Clubhouse Conversations — The Holdovers

In this episode, cinematographer Eigil Bryld is joined by interviewer Sandra Valde-Hansen, ASC, LPS to discuss his work on The Holdovers — the 1970s-set comedic drama from director Alexander Payne about an ill-tempered history teacher forced to chaperone students on Christmas break.

The Holdovers follows Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), a stern professor at a New England boarding school who is tasked with supervising the "holdover" students who are stuck on campus during the holiday season. The hardened taskmaster soon warms to Angus (Dominic Sessa), an unruly-yet-endearing student, and Mary (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), the school's head cook, who is reeling from the loss of her son in the Vietnam War.

In this interview, Bryld discusses creating the film's period aesthetic; his shot choices, which included an abundant use of close-ups; his methods for maintaining lighting continuity while shooting in snowy conditions; his approach to lighting daytime exteriors, and more.

Eigil Bryld is a cinematographer whose credits include the features In Bruges (2008), You Don't Know Jack (for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2010) and No Hard Feelings (2023), and the series House of Cards, for which he earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series in 2013.

Sandra Valde-Hansen, ASC, LPS is a cinematographer credits include the features Kaboom, White Bird in Blizzard and Plan B, and the series Now Apocalypse and The L Word: Generation Q.

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