Mark Monroe, Emmy-nominated documentary writer and producer Lucia and Desi calls Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz “the most powerful couple Hollywood has ever seen”.
The couple not only founded Desilu Studios, a major independent production company, but also created one of the most beloved television shows of all time. I love Lucia. The show introduced all kinds of innovations that remain industry standards today, including the practice of recording sitcoms in front of a live audience, multi-camera filming, syndication, and reruns.
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“Innovation … we take it for granted because we’re still reaping the rewards of many of the things they invented,” Monroe said during a panel discussion on the Prime Video documentary at Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees event. “This is television today.”
Lucia and Desi Director Amy Poehler received six Emmy nominations, more than any other documentary this year, including recognition for best documentary or non-fiction and for directing, writing, image editing and music composition.
Poehler and the team got access to unreleased audio interviews with Ball and Arnaz to shed new light on the couple, who married in the 1940s and 1960s.
“We hit gold very early in the process, which was kind of a miracle,” Monroe said, noting that the discovery came as producer Gene Elphant Festa was researching footage produced by Lucy and Dez’s daughter Lucy. . “He found the box, which was unexpected on the day we were going through all the letters, photos and all the memories they kept. And that box had audio cassettes. And they were quite unique. “
Publisher Roberto A. Martínez used not only audio recordings, but also other resources, such as home movies.
“[Ball and Arnaz] They weren’t living in public, they weren’t always at parties, “Martinez said.” They were very personal … so these home videos were a great gift. “
Lucia and Desi tells the bittersweet story of two people who love each other deeply, but encounter marital difficulties as the demands of their growing entertainment empire seem to push them away. Composer David Schwartz was commissioned to write an orchestral score to support the film’s changing moods.
“It had 36 strings and some great soloists and my favorite musicians in the world. And I knew I had to be emotionally expansive in different ways. I had to create tension, “Schwartz explained.” I had to tell a love story. “Sometimes. Even though most of the comedy comes from Lucy and Des, I had to add some comedy and the rest not. I really wanted it to be a classic soundtrack that had a theme.
Monroe credits his director for framing the story in a way that emotionally moves audiences.
People think Amy was perfect because she’s funny and because she had a great career in comedy. I think he was perfect for that because he’s a humanist, “Monroe said.” He wasn’t a ‘funny’ director. He was funny there. He was based on the human elements of these two people and trying to make sure we bring them back to life as people, not like these icons you sometimes think of “.
Watch the panel video above.
Source: Deadline
