Anderson Estate (aka "Robin's Nest") To Be Torn Down.

Aloha All,

Can't believe it's been 3 years since I've posted but I no longer seem to be in the film or TV business even after becoming the first person from Hawaii to enter the ADG (Art Directors Guild).  I'm afraid the business has returned to the pre-Magnum days of bringing in all department heads (and even many assistants) from L.A.  I rose to too high up the ladder to be considered, apparently, for any job.

Well, this isn't about me, it's that this article just appeared on my Facebook page and is not good:

https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2018/04/02/hawaii-home-made-famous-by-magnum-p-i-slated-to.html



I had been considering a posting since a few of you have inquired if I will having anything to do with the "new" Magnum, and my opening paragraph will answer that for you.

I am currently finishing my first season as the Prop Master for Hawaii Opera Theatre which is a return to my original theatre roots--however not in my former capacity as a lighting and set designer.  I really am enjoying the position, although it is only 5 months of work a year, unemployment compensation only lasts 6!

Still working on my historic home which turned 90 last year and I celebrated with a big birthday party for it.  Now with my "new" roof from 1986 leaking, I can understand the frustrations of the owners of the historic Anderson property.  Although mine is older and built on boulders that go into a stream, it is not the ocean with the corrosive salt air.  Many people don't realize that ocean front homes here even have to replace their electronics every few years.  In the case of a home that is built from reinforced concrete and stone using iron rebar, there is little that can be done to stop the internal crumbling (spalling).  Her beautiful wrought iron stair railing  looked like it had been eaten by acid even decades ago.

When the house first sold, the local CBS news station called me to ask some questions about filming there.  They were not aware that none of the show was ever filmed inside the house--Eve actually forbid anyone going inside other than me and my crew to place ferns and chairs on the 2nd floor lanai that faced the courtyard below.  Funny how many people still think we filmed the series' interiors there.

As far as the new Magnum show, it is the same producer / writer (showrunner) used for the new "5-0" as well as the new "McGyver."  What concerns me about the new "Magnum" is the show being tied to the 80's as much as it was to Tom Selleck.  Since neither are available, the show will be updated for the audience who they expect will watch it.  We are no longer in that age group.  As someone once told me, "Episodic TV is just filler between commercials."  Crass as that may be, it is true.  The show's success will be determined by viewership of the key demographic age group and that will determine what the advertising rates will be for commercials appearing during it's hour.  Our watching or not watching will not affect the show.  Higgin's is now a woman.  Magnum will not have a mustache.  The 80's are over.

Mahalo for your interest over the years,

Rick Romer

Information on Anderson Estate Sale

http://www.staradvertiser.com/businesspremium/businessnewspremium/20150319_PI_mansion_sells_for_8_7M.html?id=296839241

Sorry if this isn't showing as a hyper link but just copy and paste it into your browser.  This was in the morning Honolulu paper.

Interesting to note they did not pay cash but got a mortgage for more than the cost of the house.  Wonder what would have happened if one of us had tried that?  Maybe being BFF with the president helped?

Will post any updates….

Aloha,

Rick

P.S.  I did just have a local TV station contact me and wanted pictures of the estate interior.  They were shocked to learn that we only shot the EXTERIOR of the house and that all interior filming was done inside a soundstage.  But YOU already knew that!   You also know that the soundstage sets were more based on the Marks Estate (also in escrow) and later used as the King Kamehameha Club because the pilot was shot in that house, not the Anderson Estate.

Two Estates Are in Escrow

Can't believe it's been almost 1-1/2 years since I've posted on this blog.  Well, considering it's been 30+ years since I was working on the show, I guess it's not surprising.

I ran into a realtor friend yesterday who told me that both the "Marks Estate" (pilot for Magnum and frequent film location including the King Kamehameha Club) as well as the Eve Glover Anderson Estate have been sold and are both in escrow.  I don't know who bought them or what the final selling price was or what the new owners are planning to do with them.  If any of you find out, please feel free to add a comment here.  If I hear of anything, I will post it.

As for me, I just finished a Chinese movie on Friday as the Production Designer called "Pali Road" (previously called "Life Unknown").

FYI, Tom Selleck is now 70 and John Hillerman is 83.  I'm still 36.

Aloha

Island Hoppers Lives Again as Paradise Helicopters!

I'm working on a film out at the Turtle Bay Hotel on the spectacular north shore of Oahu.  We are building some set pieces before filming begins next week.  I was very surprised to see the Magnum, P.I. helicopter taking off right next to where we are working.  I knew that a company here was flying the same helicopter (but not THE identical one) we had used on the show with the same graphics.  I walked over to see if they would allow me to take a photo to post here.  I met the pilot, Josh, and Sarah and mentioned to them I had worked on the show and they kindly allowed me to take these photos:

The helicopter had just been used for some aerial photography and still had the camera mount.  We are working right on the other side of those trees.

