Month: March 2005

Yesterday I visited a set to watch the shooting of the pilot for a new children’s television show, “Lilly’s Light”. I designed the sets for the show but because of my intense travel schedule recently I was not able to oversee their construction. I’m usually a pretty hands-on kinda guy when it comes to production design and a real stickler for details in all aspects of the design (including set decoration, costumes, props, etc.). None of my regular people were hired to execute my designs, so even though the designs I gave them to work from were highly detailed color renderings, I approached viewing my sets for the first time with great apprehension.

Much to my relief everything looks SPECTACULAR! Everyone has done an incredible job, from construction to painters to props to costumes; it’s as if they were channeling exactly what I had in mind! The minor changes to the design necessitated by the practical nature of the shooting were made exactly the way I would have made them. All of the color choices work beautifiully together. Amazing!

The star of the show (and I believe the major reason why this whole show has come together as stunningly as it has) is Sherry Hursey (Sherry plays Lilly; she was a regular on “Home Improvement”). Besides being one of the most talented people I have ever met (man, can she sing!), Sherry also is the possessor of one of the biggest hearts and kindest souls I’ve ever encountered.

Director Daniel Carrey is one of the most prepared directors I’ve ever worked with; he shot nine pages (that’s a lot) yesterday! His positive attitude, efficiency and enthusiasm really help drive this production in the best way possible.

I’m going back to visit the set today and take some pictures. I’ll get you blog readers more details on the show, too. Plus — Attention, Ladies! — today my screenwriting partner, that debonair Englishman and Royal Shakespearean actor Gregg Martin, is a character on the show.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night; I was so excited about what I had seen that I had a hard time getting back to sleep. It felt like Christmas!

I watched two DVDs recently that I think are worth mentioning.

As you know I love horror movies, so I was delighted to come across a really creepy one: “The Grudge”. Great mood, good cast (although I kept hoping that Buffy…er…Sarah Michelle Gellar would kick some scary ghost butt). Watch it it late at night with the lights out!

The other one I had already heard good stuff about: “Metallica – Some Kind of a Monster”. It’s a documentary about the making of Metallica’s latest CD, “St. Anger”. It is also about the disintegration of the band and its triumph over such adversity. It’s very funny, very Spinal Tap — except it’s real! Kudos to the guys in the band for not being afraid to look so foolish at times. I really ended up admiring their deep dedication to pushing themselves to produce the absolute best quality art that they possibly could (my own philosophy, too). It can be painful, but the end product is worth it.

Kirk Hammett (who comes off as the most level-headed of the group) has got a great collection at home. We briefly get to see his fine Mark Ryden painting, his mounted cave bear skeleton (Kirk: Did you pick that up in Tucson?) and his diverse collection of hominid skulls. Go Kirk! I noticed you don’t have any Stout paintings, though…

DRAGONS – A Fantasy Made Real became the Animal Planet’s most-watched show in the history of the channel last Sunday. I am happy to have provided the poster that promoted that show.

I caught the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction show on VH-1 the other night. Bruce Springsteen’s introduction of U2 was touching, funny and poignant; Bono’s acceptance speech was very moving as well. U2 played a short but great set, too. What a band!

I just picked Petra Haden’s amazing completely acappella(!) version of my favorite Who album, “The Who Sell Out”. Wonderful! I understand that Pete Townshend agrees.

Back to my murals…

WHEW! It