Thomas Secures “Friends and Lovers” Moving Lights Using MSE Cotone Mount

Atlanta-based gaffer and lighting programmer Quinton Thomas brings the same practical, problem-solving instinct of a board op to every set he walks onto. With a diverse filmography that in 2025 alone spans Blumhouse’s The Woman in the Yard, comedy-drama Operation Aunties and rapper Latto’s latest music video, Thomas is well-versed in using his gear to maximize lighting impact. While gaffing a recent Lifetime double feature Friends and Lovers, Thomas integrated the Cotone Mount Moving Light Stand Adapter from Matthews Studio Equipment to streamline lighting the two-part film.

Based on the book by Eric Jerome Dickey, Friends and Lovers follows two sets of best friends, with two romantic relationships, one an enemies-to-lovers arc, the other with a tragic ending. For  Thomas, staying ahead is all about smarter rigging. Two major scenes were planned in live-event style venues: a comedy venue and a reggae club. The same location was re-dressed to play both environments, so lighting was key to selling the difference. Working with DP Jalani Riley and key grip Chris Lawson, Thomas planned to bring several moving head lights in, but converting fixtures originally manufactured for live events and concert venues into a film-specific set-up meant bridging two separate industry standards.

Moving lights don’t feature the same single, centered mounting point typically found on cinema fixtures. They instead attach to a base plate using two captive screws (the “omega clamp” points) on the underside. Often crews resort to improvised hardware to get it rigged. “I specifically remember another set I worked on where a team of grips were drilling a junior pin into an applebox pancake and then ratchet-strapping the moving head in place. It worked, but it took a long time to make,” relates Quinton. “When I saw the Cotone Mount, I knew it would make everything easier.”

The gaffer first discovered the Cotone Mount at a workshop hosted by Atlanta lighting and equipment supplier Lightscape. (The Cotone Mount even gets its name from Lightscape founder, Chris Cotone.) The appeal was immediate—this was a simple, purpose-built way to mount moving lights directly onto the stands crews already own. The Cotone Mount drops straight into a standard combo stand via its junior pin–a direct, clean hardware solution that eliminates the need for cumbersome DIY alternatives.

On Friends and Lovers Thomas put that efficiency to work. For the comedy club location, where roughly 20% of the movie takes place, he used the Cotone Mount on heavy wheeled crank stands to position moving head lights on opposite sides of the stage. “I wanted to make the club seem more modern, so we placed two movers on crank stands. That way anytime we had to flip the camera, it was a quick adjustment.” The moving heads delivered texture to the background without having to rebuild rigging for each coverage.

When the location was redressed into a reggae club, Cotone Mounts enabled Thomas to quickly deploy movers again, this time to add Jamaican red, green, and blue tones along with strobe lights that flesh out the scene. “There was also a bathroom scene, that is supposed to take place in the same club. To make that set feel like it was right in the same area, we used a moving head to keep the texture consistent. We could make those kinds of changes right away.”

For Thomas, the Cotone Mount was the right tool at the right time. “I knew going into this movie I was going to be able to do these set ups. Matthews’ Cotone Mount became the easiest, fastest, and safest option,” he said. “It made everything look way more produced for the budget.”

Friends and Lovers is proof that even on a tight schedule, the right piece of hardware keeps the lighting department lean, fast, and focused on the look. Catch the double-feature premier on Lifetime, Saturday November 15.

For more about the Cotone Mount: www.msegrip.com/products/moving-light-stand-adapter-cotone-mount

Check out “New Cotone Mount for Moving Lights” – from Lightscape, with a behind-the-scenes appearance by Quinton Thomas: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cYXHo9GAiA