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Behind the Scenes in Hollywood: Cynthia Childs

About two years ago, I interviewed some amazing friends who work behind the scenes in Hollywood. They were (and in some cases, still are) responsible for the creatures in Lord of the Rings and Narnia, the clothes on True Blood, the girls on America’s Next Top Model, the “look” of Itty Bitty Titty Committee, and Tyra Banks‘ production needs. Jealous? Yeah, me, too.

Well, it’s been too long since we pulled back the curtain on Tinsel Town, so over the next few days, you’ll meet a few more talented women who help bring you the shows you know and love. Beats working a desk job. And… action!

Cynthia Childs, Supervising Producer

If you think shaping and telling stories for reality shows is easy, think again. Cynthia Childs knows a thing or two about making the most of what you’ve got, having story produced shows like Project Runway, Top Chef and oh yes, The Real L Word: Los Angeles, for the production company, Magical Elves.

Given the popularity and criticism RLW garnered during its ground-breaking first season, I just had to get Cynthia’s reaction to all of it, and try like hell to get a scoop about Season 2.

AfterEllen.com: Are there any real elves at Magical Elves, Cynthia?

Cynthia Childs: [laughs] No, but there are ghosts on the floor above me, which really terrifies me.

AE: No way.

CC: Yeah. It’s not just one sighting, but thankfully, they’re not on my floor. I don’t doubt it for a second, though. This place is absolutely haunted.

AE: It’s almost 9PM and you’re still at work. Just you and the ghosts.

CC: I’m on a new series for NBC right now, so we’re discovering the format and going to focus groups and all the sort of stuff that comes with a new series. I’m committed. I love the Magical Elves, and I just want to do the best job I can.

AE: What show is it? What’s it about?

CC: I’m on America’s Next Great Restaurant. It premieres in March on NBC. In the style of Top Chef, we’re taking 10 people with a simple idea for a restaurant in the fast/casual category, like Chipotle or Panera Bread. These people are not restaurateurs, necessarily — they just have an idea.

The winner gets part ownership in the first three restaurants in [what will hopefully become] a national chain. It’s a totally unique prize. After the season, people will be able to go to the restaurant.

AE: Did you get any truly kooky restaurant idea submissions?

CC: I’m not at liberty to say.

AE: Oh, you! Here we go.

CC: [laughs] No! Protect me!

AE: Fine. I know you’re not going to give me anything good about being the supervising producer on The Real L Word, but I’m going to ask anyway. How do you think Season 1 went?

CC: We took a lot of hits, and at the same time, I know there are a lot of fans. I see our getting a second season as a blessing, and an opportunity to improve the series. Honestly, I’m just trying to embrace that, make the show better, and do everything I can to keep people watching, and hook some new people who don’t know about it yet.

AE: Do you agree with some of the complaints about the first season? Or at least take them seriously?

CC: Oh, I definitely take it seriously. I don’t live and die by them, because we are doing the best we can here, and are producing work that we believe in. But at the same time, I definitely would like to be producing work that the audience likes and can get behind.

In some ways, I felt like it’s definitely a lot to live up to, because the lesbian audience is so broad: from very young girls, to very mature women. And to bring just one show to the market that going to strike a chord with the entire audience, it’s a tricky thing to do.

AE: I’m going to go down the list of complaints The Real L Word received and you address them, if you can. Ready?

CC: Yes.

AE: Number 1: The show wasn’t ethnically diverse. Is Season 2 going to fix that?

CC: I definitely hope so. Casting isn’t complete so I can’t confirm anything at this point. But I would like it to be. But it’s definitely a goal, without a doubt.

AE: OK. Number 2: The cast didn’t represent “real” lesbians.

CC: I never quite understood that one. I don’t know. The show seems very LA to me. And that’s the point of The Real L Word: Los Angeles. It’s not the only people in Los Angeles, by any stretch of the imagination, but when you look at the people who populated The L Word — a professional athlete, an heiress, a dean of a school — those are the women in that world. And so, that was our starting point.

The idea wasn’t to find the most average person. The idea was to find the LA woman who fits within the world that was defined by The L Word. I don’t feel like we missed the mark that much. But certainly, with the diversity, there’s room for improvement.

AE: Can you put an Asian in the cast? In all the complaints about diversity, it never feels like they mean Asians.

CC: I know! That’s one I never hear. And I know a lot of Asian lesbians living in Los Angeles. I don’t get it. Why wasn’t there an outcry for Asians?

AE: We’re the low-key minority. Can you go on the record that they want to bring back two cast members from Season 1?

CC: I can’t talk about that at all.

AE: What if we speak Pig Latin? Do the names Itney-way and Acy-tray mean anything to you?

CC: I can only say I loved all the cast members from Season 1. I thought they were all amazing women and had great stories. I would have been happy to tell more of them.

AE: You are a supervising producer, which sounds self-explanatory, but, for readers who don’t know a lot about production, can you detail what that really means?

