For the last two seasons, I have been invited to work on this American crime drama series set in Detroit and executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (don’t call him 50 Cent). This was my first experience on a large-scale TV production and it set the tone right from the get go.
90% of this show is shot in Atlanta. The key creatives and actors only come to Detroit to shoot B-Roll and exteriors that require the essence of the city. They land and start shooting the same day, and 10 moons later, they shoot and leave the same day. This blitzkrieg approach to filmmaking means the days are very time energy intensive.
My role on this production was to coordinate and direct the masses of background actors and sign off on their paperwork. Some days there were 25, others there were 200 plus. Not to mention, there were often 2, sometimes 3 units shooting in various parts of the city, all of which scheduled to have background extras funneling in and out, dusk to dawn. This resulted in a logistical mission-impossible given it was just me and one other dude. “Travel this unit here, land that unit there, take this unit back to change – don’t let them out of your site. Whose at base to land the next wave? Nobody? What happened to unit 4?” At the end of the day / morning, and basically without sleep, I made it through 2 seasons of this show, which I know has shaved a couple years off my life.
All in all, this was a very cool Detroit story to see through. Nobody I worked with was an actor – they were everyday Detroit people elated to see their story told for once. Their enthusiasm was contagious and made these projects all the more fulfilling.
Key Takeaway: Chill out. This isn't life or death, this is all play pretend. And don't be an AD.
↓ See the trailers and my photos from this experience↓
S1 TRAILER
S2 TRAILER
