Making 'Smith'
Source:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date:July 17, 2006
By Rob Owen
The pilot for CBS's heist series "Smith," which filmed a portion of its pilot in Pittsburgh this year, runs a hefty 60 minutes without commercials. Executive producer John Wells, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate, said the premiere episode won't be cut but will air as a 90-minute premiere with commercials or as a commercial-free, single-sponsor hour.
The show is set in Los Angeles with a band of thieves (led by Ray Liotta and including Simon Baker of "The Guardian") who travel the country staging commissioned heists. In the pilot, they steal art from Pittsburgh's fictional "Tanner Museum" (Oakland's Mellon Institute plays the exterior, while the Carnegie Museum was used for filming some of the interiors).
"We'll come back to Pittsburgh," Wells said. "I'm not sure it will be this year because we just did it, but it's a beautiful city to shoot."
Director Chris Chulack said he'd never been to Pittsburgh before "Smith," but he was impressed with the city visually and with the filming experience.
"We were moving fast and furious, setting off explosions, and I think the city treated us really well," Chulack said. "The crew we hired there was great. It didn't feel different from shooting in New York, Chicago or South Africa. For the stuff we did in the short time we were doing it, it couldn't have gone more smoothly."
Baker plays a cold-blooded killer in "Smith" who shoots two guys in the pilot when they throw him off a Hawaiian beach. Like his "Guardian" character, he doesn't say much in "Smith."
"Actions speak louder than words," Baker said, grinning.
While other cast members justified the likability of their characters at a news conference, afterward Baker said that was of less interest to him, saying he couldn't care less whether anyone likes him, because "I had fun."
Baker, who moved his family back to Australia before "Smith" and has since moved them back to Los Angeles, said returning to Pittsburgh, where "The Guardian" was set and occasionally filmed, was "weird."
"It was the same hotel, but a different time of year," Baker said. "Every time we were there for 'The Guardian,' it was summer, and this time it was freezing cold. It was just nice to see people in the lobby of the hotel, people who worked at the hotel, who I knew. I ran into familiar faces."
Baker, who just wrapped the film "Sex and Death 101" (starring Winona Ryder and written and directed by Daniel Waters of "Heathers" fame), said he doesn't miss "The Guardian."
"Three years was enough to get it out of my system," he said.
His time on "Smith" could be briefer. Wells envisions the series as one with the potential for a lot of cast turnover.
"The idea with this series is there will be a lot of actors in this show if it lasts five or six years," he said. "People get caught, people run away, people die."
From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
Date:July 17, 2006
By Rob Owen
The pilot for CBS's heist series "Smith," which filmed a portion of its pilot in Pittsburgh this year, runs a hefty 60 minutes without commercials. Executive producer John Wells, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate, said the premiere episode won't be cut but will air as a 90-minute premiere with commercials or as a commercial-free, single-sponsor hour.
The show is set in Los Angeles with a band of thieves (led by Ray Liotta and including Simon Baker of "The Guardian") who travel the country staging commissioned heists. In the pilot, they steal art from Pittsburgh's fictional "Tanner Museum" (Oakland's Mellon Institute plays the exterior, while the Carnegie Museum was used for filming some of the interiors).
"We'll come back to Pittsburgh," Wells said. "I'm not sure it will be this year because we just did it, but it's a beautiful city to shoot."
Director Chris Chulack said he'd never been to Pittsburgh before "Smith," but he was impressed with the city visually and with the filming experience.
"We were moving fast and furious, setting off explosions, and I think the city treated us really well," Chulack said. "The crew we hired there was great. It didn't feel different from shooting in New York, Chicago or South Africa. For the stuff we did in the short time we were doing it, it couldn't have gone more smoothly."
Baker plays a cold-blooded killer in "Smith" who shoots two guys in the pilot when they throw him off a Hawaiian beach. Like his "Guardian" character, he doesn't say much in "Smith."
"Actions speak louder than words," Baker said, grinning.
While other cast members justified the likability of their characters at a news conference, afterward Baker said that was of less interest to him, saying he couldn't care less whether anyone likes him, because "I had fun."
Baker, who moved his family back to Australia before "Smith" and has since moved them back to Los Angeles, said returning to Pittsburgh, where "The Guardian" was set and occasionally filmed, was "weird."
"It was the same hotel, but a different time of year," Baker said. "Every time we were there for 'The Guardian,' it was summer, and this time it was freezing cold. It was just nice to see people in the lobby of the hotel, people who worked at the hotel, who I knew. I ran into familiar faces."
Baker, who just wrapped the film "Sex and Death 101" (starring Winona Ryder and written and directed by Daniel Waters of "Heathers" fame), said he doesn't miss "The Guardian."
"Three years was enough to get it out of my system," he said.
His time on "Smith" could be briefer. Wells envisions the series as one with the potential for a lot of cast turnover.
"The idea with this series is there will be a lot of actors in this show if it lasts five or six years," he said. "People get caught, people run away, people die."
From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
posted by nikita | 7:27 PM
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