Cinematographer Checco Varese Sets Look and Tone For "Daisy Jones & the Six"

Last year, Checco Varese, ASC won his first Emmy--for lensing the “Breakthrough Pain” episode of Dopesick, the limited drama series which delved into opioid addiction in America, taking us not only to a distressed Virginia mining community and a rural doctor’s office but also the boardrooms of Purdue Pharma, and the inner workings of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Based on Beth Macy’s 2018 best selling nonfiction book, “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America,” the series spanned some 25 years with different storylines that personalize a drug epidemic fueled in large part by Purdue’s insidious behavior. The “Breakthrough Pain” episode was directed by Barry Levinson.

Fast forward to today and Varese may well be in Emmy contention again--this time for the recently debuted musical drama Daisy Jones & the Six (Prime Video), which centers on a rock band in the 1970s fronted by two charismatic lead singers: Daisy Jones (portrayed by Riley Keough) and Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin) who have palpable onstage chemistry and a tumultuous behind-the-scenes relationship. The 10-episode series, based on the best-selling book of the same title by Taylor Jenkins Reid, chronicles a high-profile rock band's skyrocket-like ascent to fame and then its precipitous fall.