OKC Starring in TNT's "Grace"

[Spartan]

Grace Megalopolis

[Kerry]

I would think OKC would be the perfect location to shoot the show. There are a lot of parts of OKC that would make nice backdrops. Plus downtown OKC at the street level is pretty empty during the day so shooting it the area wouldn't disrupt everyday life.

[Spartan]

Actually, Moore has more hicks per capita than any other city in the metro. I stuck Yukon in there just for kicks.

You know I'm starting to get kind of annoyed at your bantering. How can we have a forum where a suburb with most of the suburban growth and about 50,000 people doesn't even have any respect?

:respect:

Oh and I'd bet some of the houses in my neighborhood on the east edge of Moore are a lot bigger than what you live in over in Westmoore...

[mranderson]

You know I'm starting to get kind of annoyed at your bantering. How can we have a forum where a suburb with most of the suburban growth and about 50,000 people doesn't even have any respect?

:respect:

Oh and I'd bet some of the houses in my neighborhood on the east edge of Moore are a lot bigger than what you live in over in Westmoore...

You can be annoyed all you want. As an umpire said decades ago, "I calls 'em as I sees 'em."

[Spartan]

Did that fine officiating sir work for the PacTen?

Anyway, getting BACK on topic, I do not believe it's likely that they will put a lot of resources into a show and have it portraying a negative image of a touchy state. Chances are the worst it will be may come close to TexasRanger... (I can't stand that guy but that's a whole nother story).

[traxx]

Even though it's not a small town how 'bout Grace Tulsa because we all know what Tulsa spells backward.

[Spartan]

Well we all know that Oklahoma City IS backward so I don't know what really to say...

Spartan, sticking up for cities like Moore and Aslut all the time...

[Swake2]

Tulsa’s experience with television has been good and bad recently.

Friends (NBC) spent a season in Tulsa, it started out as a joke but actually had shots of the city and downtown that looked good, the joke turned around as the character Chandler decided he liked Tulsa and almost moved.

The show Rodney on ABC stars Tulsa comedian Rodney Carrington. It’s your typical redneck comedy stuff. I’ve only watched about half an episode and despite being set in Tulsa, and staring and being written by a Tulsan, none of the shots I saw were actually of Tulsa.

Gardening by the Yard on HGTV is made in Tulsa, It’s done by Tulsa gardener Paul James and it’s nice to have Tulsa as a natural setting out there. Most people think Oklahoma is a dry desert; you can’t watch this show and think that. If you realize the show is made in Tulsa, which is not mentioned very often.

There’s another new show coming out that going to be made in Tulsa. One of those car restoration shows. It’s going to be called “My New Ride” and I think it’s already started to film at a local car restoration shop. That all sounds good but the show is going to be on CMT.

[Spartan]

Yea it's a restoration shop on South Memorial almost in Bixby. But I thought it would be on the Discovery Channel...

[Intrepid]

NewsOK.com | Powered by The Oklahoman and NEWS 9

By Mary Reinauer Funk
Special to The Oklahoman

Former Oklahoma City resident Nancy Miller is in town to celebrate the green light from the TNT network on the production of her new series, "Grace,” set in Oklahoma City, which is to begin filming in March. The official word from the network came to Miller, the show's writer, creator and executive producer, on Dec. 15.
Miller's other credits include "The Round Table,” "Leaving L.A.” and "Any Day Now.”

"Grace” stars Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter ("The Piano”) in the title role and is very much about the city Miller calls her hometown.

"I wanted a show set in the Bible Belt and I want people to understand what a great city Oklahoma City is,” Miller said. "I want her (Grace) surrounded by good, honest, solid, fun, God-fearing people, and of course, OU football.”

Miller, who graduated from Bishop McGuinness High School and attended the University of Oklahoma from 1972-77, still is an avowed OU football fan. Other Sooners might divine this fact just from watching "Grace” when the show debuts in July.

"All of the last names of the good guys are cities in Oklahoma. But the last name of the bad guy is Austin,” Miller said, in reference to the city of OU's football rival, the University of Texas.

