Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546033
5 8 P E R S P E C T I V E J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 2 6 My introduction to the world of Derry, Maine, began in 2018, when I was hired to design It: Chapter 2 with Andy and Barbara Muschietti. That version of Derry was mostly set in 2016 and twenty-seven years earlier in 1989. In the world of It, the shapeshifting evil alien entity terrorizes the town on a 27-year cycle. Season 1 of Welcome to Derry goes back in time to 1962, set in the midst of the Cold War. The Russians were suspected of installing missiles in Cuba, JFK was in the White House, and the Red Scare was on. Welcome to Derry introduces a new Losers Club, the hero gang of kids, set in the small, seemingly idyllic town of Derry, Maine. Just outside of town is a large US Air Force base, Derry Air Force Base, which is the northernmost air base on the US East Coast and home to a fleet of B-52s. Set against the design and ideals of the late 1950s and early 1960s America, there is a constant threat of nuclear war. Underlying that is the oddness, fear and racism that permeate the characters and emerge throughout the story. During this shoot, the production was forced to take a hiatus due to the 2023 SAG/AFTRA Hollywood strikes, which lasted four months (thankfully, it was during the summer). With some preliminary scouting and early budgeting in November 2022, the production office opened W e l c o m e t o D e r r y T H E I T E P I C E X P A N D S B Y PA U L D . A U S T E R B E R R Y, P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R "Derry is a fictional town in the US state of Maine that has served as the setting for a number of Stephen King novels, novellas and short stories, notably It." –Wikipedia.org A