Friday, April 17, 2015

A Trip to the TCM Studios and a Visit With Ben Mankiewicz



Today I took a trip to Turner and it was surreal. I've lived in Atlanta since 1978 I've never visited Turner Broadcasting even though you can see it from my office. Well, let me tell you that it was an incredible experience to be able to step inside the TCM studio and into the TCM living room. Do you watch TCM?   It's just about all I watch so for me this was a really big deal.  
To get to the TCM studio we made a long journey through a maze of buildings. All of the studios are located in the basement for sound purposes.  
Once we were in the studio we were able to meet the entire crew - writers, film crew, sound and lighting crew, writers, makeup team members, producers and Ben Mankiewicz.  Yes, I said Ben Mankiewicz!!!
Everyone was so nice and welcoming. So much so that they invited us to lunch with them! 

I was amazed at how quickly they filmed the intros and outros and Ben was amazing.  Have you ever tried to use a teleprompter?  It isn't easy and Ben breezed through the text, sailing through the scripts adding his personal flare.  
I never heard anyone say, "quiet on the set" but it is so quiet in the studio and when they started the filming I was afraid to move for fear of making too much noise.  A couple of times I had to swallow and I was afraid I was going to get in trouble.  In my head it sounded so loud and I was afraid others could hear me!

The segments they were filming today will air a month from now and so that we don't miss them, they gave me a "shoot schedule".  

One of my dreams is to one day be able to attend the TCM Film Festival but for now I'll be happy with today's TCM experience. 


2 comments:

  1. We used to watch TCM, but recently it has become one of the programmes that is paid for, aand we have Freeview, so ...no TCM.

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  2. What an incredible experience! Great photographs too! When our daughter lived in Atlanta, we toured the place, it was truly awesome!!

    Have a great weekend!

    Nancy

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