ADG Perspective

7 0 P E R S P E C T I V E | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 2 2 Show runner Joshua Safran and I met when I was interviewed to be the Production Designer of his Netix show, Mixtape. I thought we had had a great time during the interview, and I was disappointed when I didn't get the ob. So, I said to myself Oh, well, they went with someone who has a better rsum, what can I do hen, almost a year later, while scouting locations for Monsterland, a show I was working on, I got a text message Ola It's Josh Safran, of former Mixtape fame. Ali tells me what fun she's having with you on Monsterland. I know you probably aren't available, but I'd be remiss if I didn't reach out and ask your availability and interest in designing my update of Gossip Girl for HBO Max. Don't know if you felt with how cray Monsterland is if you could do both in that overlap time... still, had to check While reading it, I didn't immediately realie that this Josh was the same Josh who didn't hire me for the Netix show, a year back, but I liked the idea of doing Gossip Girl. I knew that if I went for it, I'd have access to a big budget and finally be able to create rich, authentic, characterdriven spaces. So, I said, Sure, without really knowing who that guy was. Oh, but am I so glad I made that gut decision. After accepting the oer from Josh, I met with line producer Chad Mcuay to figure out a schedule where I would be able to finish one proect and begin work on the next. As it turned out, I had already met many of the Gossip Girl crew, ten years ago in 200, when I had been Art Director on the pilot, Person of Interest. Now, as a Production Designer, I would work with Hilary Smith, a line producer who had been a location manager then, with Marissa otsilimbas, an Art Director, who was an Art Department coordinator then, and LP Chad, who was a production accountant. So, ten years later, we are working together again, but in very dierent positions. When I was finally free and could focus only on Gossip Girl, the pandemic happened. As with everyone else, the show was shut down for months, and when it came back, also like everyone else, the Art Department had to start from scratch and learn how to deal with all new restrictions. And we did. We built four stages full of standing amortied sets, where each of them could not be more dierent than the next. he Gossip Girl story has a diverse cast of characters, and it isn't focused on ust one group. hey are from dierent backgrounds and have dierent levels of wealth. I wanted to make each space uniquely reect the character or characters who would live in it. Every apartment had to tell a quiet story about who the character was and wanted to be. I wanted the show's home spaces to be safe places, so the characters can find comfort and security in their homes. On Gossip Girl, all the exteriors are real New York landmarks and all the interiors are standing sets except one. he Art Department worked hard to make sure that each interior matched the exterior. G o s s i p G i r l D E V E L O P I N G C O N T E M P O R A R Y S P A C E S B Y O L A M A S L I K , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R A. DUMBO HALL. DIGITAL MODEL CREATED AND RENDERED IN VECTORWORKS BY JEREMY W. FOIL B. DUMBO HALL. SET PHOTO. BUILT ON STAGE D AT SILVER CUP EAST STUDIOS ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF HBO MAX.

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