Newsletter #7 - Our Wild Week with The White Lotus and The Last of Us Cast
April flew by in a blur of paparazzi, signatures and selfies as Machine Studio spent three jam-packed days filming with the casts of The White Lotus and The Last Of Us.
With the stars in town to promote their shows and celebrate the Australian launch of Max, we teamed up with our friends at Present Company to capture a full slate of junket content, social videos, and event coverage across three massive shoot days. Each day came with same-day turnaround edits, shifting run sheets, and some hilarious moments on-set with the all-star lineup.
Monday kicked off with three simultaneous shoots across Sydney. Sam took on a private Sydney Harbour Bridge climb with Bella Ramsey, who proved to be the only cast member game enough to do it. Hugh was in full spa-mode, filming Natasha Rothwell with Morgana O’Reilly as they enjoyed some well-earned downtime at the Park Hyatt. Meanwhile, Kate Cornish (DOP) and Jack Moiseeyev (Sound Recordist) were at Taronga Zoo capturing Patrick Schwarzenegger, Leslie Bibb, Young Mazino, and Gabriel Luna getting up close with kangaroos and koalas. Shout-out to the whole crew who made it happen, despite last-minute location changes due to weather and the understandable decision by some talent to stay dry and pet a koala instead of climbing a bridge in the rain.
Natasha Rothwell with Morgana O’Reilly at the Park Hyatt Spa. Bella Ramsey conquering the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Patrick Schwarzenegger and Leslie Bibb at Taronga Zoo.
Tuesday was junket day, where we ran two interview setups in parallel. One room for The White Lotus, and one for The Last of Us. With limited windows for each actor, our focus was on efficiency: lights dialled in, cameras ready, and rolling the moment talent walked through the door. As expected, the schedule shifted constantly, but the crew stayed on point. I was editing live on-site, pulling footage and turning around content for socials in real time. Highlights included Leslie Bibb and Natasha Rothwell throwing themselves into a Red Flag, Green Flag segment that made for some brilliant short-form videos, as well as Patrick Schwarzenegger’s Parker Posey impression.
Natasha Rothwell and Leslie Bibb play Red Flag Green Flag while Hugh and Rory capture all the action.
Wednesday wrapped the shoot with The Last of Us red carpet premiere at the State Theatre. Sam and the Max crew wrangled celebs as they arrived on the red carpet, capturing interviews and reactions. Hugh roamed the red carpet, keeping things agile on our Sony A7S III (a beast in low-light conditions) shooting slow-motion glamour shots that we unofficially dubbed “thirst traps.” A highlight was interviewer Millie Ford trying to get Josh Heuston to spill the tea on whether he is playing Xaden Riorson in the upcoming Fourth Wing TV series, but he was tight lipped.
Josh Heuston, Bella Ramsey and Leslie Bibb at The Last Of Us Season Two premiere.
Meanwhile, deep beneath the buzz of the premiere, Rory and I were in the edit dungeon, powering through more than 20 deliverables including an event styling video that went viral that night. The pressure was real, but our crew smashed it, and our client partners made the whole production smooth from start to finish.
Rory hard at work in the State Theatre edit room.
Smashing Frozen Fruit with Suntory -196
Earlier in the month, Sam and Rory teamed up with Concrete Playground and dinner party guru Stephanie Feher to put Suntory -196’s freeze-crush method to the ultimate test. We turned the set into a battleground of liquid nitrogen, sledgehammers and flying fruit.
Steph was in her element—embracing the no-nonsense spirit of Suntory -196—but it was the range of personas she brought to the shoot that really elevated the whole thing. She started as the confident, playful food lover we know, but as nitrogen mist rolled across the table, she transformed into a full-blown sorceress, conjuring up clouds like something straight out of Macbeth.
And then came heavy metal mode.
Armed with a sledgehammer, Steph went full WWE. Peaches, lemons, and limes were obliterated into frozen shards. I almost felt bad for them, but watching them explode in slow motion was deeply, deeply satisfying.
Stephanie Feher puts Suntory -196 to the ultimate test.
What I’m Playing: Death Stranding
My TV-show consumption time has been very much consumed by the sci-fi dystopian video game Death Stranding. It’s been on my list since 2020, and with the sequel set to drop this year, it felt like the right time to dive in.
The breath-taking and sinister world of Death Stranding
Hideo Kojima, the director behind the game, brings the same kind of distinctive creative voice to gaming that someone like Tarantino or Wes Anderson brings to film. His style is instantly recognisable.
The cast is stacked with the likes of Margaret Qualley, Norman Reedus, Elle Fanning and Léa Seydoux, and they don’t just lend their voices—they’re fully motion-captured into the game as hyper-realistic 3D versions of themselves.
Left to right: Léa Seydoux, Hideo Kojima, Shioli Katsuna and Elle Fanning all star in Death Stranding 2.
The story unfolds in a haunting, dystopian version of America. You play as a porter, delivering cargo across vast landscapes filled with rocky terrain, harsh weather, and terrifying BTs—ghost-like entities that try to drag you underground.
It’s a strange, meditative, and unsettling experience that blends the mundane with the beautiful and the horrifying.
Kojima has been teasing Death Stranding 2 with his usual cryptic selfies alongside the cast. No captions. Just pure Kojima energy. Will I finish the first game in time for the sequel? Probably not, but it’s likely I’ll get around to playing the sequel some time in 2028.
That’s it for April. See you next month.
Damien
