emmy Award nomination.

You’ll find all episodes in our ASC Clubhouse Conversations series here.