KNOCK FIRST

By Robert G. Pushkar

To most parents a teenager's bedroom is a necessary household evil, a place where, to twist Frost's definition, when you go there they have to take you in, though it's best you first knock. This "forbidden zone" as ABC Family network dubs teens' rooms, becomes the principal set for its brand new reality series, KNOCK FIRST. Boston's Scout Productions, on a roll with the ratings-grabber, QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY (Bravo/NBC), had no trouble inking a contract for a niche makeover show geared for teens and slated for an after-school time slot. Fact is, no pilot was necessary, just a high-concept proposal and pitch from one of Scout's adventurous, imaginative founders, David Collins, who conceived the series and acts as co-executive producer. By May 2003, Scout was assembling staff, and in July video cams started rolling in Concord, showcasing its first bedroom makeover to the giddy delight of Heather, a middle-school teen, and her friends.

KNOCK FIRST's Liz Nealon without a doubt is the right choice for co-executive producer with Collins. Nealon temporarily relocated from New York to manage the show. She's logged an extensive resume: member of the original launch team of MTV and later Senior Vice President of International Programming, co-creator and executive producer of Children's Television Workshop series GHOSTWRITER (PBS), plus producer for Disney Channel's THE FAMOUS JETT JACKSON. "I know how to create a strip series," she says, "and I know how to create a machine to crank out a show of this quality every two days." To Nealon, it's not just another makeover show. "It's a character story about teenagers making big personal expressions by the choices they make with their rooms."

The 21-minute final product (sans commercials) requires a two-day location shoot in a teen's bedroom, in her house, in her neighborhood. Three to four weeks earlier during pre-production, staff visit the site and interview the "cast." They size up rooms and take dimensions. For the designers, this is a crucial step-inspiration must be fired up, and quickly. Canadian Shane Booth, one of four young designers, says that his projects begin with an emotion. "When I start to think about a design I look at magazines for visual imagery. So if I see a couple at a dance club, I want to capture that emotion in a room." He's not satisfied with how things should be "but instead how they could be." Afterward, he brings his ideas to meetings with the art department, and the final concept gradually evolves.

At this juncture, art director Lee Tosca, another temporary transplant from New York, fully steps in with her well-honed experience and nurturing vision. A Pratt Institute graduate, Tosca has worked for at least fifteen years with partners in 23-D, a multi-faceted design company, as well as in television. "I bring my experience to the table," she says. Seated beneath a production tent pitched curbside on a street during a recent shoot in Brookline, she pauses to catch her breath from the hectic pace on the set. "It's really great for me to work with four different designers who come from four different backgrounds that are visually so different from one another, and to try to make it work for every show." After the first site visit the designers create concepts within days the veteran art director says. "John Gidding was designing four rooms at one time and shooting on the set at the same time." The made-over room, she believes, really is turned around in about fifteen working hours, an astonishing feat which might even shock Martha Stewart. "It always comes together. I don't know how, but it always does."

KNOCK FIRST follows a four-step process, appearing as "acts" on the air. Act I is the "Meet and Greet" where the designer and two carpenters come off the Party Bus, a shiny, specially-designed, and hip Airstream trailer. Here, the teens and his three friends will hang out, relax, play games, sleep, and even do homework. Scout provides a chaperone in loco parentis. A room tour follows with a dual purpose: to give glimpses of the "before," and secondly, to introduce the teen and her friends, thus enabling audiences to make connections. The crew then deconstructs the room down to bare floors and walls, being careful to preserve needed personal items for later use.

In Act II, the designer presents the "Vision Wall"-his dream of the room-and works with the kids in the Party Bus to articulate the redecorating plans, gather their input, and offer options with materials, fabrics, and artifacts. Act III involves the grunt work with the professionals in charge and the kids as helpmates. It's a mix of work and play to keep the audience interested, and the face-time allows the talent opportunities to get to know the kids. Within twenty hours, Act IV unfolds with the finishing touches-"amping up" the room it's called-in preparation for "the reveal," the show's climatic moment as cameras record the transformation and the teens' heady, eye-popping reactions to it.

During downtime in the Party Bus, teens are left alone to talk in the "confessional," a tiny booth where they open up emotionally, but in front of a tiny, watchful camera lens, which serves as the B-Roll of the program. Later, these spontaneous, offhand moments are edited in, adding larger brushstrokes in the final cut to flesh out personalities and to add continuity and a sense of story. In the first show (premiered on October 6), such footage allowed Heather, 14, to admit the first time she was kissed by her middle-school boyfriend, and in another show, it afforded Dewey, 19, and his former girlfriend time to discuss their romantic break-up.

