News
Soap Smarts: How Daytime Dramas Are Using Ingenuity To Get Back Into Production During COVID-19
Daytime dramas seldom get the credit they deserve, and now they should be getting further credit for being the first back into production as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage on, and trying to implement new ways to keep their trademarks love scenes, intimate moments and two-person scenes somehow looking in tact; even though it will be far from how it was done in the past.
In the story from the Associated Press The Bold and the Beautiful EP, and head writer, Brad Bell – who’s soap was the first one back into the studio – commented on how the show is utilizing mannequins, or real-life significant others to help pull off close contact love scenes and how it is rather groundbreaking. “We feel almost like television pioneers all these years later because we’re the first ones out, blazing new ways of producing the shows with the current safety standards, and we’re getting the job done. It’s very exciting.”
When B&B scripts written pre-coronavirus were reviewed in preparation for shooting during the pandemic now, originally all the cinches and smooches were cut. But Bell found a solution whereby a remote actor recites lines as their on-camera scene partner responds in a “low, intimate voice” and engages in “beautiful, yearning eye contact” with an off-camera doll.
As far as the soapy embrace or lip-lock, B&B cast member Katrina Bowden (Flo) has had her husband and musician Ben Jorgensen stand in for her on-screen love interest, Darin Brooks (Wyatt) since returning to taping new episodes.
Photo: JPI
Days of our Lives EP Ken Corday noted to AP: The “learning curve” is steep. Before the pandemic, “we were producing eight, one-hour episodes a week. That’s basically 40 or 50 scenes a day. That’s going to be basically impossible to reopen, so to speak, at that pace. We’re going to have to be more careful. So will there be five shows a week, or more? Yet to be determined. It will certainly cost more.”
B&B and now Y&R which heads back into production next week, and the others soaps, will be using the company called Reel Health, which launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to serve the entertainment industry, and hires medically trained workers to monitor sets and enforce protocols developed by a company epidemiologist and in accordance with industry and government standards,
Alicia Rodis, a veteran intimacy coordinator who helped the actors guild develop guidelines for taping scenes of romance and simulated sex. shared: “Finding ways to put romance on the screen is inevitable and necessary. At the end of the day, intimacy isn’t going anywhere. Physical intimacy is a part of the human experience. And we’re going to have to find a way to be able to continue to tell these stories, even in extraordinary circumstances.”
So, what do you think of how soaps are tackling taping episodes in the new normal to give their fans a sense of all that they love from their favorite daytime dramas during COVID-19? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
General Hospital
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News
Sean Kanan’s ‘Studio City’ Scores 13 Indie Series Award Nominations
Nominations were revealed on Wednesday for the upcoming 13th annual Indie Series Awards. Sean Kanan’s streaming series, Studio City received 13 nominations in various categories.
Studio City’s nominations are fo: Best Drama Series, Sean Kanan, Michel Kanan, and Timothy Woodward, Jr., producers; Best Director in a Drama Series, Timothy Woodward, Jr.; Best Writing in a Drama Series, Michele Kanan, Sean Kanan and Timothy Woodward, Jr., writers; Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Sean Kanan; Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Carolyn Hennesy; Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Tristan Rogers and Justin Torkildsen; Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Natalie Burn and Juliet Vega; Guest Performer in a Drama Series, Lilly Melgar; Best Ensemble in a Drama Series, Outstanding Cinematography in a Drama Series, Pablo Diaz, and Outstanding Editing in a Drama Series, Fady Jeanbart.
Courtesy/Studio City
In a statement on Studio City’s 13 nods, Sean Kanan shared: “I am overwhelmed and thankful that our show, which I refer to as the little-engine that could series, has received such support from the Indie Series Awards. Our second season was a collaborative effort of creativity, love of our content, and hard work. We look forward to creating more entertaining series in the future.”
Studio City tells the dramatic and comedic story of Sam Stevens (played by Kanan), a long-time soap opera actor starring in the number two most-watched daytime drama, “Hearts on Fire” as he struggles to keep his top spot on the show, break out of soaps into feature films, and deal with his own complicated life which includes a few dark secrets concerning his past, including an aging step-father, the twisted truth of his paternity, and a daughter that he never knew existed. Season two consists of six episodes and is available on Amazon Prime.
For the complete list of this year’s Indie Series Award nominations, check them out here. The Indie Series Awards ceremony will be on Wednesday, April 12th in Burbank, California at The Colony Theatre in Burbank.
What do you think of the nominees from Studio City for the ISA Awards? Let us know in the comment section below.
All My Children
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Jessica Collins Series ‘Acapulco’ Renewed for Season 3
ATWT Alum and ‘The Addams Family’ Favorite, Lisa Loring Dead at 64
Sean Kanan’s ‘Studio City’ Scores 13 Indie Series Award Nominations
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General HospitalFebruary 4, 2023Marcus Coloma On His GH Exit: “I Don’t Know Why That Decision Was Made, But I Don’t Feel Any ill Will and I Didn’t Feel I Got Fired”
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General HospitalJanuary 31, 2023Adam Huss Back to GH as Nikolas Cassadine
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General HospitalJanuary 29, 2023General Hospital Alum Annie Wersching Dead at 45
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All My ChildrenFebruary 1, 2023Kelly Ripa Launches Podcast on SiriusXM
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General HospitalFebruary 5, 2023GH’s Parry Shen Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’
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All My ChildrenJanuary 29, 2023Michael B. Jordan Recalls His Acting Start as All My Children’s Reggie in SNL Opening Monologue
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NewsJanuary 31, 2023Jessica Collins Series ‘Acapulco’ Renewed for Season 3
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As The World TurnsJanuary 30, 2023ATWT Alum and ‘The Addams Family’ Favorite, Lisa Loring Dead at 64