Managed art department logistics for Fox’s hit costumed singing competition series.
The Masked Singer is Fox’s hit singing competition series in which celebrities perform in elaborate, larger-than-life costumes while a panel of judges tries to guess their identity. As Art Dept. Coordinator, I managed art department logistics, vendor deliveries, and prop procurement, coordinating installations and materials to meet production deadlines.
Behind the Scenes
Where were you?
Los Angeles, California
What’s the moment things went sideways?
There were so many days that just went a different direction. We all came to work with an idea of what would happen that day, however just like any reality show even though it is on a stage anything can happen. Sets are not ready, talent is late, or we just decide to shoot a different story. Even with all of that, as the art department we were always working on being a step and half ahead of the curve. Some days that worked and some days we were making miracles happen in a limited amount of time.
A crew or cast story that still gets told
When we are together we do reminisce on our late nights when we were in the office. There were some late shoot nights and art needed to be there to see how it came together. We all worked so hard that by the time we were watching we were joking about the day or how we got those props or just how we were so tired and loopy that we forgot what day it was.
What would a viewer never guess?
We can shoot up to three shows a day, which means our department needed to have all sets built and props ready to be loaded onto set. Which meant that was up to 15 different sets ready to go so we can all stay on schedule. It would not look good if we held up the schedule due to paint drying or a set not being ready.
What were you actually running day to day?
It was controlled chaos, in the best way possible. For the art department we sat during the meetings of what the producers wanted on stage and where the story was going. From their vision it was up to us to render, measure, and build something that would work for the stage. Our Art Director had a clear message that would lead us in our day of what sets needed to be built, and what was needed to make it pop on camera. With multiple sets always in progress, staying a step ahead of the schedule was the whole job.
What are you proudest of on this one?
It was great being a part of the Art Department for this project, it was a new side of production that I was able to be a part of. I worked along with Art Departments before and helped where I could, so to be a part of one and see what it takes and get a front row view of it was amazing.