Santa Barbara Spends April In Paris!
Santa Barbara Associate Producer, Jeff Lerner, filled in Soap Opera Update about all the exciting happenings on the show's recent location shoot in France.
1989
WHO: Cast members Marcy Walker (Eden), A Martinez (Cruz), Carrington Garland (Kelly), Peter Love (Ric) and Elizabeth Storm (Hollis), along with 50 more production crew.
WHEN: The remote consisted of five shooting days, April 10-14, 1989. The footage aired May5-26, 1989.
THE AIRPLANE RIDE: Numerous security checks, mechanical problems and runway delays made catching connecting flights a nerve-jangling experience for many, especially those who already have a fear of flying to begin with. Marcy Walker and Jill Farren Phelps, the Executive Producer, white-knuckled it together on the flight home.
THE REACTION FROM THE FRENCH: Very gracious, very excited. During the visit, Tele 7 Jours, a widely read French magazine, featured Marcy Walker on its cover with her baby son Taylor. An ad for the magazine was all over Paris. In the Metro every other billboard had a picture of Marcy Walker on it! Marcy and A were mobbed wherever they went. All the stars had bodyguards with them at all times, although the fans were quite polite.
FUNNIEST THING: Bright one morning, the Eiffel Tower was used for shooting. Thirty or forty people were crammed into the elevator. When the door opened on the upper platform, right in front of them was a topless woman, climbing the side of the tower! Everyone panicked, at first thinking she might jump, until they realized that she was a model for a rather risque fashion photo shoot. Everyone had a good laugh!
THE WORST THING: A Martinez was fighting a pretty bad case of bronchitis. His voice was kind of weak, but the pro he is, you could never tell from the performance he gave that he was under the weather.
One day was a virtual rain-out. Most of the afternoon was spent huddled under beach umbrellas in front of the Trocadero waiting for the rain to let up.
SPARE TIME: There was hardly any. The French people and press couldn't get enough of the stars. One night New World's international division hosted everyone at the exclusive Polo Club. Another night the French press wined and dined the stars at a posh restaurant owned by Regine. One night was spent shooting a romantic montage of Cruz and Eden around various Paris landmarks. It turned out beautifully.
THE FANS: One young girl came to the set and begged A Martinez to visit her family who, like her are huge fans of Cruz. Despite his very hectic schedule and already feeling under the weather, A obliged and visited the family at the end of a twelve hour work day!
While they were shooting very dramatic scenes between Hollis, Ric, Cruz, and Eden on a river bank, there was a continuous parade of tour boats sailing by: You could see a gradual wave of recognition when everyone on these boats recognized their favorite stars. The fans would squeal with delight, not realizing that they were in the middle of shooting!
BUDGET: It was the most ambitious shoot they've ever done. The only thing that might have come close was the very first remote shot in Santa Barbara in 1984.
PRESS: There were always members of the foreign press around. Spain, among other countries, sent a crew to find out more about the show since it was just debuting there.
FOOD: There was a concern about the food initially after learning food breaks would take place in a truck. (Normally on location it is a buffet style, and you can eat outdoors.) It turns out the French have a very civilized set-up, a dining room on wheels! Once you get inside the truck, it is full of very long, wide, comfortable tables. The food was delicious, and lunch was always accompanied by wine in the French tradition.
FONDEST MEMORIES: At the end of five days of shooting they threw themselves a party in a rather unconventional location on the outskirts of Paris - a 180 foot barge docked on the Seine, converted by a set designer/producer into a luxurious home complete with an indoor swimming pool! All of the cast and crew showed up, ate, drank and danced into the night. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief and shared in the feeling of accomplishment, having just finished a great shoot.
Return to Interviews/Articles
