Dead Weather @ The Regent

I think this is the coolest design project I've done to this day. Two pop-up stores, art gallery and music venue open three days only. Jack White's new band, The Dead Weather was promoting their new album and more importantly, his record label, Third Man Records. They're a cool group of people. None of their business cards have real titles on them. Ben, who it appears runs the label has the title "Ghost Rider" on his card.



There was a very top secret operation happening in the door on the right, "The Bizarro Store". Inside would be collector's items of everything exactly opposite: cd's with backwards art, t-shirts with opposite colors and logos and only 100 items of each. The doors wouldn't even be opened until after the free performance and there, Jack would do a live performance inside.


The people started lining up about 3 days before the free show. Third Man doesn't think anyone should sleep on the streets of downtown LA and Ben made sure he got the names of the first people in line and promised them front row seats if they came back the day of.


The gallery had all of the tour posters from Third Man Records for sale. One thing I learned was that the artist that does all of the album covers and tour posters and Jack White have never actually met or even spoken on the phone. They say that Jack thinks whatever they have going on is perfect and he doesn't want to throw it off at all.



I actually have two ex-boyfriends to thank for this project. One of them (in a way) got me the job, he had a show on Little Radio , who recommended me to Warner Records.

The other pretty much saved me on this job: I only had a scenic artist in the budget for one day to paint the exterior sign. They didn't have the budget for a scencil and the amazing and talented grafitti artist Seth did the entire hand painted sign FREE HANDED and on scaffolding, which is really difficult. Well, Warner Records wanted to change the "S" and I had no idea how I could fix this. Such a nice boyfriend... got on a 30' ladder IN THE DARK and did such a good job on it, they wanted the rest of the letters done. And this took hours. (That's him below, on the ladder)


The highlight for me is wasn't necesarilly when I met Jack White. But it's when he and the rest of the band came to check out how the design was coming along. We had a piano set up in one of the stores and he sat right down and just started playing for us. Just the three of us in the room.




The payoff was the show. It was so packed, but I had discovered if you go through the "DO NOT ENTER" sign in the back, it was the best balcony seats in the house. They were awesome and even better that night at the Mayan Theater.

(Thank you Timothy Norris, LA Weekly for the awesome photos)



After 3 days of being open, we took everything down and besides the posters in the top windows, there's no proof it was even there. People were so mad at us for painting it brown. Believe me, that wasn't my choice.

The Playboy Years

Hey, we all have to start somewhere. Like anyone in that field, we all start off saying to ourselves "It's a means to an end". Some designers started off with lower positions like Art PA's on feature films. I had the privilege of production designing these low budget Playboy promos. Most of them were rated PG. MOST of them.




SO... the budgets were low... And they'd kick me down an additional fee to appear on camera. Most of them were PG. Most of them. Nothing crazy! Just the occasional bikini or elf outfit... and I was a flight attendant once.





Things went downhill. I turned around one day working on the show "Hot Babes Doing Stuff Naked" and realized it went from promos to tv shows to centerfold videos. And that was the end of my Playboy run. Those videos almost took the life out of me.

I got a call to set decorate the "biggest budgeted porn" even to this day called "Pirates" and I turned it down. We have to draw the line somewhere.





But I have to admit I'm grateful for all of the cool sets I was able to create. And also, I really know every aspect of my department because that show required me to handle all of it.



Also on the subject, it was the greatest group of people I think I've ever worked with. They will always have a special place in my heart. Pictured below is a shot of our key PA, Cremer (pronounced Kramer). It was the promo/ opening video for the AVN Awards and two of the "best new starlet"s had a very simple musical performance and they just didn't seem to get it. So to save us hours and many takes of them getting it wrong, Cremer worked with them on the side to teach them how.



Thank you, Playboy TV for all of the humbling moments, laughs and amazing friends I've made in the process.

Murs for President

Pictured above, Watts Towers, 7am




MTV: "Hey Amanda, are you available? It's just for an easy one day shoot"

Amanda: "Absolutely! What does the shoot entail?"

MTV: "Eh... it's really easy, actually. Should be a fun day."

Well it turns out, they hired me for 3 days (prep, shoot and wrap) for a SEGWAY. Seriously, all I had to do was arrange rental and delivery for the segway, "decorate" the segway and one small detail I didn't find out until the day of... RIDE the segway. Oh yes, and also teach Murs how to ride one as well.

