The Origin Story Of Rosco WindowCling™

What do WindowCling – Rosco’s easy-to-use solution for controlling windowlight – and NBC’s hit procedural Law & Order: Organized Crime have in common? Cue the “DUN-DUN!” The answer is, Key Rigging Grip Bob Izzo! Continue reading to learn how a request from Bob led to our investigations and development of WindowCling – and especially the popular D/N Day For Night layer. 

Bob often needs to create day for night looks for L&O: Organized Crime because many scenes for the show are shot on location. Their time at that location is limited, so they oftentimes need to shoot night scenes during the day. In addition, as a result of 2024 contract negotiations, producers on network TV shows shot in and around NYC were looking for solutions to cut down on crews having to shoot late into the night after being on set all day. They tasked their grip & electric teams to find solutions to shoot night interior scenes during the day. Thinking that there must be a better/faster/easier way to create the nighttime look he needed – Bob reached out to Rosco. 

Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Christopher Meloni poses with Rorie Miller – co-owner of Great Neck Diner – one of the show’s filming locations that needed a day for night window treatment.

Bob initially asked if we had any darker NDs that would accommodate day for night scenes. In a perfect world, “the filter would be around a 2.4 ND,” Bob said, “and it would include a ½ CTB to create a moonlight effect.” He ended up speaking to Rosco’s filter product manager, Stephen Spendiff, and the two of them began sorting out the details. It was during this time that Bob also expressed his frustrations about the process of adhering gels to the window, noting how window gels tend to sag and produce a reddish color shift when you stack them. 

Little did Bob know, but we were already working on neutral density formulations that would allow the NDs to stack without a color shift. Stephen applied those three ND formulations (ND3, ND6 & ND9) and a blue-tinted day for night formulation he had created to satisfy Bob’s request onto a very thin, Hi-Tack polyester film that would allow the gels to stick to windows via static electricity. 

Rosco’s East Coast Sales Rep. Marttise Hill hand delivered some prototype Day For Night rolls to Bob, who gave us feedback. While the thin gels clung to the window perfectly, what we learned was that the thinner film couldn’t handle the thick coating necessary to create the extra-dark ND that Bob had originally requested and still maintain its optical clarity. So, knowing how well the formulations would stack on top of each other, we opted to create a lighter, 2.5 stop “Day For Night” layer with a steely, ½ CTB tint that would meet Bob’s moonlight specifications. This approach would also allow filmmakers to layer levels of darkness to create the nighttime look they need for their scene. Afterall, crews can easily add more ND to make the window darker – but it’s impossible for them to make an existing dark ND in the window lighter.

Bob’s original “day for night gel” request turned into WindowCling – a range of easy-to-apply neutral density gels that stick & stack thanks to static electricity – without sagging or color shifting. And the range includes a fantastic D/N Day For Night Layer that, when combined with an additional WindowCling ND Layer, converts bright daylight into a dark, steely blue, moonlight effect. Many thanks to Key Rigging Grip Bob Izzo for working with us to create these tools that filmmakers can use to modify the light in their windows. Click the button above to learn more about WindowCling – or visit our Window Control product page to learn about all of Rosco’s solutions for modifying windowlight.