Both Roger Mosley and Larry Manetti have visited and signed the helicopter in 2 places.

They have also signed the console at the bottom as well.

It was great to see this copter again after so many years.  It's in much better condition than I remembered ours being.

So if any of you get a chance to visit our beautiful State sometime, contact www.paradisecopters.com and go for a ride.  Too bad they can't fly to the estate and land, but maybe someday.  Josh said he'd take me up sometime so maybe I'll have something more to post!

Answer to map of Robin's Nest Question

Yearly Update! Greetings from 2013.....

Aloha All!  I had never intended this to be a once a year posting.  I even had trouble remembering my password to answer all of those (well, not that many) who have emailed in the past year.  So, if you don't mind not much news about Magnum, P.I., here's what's going on:

I'm afraid my "new career" as a Creative Director for a special events company only lasted 10 months.  The job wasn't particularly creative, nor was there a need for the kind of creativity I could provide.  So other than creating an 18' long smoke breathing dragon we put into the middle of a swimming pool at a hotel for a food and wine festival, I spent most of my time doing Xcel documents in a cubicle!  I now have a much greater respect for my sister who managed to do 38 years in a cubicle for the phone company.  I'm not a cubicle kind of guy!

Earlier this year, I spent about 10 days as the Production Designer for the opening credits and trailer for the new "Dog and Beth Bounty Hunter" show.  It's actually not being filmed here and I don't know if they used any of the footage we shot since I haven't seen the show now on the CMT network.  I thought I was going to be working on "Godzilla" which just wrapped.  The day and location for my interview were set, but the call with the time never came.  They did bring over a huge number of crew people from the mainland and Canada which was mildly insulting.  It's ok, a movie about Godzilla attacking Waikiki will not be on my viewing list anyway.

What will be on my viewing list is my next job--one of the potential best of my career. Funny how one job doesn't even want to meet and a much bigger one, with an Art Director position working for an Academy Award winning Production Designer and very famous director on a true story with an incredible script does work out.  Unfortunately the 3 page non-disclosure agreement I signed prevents me from discussing it here!  But I think I can say that I am very excited and look forward to my 6 week involvement.

I can tell you, however, I have written up a Production Design course outline I will be teaching at Pacific New Media through the University of Hawaii extension division this fall.  There will be 6 weekly 2 hour sessions for anyone who wants to sign up.  It will be a chance to educate a group of people what actually does happen in the art department and hopefully give some insight to visual aesthetics when creating a film or video production.  If nothing else they will learn how to fake it and find it!  I am hoping that this will eventually lead to the possibility of teaching more within my field.

The only Magnum News to report is that a local helicopter company did bring Roger Mosley over here to land in their Island Helicopter looking helicopter that is now doing tours here on Oahu.  The actual helicopter crashed years ago, but I believe this is the same model and is painted to look like the original.

Other news is that the facility that the new "Hawaii Five-0" had been using in an old newspaper warehouse complex near downtown is being torn down for one of 22 new 40 story high-rises being built in Honolulu.  Apparently being recognized as already having the worse traffic in the USA, we need to be even more crowded in our city core so that our new $5 billion monorail might actually get used. (yes, I have my own opinions!) Now that Disney has given up their lease (originating with "LOST") on the State Film Studio at Diamond Head (where the original "Magnum, P.I." was filmed), 5-0 has moved in there.  Shows today are so much more complex than they were 30 years ago so they are also renting additional warehouse space.

I will try and post more than once a year!  Thanks to those of you who do keep in touch.

Rick

Career Change

I've been thinking about how to write this for the past few months.  On the one hand starting a new career for anyone has its challenges especially after 30 years of what I've been doing.  The reality is that the TV and film business has changed.  Let's just say they aren't changes that agree with me so changing professions is actually not that traumatic.  Well, spending days on end on the computer with Xcel and Pages can be traumatic at times!  In any case, I am now the Creative Director for a large special events company here.  They don't really have to advertise and we do mostly high end corporate and incentive events, weddings, --well, special, special events!  My creative abilities haven't been used as much as I'd like to see, but it will come and learning the business end first will ultimately benefit me more.

