Award-winning actress Marg Helgenberger (“All Rise,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigator,” “China Beach”) presented a question and answer session for the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts’ IGNITE series on Oct. 16.
The session was titled “Creativity in the Age of COVID-19.” Helgenberger discussed what it is like to pioneer live-action television production in Hollywood during the global pandemic.
Helgenberger was part of the celebrated all-virtual All Rise episode in May 2020 and has returned to live production in the last three weeks under stringent union and policy guidelines.
She began starring in the CBS series “All Rise” last year, which looks at the personal and professional lives of the judges, lawyers, clerks, bailiffs and cops who work at an L.A. County courthouse.
“We just started back on ‘All Rise’ about three weeks ago. We just finished our second episode,” Helgenberger said. “It’s still unclear how many episodes we’re going to shoot this season.”
Many Covid-19 protocols are in place on set, she said.
“So many Covid protocols are in place from obviously testing three times a week for the actors who are in what is the ‘A’ zone, depending on how close to the action you can or should be,” she said. “All of the actors that are in Zone A, no one is supposed to be on the set when we arrive. We also have a lot of different equipment this year because they made the sets more kind of like arena style. They just take extra precautions.”
But Helgenberger is glad to be back on set.
“It’s kind of exhausting at times dealing with all that, but I’m glad to be back to work. I’m glad Hollywood is back to work,” Helgenberger said. “Hollywood takes this very seriously, which is a great thing.”
Back in May, the cast of “All Rise” shot a groundbreaking virtual episode titled “Dancing at Los Angeles,” that was filmed entirely remotely and was the season one finale for the series. It was the first scripted drama of its kind to feature characters whose lives were affected by coronavirus in the same ways the real-world citizens’ lives have been disrupted.
The episode presented some challenges to figure out what viewers would see on screen with the frame consisting of the grids that appear during Zoom or other video conference calls. They recorded each actor’s square separately.
“We shot a virtual episode in which all the actors shot in our homes on our devices,” Helgenberger said. “Most of us were on our computers. Some people were on iPhones or iPads. That was a lot of work for the actors. The actors were their own hair and makeup and wardrobe and set design and lighting and production design and basically all of the technology. Somehow we pulled it all off.”
“All Rise” is set at Los Angeles Superior Court, which enables them to focus on a lot of current issues in their storytelling.
“There are a lot of issues that we contend with. We try to be as realistic as possible in our storytelling, and the reality of the law and the justice system,” Helgenberger said. “Given what happened after that horrible death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, there were many protests, and sometimes the protests led to some violence and looting. The epicenter was downtown Los Angeles because that’s where City Hall is located, so our episodes will incorporate some of that. We’re taking advantage of the opportunity to tell stories that will deal directly with systemic racism and the court system and policing and racial profiling. . . . I hope that maybe our show and the stories that we tell will continue to inspire other shows to do that and lead communities and the fans to take a stand on whatever issue we happen to be presenting in their own communities.”
Helgenberger is a native Nebraskan and a member of the Hixson-Lied Endowment Advisory Board.
She is known for her roles as Catherine Willows in the CBS drama “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and as K.C. Koloski in the ABC drama “China Beach,” which earned her the 1990 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She earned two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe nominations for her work on “CSI.” In 2005, she won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Female Television Star and “CSI” received the Screen Actors Guild’s Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. In 2012, Helgenberger received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
IGNITE is a weekly colloquium for all Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts students, which involve guest lectures, workshops and seminars around creative and professional development.