mandatory Ride alongside law enforcement It just didn't help On the call The writers conduct vital research for the show – and also inspired important scenes from Wolf Entertainment's first live-action series.
The Prime Video series, which premiered on Thursday, January 9, uses body camera, dashcam and cellphone footage that… It allows viewers to follow the police officers in the field. On the call It centers largely around veteran training officer Tracy Harmon (Troian Bellisario) and her rookie partner Alex Diaz (Brandon Laracuente) while responding to emergency calls on the streets of Long Beach, California.
The duo handles everything from gang-related incidents to domestic disputes to arson incidents. While some situations seem overdone for the sake of making good television, they are co-created Tim Walsh He said exclusively Us Weekly How his own riding experiences influenced the show's scripts.
“I can honestly say that probably 90 to 95 percent of the calls I saw on the show all came from our experiences in flight,” Walsh said. “Or we told them to the officers as we walked around. So it took a lot of out of being on the street.”
Erin Simkin/Prime Video Season 1 of On Call had us on the edge of our seats — but where does Wolf Entertainment's police procedural go from here? On Call, which premiered on Thursday, January 9, centers on veteran training officer Tracy Harmon (Troian Bellisario) and her rookie partner Alex Diaz (Brandon Larracuente) as (…)
Walsh admitted as much Create an ambitious series like On the call It came with its own set of challenges.
“The body camera is a lens that takes it all in. We learned right away while editing that you would see the boom operator, the craft services and the inlet vessels. We had to be really careful,” he explained. “We learned, but we had to be really careful.” At one point there were 12 cameras in Episode 4 when they hit the hotel.
“It's a big action scene and every one of our characters — or police officers — is wearing a body camera,” Walsh continued. “You can just imagine they're going to bring in the crew, and they're going to have people sit on the side. So that was a real challenge. We just had to figure it out and we found it in the editing part.” Of the process.
Despite the complications, Walsh says he's happy with the final product. Specifically, he highlighted the screenwriter On the call's The task of not choosing sides Highlighting important conversations about first responders.
“That was the point of going into it — it's not an anti-police or pro-police show. It's pro-character, and the characters are cops,” Walsh said. “We started doing a lot of research from the jump, including multiple excursions With the Los Angeles Police Department, Sheriff's Department, and Long Beach Police. You realize when you get into the car that he is just another human being next to you.
On the call in general The mission was to “entertain.” Audience. “People are at a point in their lives where they don't want to be preached to anymore. So we were very aware of that,” Walsh continued. “It's a complex topic. We're not ignoring that part of it. But we also say that beyond the complex topic, there is also very important work for these people to do. We wanted to focus on that part.”
On the call It is currently streaming on Prime Video. Keep scrolling for details on how off-screen riding played a role in the creation of the latest police procedural:
Was riding mandatory?
Walsh called direct research “Incredibly important” to the show.
“Honestly, when I hired the writing staff I asked them, 'Do you have a problem going on tour?' “Because if you do, you (probably) won’t be writing for the show,” Walsh said. weIn reference to how domain knowledge is necessary when creating the series. “If someone is going to write a show about a TV writer, they have to shadow a TV writer or showrunner to find out what their day-to-day life is like. They can't just make it up.”
complete On the call The team wanted to get right with the material, and Walsh added: “We couldn't do that with these law enforcement officers either. We wanted this to always be very authentic because there's a lot of drama that I have. So preparation was No. 1 and the actors really stepped up.” They all rode together, the directors rode together, some of the producers rode together, our production manager did so, if you wanted to be on the show, you definitely had to go and sit in the car with those guys.
How much of the journey ended up on screen?
While Walsh reminisced about his time in the squad car Quoting the first key moment Between Harmon and Diaz.
“What stuck with me was on one of my first trips while developing this show with a young 30-year-old kid who stopped on the side of the road. Then he turned to me after we had a very friendly back-and-forth conversation. He looks at me and asks, ‘Where are we now?’” I said, “What?” “You mean? It's like, 'I just got shot. You're my partner tonight.'” “Where are we?” Walsh told us of a conversation leading up to the season premiere of “On Call.” “I'm already dead.”
“He said, 'The most important thing you can learn from day one is where you are at all times in life,'” Walsh continued. That went straight into the pilot.
Was anything out of bounds?
“When you're with these officers, you go right into these communities and right into people's homes. “You're in their living rooms, in their backyard and you learn a lot,” Walsh said, referring to how he uses his first-hand experience on screen. “We're not watching the police.” Not only are we monitoring the community and how they interact with the police as well. This is also very important.”
The most heavy topic in the show – Including cold open In a car accident that injured a dog – it was removed from the actual accidents.
“He had to go in there. I've done a few shows where I developed it and they didn't move forward and it was devastating. I felt like this might be my last chance,” he admitted. we. “And if I was going to fall on anyone’s sword, it would be on my own. I was like, ‘Nothing is off limits.’ Let’s just leave it all out there and I think it will find its audience.”
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How dangerous is the trip?
According to Walsh, not every encounter Show how he expected.
“We came across a guy (one time) who was smoking crystal meth on a bench at the bus stop, and the officer got on his speakerphone and just said, ‘Hey, do me a favor.’ Just move over and go smoke that somewhere else. You can’t be in In public places, they might have gotten out of the car and confronted him, but he was taking precautions. “The guy said, 'No, I'm not moving.'” And when he moved, we saw he was carrying a tennis ball-sized amount of methamphetamine, he said. The officer got out of the car and I went out with him.”
The routine stoppage is over With a “physical altercation” between the man and the police officer.
“I'll never forget this young deputy rolling on the ground with this guy. I turned around and everyone in the intersection was parked with their cell phones and they were recording us. And I said to myself, 'Please, don't let this end in a more violent way.'” Walsh continued, “and the suspect started… “Escape.” “Then the entire fleet chased him and after about 30 minutes they caught him. But things like that, I was literally his only support. So I was wondering: Do I need to step in here and help him? But that's the case with almost every trip, and you have absolutely no idea what you're going to encounter.
What are the main takeaways from the experience?
“What I hope (viewers) take away is that a big part of daily police interactions is mental health. “I don’t think they get enough credit for that,” Walsh noted. “There’s obviously a lot of focus on negative events,” Walsh noted. Which must be indicated correctly. But they also help people with mental illness and substance abuse problems.
“It's not actually what's in their job description, but it's on them and the fire department,” he concluded. “So maybe the takeaway is just to raise awareness that these are the people who are helping people on the street with addiction issues — more than you can imagine.” probably.
