Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1480624
minute scramble when that "key location" for the Bottom Dollar was lost in a contract dispute (nothing to do with COVID this time!) and we found ourselves designing/building/dressing an entirely different location for our biggest set, now housed in a downtown brick warehouse, with about two weeks until filming. Finally, with only one day lost to a set COVID outbreak, pilot photography wrapped in early December. Season One ---: An order for ten episodes came through in April 2021; the pilot had come together well, and the studio wanted a season one. Preproduction began July 5 for an early September shoot date; the crew was to design and build two home sets on stage in a converted warehouse facility in Sunland called Tamarack Studios. One set would be a replica of the warehouse/office set developed for the pilot, and the second would be the home apartment for Joyce, the female lead. My first concerns about the "stages" at Tamarack Studios were realized as the production surveyed the facility and found the ceiling clearance topped out at nineteen feet. By comparison, the location we were to copy had a ceiling height of twenty- eight feet. My plan to "nip-and-tuck" the set to make it fit the stage became radical surgery, and the Art Department struggled to maintain the space and proportions that would tie the look of our built set to the location shot in the pilot episode. In addition, the writing team asked for more spaces in the set where they could break up the action, divide characters and nurture various sub-plots. First layouts of this main set grew to fill the large stage at Tamarack and, rather quickly, budgets were due, drawings were needed, and the clock was ticking. Or, in other words—the usual. The location warehouse from the pilot provided a huge head start on a design; it was a grand old brick structure, with large A. BOTTOM DOLLAR BULLPEN. PILOT LOCATION. THE FINISHES, TEXTURES AND WINDOWS WERE AN IMPORTANT RESOURCE FOR THE STAGE SET. SET PHOTO. B. BOTTOM DOLLAR LOUNGE AREA. PILOT LOCATION. SET PHOTO. C. BOTTOM DOLLAR PRODUCTIONS MASTER FURNITURE PLAN. PRIMARILY HAND DRAWN BY JEFFERSON SAGE. USED AS A BASIS FOR THE SET DESIGNERS AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS TO DEVELOP THEIR WORK. A B C