Clubhouse Conversations — Song Sung Blue

In-depth coverage of cinematographer Amy Vincent, ASC's work on Song Sung Blue is featured in American Cinematographer's December 2025 issue. Learn more here about how to subscribe to the industry's leading journal of motion-picture production techniques.

In this episode, cinematographer Amy Vincent, ASC and director Craig Brewer are joined by interviewer Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS to discuss their work on Song Sung Blue — a biographical musical drama based on the true story of a couple who pursue their passion for performing the music they love.

Song Sung Blue tells the story of Mike and Claire Sardina (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson), who fall in love in Milwaukee in the 1990s and create a successful Neil Diamond tribute act known as Lightning & Thunder. The film marks the fourth feature collaboration between Vincent and Brewer, following their work together on Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan and Footloose.

Conversation Highlights

Vincent and Brewer's conversation with Beebe explores a range of strategies, as well as the creative and practical challenges they encountered, including:

• Favoring intuitive, actor-led filmmaking over rigid shot design
• Shooting entirely in practical locations to reinforce the authenticity of the film's setting
• The tools and techniques they employed to help create the film's 1990s visual texture
• Executing oners for pivotal musical-performance scenes

• Fostering an on-set culture rooted in vulnerability, rhythm and shared trust

Amy Vincent, ASC is a cinematographer whose works include Eve's Bayou (1997), Hustle & Flow (for which she won the Sundance Film Festival's Vision Award in 2005) and Footloose (2011), and the series Wayward Pines, Upload, Eastbound & Down and Justified: City Primeval.

Craig Brewer is a filmmaker whose feature credits include Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan, Footloose, The Legend of Tarzan, Dolemite Is My Name and Coming 2 America.

Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS is a cinematographer whose feature credits include Chicago, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award; Memoirs of Geisha, for which his won an Academy Award and ASC Award; and Nine, for which he was nominated for an ASC Award.

You’ll find all episodes in our ASC Clubhouse Conversations discussion series here.

Images courtesy of Focus Features.