Rose Lam Interview

by Jacky

Tuesday, November 2 on board the L word Cruise

L-word.com: How difficult is it pulling off this job, not only on a ship but with so many dedicated fans?
RL: It’s an incredible feat. I’m unbelievably impressed with Olivia, Holland America, and our gang have actually been able to pull it off. For us, it’s a location shoot like any other location shoot except for the fact that we board everybody on the ship, have the confinements of the ship. It’s massive but still there are issues such as power. on top of it for Olivia to be offering a real running cruise. I’m so in awe of everybody who has been involved and pulling it off, especially the passengers who have been patient and want to participate. they were the biggest key to us having a successful shoot because we would have never been able to bring 300 extras on board and house them so w/0 the participation of the passengers, we couldn’t have pulled this off.

L-word.com: Everyone I knew who booked this cruise booked because of the L word shooting, including my partner and I. They would not have booked this cruise had it not been for the filming.
RL: Our cast is just loving it. I laugh because leading up to the shoot there was some trepidation mainly from the point of they have never been on a cruise, nor had I, so I couldn’t tell them “on day one, we’ll do this and get to port.” None of us had any experience, but the moment they stepped on board, they just felt really the welcome—there was a sisterhood.

L-word.com: You boarded before the passengers on Saturday (October 30)?
RL: Yes, we boarded our cast, our crew, and all our equipment. We didn’t want to disrupt the passengers. There are 1200 people with their luggage and everything. The last thing we wanted to do was foul that up, so we thought the easiest thing to do was get us in here and that would give us a chance to take a look at the ship and get our stuff in order. We purposely started off with scenes that were fairly isolated in staterooms and what not, so we had a really good start to the shoot.

L-word.com: I know you’ve had some very long days. I’ve seen you at 9:30 in the morning; I’ve seen you at 11 o’clock at night. Is that typical?
RL: It’s very typical. We typically work 12 – 14 hours a day, and that’s shooting hours, which means from the time you roll the camera to the time you stop the camera, but there are a number of people on the crew—hair and makeup, wardrobe, lighting, or grips—who have to come in a little earlier because our cast come in earlier to do hair and makeup.

L-word.com: Earlier you had mentioned that this was the first time on a ship for many of you. I noticed many of the cast wearing the pressure bands to prevent seasickness. Are those costume or for real?
RL: Those are for real! I was lucky and I didn’t get sick, but a couple of our actors and some of our crew were needing those bands.

L-word.com: How much planning did it take for this shoot?
RL: Months. We met with Olivia last year as an introduction. They were involved last season with an episode at the Dinah Shore Golf Tournament, and they allowed us to use one of the booths that they normally have. We were introduced to Judy (Dlugacz—founder and president), Amy, (Errett--CEO), and Sabrina (Riddle—Chief of Sales and Marketing) at that time, and they came up with this great idea of trying to write a cruise into one of our episodes--and here we are. But I would say in planning it’s taken months. We started in March or April

L-word.com: Did you bring the crew from Vancouver for this?
RL: No, what we did was we brought five of our series regulars and two guest stars. We picked up a crew in Florida—the majority of the crew is from Florida--and a few people from Los Angeles. I couldn’t bring my Vancouver crew because while we’re filming this, we’re filming simultaneously an episode in Vancouver. So the logistics were quite complicated. Right now, on the cruise, we’re shooting episode 210, but in Vancouver, we’re shooting 212. So we had to carefully plan that 212 didn’t need—for the days we’re here—the actors that were here. So, it’s a bit of a puzzle, as everything is.

L-word.com: When do you finish filming Season 2 altogether?
RL: November 16. Then, we have a couple of more days of LA shooting at the end of November, and then it’s a wrap until Season 3—we hope.

L-word.com: We’ve heard there are no plans for DVD release events with the actors, as Queer as Folk has done?
RL: I think there are a couple of things planned. I don’t know the extent of what they’re doing, but they’ve asked me if “so and so” is going to be finished and could she go to an event.

L-word.com: You mentioned Dinah Shore. Do you plan to do more “lesbian location” shoots like Dinah shore and this cruise in future seasons?
RL: Well, in two years we’ve done one a year, so ...

L-word.com: Is it a pattern or a coincidence?
RL: I think it’s both. Part of the lesbian culture is that there are events like this that really bring our community together.

L-word.com: At a Q&A in Provincetown, Ilene Chaiken was asked if the L word would film there in the future.
RL (laughing): I’m pushing for Paris and perhaps maybe Italy.

L-word.com: The fact that you shoot the entire season before it begins airing, does that make it easier or harder ...just different?
RL: Where we have to be careful is dating ourselves. For example, on this cruise, there were Halloween decorations, so we have to be careful to not have any background or extras or anything that showed Halloween because it would not be in sequence when the episode airs. When we shoot exteriors, for example, and you have a huge movie poster or billboard of Shrek, well, not only do we need to clear it, but we avoid it so when we air it on TV, people don’t say,
”Wait a second...Shrek was like a year and a half ago.” The lag time is a production issue we’re always aware of and always trying to work out.

L-word.com: Did you get everything in that you set out to accomplish while filming here on the ship?
RL: We got in everything except for one scene.

L-word.com: The casino?
RL: Yes, but overall it went very well.

L-word.com: Was this typical—to not get a scene?
RL: It is typical, especially on our show. Our motto is that at every turn we want to overachieve, and we never say “Ah, we can’t get it, so let’s not even bother.” That’s a bad trait that Ilene and I have...let’s go for the moon. The trouble with that is every time you achieve it, you set that bar higher. We’re really thrilled with everything we were able to do on the ship and also every day in Vancouver.

L-word.com: The list of guest stars is impressive! There were recent press releases about Sandra Bernhard and Liza Minelli.
RL: That (Liza Minelli) was a rumor. We were hoping, but it didn’t work out schedule-wise. Sandra Bernhard had a three or four episode story arc. Ossie Davis we had back playing Bette Porter’s father.

L-word.com: Is it always in the works—lining up these great guest stars?
RL: Some of them we know at the beginning—that that’s where Ilene is taking some stories. Some of them, quite frankly, fall out of the sky. We find out so-and-so is a fan of the show and would love to participate, and we think it’s fantastic. And then Ilene gets busy incorporating them into a storyline. So we have some people who fall into place, and some who we plan from the beginning.

L-word.com: Any parting words for the readers of The L Word Fan Site?
RL: We’re so grateful you’re there; we’re so grateful we have so many people interested in the show. Keep watching! Season 2 is better...and I’m not biased because I produced Season 1, too.

L-word.com: How so?
RL: The first year we were all new to one another. Season 1 was great, but I feel the cast knows their characters even more. Just that fact that we work so closely together and know one another. The stories...where we’re taking it. We have an incredible lineup of directors this season. I would hazard to guess that the fan base won’t be disappointed, so I encourage them all to tune in on February 20 because they are going to love Season 2.