S3E14: When Crypt Went To London

The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast

When Crypt went to London…

It sounded like a GREAT IDEA! In many ways, it was a great idea: take HBO’s iconic “TALES FROM THE CRYPT” to LONDON for its very last season! The great? We got to hire actors like EWAN MCGREGOR and DANIEL CRAIG and STEVE COOGAN and ELIZABETH MCGOVERN. And we got to shoot in the coolest locations – actual CASTLES and other CREEPY PLACES. But, there were big-assed problems in taking our LA-produced show to ENGLAND – where, frankly, they do things differently!

For starters, they drive on the other side of the road!

In LA, Crypt was a nomad, moving from warehouse space to warehouse space each season. In London, we planted ourselves at EALING STUDIOS – one of London’s oldest movie studios, a place with incredible history. There are plenty of wonderful GHOSTS walking around the Ealing sound stages!

Building sets in LA is relatively cheap. Not so in England. That’s why – unless we’re talking moves and shows that take place in the future which demand that you build sets and shoot on a studio lot – in England, you shoot on location. It took us a few episodes to learn that.

But, even when you learn that lesson – you still have to understand that Los Angeles and London are completely different cities from a movie-making perspective. Ironically, that’s in part because LA and London grew the same way – by sprawling in every damned direction.

Helping us tell the story of the year Crypt went to London are GREG MELTON and ED TAPIA. Both, of course, also are vets of the “Bordello Of Blood Experience”.

Greg is one of the best production designers working in Hollywood. Or London. In addition to creating Crypt’s look, Greg production designed THE WALKING DEAD. We’ll discuss the joys of working (and living) in London and the difficulties. Our cultures clashed repeatedly.

We’ve even got a few new Joel Silver stories (Joel visited us in London just as he visited us in Vancouver – with equally chaotic results).

So, kick back as we reminisce about the season “Tales From The Crypt” went to London.

Or, as the Crypt Keeper called it – “Scary, Olde England“.