For anyone that doesn't think this was meant to be, about a year ago someone to told me to write down what my ideal job would be.  List everything I really wanted to be doing and the money I wanted to be making.  Early this year a job under "Business and Management" on craigslist appeared--which I never would have seen since I wouldn't have thought to ever look in that category for work.  Anyway,  a friend forwarded this position and what they were looking for almost matched my ideal job list line by line.  Even more bizarre was the date of my first big event was also the same day that the last episode of "The River" on ABC appeared AND the very last thing I worked on in January, one episode of "The Biggest Loser" on NBC.  Now I wouldn't have minded the last thing I worked on not being called The Biggest Loser, but the fact that both appeared on the same day as my first big event was pretty obvious to me that it was meant to be.  So out with the old and in with the new as they say.

As all the jobs I've had my entire adult life have required, I still get off the H-1 Freeway on the Kokohead Avenue Exit each day.  Instead of Diamond Head Theatre or the State Film Studio, it's now my current job.  The film studio is across the street from the Bark Park where I sometimes take my dog.  They are starting up a new series called "Last Resort" where I was doing "The River" this time last year and "Magnum, P.I." 29 years ago.  You would think I would feel something--but, like the lyrics in that song in "Chorus Line"...."I felt nothing."  Even less so when you hear that the"Last Resort" is not about a tourist hotel, but a stolen nuclear submarine that declares itself the world's smallest nuclear nation, or power, or something.......whatever.   Break a periscope!

So that's my news.  My only regret is that I hadn't thought to do this years ago but it's a lot like that thing about the frog being in the pot of water with the stove on.  It's taken finding a new creative profession to make me realize what I've been missing.  I now call on all sorts of dormant experience and talent within the entertainment industry, photography, writing descriptive narratives, lighting, well, you get the picture.

For those of you "of a certain age" who aren't happy with what you are doing--put it out there and see what happens!

Aloha,

Rick

"The River" Premiers and What Else Is Going On.....

I had watched the pilot a couple of times before last night's premier on ABC-TV. The Puerto Rico filmed pilot was actually only the first hour of the 2 hours with a few reshoots done here. The 2nd hour was the first Hawaii filmed episode attached to it. Some of the sets in the first hour were shipped to Honolulu and some were actually on the real boat they shot. The second hour from Hawaii matched pretty well even though the boat was now a large, floating piece of styrofoam and we did the best we could to match the set dressing rented for the pilot in Puerto Rico even though we had to go by screen grabs and figure out what some of it even was. A little confusing even to us! In general, though, most people were too scared to notice what did or didn't match from the first hour to the second. Unfortunately, they did use up 1 of the only 7 episodes filmed by attaching it to the original 1 hour Puerto Rican pilot so that only leaves 6 Hawaii episodes to go.

The reviews were generally good but concerns were over losing 20% of the audience in the 2nd hour. Since they are primarily going after the desired 18 to 49 year old demographic, that isn't much of a drop. Putting the show on against the tired old, but still popular, formula crime shows gave it some heavy competition.

All those night scenes in the jungle were actual night scenes in the jungle and that poor cast and crew spent many a day on completely opposite schedules as the rest of us while working 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. We did the opposite hours getting things ready for them.

They have gone in for action first rather than exposition first. In other words, we didn't learn a lot about all of the characters in the first 2 hour pilot, but you will find out more specifics about each character in upcoming episodes. However, like "LOST" before it, for every question they answer, you will also be left with more unanswered ones to ponder.

As to my personal thoughts on the show, I think given the current interest in walking dead, zombies, and the supernatural on mostly cable channels, this is a good entry for the mainstream networks audience. I never did buy into the formula crime shows that have inbred and spun off themselves with more title letters than I can recall (N.C.I.S.U.V.D.N.A. 5-0), I think this is a new direction and something different that can develop over time. They haven't resorted to things like the smoke monster or time travel that "LOST" did and still remained on top so I hope it is a success. However, TOO successful and I'd probably be replaced by someone "more important" so I'll just take regular success for now!

I did a week on the reality show "Biggest Loser" that was here filming a Hawaii segment. VERY different style of working with a reality show. Whereas I am used to doing things "right" and "perfect," or "real," the reality show is more about "it is what it is." Kind of frustrating, but that's part of their look and way of filming. Didn't get the new "Last Resort" pilot here. It's not about a Hawaiian resort but a rogue nuclear submarine crew that doesn't fire the missile as ordered. Normally pilots don't like to build big sets without knowing their future as a series, but this one is going to have to build one and that set dressing isn't going to be found at the local Radio Shack or used nuclear submarine parts store near you. They are also using the director of "Casino Royale" to direct this pilot. That means 007 meets TV pilot budget and schedule 2,500 miles from Hollywood. I'm seeing that double O more like "oh, oh" but then again thats also a zero in my income so I'll just wish them well and move on.

