NEW YORK—NAB Show New York’s closing keynote, “How Tech Serves Art in Netflix’s 'Russian Doll,'” looked at the tricky balancing act between technology and cinematography on a modern show. The panelists were Lisa Melodia, post-production supervisor at Jax Media, and Nat Jencks, colorist at Goldcrest Post.

Jencks spoke about the challenge of weighing all the creative opinions in the first season of a show, and the importance of planning for such a brainstorm. “It shouldn’t really be a point of stress if you are able to plan it out,” he said.

He mentioned the importance of letting “all the technology take a back seat to the creative process.”

“Russian Doll,” on Netflix, was a finalist for the best comedy Emmy last month. Natasha Lyonne stars. Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler created the dark comedy.

Jencks said the producers were not going for a super HD feel with the series. “We wanted it to have a very organic feel,” he said. “We wanted it to have grain.”

Perhaps paradoxically, higher resolution cameras were able to deliver a softer, gentler image, he said, describing the look of “Russian Doll” as “gritty, organic, filmic.”

The panelists spoke of shooting lots of night scenes in Manhattan, with all the funky lights of a bustling city. The East Village, Melodia said, was essentially another character in “Russian Doll.”

The panel was held at the Jacob Javits Center. PostPerspective Editor-in-Chief Randi Altman moderated.

Chris Teague is the cinematographer on “Russian Doll.” The panelists spoke of the benefits of show principals having worked together before. “It’s truly a key part of the film process,” said Jencks of having worked with Teague. “You know how someone likes to work.”

Having that shorthand, he added, allowed the producers to “go down roads” the show otherwise might not have had the bandwidth to venture down.

As far as tips for other producers in the room, Melodia mentioned “having a little room in the budget for things that come up.”

WASHINGTON—Key production and post-production collaborators on Netflix’s “Russian Doll” comedy series will headline a session at NAB Show New York, Oct. 17, on finding the right balance between technology and art.

The session, “How Tech Serves Art in Netflix’s ‘Russian Doll’” will include feature colorist Nat Jencks, post supervisor Lisa Melodia and cinematographer Chris Teague. The group is also expected to talk about taking advantage of new technologies to depict a highly cinematic version on New York while prioritizing storytelling.

“This session will answer burning questions on how the advent of 6K cameras, HDR imagery, 4K delivery and other advanced tools have revolutionized post-production and led to incredibly sharp and vibrant visuals,” says NAB EVP Chris Brown.

Goldcrest Post Senior Colorist Jencks, a 10-year veteran with credits ranging from studio features and indies to episodic series, commercials and music videos, and cinematographer Teague worked together on finalizing the look of “Russian Doll.”

Based in New York City, Melodia has past experience working on comedies such as “The Jim Gaffigan Show” for TV Land and “The Detour” for TBS, as well as movies for HBO. She is currently the post supervisor on Darren Star's new show, “Emily in Paris.”

Teague is an acclaimed cinematographer. He received an Emmy award for his work on “Russian Doll.” His credits include working on six Sundance-selected feature films, writing and directing several award-winning short films and recipient of the Best Cinematography award at the Tribeca Film Festival.

“Russian Doll” has been nominated for 13 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series, so far earning three of those during this past weekend’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards: Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series, Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half Hour) and Outstanding Contemporary Costumes

More information is available on the NAB Show New York website.