Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545302
www.postmagazine.com 14 POST MAY/JUNE 2026 component — the large format component — was because we wanted to shoot 2.39. That was some- thing Nzingha mentioned right out of the gate and I was very much into that because that's a very fun aspect ratio to work with. We didn't want to shoot anamorphic, so that meant that any Super 35 camera choice, we were working with a very small slice of the sensor. The LF gave us the best of both worlds — that big canvas, but without any pitfalls." The 16 weeks of production sounds like a tight schedule for eight hours of content? Jonathan Furmanski: "For me, it certainly was. After the pilot, where I had many weeks in prep to kind of come up with everything…I would finish with one director, and on Monday, a new director would show up, who maybe I got 30 minutes to sit down with. It was always just kind of like go, go, go! We had pretty big days every day, but it was also kind of enjoyable. It was relentless, but it was enjoyable in that it was like, 'All right, we have set up. Let's figure this out…and come up with the best solution." Where is this taking place? Is it on a set at NBC somewhere? Jonathan Furmanski: "Ninety-five percent of the show was shot at the Universal Lot, and we shot on the exact same back lot cul-de-sac where they shot the original film, so that was fun. People who really love the film, they'll recog- nize a lot of the landscape and the architecture. Desperate Housewives was there. Ted was there, so it's a very familiar place. And our stages were just down the hill. They were like a five-minute golf cart ride. Jim, you were actually not that far away either?" Jim Flynn: "Yeah, I was right next door to you guys. I would walk over to the set every once in a while. But, to your earlier point, I don't know that we could have done this schedule if it wasn't set up that way, because you could always go and take a look at your pre-lighting and stuff, and it was just 100 feet away. You didn't have to go to another location. All the scouting was done, everything like that. So it kind of had to be the way that it was — shooting on the back lot." How far back does production and post go? Jim Flynn: "My first day, I think, was the table read, where the cast and the crew were all there. That's when I first heard it. And I thought it was really great out of the gate. And then I'm there day one. So as soon as Jonathan shoots something, I'm looking at it the very next morning, if not earlier." That must be helpful to be involved so early? Jim Flynn: "Oh, it's really helpful. The sooner I get in, obviously, the happier I'm going to be because I kind of got a sense of what the rhythm of the show was going to be like at that table read. People were reacting. The actors, who are all great, at the table, they all were already pretty much in-character, so you can kind of already get a sense what was working. The kind of rhythms that they're going to want to perform in and how that might look." Jonathan Furmanski: "I really appreciate that somebody like Jim is on board that early in the process as well, especially once you kind of get go- ing. Jim and I didn't (get to) interact. We did have the amazing post supervisor, Stephanie Johnson, who was running information back and forth between the two of us. But a lot of times, you're doing a show and you're kind of thinking, 'I hope this is all working.' You kind of rely on the 'no news is good news' idea, but you never know." Jim Flynn: "Celeste would come into my room — she's down for a couple hours for lunch or some- thing — (and) see how it's coming, how it looks. She's looking at it, obviously, in a broader picture. If there was an issue, or if there was something with an actor or a set, or something like that, she would see it how it plays in a rough assembly." Jonathan, are you shooting linearly, meaning episodes 101 through 108 in order, and in order within the episode? Jonathan Furmanski: "Well, unfortunately, just because of the way the business is kind of built, in terms of different directors coming in, different people being around, and all that kind of stuff, you can't quite do what we call 'cross boarding,' basical- ly shoot out the entire Victorian house for the entire season in 10 days or whatever it would be, which would be extremely efficient. The business, for the most part, doesn't allow that kind of thinking. Now, Avid systems were used for editorial. Production spanned a period of 16 weeks.