I attended a press event for Disney. All expenses paid, however all statements are my own.
Wow, the GoodDinoEvent was such an amazing press trip. You’ve seen my posts and you know what, it just keeps getting better!! Writing these posts takes me back and I get all kinds of giddy and excited. You know that hit show on ABC, Wednesdays 9:30|8:30c called black-ish? Yeah you know the one! Not only did we get to visit the set but we got an exclusive tour and commentary by the one and only Rainbow Johnson! Yes!! We were on the set of black-ish with Tracee Ellis Ross!
Filming On Set
“The nice part about the big rooms is it’s easy for shooting but, on Girlfriends it was smaller but they were all open. There was always a wall missing because we shot on multi-cam, which means you shoot more for an audience. So these [walls], they all close, but like this wall is usually off [on the side], because they mostly shoot from this side for this room or through the door. But it does make it easy. It makes it really, and a lot, it allows us to do less set ups, which takes less time, which is fantastic ’cause people don’t realize how long it takes. A friend of mine was like, it’s a 22 minute show how long does it take to shoot an episode, like four hours? And I was like no, five days. She was like, well, like four hours everyday? I was like “no. It’s a long week, which is kind of amazing to think of how long it takes and how many angles, all that different stuff it takes to shoot 22 minutes.” She even showed us where she hides her scripts during shooting! You can find her scripts in the kitchen drawers. 😉 That’s not your typical junk drawer!
Photo Credit: ©ABC
Here’s more pics of the set..
Rainbow versus Tracee’s style
“We have a wonderful costume department led by Michelle Cole. I do have input but they do the shopping. I don’t really specify any designers. My style is a little bit different than Bow. Oh yeah, which I kind of love. Bow doesn’t wear heals ever. I wear heals all the time. Bow like rarely wears a heel, which I find liberatingly wonderful. It’s so great to not put heels on. One of the things that was very clear to me that I really wanted to bring to Bow is that she doesn’t have time for hair and makeup. I don’t know a mother of four with a career and a husband that can spend a ton of time putting together looks. I usually don’t wear mascara. I don’t wear eye shadow and stuff like that. It’s sort of like the mascara and the lipstick is kind of her sort of regimen and routine. There’s usually not a lot of jewelry. I feel like the way she pulls from her closet is the way people pull from their closet, so it’s usually like a dress and sneakers or jeans and a cute top. Like I wear a lot more stuff than she does, but I like to keep it really authentic.“
I don’t know about you, but I think Andre has Bo beat by a lot in the shoe department! Check out his shoe collection!
Working ith the Four Young Actors
“Honestly, talent aside, yes they’re talented, but they’re wonderful people. I mean, it’s really joyful, I have to say. There’s that myth, don’t work with kids who are animals. [LAUGHING.] I can’t understand that. I had such a good experience. I find it, I mean, you can say it this way, they’ve been on the planet for less time than us and they’re not jaded, they just have a pure joy that you can’t, I mean, when you see Miles and Marsai in the morning, they run towards you for a huddle up. It’s magic. There’s only so bad that they can be, right? Between takes, there’s a lot of giggling and laughing and videos being taken and pictures and everything, I really enjoy it. They’re extremely talented.“
PHOTO CREDIT – ABC/RON BATZDORFF
She begins to tell us a personal story of how she connected with the youngest Miles. “Miles, loves sports. He loves basketball and LeBron James. I kept everyone, you know, they’re kids so you say something like focus, like get focused like everybody’s doing their other, you know, you’re doing someone else coverage so you’re like focus. I realize as I was going to bed one night and I was like maybe he doesn’t know what that means. I need to explain that a little bit more because maybe that’s why we, everybody keeps saying focus, but maybe he has no idea what that means. So I thought about it, a really good metaphor that I was really happy about, because he loves basketball, I was like well it’s like who had the ball. And so now that’s what I say, I’m like who has the ball, but even if he doesn’t have the ball, even if you’re not the one with the ball, who has the ball? So who is, you know, who, so that you stay in the scene and you stay in the game, right? I was really proud of myself. [LAUGHING.] They’re so young and they have such a grown-up job on their shoulders and they’re kids. They’re great kids, so it’s really fun.” What a perfect way to integrate his love of sports into staying focused during scenes!
and here’s little ol’ me with Tracee! 
I cannot say enough about Tracee Ellis Ross. She is warm, charismatic and such a delight. I’ve always been a fan, but she truly has a fan for life in me. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us and taking us around the black-ish set!
*Don’t Miss Tonight’s Episode*
“Man at Work” was written by Vijal Patel and directed by Kevin Bray. Episode airs tonight at 9:30|8:30c on ABC. Guest staring Faison Love & Wanda Sykes, this is one you don’t want to miss!
Photo Credit: (ABC/Eddy Chen)
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, FAIZON LOVE, ANTHONY ANDERSON
We got to watch tonight’s episode and you won’t want to miss it: Episode: “Man at Work” Dre has always looked out for the crew he grew up with, but when his childhood friend Sha (guest star Faizon Love) comes to stay at the house for a few days, Bow thinks he is taking advantage of Dre’s generosity. Meanwhile, Daphne Lido (played by Wanda Sykes), the now ex-wife of Stevens & Lido’s founding partner, gains control of half of the company and wants to start inserting herself in company business.
black-ish on Social Media Hashtag: #blackish
Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – blackish on ABC.go
black-ish airs Wednesday nights at 9:30|8:30c on ABC