Up The River -- With A Paddle This Time

Happy Summer (or winter where some are) Magnum Fans! After 6 months to the day of no work, I started last week on a fantastic new TV production called "The River." The what?? Well, 7 years ago people were saying what's "LOST??" It's a new series (mid-season January 2012) from Dreamworks (aka Steven Spielberg) and Disney. They have kept the lease on the Hawaii State Film Studio for another year after "LOST" and the recently cancelled "Off the Map." I have joked that on our show they are both lost and off the map as part of the plot so we are sure to be a hit! I believe there is a trailer on youtube that gives a little background to the story. I will say this, there is nothing like it on TV today and if you're tired of shows that have lots of abbreviations in the title (S.U.V., N.C.I.S., C.S.I. or even 5-0) this will be a real change. I've seen the pilot twice at the studio and I can pay it the highest compliment, I would actually watch this show!

The next great thing I can say is that the people I am working for are fantastic! Talented, creative, respectful, willing to listen and work things out and SMART enough to hire all of us who were fired off of "5-0" after 12 episodes. As a postscript to that, none of the people who replaced us are back for season 2......but enough on that dirty laundry.

So what does this have to do with Magnum? Well, the soundstage where all 8 seasons of Magnum were filmed is now the home to the set dressing warehouse! It's funny opening that same old metal door that still sticks and walking into that building each day. Unfortunately the building is no longer air conditioned and even with fans blowing, it's over 100 degrees in there by noon. The building is still divided by a wall that separates the back 1/3 for State owned set dressing from our front 2/3. but it is also one of the best collections of set dressing we've ever had--of course it's all technically owned by Disney. Other than a little of the falling insulation from the ceiling, there is really nothing left from Magnum days of interest. It's funny, though, because I can still remember seeing fog on the little window in that sticking metal door we all came through dozens of time a day because it was always so cold on that soundstage. They had to turn off the air conditioning whenever they yelled "rolling" because it was so noisy. So they kept it extra cold so when it was off the actors wouldn't cook in front of the lights.
Thanks again for all your kind thoughts, wishes, prayers, and encouragement! It was 28 years ago this month I got the call to work on Magnum full time and being back at the studio where it all began for me and looking forward to working with great people is a great feeling!

Photo Update on flickr

I've gone ahead and loaded a lot of new photos (unfortunately none of them new from "Magnum") primarily of sets I did for "Hawaii 5-0" http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer/

I think I might actually have too many photos, but it's always hard to decide what anyone might be looking for in my work and ultimately it's about diversity and range and that covers quite a large area. I spent 12 hours and watched several movies while doing it and I see now it's 2:00 a.m. so I guess it's time to quite.

Aloha, Rick

OMG - A Big Blog Blast!!

Thanks again for your continued comments about me and the show. I do have some news and pictures to share.

One of our loyal fans who built his own model of the Bridge on the River Kwai sent me these screen grabs from the episode where Tom blows up Higgins' model. As you may recall from an earlier post, I built 3 versions of this model for the show when I was still working up the hill at what's now Diamond Head Theatre as their last resident designer. There was the just started model, the halfway there bridge, and finally the completed one. I was there just off camera when they filmed the scene with Higgins building it. He'd go to place a piece and then they would yell "CUT" and I would take it off, wipe off the glue and get another piece ready. Sure glad I spent 7 years in college for that one!

I wasn't there when they filmed the scene with Tom blowing it up. Well, actually Jack Faggard, the special effects coordinator, did the actual explosion. These screen grabs are great since it really shows the pieces being blown up in the air. What I don't actually know for sure (and yet can still sleep at night) is who built the model they really did blow up? My guess is they completed more of the half done model and blew that one up. The reason I think that is that when I did start working on the show full time in season 3, my Higgins' model was already established on one of his bookcase shelves. Also don't know when the decision was made to place my completed model on the set as permanent dressing.

Well, I hope the gentleman who bought my invoice for the bridge sees these photos. When I was selling off anything I had left from the show on ebay, one person purchased my copies of the invoices I'd sent to the show for building the bridge and a couple of other things and framed them all together. Don't forget you can click on any of the pictures to make them larger. I blew them up a bit and corrected the colors.

