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dently, was arrested by Nisha and Holly just before retiring. An added twist comes when Tom is found to be the baby that Kitty gave up for adoption decades ago. The band's performance at the talent show catches the eye of a local promoter, and now they must consider whether this was a one-time gig or something that could become much bigger. Riot Women was created and written for televi- sion by Sally Wainwright, who also serves as the show's executive producer and director on the first three episodes (Amanda Brotchie directed 4, 5 and 6). The show's six episodes run roughly an hour each, and at press time Wainwright was working on the script for a second season. CINEMATOGRAPHY Simon Tindall served as director of photography for the show's first block of episodes (1, 2 and 3), work- ing with Wainwright to establish a look and feel. Riot Women marked the first time he worked with the director, but he was keenly aware of her talents. "It was a job that my agent brought to me," Tindall recalls. "And I just really wanted to be involved. Sally is an amazing writer. She's like a British institution. Whether it's action or monsters or sci-fi…I'm interested in portraying a story. As long as you've got good [dialogue] and good actors, and Sally always brings those two things together." Production goes back to 2024, and Tindall says he did a lot of research into programs from the '70s that inspired the show's creator, including 1976's Rock Follies. "It showed women being women and forming a punk band in the '70s," he explains. "Sally locked onto it. I think it's always been [in] the back of her mind…so I felt an incredible responsibility to make her dream real." Music, he notes, was always going to be a driv- ing force in the series. In fact, the show's cast spent time learning their respective instruments so they could create realistic on-screen performances. "I went to strong female music characters from across the decades," Tindall explains. "We cen- tered one scene especially around Courtney Love and Hole." The look of the series is more colorful than a typical, gray UK drama. "Hebden Bridge, near where she's from, she knows it. That's where she shot Happy Valley," he says of the director. "It (has) a very sort of hip- pie-ish kind of vibe to it. It's a small village and she wanted to project that color, so we went with the (Arri) Alexa 35 to give us a filmic look. It's what you do to it, rather than the camera itself. We went with Olympus OM lenses, which are older glass. They've been rehoused, but they're an older glass and a slightly softer filmic look because Sally wanted the women to be real…It was a difficult balance because Sally was very adamant that she didn't want any filtration or post work on people. She wanted it to be real, but also wanted to be kind to the lovely actors/actresses who were of a certain age and treat them kindly. We decided on OM lenses to give it a slightly soft (look), and then we pushed for using tungsten lighting." Tindall collaborated with colorist Jodie Davidson to set the grade, referencing US shows that have pops of color. He even shot test footage of the cast in their full makeup and costumes for reference and to help set the LUTs, which Wainwright could then view on-set during production. In the first three episodes that Tindall shot (Angus Mitchell shot Episodes 4, 5 and 6), he says the series' opening sequence is the one that re- ceived the most planning and attention. In it, Beth is coming to terms with her life and the feeling of invisibility. She's been drinking and is about to commit suicide by hanging herself in her home when the phone rings. It's Jess, whose excite- ment about the talent show causes an immediate change of heart. "We storyboarded it. Sally shot listed it. She had references," says the DP. "She wanted it to look like a [gin & tonic] commercial — a drinks commercial — which turns into something darker, and I think we did that." He also points to the scene in which Beth first meets Kitty, who is singing karaoke at a pub after her stint in jail and a night of drinking. Her soul- ful voice draws Beth into the establishment for a closer look. "Again, that was lots of references from Hole — from Courtney Love," explains Tindall. "And that worked really well. We actually used a specific lens called a 'dream lens.'" The Canon version of Leicia's Noctilux is super shallow, allowing the DP to only focus on Kitty's eyes at times. "There were lots of tricks and things that we did and we planned for, and it all worked." Currently, Tindall is working on the third season of the BBC crime drama Sherwood with director Clio Barnard, with whom he's collaborated in the past. Production on the series wraps up in April and Tindall hopes scheduling will allow him to return to shoot a second season of Riot Women, should it move forward. EDITING For editor Mark Hermida, it was his past collabo- ration with Drama Republic, the producer of Riot Woman, that led to him coming onboard. Hermida served as editor on the 2021 British crime drama The Irregulars, which Drama Republic also pro- duced. In the case of Riot Women, Hermida edited Cinematographer Simon Tindall Wainwright with the Riot Women cast. Editor Mark Hermida