I know from helping to audition prospective Kennys that, with Corey Lof (“Kenny”), it’s best to just let him at it. Seriously, magic happens and needs no preamble. So without further ado, Corey Lof describes last year’s season finale.

“Me and Kate and Kate and I, and probably Kenny’s biggest scene to date, not to mention the first official coming out for Rose, shot outdoors, so the weather has to be perfect, oh and Jason wants the world to freeze, the people in the background, the trees in the wind, the cars on the road: they all have to stop dead when Rose finally says it, “Kenny, I’m Gay.” Shouldn’t be a problem right?

“We were lucky that that Saturday, which also happened to be the Saturday after my Friday college graduation.  Turned out to be one of the lovely spring days that we wait all winter for. Weather, check. We were also lucky that the TTC was running on schedule and we all made it on set in one piece and on time. That’s always nice. And a fun, and crucial, and life saving fact; this scene was actually the scene that Jason had me read when auditioning for the role of Kenny. Now why that is so life saving is, because this was the audition scene, I had already stressed and worked and burned those lines into my head about three months back, so the fact that it was my graduation the night before, and an after party followed that, and there was little time to work the lines the night before, did not kill us or me or the crucial scene in the final episode of season one. The day could not have went smoother. Kate was awesome, and prepared, and heartbreaking and hilarious as always, and Jason – well, Jason was there and ecstatic and professional as always, armed with his razor sharp vision and zip off shorts. And as it turns out, freezing the busy Toronto traffic on a beautiful Saturday afternoon is not as impossible as it sounds. There really is a such thing as movie magic, or webseries magic I guess in this case. The day was a blast, we wrapped early, and the end result turned out great. So enjoy, again, and again, and again until season two airs, where we have a whole other lot of great episodes for you to enjoy.”

I managed to catch Lindsey Middleton (“Vanessa”) literally hours before she boarded a plane to Germany.  Lindsey’s character receives by far the strongest reactions.  I love this episode because we get to see a glimpse into Vanessa’s world. We also get to see her charming side during the chemistry lesson.  Lindsey took some time to talk about the filming process:

“The episode ‘Chemistry with Vanessa’ was a lot of fun for me to shoot; well, every episode is always fun to shoot. This day was a little tricky as I had to memorize all these science terms verbatim, and I really had no idea what I was talking about! It was also the first day I had ever met Wendy (“Vanessa’s Mom”). So basically she came onto the set, we shook hands and then she turned on her sassiness and scolded me for the next two hours.  It was a pretty funny way to meet someone.  Also, I think Jason (our director) did a beautiful job with the dream sequence. There was about 7 of us squished into this tiny room holding lights and hanging cameras off crazy contraptions but Jason always keeps the energy upbeat and positive, which is what I like best about working on Out With Dad. Basically, I’m extremely happy with how the show is coming along and I can’t wait to keep filming more and more seasons!”

Today’s commentary is brought to you by me, Kara Dymond!

“Tea with Dad” has a very special place in my heart.  For one, I got to hold a camera and shoot some footage.  Shooting in the rain was a new experience for me and certainly brought cast and crew closer together.   I felt like a voyeur peeking at our wonderful actors share a moving moment on the front steps.  And while we made tea inside, I reminisced about cuppas I’ve had throughout my life.  The ones with friends, whispering about our secret crushes. The ones with family, recalling memories of  loved ones, especially the irreverent ones!   The steaming mugs revitalizing me in England, where I came down with a cold while visiting my pen pal.  There is something about tea that grounds me in these moments.

But beyond that, the episode speaks volumes in so little time about the unconditional love between Nathan and Rose.  Whatever happens between them, they can always come back to this – a cup of tea, a few words or no words at all.

Ever the romantic, I was on set when we filmed Nathan’s blind date.  In fact, I was one of the extras, and had trouble paying attention since I was riveted by the scene unfolding between Will Conlon’s character, Nathan, and Kelly-Marie Murtha’s character, Angela.  Blind dates. Always entertaining, always tense, always exciting. Even the scripted ones!  Kelly-Marie shared some insights on the filming – and real-life – experience:

“When I was asked to reflect on my episode “Blind Date with Nathan” (my episode!! like no one else was in it!) I had a hard time coming up with one or two things when everything about it and the experience was amazing! But I got to thinking about blind dates… We’ve all had them at some point – the anticipation, the wondering how it will turn out, meeting a complete stranger and hoping that something will click – and I realized that my coming to set was my blind date!  I had only met a few people at the audition, so coming to actually film the scene was in effect a blind date – the anticipation, wondering how it will turn out, meeting strangers – including Will (“Nathan”) and hoping that we would click.  Well All I can say is – BEST BLIND DATE EVER!!  Working with Will was incredible – considering we didn’t know one another, the chemistry we had was so wonderful and that really comes across on screen.  We clicked! And working with Jason, as an actor, was so refreshing.  His ability to let you know what he wants and then to just trust you and just let you go is very rare. Put all that together along with the beautiful story and you have a hit!! I told you Jason!! ”

The other day, I had dinner (pizza) and dessert (to-die-for triple chocolate cookies fresh from the oven) courtesy of Vanya Garraway, Out With Dad‘s assistant director and production coordinator.  We watched this episode, oh, three or four times. It’s magical – even for me, who was on set that day fighting off the heat and humidity created by a house full of people and empty of air conditioning in a Toronto heatwave (and you’ll notice it’s the first time Kate Conway (“Rose”) has her hair up).  Vanya fell in love with this episode before she even came on board, so of course, today’s reflection is all hers.

