Cinematographer Daan Nieuwenhuijs has worked with director Bobby Boermans on multiple projects since the first season of Mocra Maffia (2018). Veteran Gaffer Gideon van Essen first partnered with Nieuwenhuijs on Maxima (2024), where the pair found they worked well in a challenging production environment.

The camera and lighting team would be tested to their limit on Netflix’s thriller iHostage, based on the true story of a hostage situation that occurred inside an Apple store in the busy Leidseplein square in Amsterdam in 2022. Among their production challenges, the team had to stylistically match the interior of the Apple store and the exterior at Leidseplein to a police control room set, where law enforcement monitored and responded to the hostage situation.

The team needed an environment that seemed functional and was lit by practical lighting. To keep the production moving quickly, floor lighting would only be used in extreme cases.

Van Essen says, “This was our concept: the control room should be graphically composed and rigid to contrast with the chaos outside.” Central to the control room's practical lighting were arrays of Aputure INFINIBARs.

“I looked into them—they’re so practical,” Nieuwenhuijs adds. “Their design is sleek, easy to connect, and beautifully controllable. We made a very linear, clean look with them, and combined them with square ceiling units,” van Essen adds. “The main look and intensity of those scenes came from the INFINIBAR setup. Their output is massive. Most of the time, we only used them at 10–15% intensity.”

The overhead lighting was supplemented by desk lamps, Kino Flo Select Freestyles off camera, and frequently, Aputure MC Pros. Van Essen says, “Most of the time, we had an Aputure MC Pro just off-camera. We used those extensively, literally everywhere. It’s such a practical tool, especially with the bubble diffuser—perfect for an eye light here or there. We used them a lot for the scenes in the closet [of the Apple store]—they were ideal.”

The thriller premiered on Netflix in April 2025, where it held the number 1 spot in several countries, including the United States. The production team was praised for its technically complex execution.

As for the lighting team, the MC Pro has become something more than a professional tool. Nieuwenhuijs says, “They’re so handy. I even use them privately! For birthday parties in the garden, I stick them up everywhere, control them with the app.”

Van Essen says, “What I enjoyed most was the exceptional symbiosis I had with the DOP. We kept challenging each other to make it better. More tests, more shaping—until we both said, ‘This is cool.’”