I’ve heard about being right in the scene but this was ridiculous.
Tuesday just outside Toronto on the set of the new NBC/Global drama The Firm, a small group of international journalists were given a tour of the production studio. The Firm shoots in a converted warehouse in Mississauga, Ont., the same facility where another eOne production, Rookie Blue, is produced.
This happened to be a rare day when all four leads on the series–Josh Lucas, Molly Parker, Callum Keith Rennie and Juliette Lewis–were all in the same scene. The interior set up was the kitchen of the McDeeres (played by Lucas and Parker).
Six reporters were led onto the set to observe. Usually this means stand at the back, in the shadows, well out of anybodies eye-line. The idea is to be a fly on the wall, as inconspicuous as possible.
Instead, we were led right into the middle of the scene. We stood jammed between the space where the director stood (behind two large monitors), some lighting equipment, and the actors and the rest of the crew.
I thought we were being punked. Nobody puts press in between the actors and the director, but that`s where we stood, shoulder to shoulder. I could reach out and tap Lewis–sitting at a kitchen table–on the shoulder.
The actors walked through one rehearsed take. Rennie, wearing a long black leather jacket (he’s a P.I. and the brother of Lucas’ lawyer character), kissed Lewis on the cheek and strode over to Parker and Lucas sitting at the nearby kitchen counter. Some dialogue was exchanged, mainly between Rennie and Lucas.
The director spoke with the cameraman, an assistant yelled places, the clapper was clapped and the cameras rolled.
The journos were so close to the action we may as well have been manning the boom mike. Nobody lost an eye and everybody got some insight into how a TV factory works.
The Firm premieres with a two-hour opener Jan. 8 on NBC and Global.