Next bit of news for those of you with $10-15 million or so that you don't know what to do with. The estate where the pilot of "Magnum" was filmed (not to be confused with the Anderson Estate where the series exteriors were sometimes filmed) is being sold again. The estate had been owned by the State of Hawaii for decades, then a division of the Teamsters Union (another interesting story best told over a mai-tai) and finally a private owner is now for sale. The man who bought the estate in a very sad condition and spent many millions restoring what was one of the grandest estates ever built in Hawaii (for Clarence Cooke in the 30's) is having to sell it. I did get to tour it last year and gave him photos of some of the sets I had done in the house over the years (sorry, all post "Magnum"). The room with the brick where they did the first Higgin's den is there along with what became the drive-up and entry for Rick's Bar (aka Kamehameha Club) all look fantastic. He also restored the pool house, pool, servants quarters, all the decorative tile on the lanais and put in a kitchen any 5-star restaurant would envy.

The line is amazingly short for those who want to purchase it so you still have time to think about it. I may have some other news soon about my lack of career since "Alvin 3" ended in January. I did join the film board at the Honolulu Academy of Arts--the main film art house in Honolulu at the Doris Duke Theatre. Hope you're all having a great summer! Aloha.

Ignore the tubley email--sorry!

I foolishly opened an email about something called tubely and it sent offers to everyone else within my Magnum email list. I am normally more vigilant, but this time I slipped. At least you didn't get the i-pad offer I supposedly sent out to all my facebook friends! Now if I could just figure out how to get the millions of dollars that keep being left to me by relatives who are constantly dying in Nigeria, I could buy all of you new ipads!

Aloha,

Rick

Happy New Year

I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted anything. It has been an interesting time, however.......

2010 turned out to be the most productive, lucrative, and ultimately frustrating year I've had. I did still manage to keep my 28 years of filing for unemployment record intact, but it was only a matter of a few weeks. The frustrating part came just before Thanksgiving when I was fired from "Hawaii 5-0." This isn't a very good forum to air dirty laundry and since in the real world most people are fired because they probably did something wrong, discussing it in detail here isn't a very good idea. For the record, however, I did an amazing job on a very difficult show that ultimately used my experience, crew, and contacts to set up the first 12 episodes. With no reason or excuse given (since there wasn't any), I was fired in a very unprofessional, undeserving sort of way in the parking lot. Soon, other departments lost their local heads and replacements from other C.S.I. shows or "24" replaced us since that had become the look and style of the show and from where all of the producers got their starts. One big happy family now reunited in Hawaii.

Like any sort of unplanned break-up, the best cure is a rebound relationship....fast! Less than a week later with barely enough time to get another fantastic Christmas tree up and 300' of fresh cedar garland hung with the Thanksgiving roasting pan still soaking in the sink, I started as the Assistant Art Director on "Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked." Not having seen Alvin 1 or 2, I had no idea that they had made over a BILLION dollars at the box office and DVD sales worldwide! Who knew? The best part was being needed again, finding a fantastic crew, working for a SUPER boss, and basically running the local art department and setting up set dressing as most of the movie was being shot in Canada and on a cruise ship in Florida. The work was all on a beautiful secluded beach, jungle, or water fall and most of the construction went into an ocean going raft. Lots of technical problems like wet coconuts in cargo nets are REAL heavy and matching Hawaii jungle plants to the ones they were putting in their tropical jungle on a Vancouver sound stage were a welcome change. Very interesting to see how they film real sets with real people and no real chipmunks, too. Well, if I'm only as good as my last set, I am very happy it was "Alvin 3" and not the one with another number in it.

I'm back to working on my house and need to also start hacking on my encroaching jungle as well. My productive year for me did not bode well for the maintenance on my house. I've met with the Disney Imagineering people working on their fantastic billion dollar resort, "Aulani," being built out at Ko Olina (west side). Hoping to get something more regular there.

"Magnum" is now airing daily here on one of he stations, ironically just before the original "5-0" comes on. If I were to do a chart graphic based on the work load and enjoyment level of the work then vs. what has happened to the business today........why bother? Moving on!

Thanks for the well wishes and a little news.....

I appreciate all your comments especially after such a long work drought. I think I've still got it! I almost hesitate to report since I don't want to jinx anything--but it looks as though I am working with the best creative team of my career! It's not just that we all get along and are on the same page, but the people in the art department are fantastic, creative, and listen! Not to say that it's been easy by any account, but at least our challenges are being met with professionalism and creativity and not.....well, like some of the not so pleasant working relationships I've had in the past!

Being reunited with my crew again and having the most experienced shopper/buyer to follow through on the paperwork and track down the best prices is a huge help to me. If it wasn't so frustrating it would be funny, but the set dressing warehouse we fought so hard to get is already full and we haven't even started filming yet! I think once we have time to organize and get some racks we will be all right for awhile. I had no idea we had so much stuff from the pilot. We'll make it work somehow. Is it too soon to say "I told you we needed a larger space?!!"