MTV: "Well, who else is going to hold onto the segway when the talent isn't on it?"

This could have ended horribly. But after a five minute crash course from the segway guys, I nervously rolled off to set. And a funny thing to mention about set, it was in COMPTON. We started at Watts Towers, off to Compton and wrapped at Fat Beats with a live performance.

Murs is an awesome guy. And he actually moves quite well on a segway. We kind of fought over it at certain points.

I just imagine seeing some little white girl zipping around a patriotic segway in Compton. Priceless.

The Paris Rider... and Throne

Can I get in trouble for posting this?

Also, pictured above is THE Paris Hilton throne. There's a story behind this. We were doing the second season of Paris Hilton's My New BFF (whoever watched the first one enough to prompt a SECOND season is beyond me). When she eliminates contestants each week, she sits on a throne.

This frickin chair... We bought it from a little antique store and the owner was an Orthodox Jew. Why do I know this? Because he was going to reupholster it but it needed to be done before Friday. So, finding pink fabric is actually very difficult. There really isn't a lot to choose from out there. Well, even though the budget didn't permit, my last resort was going to Silk Trading Co. They had recently done her mother's drapery. Of course they had the perfect pink silk... and ridiculously expensive.

The fabric wasn't approved until Wednesday night which meant we had to purchase it FIRST thing Thursday morning, run it over to the Jew, pick it up Friday morning and hire someone to drive it straight to set in Las Vegas where it will be shot on Saturday. And this is the day I discover my shopper has gone off her medication. She was supposed to be at STC at 9am sharp and for some reason, I couldn't get a hold of her. It's 10:30 and I finally have our art PA who was clear across town pick it up. And now I'm really worried about the shopper, it's 11am and this just isn't like her. I had my leadman run by her apartment just to see if she was... alive. She was. But my God, that chair nearly killed me.



Suite needs:
Lightbulbs
Pink candles
Couch
Blankets
Pillows
Robe and slippers
Towels
Silverwear
Plates/bowls/cups
Toilet paper/Papertowls/napkins
Soap
Straws
Clorox wipes
Area rug
Baskets (to hold snacks)

Food:
Menus
Rice krispie treat
Pepperage farm ginger bread men cookies
Figi water
Coke cans
Redbull regular/sugarfree
Veggie/fruit plates
Cheese and crackers
Natures valley honey oat bars
Quaker chewy granola bars
Kettle chips yogurt and onion
Terra chips
Red vines
Gummy bears
Gum
Altoids
Grapes green-purple
Sliced apples
1 pound Honey maple turkey
Mustard mayo
White bread

Borat 1 Hour Special on Comedy Central

I was warned well in advance that Sacha Baren Cohen is extremely difficult on the art department. I saw the distant vietnam gaze in the eye of the art director from the movie. He's just very particular and wants to make sure everything is done right. We were creating the news station in Kazakhstan that Borat supposedly broadcasts from.

The production designer was on a vacation in Canyon Ranch and wasn't even accessible by phone. He would return the night before we were shooting so I handled every aspect of the design and made it appear is if he were there the entire week of prep.

Tacky is a difficult thing to do. I do "pretty" very well and I'm sure many people do, but there is an art form to making something look genuinely tacky. I didn't even know where to begin. So I chose my two least favorite colors: teal and peach. And then it just flowed out of me. Notice the map (all writing was in Kazakh) with Kazakhstan enlarged... and the clocks on the walls in different countries, but none of the times were consistent. All of the beta tape labels were hand-written.

Sacha didn't want to come and see the set as it was progressing. So it better be right because there wouldn't be any time to change anything. There actually was a lot more to it, but all he wanted to do was take a few pieces away. And then he brought the poor art director of the movie in to show him the shade of green that we used. He made him repaint the set next door a third time to match ours because he loved it so much. He did throw me a curve ball and said "where are the Kazakh cigarettes? They're supposed to be here!". I was panicked, was I supposed to have those? There really wouldn't be enough time to have those made. And then, he laughed and pulled them out of his pocket - totally messing with me.

Working with a live cow was exciting (I love cows) until it peed about 40 gallons on the set and that carpet was just soaked. Larry Charles was the director and it was awesome to be with him when his show "Entourage" won an Emmy that night while we were shooting. And of course, working with Sacha was fascinating. I had a conversation with him with a British accent and once he got into wardrobe, he remained in character and I had a full conversation with Borat. He's also very nervous while he's acting and made the entire crew (with the exception of the director and camera people) wait outside.

