Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546075
Fall 2026 – LOCAL695.COM 21 scene. Harrison sat there like a statue, waiting for her to turn around. Harrison's assistant, Jason, and I clocked each other silently, not giving up the joke. It went on so long that Harrison finally blew a puff of air at the back of Yvette's hair. She swatted at it, continuing to work. He blew again. She whipped around to see a deadpan Harrison Ford six inches from her face. She let out a gasping yelp. That tiny payoff was what Harrison patiently waited for. That guy… When we were in between setups during the hilarious Les Mis "Confrontation" scene, Harrison plopped down on a curb between me and Kevin and told us dad jokes for twenty minutes. Seven-year-old me lost her mind. We did that scene in an open-top vintage Ford Bronco, perched on a process trailer, driving around Eagle Rock. Jason Segel and Michael Urie had been rehearsing a bit on set, and both knew the song so well, there would be no playback or earwigs, just two musical theater kids singing their hearts out a cappella with a very confused Harrison in the backseat. Bill Lawrence will tell you he still isn't sure if Harrison's ad-lib line, "Did you guys make that up??" was a genuine question or not. When we weren't rolling, Harrison was waving at stunned early-morning dog walkers and bicyclists like the grand marshal of his own little parade. We used hardwired Sennheiser 50's for plants in the front seat, and a hardwired Schoeps MK41 on a GVC for Harrison in the backseat since there is so little room. That plus some perfect wiring from Yvette, and we had some incredible sound that really singled everyone out. We have a large core cast and our writers love to get them all together in big group scenes. Thanksgivings, weddings, graduations, all that real-life stuff. In episode 307, we had a scene with eight cast members singing around a piano while Jason played and sang the song, "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. Once again, Jason rejected any notion of doing it to playback, so live it would be. I couldn't even convince him to use a click track. "I've got it." He winked. He didn't want anything to get in the way of a spontaneous performance from himself and his fellow cast members. I made sure the Steinway baby grand that resides in our Jimmy living room set would receive a fresh tuneup for the occasion. A total of thirteen mics covered the scene as I wanted to give post as many options as possible to help isolate the angles. I used a Shure BLM-03C mic for the underside of the piano soundboard, which I hardlined back to my Sound Devices Scorpio. I also hardlined a DPA 4018 for a small, but robust plant mic hidden behind the music stand for Jason's singing and dialog. The lid was closed, and we blocked the open gap behind the keyboard with layered duvetyn to help isolate some of the piano from Jason. Every actor was wired with a DPA 6060 and a Lectrosonics DBSM. I brought in an additional Boom Operator, Misty Conn, to help Kevin Santy and Yvette cover the scene. The grips lifted the muslin ceiling piece to expose the small green bed above the piano, so our Boom Operators could work from overhead as there was zero room on the floor with the eight actors and three cameras. We Yvette prepping wires with Harrison Ford hiding behind her. Left: Harrison's assistant Jason Snellman The day we got news of our Emmy nominations: Anna Wilborn, Jason Segel, Michael Urie, Jessica Wiliams.