One challenge at the moment is not having a script. We have outlines for 4 episodes, but nothing specific and they still expect to start filming on the 15th. The entire creative team will be arriving shortly so I'm sure we will have more info soon. I was able to see the entire pilot episode on DVD--there's nothing like it on TV AND it's in Hawaii! Knowing that it's been 42 years since the original premiered, I think they've done an excellent job of updating the show while still keeping the original flavor of what made the show so popular in the first place. Many local people are already wondering if they will still be driving by Diamond Head. turn right and suddenly be on the North Shore or maybe Waimanalo Beach like the original did. Can't say, but they are committed to showing Hawaii so you can expect lots of scenery no matter where their "creative geography" says it is.

As already reported in the media, we are going to be filming in one of the 2 warehouses left behind when the 154 year old Honolulu Advertiser shut down last month and doing construction and painting in the other building next door. Originally they wanted me to share space with construction, but the former "LOST" construction coordinator helped convince management that he needed all of the space and set dressing needed their own. When over 400 workers left their offices behind (either losing their jobs or now working our only daily paper the new Star-Advertiser) they left a treasure trove of 50+ years of desks, file cabinets, shelves, lockers etc. behind. We not only furnished our production offices but I was allowed to purchase enough office furniture to do every police, bad guy, or retro office set they can come up with. With the economy still not recovered here, old office furniture is difficult to find and even more difficult to sell so it was a perfect winning combination. They will be auctioning off the rest--still a considerable amount! Speaking of offices, our production office space could hardly be more perfect for the company than if it had been designed for us. Ok, first floor would have been better, but that's about it. Some of my main retail sources are in the same building.

Well, better get that first paycheck in the bank and get to work. I've been printing out photos for work so I'm not goofing off too much. Really.

Aloha, Rick

P.S. I really like the idea about having Tom Selleck do something on this show. Maybe during the rating sweeps they will? Of course there's that other former Hawaii resident, President Obama, who wouldn't hurt the ratings either! Couldn't hurt his ratings either :-)

Five-0 Books Me!

I suppose most people think it was a done deal, that I would get the job, but in this business there are no done deals anymore--at least not until they ARE done. I was interviewed by the new production designer and producer on the 3rd and offered the job on the 4th. I start work next week but as of now the "where" isn't known. They are currently working out of the same hotel as "Pirates" which is convenient for those who are staying in the hotel but not for much else. "Off the Map" has the lease on the film studio even though their show is more about remote jungles and not Hawaii--but ABC had the facility first with "LOST." so it looks like Season 1 will be housed in warehouses or empty buildings somewhere. Given the talent and resources behind this show, I'm sure wherever they wind up we'll make it work. The original 5-0 started without a facility as well.

Thinking about it, this would seem to be the biggest revival of a show in television history. Other shows have been revived certainly, but none that ran 12 seasons. I like to remind people that the original show premiered 42 years ago and ended 30 years ago so not to expect guys in coats and ties, big hair that doesn't move, or shoot-outs in Iolani Palace! I guess that means no disco shirts, no million dollar ransoms, or even an atomic bomb in a refrigerator being delivered to Aloha Tower. You will, however, learn more about Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams in the pilot than you learned in the 12 years of the original 5-0 and some of the best dialogue I've ever read in a television script. Of course the sets will be so wonderful, you may not notice what the actors are saying! (guess I'd better say lol in case anyone else reads this)

Aloha, Rick

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

Thanks for all your emails and comments!

The production office for the "Hawaii Five-O" pilot shuts down today here and the wait to hear something from CBS begins. Pilots are sort of like a difficult birth with too many doctors in the delivery room. Everyone wants a successful birth, but between trying to use forceps, a knife or just plain PUSH, it's a pretty stressful operation. In fact, the labor pains lasted 3 weeks for a 50 minute pilot! Usually with pilots, the production team put together to do it seldom follows it to series. In fact, there are those who just specialize in doing pilots and often normally do features so the pilot is quite different than doing regular episodic work. They used to do 90 minute pilots that could be shown as a movie of the week (MOW). That way the studio or network could recoup some of their expenses whether the pilot was successful or not. I can't imagine anyone not liking what we did--unless they are expecting a repeat of the 1970's which this version is definitely not.

Haven't heard anything about a Magnum revival of any sort. I didn't know (but not surprised) about a 5-0 website but I made mention there. www.hawaii-five-0-fans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=205&t=2022

Thanks for all the good wishes and I'll keep you posted.

Aloha, Rick

Even Happier New Year!

