Manifestering

Season Five is on the pad and ready to lift off. But just like any launch, ours has had weather problems up to the last second. Were we going to keep shooting on film or switch to digital? Were we going to find the right actors to play vital new roles? (Which doesn't only mean finding the actors, but also making numerous complex individual deals even for actors who won't get the part, circulating casting tapes all over town, and when necessary convening a dozen very powerful and busy adults into a room to scrutinize the skills, likability and facial features of a small child.) And last but not least, would the Universal Studios Tour trams outside our windows drive everyone MAD??? It all came down to the wire in a grueling week that I hope doesn't get repeated for at least, well, realistically, another few. Except for the way it ended. That I'd be happy to repeat, over and over, and soon. Thanks to the herculean efforts of Donna in casting and Love in preproduction and K

Friday we had our first pre-production meeting for the new season. Headed by first episode director Jennifer Love Hewitt. Writers have been working for exactly one month to produce the first in a long line of scripts. And it's ready to go. What's a pre-production meeting? Well, here's what happens: Heads of every department join to go over the new script in minute detail. You've heard it before and it's true: Shooting a t.v. show or movie is like waging a war. A whole lot of people have to do their very specific and challenging jobs at precisely the right moment so certain things happen on film when they need to happen. Or else. If one person fails, you have to do it again. And again. Which costs seconds or minutes. In film, seconds are like lives: once you lose them you can never get them back. And every single member of the crew feels their loss. Because now there's less time to do the next take, the next shot, the next scene, all the rest of th