The lead character Grace, a street-tough detective with the Oklahoma City Police Department, may well need a solid citizenry behind her, as well as some divine intervention.

"The show is very edgy. There is a lot of humor and a lot of raw emotion,” Miller said. "It's about a woman who doesn't believe in God. She is visited by an irascible angel who will drag her, kicking and screaming, on a journey of redemption.”

Although Miller's depiction of Grace's lifestyle might bother the audience in which the story is set, Miller said it is by no means gratuitous. "I had to start her at a place of complete pain and destructive behavior in order to take her on this journey.”

Miller hopes her audience will be able to relate to the character, perhaps even in a Biblical sense. "Grace is like all of us. She's a sinner. She has her questions about why bad things happen and has even been angry at God for some of the things that have happened to her.

"But she's a good person who needs a spiritual focus in her life, just like we all do,” Miller said.

Some of the pilot is shot in Oklahoma City, but most of it was made on location in Canada. The series will be shot in Los Angeles. But that has not stopped Miller from touting her hometown to Hollywood big-wigs.

"Holly (Hunter) and our director, Sergio Mimcama-Gezzan, were here in September for a couple of days,” Miller said. "We ate at Cattleman's and did Oklahoma City things to try to give them a taste of the unique flavor of Oklahoma City. They loved it. We tried to make it to Johnnie's (Charcoal Broiler), but we didn't have time. But we did make it to Sonic for a cherry limeade.”

Hometown folks likewise stepped up for the kickoff, Miller said. "Jill Simpson and Dino Lali from the Oklahoma film board have been spectacular in helping us. We shot here for a day in October and hope to be back when we start shooting in March for a couple of days, at least. Becky Switzer (Barry Switzer's wife) has been a tremendous help to us as well.”

[writerranger]

So, a few weeks of location shots (landmarks, sunrise, sunset, cloudy days, rainy days, sunny days, airport, canal, etc. etc.) and the rest filmed in LA. That's too bad.

Reminds me of the bad blood between Minneapolis and LA during the filming of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The only time MTM ever stepped foot in Minneapolis was to shoot the now-famous opening scene. They ignored Minneapolis and it created problems. Only later, years later, did Mary Tyler Moore embrace Minneapolis and now there's even a statue of Mary downtown.

Hopefully, Grace will embrace the city they will portray as home.

--------------------

[jbrown84]

Don't feel too bad. This is the usual situation. ER does the same thing with Chicago and CSI with Vegas. If they shoot interiors in L.A., it will probably make us look better anyway.

Now it would really be an insult if they were shooting in Dallas.

[writerranger]

Don't feel too bad. This is the usual situation. ER does the same thing with Chicago and CSI with Vegas. If they shoot interiors in L.A., it will probably make us look better anyway.

Now it would really be an insult if they were shooting in Dallas.

That's funny! Not to mention, a very good point.

------------

[HOT ROD]

Actually, I remember OKC mentioned often in the hit show "Dallas". I also even remember a few scene-scapes of Downtown OKC (that were actually San Antonio - I think), but it really gave OKC a nice cosmopolitan image.

It's interesting that they used SA (I think) with quite a few more trees/green - as that is what we currently have downtown. Interesting insite - DALLAS (the show).

So, it will ONLY be good if they use Vancouver (a world class city mind you) for shots of the show!!!!! Maybe we are headed for some Vancouverization in esp downtown OKC (think highrises guys), which for those of you who have never been - Vancouver is arguably the best urban city in North America (and one of the best in the world).

Can you say Van-klahoma City or Okla-couver!!! Both sound good to me.

I hope they shoot primarily in Van City instead of LA. Both cities have sizeable infrastructure for TV/Movie production but Vancouver has the best urban feel, hipness, and cosmopolitan feel. LA has the suburb thing or ghetto (anything outside the production set warehouses).

[SpectralMourning]

Even still, this show sounds as if its plot is becoming more progressively terrible as time rolls on. I'm not really looking forward to actually watching the program more than what it does for our city.

[floater]

Cattlemen's and Sonic? That's Oklahoman to outsiders, but it'd be nice if they shot scenes at Cafe Nova, Blue Note and Cao Nguyen, and not just the Johnnies and Stockyards Cities. Interior places that tourists often miss are what police dramas should be showing.

