What goes on behind the scenes of Project Runway? In entertainment, an awful lot of stuff happens behind closed doors, from canceling TV shows to organizing music festival lineups. While the public sees the end product on TVs, movie screens, or radio dials, they don’t see what it took to get there. In Expert Witness, The A. V. Club talks to industry insiders about the actual business of entertainment in hopes of shedding some light on how the pop- culture sausage gets made. A Project Runway producer on the long-running fashion competition’s setup and grueling production schedule. Now in its 1. 2th season, Project Runway has become the premier fashion competition show, handily besting pretenders like NBC’s Fashion Star. Part of that is due, of course, to host Heidi Klum and contestant mentor Tim Gunn, but the show’s success also comes largely from its level of talent: Designers on Project Runway appear to have what it takes to actually make it in fashion. Hell, a few even have. But what keeps that level of competition so high? And why hasn’t Project Runway fallen into the trap—save this season’s Sandro Masmanidi—of casting loose cannons to drive ratings and drama? Moreover, is what viewers see on the show what really happens in the workroom? Project Runway. You want talent? You want drama? Catch new episodes of Project Runway THURSDAYS only on Lifetime! Watch the Season 15 Reunion full episode from Season 15, Episode 15 of Lifetime's series Project Runway. Get more of your favorite full episodes only on Lifetime. Club talked to one of the show’s producers, Sara Rea, about the timeline, accessory wall, and “make it work” moments. The A. V. Club: What’s a typical day like for a Project Runway contestant? Sara Rea: It changes daily, but I’ll give you the averages. They usually get up about 5 a. Then they go receive their challenge; they meet Tim or Heidi or whoever, depending on who is setting it up—we’re very transparent. There isn’t a whole lot of behind- the- scenes that isn’t onscreen. Anyway, we shoot while we travel now, so that’s all documented. Anthony Williams’s Black-and-White Delight (S7, E11) Anthony didn’t fare so well in season seven despite being adored by Project Runway viewers, but he did manage. Project Runway Season 4 was the fourth season of Project Runway, Bravo's reality competition for fashion designers. The season premiered November 14, 2007. They get their challenge, they sketch, they go to Mood—we’re shooting them while they go to Mood—they come back to the workroom and they’re literally in that workroom until 1. During that time we do have mandatory lunch breaks. We’ve learned that we have to make them eat because they’ll get so focused that they won’t eat, and that’s not good for them or us or anyone. We just do rotations so that everyone eats at different times within the same hour block. Then Tim . That’s usually quick because they’re exhausted. The show is so focused on process. Unlike a show where you’re cooking or doing photography or modeling, the designers literally have to be in that workroom working on those clothes. It is a process. So we’re shooting a lot, and maybe you can hear a pin drop a lot of times, but it’s a part of what they have to do before there’s a runway the next day. The following day they get up probably around the same time. They’re usually in the workroom by 8 a. Then they exit for the runway. We have a small break that is just logistical for us to get all of our cameras moved down and set up. They don’t get to work on the clothes during that time, and they’re separated from their models. The designers eat then, but it only takes about a half an hour for us get set up, and then we shoot the runway show a couple of times without the judges just to make sure the audience gets enough views of the garments. I know this sounds boring, but it’s all pretty much what you see on TV up to the runway day. There are no real tricks in our world because of our time constraints; we shoot an episode every two to three days and we don’t take a day off in between. They finish a runway, someone’s eliminated at 8 p. And that happens for five to six weeks straight. Within that we may have three interview days where they get a chance to breathe and do interviews. But it is grueling. It’s pretty much what you see, because we really do shoot 1. AVC: So when Tim says, “Okay, you have till 1. SR: We have a mandatory turnaround. It’s not mandatory from anyone but us, but we’ve decided that we have to have a minimum six hours for the designers to sleep. And that’s minimum. But, yeah, they’re up at 5 a. They’re working to midnight, and by the time they get back it’s 1. So we have to shut it down. We also can’t have camera crews all night. There are probably four hours total where no one is at Parsons on a given day. We have to wrap out and clean everything up from a production standpoint, and then people have to get in and prep before the following morning. AVC: Do you have camera shifts? SR: We have multiple, multiple crews. We have morning shifts and day shifts and nighttime shifts. Every crew has 1. AVC: Why can’t the designers take work home at night? Is it because you can’t be there to film it or because they would run themselves into the ground? SR: Well, it’s both. It’s really more about the sleep, to be honest, because we’ve had seasons where they didn’t get as much sleep and we’ve had ambulances. In season eight they were exhausted mentally