Ok, my thanks to whoever is doing all that praying or whatever on my behalf because it's been working! After being ignored for the decorator job on a surf film about Bethany Hamilton and then turning down a 2 week job as their shopper buyer, I was asked to be the art director for a national Capital One ("What's in your wallet?") commercial with those wild and crazy visigoths. You'll probably be seeing the commercial in a few weeks. I worked 11 days, hired 9 guys, filmed 2 long days for 30 seconds of air time. We were based out of the same hotel as the surf movie and even another Capital One commercial for the Canadian market. It was a completely separate commercial and crew but for the same client. It's funny that several of them said how spoiled TV people were because commercials are so fast paced now. Then TV people think film people are spoiled because TV is so fast paced. Film people think TV people are spoiled because they don't have to worry about all the details of "The Big Screen." My take is to just shut up and do my job.

Right now besides "LOST" there is a George Clooney film, an Adam Sandler film, the surf film, and early rumblings from "Pirates of the Caribbean" filming here this summer and my phone wasn't ringing at all. Then 10 days ago I got a call to interview as Set Decorator for a new pilot for CBS's "Hawaii Five-0" Wow, that will teach me not to believe rumors. Lest you think I was a shoe-in because of my experience here, wrong. It wasn't until I was able to show my work online at www.flickr.com/photos/rick_romer/ that I was seriously considered. Then it took some discussion and another meeting before I was offered the job.

This is just the pilot. It has not been pre-sold or picked up yet--or so we are told. However, the script is absolutely amazing and riveting. Remember, I did another 5-0 pilot in '96 or '97 that never even aired (although it probably did help Gary Busey's career on Celebrity Rehab) so I am cautiously optimistic on this one. Daniel Dae Kim is going right from "LOST" into 5-0 as the character Chin Ho Kelley. Well, if they can revive "Hawaii Five-0" can a revival of "Magnum, P.I." be too far behind? There was only a year between the series after all.

I wasn't going to, but I got talked into seeing "avatar" in 3-D imax. I don't often say OMG, but OMG! I was ducking under those palm fronds in front of me during every chase scene. Nothing stayed inside the screen, it was right in front of me. I decided that it wasn't a film at all. It was an event. I came out of the theatre covered in popcorn and wanting to keep my yellow 3-d glasses on for the rest of my life. Go Blue People!

Well, Aloha from the only state that didn't have snowfall this weekend. I do assume there is snow on top of Mauna Kea, though. You have to drive up 14,000 feet to see it instead of outside in your driveway.

Aloha, Rick

Happy New Decade, Gadgets, Job Hunting

Welcome to another decade of the Magnum Blog--well, that's Hollywood for less than 1 - 1/2 years, but it IS another decade. Come to think of it, this posting will probably bump the last actual set photo and that wasn't really even from "Magnum" so this is hardly a Magnum blog anymore. I guess if you know to go back to earlier posts you won't be disappointed--I still think there has to be a stash of photos I haven't found. That's what happens when you don't move for 25 years and have "stuff." Maybe that's why my 2 favorite shows are "Hoarding" and "Hoarders" which, of course, I'm not! It is interesting to hear the excuses the people use, however, since I have a tendency to keep objects that have memories attached when the reality is the memory is independent of the object. I haven't actually put that newly arrived at observation to the test in getting rid of anything yet--but it's still early in the decade.........

The COSTCO Santa brought me the new Nikon digital camera I should have asked for years ago when I had more sets to take photos of. Speaking of photos, my flickr page has gone from over 400 views a day to less than 200 views now that the Macy's Christmas tree photos aren't as popular. The 2nd most downloaded photos are from the marijuana greenhouse set we did for "LOST." I don't know if they find it by looking under "marijuana" or under "LOST." It was a pretty accurate depiction, though. (or so I was told)

One of the many anonymous followers asked a question about gadgets in the previous post. I am assuming the reference is to one used on "LOST" since we didn't have GPS back in Magnum days--we had giant surveillance vans and my Amiga computer and once in awhile the data storage room of the JAIMS Center in Hawaii Kai. That was about the extent of the electronic gadgetry which would mostly have been props and not set dressing anyway. In case you haven't heard, "LOST" is going to auction off all the stuff from the show instead of filling up the landfill here where most of the stuff would go if it hadn't been associated with "LOST". Imagine what a broken pair of glasses held together with rubber bands will go for just because they were worn by Sawyer in the series? As with most personal props, there will be several back-ups so they will be sure to make even more money with that show. I would not be surprised if it eventually comes out that it was the most financially successful show (worldwide) in the history of television and that is before the next 20 years of re-runs. I haven't seen it since my "Welcome back, Happy New Year, We love you, You're fired!" talk 3 years ago this week. I wonder if they will finally be battling aliens from outer space in their final season--the only area apparently left untouched after smoke monsters, time travel, and island moving. Meow.

