Iterative Fourier transform algorithms are widely used for hologram generation for phase-modulating spatial light modulators. In this paper, we introduce a new technique called the “intermediate domain,” which decomposes the Fourier transforms used into multiple subtransforms, the combination of which can offer major performance benefits over traditional approaches. To demonstrate this, we introduce ID-GS, an implementation of the intermediate domain technique for possibly the best known hologram generation algorithm, Gerchberg–Saxton. We discuss the performance of this across a wide range of configurations with a focus on computational performance.