No such touching moments would get aired, or for that matter much of anything else, if production manager Nancy King had not worked tirelessly to set the production in motion. King claims office space wherever she can, on this day in Brookline in the family dining room down the hall from the makeover room. A "behind-the-scenes gal" she calls herself, King performs duties from production logistics to location scouting, permit procurement to payroll. She's part of the scouting team from day one, and her reach touches all facets to get KNOCK FIRST up and rolling.

Supervising producer Cathleen Fitz, who's known as only Fitz around the set, is the hands-on connector on location. Although small-framed, she commands a big presence during the fevered 48-hour setup and shoot. Coming from a line producer background, Fitz works with budgeting, hiring the crew, casting, and doing all the "nuts and bolts" of location shooting. She's also involved in pre-production, scouting locations, interviewing candidates and their friends, and performing a "four-corners-of-the-room" estimation. Later, after the shoot, she's at the elbows of a team editor, suggesting cuts and revisions, which take about three weeks per program. Meantime, there are other details that need attending to. Fitz must keep within the $1,500 cash budget for each program. And she says, "Clearances have to be done for personal items in the room. If there's a Led Zeppelin poster on the wall or stuffed animals around the room we wish to keep, they must be cleared for broadcast." She relies on Scout's Michelle Ferullo who works with clearances and product placement. The tape then is sent to ABC Family for input and final editing.

In the long run, the "insane schedule" she keeps is worth it. "Every kid that has had the reveal has been hugely surprised," Fitz says enthusiastically. "They may not fully understand the design when it's presented to them, but most do. In the end, it's actually worked out okay." That, she credits with kudos to the art department, is why she feels the show is successful.

Of the taste of teens, Fitz says, "Sometimes they always don't know what they like. Some are very opinionated and stick to it. They're eager to open up and go on a journey with the designers and carpenter. They're so excited to do the work. They want to make it happen themselves with the help of the crew."

During a lunch break, on-air talent and carpenter Carrie Roy, who represented North Dakota in the Miss America Pageant and later graduated from Harvard as an art major, waxes philosophic about her sudden leap into the limelight. "I'm just learning to live each day here and now. This whole show biz thing about making decisions on the fly and doing what you think is best, whether it's addressing issues with teens or putting a cabinet together, is a sequence of problem-solving and decision-making that really makes you appreciate the moment."

Finally, when they're ready to amp up the room, the moment of truth arrives. "The reveal is a treasured moment," Fitz says. "You've been a part of this with a whole team. The crew is awesome. I've never worked with such a family-oriented crew. There are no big egos."

At the reveal, when David from Brookline gazes into his made-over bedroom, his eyes gleam, and he high-fives his friends. "This is us guys. Everyone helped, and this is awesome."

And it was.

_______________________________

Freelance writer-photographer Robert G. Pushkar frequently writes about the media in local, regional, and national publications. Currently, he is marketing his romantic comedy screenplay.

KNOCK FIRST by Robert G. Pushkar

At this juncture, art director Lee Tosca, another temporary transplant from New York, fully steps in with her well-honed experience and nurturing vision. A Pratt Institute graduate, Tosca has worked for at least fifteen years with partners in 23-D, a multi-faceted design company, and in television. "I bring my experience to the table," she says seated beneath a production tent pitched curbside on a street during a recent shoot in Brookline. She pauses to catch her breath from the hectic pace on the set. "It's really great for me to work with four different designers who come from four different backgrounds that are visually so different from one another, and to try to make it work for every show." After the first site visit the designers create concepts within days the veteran art director says. "John Gidding was designing four rooms at one time and shooting on the set at the same time." The made-over room, she believes, really is turned around in about fifteen working hours, an astonishing feat which might even shock Martha Stewart. "It always comes together. I don't know how, but it does."

During downtime in the Party Bus, teens are left alone to talk in the "confessional," a tiny booth where they open up emotionally, but in front of a tiny, watchful camera lens, which serves as the B-Roll of the program. Later, these spontaneous, offhand moments are edited in, adding larger brushstrokes in the final cut to flesh out personalities and to add continuity and a sense of story. In the first show (premiered on October 6), such footage allowed Heather to admit the first time she was kissed by her middle-school boyfriend, and in another show, it afforded Dewey and his former girlfriend time to discuss their romantic break-up.

At the reveal, when David from Brookline gazes into his made-over bedroom, his eyes gleam, and he high-fives his friends. "This is us guys. Everyone helped, and this is awesome."

And it was.

_______________________________

Freelance writer-photographer Robert G. Pushkar frequently writes about the media in local, regional, and national publications. Currently, he is marketing his romantic comedy screenplay.

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