CC: It varies from show to show, but for The Real L Word, I was story boarding out the episodes. So, as far as people saying, “Hey. This feels like it was story-boarded by straight people” — no, that was me.

AE: Wow, harsh. I’m sorry.

CC: I’m not going to summarily dismiss all of it, but at the same time, we can’t make everyone happy. I wish [they] could be happy for the people who like the show! [laughs]

AE: What footage did you see that we didn’t get to see?

CC: Hmm. I think the saddest thing that got cut from Season 1 was a scene with Whitney, Scarlett and Tor, all in the shower together. And then, the trainer, Miranda, was washing them off with salt. I was shocked and horrified that it didn’t make it into the show.

AE: [laughs]

CC: Whitney was like, “Miranda! Come wash us off.” And Miranda was like, “Uh, OK.” It was hilarious. That’s the thing about Whitney. She had no lack of story.

AE: Not that Whitney needs a reason, but why were they in the shower together?

CC: Corn lube wrestling. There was an industrial grade animal lube in that pool, or something insane.

AE: Is there such a thing?

CC: [laughs] It was an insane amount of lube. That White Trash Party was epic. It went on and on and on. But we had to pick our battles and couldn’t show all of it.

AE: What were your favorite storylines?

CC: My favorite storyline was Tracy with her mother. Although I don’t find the coming out or the “coming to terms” story the most groundbreaking these days, it was so honest. She went balls out, saying, “I’m going to do this, and you’re going to face it.”

To me, it was very brave, very emotional and it was risky. I imagine she is pretty glad she went there — it really opened things up with her mom. It’s definitely my highlight story.

AE: Tracy is the sunshine crotch.

CC: [laughs] I liked when you guys were writing about how many sunshine crotches the show’s reviews were worth! Very good!

AE: I can’t wait to see the Season 2 poster.

CC: How can we top that one?

AE: Well, you can’t.

CC: [laughs] I think we got off-topic.

AE: Right. What were we…

CC: We were talking about supervising producers.

AE: Yes. Story producing. Thank you.

CC: It varies quite a bit from reality competition to docu-drama, but with docu-drama, Magical Elves likes to go into the field and be the fly on the wall as much as possible. There are some very heavy-handed show where the company is setting up everything, saying, “You’re going to go here, you’re going to do this.” It’s not how we like to do things.

We definitely have story lines in mind, but through communication with the field and the executive producer, we decide which stories we’re going to edit. The supervising producer then takes it through the edit, with notes, and crafts the show. I really enjoy it.

AE: Is it me, or are the best supervising producers women? I think it’s because we’re so organized and like to tell people what to do. I could be making that up.

CC: [laughs] Works for me. I am very organized. I used to be a stage manager with the Los Angeles Opera. It was a lot of fun and I worked on some amazing productions there, but it wasn’t the path I wanted to be on.

AE: You don’t miss the theater?

CC: I don’t miss theater, or opera, just because I really like the reach that television has. You can do the most awesome thing in opera, and so few people saw it. And on top of that, I was in a position that had no creative input at all. That was not satisfying either.

AE: Obviously, there’s more to you than lube wrestling. Do you want to talk about your documentary, A Place to Live? I sure do.

CC: I do!

AE: Great. Tell everyone what it’s about.

CC: A Place to Live is the story of Triangle Square, the very first affordable housing community for elderly gays and lesbians in the entire country.

AE: That addresses something we rarely talk about because gay culture is such a youth-oriented business. Who’s going to take care of us when we’re old?

CC: You’re right on in saying that the gay culture is youth-oriented. In the broadest sense, it is very much about beauty and being young and fabulous. And seniors don’t fit into that picture.

When I came to the project, I found that I hadn’t really considered it myself. Who are the gay seniors in LA and what kind of lives had they led? It was a world that I thought was interesting and there were stories that needed to be told.

AE: The building had to implement a lottery system because of the overwhelming demand for such a facility.

CC: There was so much hope in this building. Expectations had to be mitigated with, “OK, now you’re here, and we’re trying to create a safe environment. Now what?” It took a while for everyone to feel it was a home. I was actually just visiting one of the seniors and she said she really felt that community now. It was just a wonderful thing to hear.

AE: A Place to Live won the Audience Award at Outfest in 2008. Is it currently being shown anywhere?

CC: It did the gay film festival circuit and had a really wonderful run. It was a lot of fun to travel and meet people. The film has a sales agent who’s trying to make a TV sale, and the DVD will be released soon, available on the website.

AE: Very different from reality TV. What do you like about reality TV?

CC: Let me reach down deep. [laughs] I actually feel lucky to have gotten into it when I did, and I work on projects that I care about, which is really rewarding.

There’s so much reality TV that runs the full spectrum of amazing to mind numbing. So, to work on shows with good characters, solid casting and stories to tell — I’m happy.

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