Working In The Neighborhood

I just finished work.  3 am.  We were working in the rain on a well known television show in the crime-romance genre.  Or, as we who work on them refer to all of our shows by the format with which they are shot i.e." Gray's Anatomy" is episodic" while,  well there are no sitcoms so, let's say "I Love Lucy" (really-is there any other?) would be considered "3 camera".

Which brings us to the "episodic" I've been on for a few days.  I cannot mention it by name as job security in our town is weak as a fly's diaper.  It has a few things going for it in my opinion.  It is clever.  It has  handsome and beautiful and genuinely nice actors, and most importantly it is shot 4 blocks from my house!

Tonight, we shot on location-ish.

Or home lot is called Raleigh Studios and it is a kind of low key very old movie production facility.  It had one of the last "turntable" stages.  The were used at the beginning of film along with some sort of sailcloth for the roof then pulled back and the stage would turn to optimize the sunshine.

When we were kids we lived right along the backside of the lot.  Jerry's Market, made famous in "Double Indemnity" was our corner market.

At fourteen, my brother and his pals broke onto one of the stages and were caught racing around on golf carts, opening fire. extinguishers all at each other.

Oh I was so envious!   A few years ago I did a season on "The Closer".  Great experience and shot on the very stage my brother wreaked havoc on 40 years before.

Well, now I am on this other show. We shot in our local park, Griffith Park which, very fortunately, is the largest park in the city at 4,210  acres

A little bridge here, doubling for Central Park, convenient steady rain there, fabulous effects designed by those of us who conspire to entertain, and, Viola!  A decent and funny show that a lot of people like.

Now, I may sound a bit treacly in my opinion about the show but this is how I feel about the industry I work in and have lived in and around my entire life.  I love Hollywood.  The town the industry, the idea.

It is an honor to wake up and head off to work, wherever we are that day.  If a bunch of people around the world can be taken out of their day by something I had or my friends had a hand in creating...wow.

Gratitude for time and place.

G'nite