They loved the set design so much that they asked the production designer (who will remain nameless) to do their next film, Bruno. I'll admit that I'm a little bitter about this because he took full credit and I did the ENTIRE THING! And even more insulting, he didn't even have me set decorate that one. Grrrrr.

Nikki & Rich @ The Roxy

I got the call for a job I've been dreaming of: Warner Records wanted the Roxy Theater on Sunset converted into the Cocoanut Grove. I've been obsessed with CG since it was torn down three years ago. It's legendary. And I'm devastated I never made it inside.


Nikki & Rich are the golden child of WBR and they seem to be putting all of their eggs in this basket. So the plan is to host a VIP showcase introducing them to everyone important in the music industry. And then, do the same thing in NY next month.

After a magnificent presentation and calling everyone who knows my passion for CG, Nikki & Rich decided to change the entire design. AND to make matters worse, I think after seeing the budget (especially how much my rate was), they mentioned they might already have a person in NY. They'll let me know. Devastating.

There were a few emergencies that came up. I know they might not seem like emergencies to other people. But let me tell you, I'm talking serious 911.

1) The Roxy had promised to take care of the staff's wardrobe and the day before had said they dropped the ball. Music people really have no idea what I do. At some point, I became the "event planner" in their book. Wardrobe is the same as decorating to them (not to mention much closer to my field than theirs) and in my rallying for NY, thought assuring them I would take care of it would help. But Roxy didn't even get exact sizes to me until it was too late. I had guesses like "I think one guy's like an XXXL and three are like XL and probably a few Smalls for women and a few Medium...."

2) The centerpiece of the stage, the table cover that I had custom built by one of the best carpenters I know (head carpenter for all of the theme rooms on Extreme Makeover Home Edition)... turned out to be 6 inches too high according to sound. We still have to paint the logo on the center with a stencil... Oh, and we're at about an hour and twenty minutes before doors open. Thankfully, my leadman has a saw on his truck... and knows how to use it. But it's low on batteries and is going to take a long time with recharging in between.

3) Omega had forgotten a key element for these little lamps that I had for the tables and thankfully, they delivered them. But now, about 15 of the battery operated tea lights don't work. Also an hour and twenty minutes before doors open.

4) The logo is getting painted on and it's run all over - black letters on white background. Situation is not good because NOW, it's about 30 minutes until doors open. I'm so glad this is happening outside away from WB because I know Lisa and she would have a heart attack if she saw this. We paper towells and amazing Drew cutting the edges.

5) As everything is getting steamed, Lisa is silently freaking out that the women's shirts are too big. And then as I was looking at it, I was panicked.

The wardrobe fit everyone perfectly. I had Bed Bath and Beyond hold battery opereated tea lights at the front desk for a WB intern to pick up and rush back. Those made it in within 10 minutes of doors open. And when the table cover was brought onto the stage, Nikki & Rich were ecstatic - they screamed and cheered and wanted to keep it when we wrapped.

The crew I had was unbelievable. After the doors opened, Drew and I went next door to Rainbow for a drink and my first meal of the day. After it's all done, I'm really grateful to have had such great people on my team and realize there is NO WAY I could have done it without them.

Intro

You have no idea! People look at a set and they're probably paying attention to the actors. But they have no idea the script or location just changed the night before - or what drama and politics are behind any of the set decorating.

For example, the picture above is the living room on the show "Paris Hilton's My New BFF". I had 9 days to decorate a 10,000 s.f. mansion AND make sure Paris was happy with it. Oh, and with a micro budget and no petty cash until about 4 days before the shoot date. My shopper went off her medication and let's just say it wasn't pretty. The funniest thing was that Paris didn't think there were enough photos of her around the house (there were already about 10 huge photos including an 8'x 10' piece). So she had my set dresser pick up an entire truckload of her personal collection that she had around her house.

This life is surreal. Pretty much every day things happen that I almost don't even believe. And really, quite often, they're noteworthy. But it gets to a point when I really don't want to tell anyone because it might almost appear as bragging or most likely, it's just boring to other people. So here is my venting, thoughts or claiming my little victories... Now, it's the decorator's turn to talk!