Jesse Stern's Blog on MW 01/03/11

Insiders Blog One Last Score - March 1, 2011 I was once warned about Michael Weatherly. Lucky for me, I didn’t really understand what the warning meant. The first time I stepped on the set of NCIS was five years ago and there was this creature, this giant ball of energy and laughter and words that might at first appear to be non-sequitors. And he’s running around showing anyone and everyone the video montage he’s made on his phone that recounts his insane, whirlwind, around the world pursuit of a woman he’d just met. All set to a bubbly score. I thought it was nuts. But I watched it. And it made my heart blow up. And I’ll probably never forget it. Especially since a couple summers later I ended up a guest at their wedding. Pretty good little movie. I watched him work and I wrote for him and saw how he regularly spun gold out of straw and I started to see what inspired him and where he found the music to dance to. Eventually, I felt confident that I could strap a massive weight to his back and he’d do way more than just carry it. I came up with an episode where he would basically be tied to a chair for three days while his character lovingly described every aspect of the tiny world we were living in. We both discovered along the way that there’s not much difference between pretending to tie someone to a chair and actually doing it. But he never lost his smile. Probably because in order to make him look chapped and dehydrated his lips were coated in dried glue. Since that episode (Season 7’s “Truth or Consequences”) I’ve been excited to find a new challenge we could take on together. When I found out Michael had earned the opportunity to direct an episode, I was thrilled. I think the whole crew was. The thing about Michael is that he’s never oblivious to what’s going on around him. Even when he’s in the midst of one of his wacky, impromptu, verbal tap-dances that usually result either in unmitigated genius or unmitigated disaster, he’s well aware of all the people around him working to set the stage. He knows where the camera is, he knows where the lights are, he knows how his movements and actions affect and influence the workload the crew is carrying. He knows how to make it easier and he knows how to make it better. And they love him because of it. So when it came time for me to get to work on the story that became “One Last Score,” I did something I’ve never done before with a director. I went to him before I’d thought of much of anything. “How ‘bout something with a heist in it,” I said, during a brief walk from the set to the hair and makeup trailer where the good coffee is kept. “I’m picturing a warehouse filled with crazy expensive collectibles and someone’s trying to rob it.” He let the idea wash over him for a few seconds and then his eyes lit up in this sort of a mischievous way that he’s got, and he asked, “Can we put the sunglasses Steve McQueen wore in The Thomas Crown Affair in there?” And I just laughed, “Yeah. I think we have to.” That was how this story came about. I’d throw things at him in between set-ups, he’d throw things back at me. Then I gathered it all up and tried to piece it together on paper and I gave it back to him again and he ran with it. He asked every question he could. He consulted the opinions of all the great directors he’d worked with here. He learned more in a week than I thought possible. And by day three of that shoot, I’d totally forgotten that it was his first time directing. There are unique opportunities that arise when a show thrives as long as NCIS has. The lifespan, the growth, it requires you to be cognizant of your roots and conserve the aspects that have made it succeed. But it also asks you to push, to push yourself and the boundaries, to constantly find the new. There’s a wonderful, supportive family here that rallies each day to make that happen, to find something new. I don’t just mean the people we work with every day, I also include the people who watch, who give us the chance to play. So thank you. Thanks for watching. Thanks for caring. Co-Executive Producer Jesse Stern Follow me on Twitter @JesseStern

Insiders Blog

One Last Score - March 1, 2011

I was once warned about Michael Weatherly. Lucky for me, I didn’t really understand what the warning meant. The first time I stepped on the set of NCIS was five years ago and there was this creature, this giant ball of energy and laughter and words that might at first appear to be non-sequitors. And he’s running around showing anyone and everyone the video montage he’s made on his phone that recounts his insane, whirlwind, around the world pursuit of a woman he’d just met. All set to a bubbly score. I thought it was nuts. But I watched it. And it made my heart blow up. And I’ll probably never forget it. Especially since a couple summers later I ended up a guest at their wedding. Pretty good little movie.

I watched him work and I wrote for him and saw how he regularly spun gold out of straw and I started to see what inspired him and where he found the music to dance to. Eventually, I felt confident that I could strap a massive weight to his back and he’d do way more than just carry it. I came up with an episode where he would basically be tied to a chair for three days while his character lovingly described every aspect of the tiny world we were living in. We both discovered along the way that there’s not much difference between pretending to tie someone to a chair and actually doing it. But he never lost his smile. Probably because in order to make him look chapped and dehydrated his lips were coated in dried glue.

Since that episode (Season 7’s “Truth or Consequences”) I’ve been excited to find a new challenge we could take on together. When I found out Michael had earned the opportunity to direct an episode, I was thrilled. I think the whole crew was. The thing about Michael is that he’s never oblivious to what’s going on around him. Even when he’s in the midst of one of his wacky, impromptu, verbal tap-dances that usually result either in unmitigated genius or unmitigated disaster, he’s well aware of all the people around him working to set the stage. He knows where the camera is, he knows where the lights are, he knows how his movements and actions affect and influence the workload the crew is carrying. He knows how to make it easier and he knows how to make it better. And they love him because of it. So when it came time for me to get to work on the story that became “One Last Score,” I did something I’ve never done before with a director. I went to him before I’d thought of much of anything.

“How ‘bout something with a heist in it,” I said, during a brief walk from the set to the hair and makeup trailer where the good coffee is kept. “I’m picturing a warehouse filled with crazy expensive collectibles and someone’s trying to rob it.”

He let the idea wash over him for a few seconds and then his eyes lit up in this sort of a mischievous way that he’s got, and he asked, “Can we put the sunglasses Steve McQueen wore in The Thomas Crown Affair in there?”

And I just laughed, “Yeah. I think we have to.”

That was how this story came about. I’d throw things at him in between set-ups, he’d throw things back at me. Then I gathered it all up and tried to piece it together on paper and I gave it back to him again and he ran with it. He asked every question he could. He consulted the opinions of all the great directors he’d worked with here. He learned more in a week than I thought possible. And by day three of that shoot, I’d totally forgotten that it was his first time directing.

There are unique opportunities that arise when a show thrives as long as NCIS has. The lifespan, the growth, it requires you to be cognizant of your roots and conserve the aspects that have made it succeed. But it also asks you to push, to push yourself and the boundaries, to constantly find the new. There’s a wonderful, supportive family here that rallies each day to make that happen, to find something new. I don’t just mean the people we work with every day, I also include the people who watch, who give us the chance to play. So thank you. Thanks for watching. Thanks for caring.

Co-Executive Producer
Jesse Stern
Follow me on Twitter @JesseStern

Sorgiña	Latest page update: made by Sorgiña , Mar 4 2011, 5:24 AM EST (about this update About This Update Moved from: Michael Weatherly Fan Site - Sorgiña No content added or deleted. - complete history)
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