“

Besides the technical strengths, the wonderful performances and the relatable storyline in ‘Party Out’, it is the music that drives the episode. Who hasn’t had a stolen moment with some they love that they know they can’t have? Especially, as a teenager, when every event seems life affirming or life changing. It is amazing how often these moments are set to music. Those songs embed themselves and stamp those moments. When I watch ‘Party Out’, it almost feels like I am in three moments in time, Rose’s present, my own past and a memory that Rose could have in the future. Each of the three songs reveals a different layer of Roses emotions in the form of rhythmic expression. I come back to this episode time and again because I feel I can relate. When fans look back on this episode, it will do two things: one, it will remind us of our past again and two, it will remind us of the first time we saw this chapter of Rose’s life. It will do the same thing it seems to do for Rose and again we will be right beside her on her journey. It’s this timelessness that made me want to be apart of the series. Thank you for watching!”

“Movie Night with Dad” is one of my favourite episodes, and the one I show to people first to get them into the show, to appreciate the depth of characters, and to wow them with Jason’s cinematography genius.  However a good friend of mine, Aidan Gowland, was able to personally relate to the show.  He writes about how this episode brought him and his father closer together:

“This episode brings out the best of OWD. While I was watching Season 1 straight (no pun intended) through on my own, it was one of my favourites. But later, I turned to it as a way to give my dad some guidance, and it was more than helpful in giving us some bonding time. We bonded over checking out the Girl On The Subway (Sarah Joy Bennett), but we also bonded over the understanding that in every silence there are hordes of thoughts racing through our minds. This episode does an amazing job of disproving the idea that silence is dead space. It brings silence to life, and shows it for what it is: a space alive with thoughts, emotion and tension. Nathan and Rose each have a goal in the silence they endure at the theatre – for Rose it is to safeguard her secret, and for Nathan, the goal is to pull it out of her, but ultimately, this episode brings to light the smaller aspirations we all have – to say the right thing at the right time, without embarassing ourselves.”

Writer/creator Jason Leaver looks back at our second episode of the first season, “Out to Lunch”:

Episode two went through a lot of changes. Originally it was going to be school cafeteria scenes for our trio of Rose, Kenny and Vanessa. But we couldn’t find a suitable location to film in. So we modified the script to take place in a local diner instead.  Which, by the way, was not a diner at all, but an office.  It was transformed through the brilliant art direction by our very own Lizz Hodgson. We called it “Liz’z Diner”, and onset illustrator/crew member Brendon Smith wrote out Liz’z menu on the chalkboard in the background. The other big change with the length. Originally “Out to Lunch” was only to be Rose with Kenny/Vanessa and Nathan at the coffee shoppe with Johnny. But after the OVERWHELMING reaction to episode one being so short, we decided to shoot more to make it longer. The scene of Nathan researching online was originally written for a season two episode. Kate, Will and Mark Devine (the owner of the home we film in) agreed to shoot that scene very last minute. Just in time for the episode’s release, on July 22, 2010.

I wrote about filming that scene for the Making Out blog last year. (click to read)

The scene with Johnny turned out to be even more important than I ever realized. For one, it really sold the audience on what kind of father Nathan is. Two, it caught the attention of PFLAG Canada (more on that later). Also, it directly sets up scenes in episodes mid-way in season two.

8 more days!!!

As part of our countdown to our season 2 premiere, Kate Conway (“Rose”) discusses the process of filming Out With Dad, and her reaction to seeing Out With Dad for the first time:

“The anticipation of seeing episode one for the first time was very intense for me. I had never seen myself in a finished filmed project before. We got to see brief takes of ourselves onset, but that was really it. I wasn’t used to seeing myself on camera because my training had been all theatre. We filmed bits and pieces of different episodes throughout the spring and summer which I was also not used to. Having scenes shot out of order forced me to pay closer attention. I needed to keep the continuity of of Rose’s journey intact. The premiere of the first episode became a launch party at director Jason Leaver’s house. The entire cast and crew all got to watch the premiere at the exact same time. It was really thrilling! It was a very special moment for all of us after weeks of filming and waiting to see what the final product looked like. We were all very proud as we watched the views on YouTube begin to climb and comments start to roll in. It was a night I will always cherish. Season 2′s premiere on July 7th has a lot to live up to, but I have a feeling it will exceed all expectations.”