Since 2009 brought me 3 weeks as a backstage dresser on "Mama Mia" and 2 weeks supervising 93 Macy's merchandising Christmas trees, my new (almost) full time job is to find a job to start out this decade. While 2010 is also the 26th consecutive year I have been on unemployment at least part of the time, I would actually like to have a job where I can complain about only having 2 weeks of vacation instead of 20 weeks (or more) of unemployment each year. I am now a "Designer," "Consultant," or "Project Manager" although I'm still pretty good with a bottle of Windex. I'm afraid the "Set Decorator" title got left behind with "Flirting with 40" in May of 2008. Time to move on. And time to go feed the animals......

Aloha,

Rick

P.S. President Obama didn't stop by to view his boyhood mentor's home, but I still had a great Christmas!

Updates, "LOST" Interview, Mele Kalikimaka Time....

Holiday Greetings 72 Followers and "others"!

I went to our film and video association Christmas party last Saturday night and ran into a lot of people. Since there has been almost no work this year for anyone, "What are you doing" seemed to be the common greeting. I ran into the man who had interviewed me for "LOST" and he has posted it on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF-h_t_Or-o (or just put Rick Romer in the search window) I laughed when I saw it again because I couldn't believe some of the things I said. It took the producer 6 months to get permission from "LOST" and he had to submit the questions ahead of time. At least I didn't have to submit my answers ahead of time. Oh well, my 12.5 minutes of fame will live on in cyberspace. I got a lot of strange looks from people at the party while having a glass of wine with the co-executive producer on "LOST," Jean Higgins. It's been 3 years since they dumped me and living on a 40 x 60 mile island does make carrying grudges difficult. The reality is that she is still the most knowledgeable film person I've ever met and I will probably get more Christmas cards that she does. Ultimately, I doubt I will ever know the reason behind my dismissal.

Yahoo!'s flickr gives me daily accounts of each picture viewed and a 28 day viewing graph for the totals. There were over 12,000 views the first month and I average about 400 a day! The views seem to be more seasonal than career related, however. My thanksgiving table has now been surpassed by Macy's Christmas trees as the most popular views of my 30 year career! I recently helped a woman by putting in the lights for all of the Hilton Hawaiian Village trees and managed to cram 4,300 lights in their main tree alone. Against my advice, the hotel workers plugged it into the overhead chandelier which promptly blew out. The chandelier is so big that a worker climbed inside it to drop the cable down to the tree from a new circuit they ran. Unfortunately he used 14 gauge Romex wire instead of 12 and the load kept tripping the plugging strip because it was carrying too high a load. It was nice not to have to be in charge on that job and just put in the lights. Now I'm doing my own Christmas stuff--which I swear I just put away.

The Hawaii Film Office didn't quite shut down. They did fire the director and all of the staff except for one--not unlike chopping off all your fingers except for one. The former Maui film commissioner (each island/county also has a commissioner) is the head of the division that is above the State Film Office so she has been asked to fill in. I tried calling her yesterday and her cell phone message bank was full and she hasn't answered my email all week so I think she may really be swamped. Not a surprise. (UPDATE: She did call, did come over for my Christmas party, and yes, she IS swamped--but they are handling all film permit requests!)

Lately I've heard more rumors of the "5-0" film than the "Magnum" one. I wouldn't put any money on either one right now. George Clooney is going to do a feature here starting next month. The decorator will, of course, being in his/her entire crew and even the job of shopper/buyer will be going to someone else here locally. The politics involved in giving out the local job calls take precedent over actual experience, ability, or the full page ad I have in the Media Index Guide. Their loss--my unemployment extension (again) kicks in next week.

Maybe a little unrealistic of me, but I invited President Obama to visit his boyhood mentor's home (just happens to be the one I live in) when he spends Christmas here later this month. I doubt that it will happen since the mentor is a pretty controversial figure. I know he lived in my house because of the address in his FBI files! Still, if he and Michelle want to pop over one night with 10-12 secret service guys, I could whip up some egg nog or something.

Well, nothing really "Magnum" related to report--in fact, nothing even Set Decorator related to report either! Maybe I should just change the title of this blog so I can ramble more about my exciting life??!!

In case nothing more exciting does happen in the next 2 weeks to report, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season! On the other hand, if I have a picture of me and the President standing in front of my fireplace to post, I will!

Mele Kalikimaka and Hauole Makahiki Hou,

Rick Romer