After doing a Zoom table read with the show’s cast, Smiley Guy and the show’s production team immediately got to work on the animation. To capture the voice work, a sound engineer delivered microphone kits to cast members in Los Angeles and recorded them performing their lines while sitting in his van outside of their houses. Meanwhile, Kellett and director Phil Lewis gave them direction via Zoom; they similarly directed actors who were in New York and Berkeley, California. Once early animatics were rendered, Kellett recalled Lear being endeared, but a little confused by, the initial visuals. “He said, ‘The mouths are going to move, right?’” Kellett said with a laugh.
As well as it turned out, this animated episode is likely a one-off thing for One Day at a Time. “We are a show that really needs to live and die by our actors,” Kellett says of her finely wrought cast, which includes EGOT-winner Rita Moreno in a role tailor-made for her comedic genius. Still, as the industry reckons with the effects of the coronavirus and stars remain hesitant about returning to the set, it’s unclear when shows like One Day at a Time will be able to get back on track. Even if this particular series shrunk down its team to essential cast and crew members only, producer and production manager Patricia Fass Palmer told Kellett that it would still need about 65 people working—though as a multi-camera sitcom, One Day at a Time faces smaller hurdles than single-camera shows that shoot at various locations.
“I mean, how are you doing a scene in Times Square? Are you testing all the extras? I get the luxury of at least having six actors on one stage, and that’s it,” Kellett said. “Now we’re talking about so many factors that need to be taken into account. I cannot imagine Rita Moreno being cool doing a coffee shop scene where we’re bringing in 15 strangers who we don’t know, who are just going to work for the day, who are breathing the same air she’s breathing.”
Kellett is asking those questions in an official capacity as part of a Writer’s Guild committee that’s been trying to handle this very issue. It’s a much easier problem to solve for writers, who can work via Zoom, than it is for everyone who needs to be physically on a set.
“It really is a matter of all the guilds coming together to determine how to best protect their members,” she said. Kellett noted that some productions have found unique solutions; Tyler Perry, for example, has been able to fly essential cast and crew members of his BET series The Oval on his private plane to his studio in Atlanta, where everyone gets tested before and after production. Alas, that is not a realistic solution for shows like Kellett’s, which have much smaller budgets. Either way, there’s the added pressure of jumping back onto a set too soon and sparking a second outbreak of the virus. “Nobody wants to be that person that shuts down Hollywood again,” Kellett said.
Until then, showrunners will have to get creative, following Kellett’s lead and dreaming up new ways to get their shows on the air. Animation might just be the start.
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