Gal Balaban
Shooting a television series inside a fully functioning Las Vegas casino presents an immediate dilemma: you cannot shut down gaming operations, you cannot block security cameras, and you cannot ask real gamblers to clear out. For cinematographer Tari Segal, taking on the fifth episode of Apple TV’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, titled “Flamingoes,” meant turning extreme production constraints into a high-stakes experience.
Celebrating her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (One Hour), Segal sat down with Awards Radar to reflect on the wild ride of mounting the show’s signature Las Vegas sequence in just three days, and how controlled chaos ultimately fed the show’s most essential feeling.
Having shot the bulk of the series in and around Los Angeles and Fullerton, California, the production saved the frantic Las Vegas shoot for the very end of their schedule. “It was kind of a party,” Segal recalls of bringing the crew on location. “Everyone was up for the challenge. We pared down, we were small and tight, and everyone was gung-ho to give it our best.”Working around strict Gaming Commission guidelines required rigorous prep. Segal’s team targeted narrow windows between bingo games, designing lightweight and mobile lighting setups that moved as a physical “bubble” around lead actors Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer, who are both nominated for their performances in the series.
That guerrilla-style approach reached a fever pitch during a 4:00 AM shot on the Las Vegas Strip, featuring Fanning and Pfeiffer hanging out of a limousine sunroof. “We had a police escort, but the other cops didn’t see them,” Segal laughs, recounting how local law enforcement pulled over the production vehicle mid-take. “A couple of us are down below with a little monitor, and suddenly Elle and Michelle slink down. They’re like, ‘There’s police out there!’ It was just such a great way to end the show.”
Visually, Segal made deliberate choices to ground the Las Vegas sequences to feel subjective to Shyanne (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). “Shyanne is a little bit more old school and more gritty,” Segal notes. “There was a lot of embracing tungsten and neon lighting. Less LED lighting. Not the cleaner main strip, but old-school Vegas. Even our warm lights had a little bit of green in them just to create a bit of an aged quality, so it had that Shyanne vibe.”
Segal also reflected on shooting a chaotic wrestling match scene in an earlier episode. Recreating the electric atmosphere of a live event meant building custom daylight controls, re-lamping entire fixtures, and executing a tight three-hour window with actors Nick Offerman and Nicole Kidman. “You’re just crossing your fingers that everything put in place is going to work,” Segal admits. “I remember that whole experience being a blur, and then at the end, having a nice celebratory drink with my crew.”
Reflecting on the overarching narrative of the series, Segal sees the show’s philosophy as anchored in resilience. “You look at your ups and downs, and somehow you find a way to pull yourself up and keep going,” Segal says. “That’s in a nutshell what Margo is, and what we tried to showcase with the camera: to pick yourself up, keep going, and see what’s around the corner.”
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