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POSTING FALL TV www.postmagazine.com 26 POST SEPT/OCT 2019 N B C ' S B L U F F C I T Y L AW On Monday, September 24 th , NBC premiered a new, one-hour dramatic series starring Jimmy Smits and Caitlin McGee. Bluff City Law is set in Memphis, TN, and centers on the relationship between Elijah and Sydney Strait — a father/daughter legal team that has reunited after years of not speaking. While Sydney has lingering resentment and distrust, she knows that working alongside her father is her best hope for changing the world. Peter Chomsky (Dead To Me, Fargo, Charmed) is the show's producer and oversees its post produc- tion workflow. In addition to the pilot, the network has committed to an additional nine hour-long episodes for this first season, and the possibility of increasing that number should the show achieve success in the ratings. Bluff City Law's Memphis feel should come across to viewers early on, as the entire production takes place in the Tennessee city. "One hundred percent of the show is being shot in Memphis," states Chomsky. "It's really going to have that look and that feel because it's there and it's great. In fact, the main office set for Strait Associates is not a set that's built at a studio or in a warehouse. It's an actual building that's been dressed to be our set. So outside the windows of the building there's actually a real street, traffic and people…It looks as real as it can look because it is real." The series is shot using Arri's Alexa Mini. It is mainly a two-camera shoot, but a third camera is used on occasion, such as when covering a big courtroom scene is necessary. "NBC only requires an HD 1920x1080 format for air, so we're shooting in 2K," says Chomsky. "I did a show for Hulu called The First, and we shot that in 8K, so I'm very versed in the different formats. But NBC's delivery requirements are not as stringent as Netflix or Hulu, so we can shoot with the Alexa Mini, which is a very versatile and solid camera." Bluff City Law is assembled by a team of editors. Leon Martin worked with executive producer Dean Georgaris on The Brave, and cut Episode 102. Scott Boyd, who Chomsky brought on-board, is the show's second editor. And Casey Brown is the show's third editor. The team has Avid-based edito- rial suites set up in a building in Encino, CA, where EP Georgaris oversees a second show. "We've got a whole suite dedicated for our post production, and upstairs they've got a big suite for both shows for the writing staff," Chomsky explains. For the series' early run, the editors will get approximately three days to create the 'editor's cut', and as the season progresses, that will taper down to two days per episode. There will then be four days spent on the director's cut, four to five days on the producer's cut, and several days for the studio and network to review each episode. The show is shot on Arri cameras.