🎧 ‘Hacks’ to ‘Severance’: The Pressure (and Payoff) of Returning to Hit TV Shows

Emmy-nominated cinematographers Adam Bricker and Jessica Lee Gagné on the tug-of-war between moving on and signing on

OH, SHOOT From left: Art & Crafts moderator James Whitaker, ASC, Adam Bricker, ASC (Hacks) and Jessica Lee Gagné (Severance). (The Ankler illustration; Todd Williamson)

Welcome to the new season of Art & Crafts, our podcast series that brings audiences behind the scenes with the artisans who create the film and TV we love. This conversation is sponsored by HBO Max, Universal Television and Apple TV+. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Severance fans had to wait three years for the Apple TV+ series to return for its second season — a delay that had most everyone champing at the bit to get back to the world established by creator Dan Erickson and primary director and executive producer Ben Stiller. Everyone but cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné — at least initially.

“I didn’t want to do it at first; I didn’t want to come back for season 2,” she said during The Ankler’s Art & Crafts Live event at the American Society of Cinematographers Clubhouse in Los Angeles on Aug. 7, where she was interviewed onstage alongside Hacks cinematographer Adam Bricker, ASC. “I know it sounds horrible, but there’s a backstory.” As Gagné explained to panel moderator James Whitaker, ASC, there was a massive amount of work that went into making the series visually adventurous and “beautiful” for its first season, despite the limitations of its setting. Severance, about white collar employees who undergo a procedure to “sever” their consciousness — thus creating a second work-self or “innie” — is primarily set in nondescript offices with low ceilings and fluorescent lights.

“I didn’t know what season 2 was gonna be about,” Gagné added. “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. And then I got the opportunity to direct, and episode 7 is the one I gravitated toward.”

For Gagné, the decision to return paid off: Not only is she nominated for best cinematography for a one-hour series for the Severance season 2 premiere, but her work as director on the seventh episode, “Chikhai Bardo,” also netted her a drama directing nod.

FLOAT ON Adam Scott in the season 2 premiere of Severance. (Apple TV+)

Like Gagné, Hacks cinematographer Bricker is also a double nominee in 2025: He received his fourth nomination in as many seasons for his work on the HBO Max series and also landed his second-ever nomination for Chef’s Table.

“I shot the pilot episode of Hacks. I’ve shot every episode of Hacks, and I’ve just been so fortunate to be able to continue on this journey with these collaborators,” Bricker said of the series, which focuses its fourth season on the debut of fictional comic Deborah Vance’s (Jean Smart) late-night talk show. “I have ownership as a cinematographer over the project, and I’m in love with the characters and in love with the script, and want to see the story to its ultimate conclusion.”

AUDIENCE OF ONE Hannah Einbinder in the Hacks season 4 episode, “I Love L.A.,” for which Bricker is nominated. (HBO Max)

Still, Bricker says he understands why Gagné had some trepidation about returning to Severance after the success of the first season. “There is a lot of pressure to move on,” he says of what happens after a cinematographer has success. “But when you find a project that’s so special that it’s worth committing the time to, that you want to sort of continue on the journey… being able to play in that sandbox again and sort of evolve the look and play with the rules that you’ve established, I really find that very rewarding.”

Listen to the rest of the Art & Crafts Live conversation above, and stay tuned for more episodes later this week with Emmy-nominated editors, production designers, sound editors and visual effects creators.