and physically, and it’s so intense emotionally and creatively that it wears them out. By episode eight, we always have someone breaking down because they’re burned out. So we have to manage them to make sure they go to sleep, because some of them would work all night. They’re just thinking about the immediate, but it’s a marathon. So we have to help manage that. AVC: You mentioned going to Mood in the morning. Is the show there before Mood even opens? SR: No, Mood closes for us. We have a very close, long- term working relationship with them and we make sure we’re posted on their schedule so they don’t close too early. We tell them, “Hey, we’ll be there in 3. It’s very, very kind, and it works out well for us for obvious reasons. AVC: And how does it work at Mood? You have to be cashed out within that half an hour? Have there been problems with designers not having their material cut in time? SR: We’ve had times where—and this rarely happens because Mood staffs very well for us—someone cuts their own fabric because they’re all frantic. But it’s only been an issue once in the seven seasons I’ve done. AVC: There’s been an issue on the show in the past with people bringing pattern books. What’s the rule about what they can bring, preparation- wise? Does Parsons have a library they can use? SR: It’s all in their heads. We don’t want them relying on other people’s designs or other materials, and we don’t want anyone to have an unfair advantage so we limit their resources to what the necessities are with their dress forms and their scissors and their sewing kits. We want them to create from what they know, not from a pattern book. It doesn’t help them and it could also be derivative, . You have your sewing kit and your creative minds: Go to work. AVC: How do you come up with challenges? And how do you know how much time or money to assign to a challenge? On Survivor, for instance, they have the staff test the challenges out. SR: On shows that have stunts and things like that, it’s very important to test them out. Here, we just use our working knowledge of, “Is this doable?” Tim is a great partner as far as, “Can they do this in this timeframe? Is this budget fair? What material should we give them?” We rely on him a lot. We usually have a good idea of what is and isn’t doable, but sometimes we’re very nervous. I remember season six—which is the first season I did—we did a newspaper challenge. The only material they had was the L. A. I was a nervous wreck, but I sat there and watched it, and they blew our minds—and that’s the beauty of it. The greatest challenges are when we put them in what seems like unbelievable situations and then they blow us away. That’s the fun of having them make clothes out of something you’d find in a grocery store or a party store. They can do it. We’re very mindful of what we put them up against, but we like to push them in order to get results that blow us and the audience away. AVC: When you’re doing an unconventional challenge, how do you choose the materials? SR: It’s a process. We have a team of people whose main job is to sit around and come up with ideas, and they bring them to us and we try to visualize all the different materials. I always like it when they present it to us as a list of what’s in that store. Like, what’s in a hardware store? It helps you say, “Well, what would I do? What could they use to make something?” And then we go with what we think would be the most fun and we try to make it different from a previous season. We just try to do what feels right and what we feel will have the best result. We never want to give them less than eight hours because that’s not fair, unless we own it and that’s been a part of the challenge. One time we did a five- hour challenge, and that was really hard. But we rarely do anything under eight hours, because it just doesn’t give them the time to do anything impressive. And if they don’t do anything impressive, then the show doesn’t work. AVC: What happens after the designers leave the workroom? They get separated from their models, but do they see them again before they hit the runway? SR: Backstage, they get five minutes of what we call “last looks” which we shoot and air when it’s relevant. They’re last- minute touch- ups, just like any designer would do for their show. AVC: And how do you set up the order of who walks when in the show? SR: We try to make it an interesting runway show for the judges. We don’t want to too many things that look alike one after another. We try to mix up the look so we don’t have three pair of pants walking and then three dresses. We’ll mix those up, so it’ll be a visually interesting show, just like a designer would if they were doing their own show. AVC: This season, you guys had Sandro Masmanidi, who was a bit of a loose cannon and ended up having to leave the show. SR: He had a lot of personality. AVC: It’s a credit to you guys that you’ve seemingly always cast for talent and not for crazy reality characters. SR: We’ve had loose cannons before, but he was particularly loose, or particularly a cannon. AVC: How do you cast the show? SR: We have a process of what we look for. Talent is first and foremost. We have closed casting calls, so we have to invite you. Project Runway (TV Series 2. Find industry contacts & talent representation. Manage your photos, credits, & more. Showcase yourself on IMDb & Amazon.
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