Today was the last day of pre-production before Christmas. We now break for two weeks and, when we come back, we’re straight into a week of technical recces, read-throughs and script meetings before the shoot begins.
By now, ideally, we would have chosen our locations, confirmed our cast and be as close as possible to locking down the scripts and schedule. Instead, we actually seem in danger of moving backwards as the availability (or lack thereof) of several of the actors is making it almost impossible to schedule the shoot. It was suggested to me today that we may actually have to re-cast one or more of the parts in order to solve the problem. I’m very reluctant to even consider that – it feels like the tail would be wagging the dog. There must be other solutions to be found.
There is a real adjustment to be made coming off a production as frantic as “Hustle” and onto a show like “New Tricks”, which has a much more sedate and deliberate pace. Not that one is necessarily better or more effective than the other but it can sometimes feel like you’ve traded in your dangerous two-seater sports car for the safe family saloon; every now and again you slam the pedal to the floor and nothing happens.
(THIS POST HAS BEEN IMPORTED FROM AN OLDER BLOG)
