No News is........well, no news.

It's been great hearing from lots of people about the pilot being picked up (including 5 former art directors I've worked with), but so far no one has offered me a job yet! There is no "obvious" in this business and I will have to jump through the usual hoops regardless of my previous experience or great job I think we did on the pilot. I was very pleased to see they kept the original opening credits and added a few "C.S.I." grid graphics while boosting the drums a bit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLKdYXyQa90&feature=email Also the trailer looks good as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmbrWOzvJDE

Not getting much publicity yet is the new ABC show called "Off the Map" about the Doctors Without Borders team. I did a couple of episodes dealing with them for "E.R." a few years back. They will be keeping the Hawaii Film Studio since they held the lease from "LOST" for the past 5 years. I suspect it will be your basic jungle clinic and tropical settings--again not "Hawaii." The humanitarian work these people do is amazing and there should be no shortage of exciting, ORIGINAL plots on this one. They shot the pilot already in the Caribbean. Also Steven Spielberg is supposed to be doing some sort of future/past series on the Big Island which probably means lava fields and fern forests and not much set decorating. "Pirates of the Caribbean" (12?) starts filming their water work this summer. Given that it is a franchise film (with major budget cuts) that already has much of their dressing, they are mainly hiring just to assemble and move things. The news makes it sound like there is a lot of work, but again, the reality remains that most of the jobs are filled in L.A. and with the exception of the 2 series, they will be over and gone by the end of summer.

In the old days they used to shoot pilots as MOWs (movies of the week) and air them before decisions were made. Given the expense of shooting a 90 minute or more show, they do the pilot and make an internal decision and just go for it. So you won't be seeing the pilot for 5-0 until it airs this fall on Monday nights with the series to follow. Other than their names and ethnic backgrounds, there is no attempt to replicate Jack Lord's famous rigid hair style. Interestingly though, both characters are of Irish descent. Makes you wonder if they ever revive "Magnum, P.I." if Thomas Magnum would have a moustache? Speaking of descents, I did work for a week on the George Clooney film "Descendants" as a shopper/buyer. No, George and I never had lunch together--in fact I never even met the decorator I was working for! They were all on Kauai filming and I was here taking pictures of potential set dressing and posting them each day. I was already involved in a roof extension project and garage sale when they wanted me back so it just turned out to be the one week.

Hopefully posting some actual (GOOD) news soon!

Aloha, Rick