[BDP]

Sounds like this show will play heavily on and reinforce a lot of stereotypes. It doesn't sound like it will do much or anything to advance the city's image. But it sounds like a pretty boring show, so I doubt it will last unless they spice it up a bit.

[SpectralMourning]

Much agreed, BDP.

[Karried]

I feel the same way.. Just please don't be too cheesy!

[jbrown84]

Cattlemen's and Sonic?

That's not where they shot, they just visited there.

[traxx]

Cattlemans, Johnnies and Sonic. Sounds like an outsiders view of OKC. Kinda like if a British film were set in NYC they'd show Rockefeller Center, Empire State Bldg. and the Statue of Liberty.

Unfortunately I was correct in my earlier post on this subject, that they would not film extensively here but do it in Canada etc. I thought that this is what the film district was supposed to fix so that we'd have more trained TV and film workers in the city which would make it cost effective to shoot more in Oklahoma instead of LA or Canada.

[jbrown84]

I thought that this is what the film district was supposed to fix so that we'd have more trained TV and film workers in the city which would make it cost effective to shoot more in Oklahoma instead of LA or Canada.

It won't happen overnight. And it's extremely rare that a series will shoot outside of L.A. Only in instances where it's absolutely necessary to shoot a different environment, such as The WB's Colorado-set Everwood, which shot on soundstages in Salt Lake City that were built for the Olympics.

Now movies are a different story. With the help of the revamped Okla. Film Commission and the Film District, we will likely get a lot more temporary movie shoots.

[traxx]

I really don't see that shows like Everwood or Walker would need more location shooting than this show. With Grace being a cop she's going to be out and about around the town quite a bit, thus the need for location shooting. Unless the show calls for her to hardly ever go outdoors. The thing is there will be outdoors and location shooting, it just won't be here. It's like a previous poster said; OKC will just be used for establishing shots and the rest will be shot elsewhere.

And I realize it takes time for these things like the film commission and film district, it just seems like they've had enough time to rectify this. I remember reading about it in the early 90s when Oklahoma got passed over for location shooting in Far and Away saying that Oklahoma didn't look enough like Oklahoma to shoot here. That's when the ball really got started rolling, as I recall it, on the film commission so this kind of thing wouldn't happen in the future. That seems like enough time to see some improvement to me.

[jbrown84]

We can't force cameramen and grips and lighting technicians to move here and wait around for the occasional project. We have to train our own residents as students in this field and hope some of them stick around permanently. We are getting better in this area. OKCCC and OCU have growing film departments, and other schools like OU and OBU offer programs in video beyond just Broadcast News. Hollywood producer Gray Fredrickson moved here and set up a production company.

The fact is that they would have to relocate industry professional here indefinitely to shoot the show, and it's just rare that a show will do that. Like I said, even ER doesn't shoot in Chicago.

[metro]

[QUOTE][Unfortunately I was correct in my earlier post on this subject, that they would not film extensively here but do it in Canada etc. I thought that this is what the film district was supposed to fix so that we'd have more trained TV and film workers in the city which would make it cost effective to shoot more in Oklahoma instead of LA or Canada. /QUOTE]

Yes, this thing takes years to establish and we're doing a good job right now. More and more tenants are moving into the film district. Even when fully established, there isn't a ton of land like say Studio City, CA. We will never be, however we will be able to have a few spaces where the occasional project can shoot. Like someone said, thousands of grips, techs, directors, producers, extras, etc. are not going to move to OKC for an occasional small shoot, it's not worth it to them. Would you move across the US to make far less money? Grey Frederickson isn't even the biggest producer in Oklahoma, there are a ton of producers in OK. The biggest Hollywood producers in OK are Every Tribe Entertainment in OKC (aka EthnoGraphic films) and Tom Newmann in Tulsa who just landed a multi-million dollar deal to produce 2 new films. These two companies produced major motion pictures that come out in theatres nationally. Frederickson focuses more on movies straight to DVD's that sell a few hundred thousand copies at best and gets limited exposure.