Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1504681
to look for a larger and more versatile production hub. Expecting summer in a beach house by Lake Ontario, my then eight-year-old son was less than impressed! With studios suddenly overrun due to the post pandemic bubble, finding a "magic bullet" for this show was not going to be easy. After exploring many possible avenues, Romania fast became the favorite. After several scouts and a multitude of proposals, the production looked to Icon Films and Buftea Studios to facilitate us. Buftea was a fantastic facility for the series, it had plenty of large stage space and was surrounded by woodlands, a lake and large areas of scrubland which were to come in very handy. Largely referencing the original Chas Addams cartoons rather than the movies or the TV show, the main visual motif of the show is contrast. Contrast between the characters. Contrasts between the emotions. Contrasts between the town and the academy. Everything from the micro to the macro was in sharp relief. Miles and Al had written a fantastic set of scripts that leaned into Tim's sensibilities and left him open to explore with adept skill and sensitivity. One of the benefits of Romania for a show like Wednesday is that it has an extraordinary array of Gothic and Ottoman architecture, perfect for the Addams Family. One thing it doesn't have in abundance is Americana, certainly nothing resembling a town, which is somewhat of a problem when the show is set in America and a New England town features heavily. Back in the Toronto days, I had researched many possible locations, none of them had been perfect but at least they looked the part. Here, the Art Department had nothing, and were looking down the barrel of a suddenly very short preproduction period. Still in London, over a very long weekend, I worked out the bare bones of a substantial build that would form the town of Jericho. So much happened there over eight episodes, it needed to have scale and be largely complete to avoid heavy VFX costs in extensions every time the unit visited. It had a large church at its center, designed to frame the pivotal statue of Joseph Crackstone, and then a variety of sets and story points radiated out from it. The Weathervane Café; Dr Kinbot's office with its bathroom that opened on to the rooftops; the town hall; Uriah's Heap; the police station and the Galpin house—all were built in composite, and designed to present a slightly over-stylized but realistic version of Vermont—an exact opposite of the world of Nevermore Academy but equally as sinister. I put my proposition to Tim on the Monday and shortly after, traveled to Romania to begin the process. A. JERICHO MAIN STREET. ILLUSTRATION. PHOTOSHOP OVER 3D MODEL BY JONATHAN OPGENHAFFEN AND MARK SCRUTON. A