Discover Top Posts Tagged with #ryan orange

Calahan Skogman photographed by Ryan Orange

#Calahan Skogman #actor #shadow and bone #ryan orange

The Last Shadow Puppets are an English supergroup fronted by Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and Miles Kane (The Rascals) shot at MiniBar Hollywood, CA

#the last shadow puppets #alex turner #miles kane #2016 #photoshoot #ryan orange #tlsp2 #arctic monkeys

Who are we playing today?

This week, I have a story in L.A. Weekly about how authentic representations of Los Angeles neighborhoods are showing up in television shows across genres—a trend owed in part to the influx of on-demand & streaming content, and in part to a rebranding of L.A. as a livable city.

While researching & reporting, I spent a lot of time watching television and in movies about Los Angeles, or set in Los Angeles, or movies and TV in which other cities playing Los Angeles or Los Angeles plays other cities. I also read articles and watched a movie about Los Angeles playing itself (or not). I hung around parts of the city that had played themselves in these shows I was writing about (Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Heights, Camilo’s Bistro in Eagle Rock) and trailed production crews in the Valley and Hollywood Hills as they scouted out new parts of Los Angeles that could play themselves.

It got pretty meta. I started to think about who we were all playing as we talked about and wrote about these places playing themselves (or not).

Here I am, playing a crime reporter photographing a body of a San Fernando Valley mobster in a Bentley (something a real crime reporter would likely never get access to) while Michael Connelly, who was once an actual crime reporter talks to me about how L.A. is a character in his dozens of Harry Bosch novels & new TV show. (Don’t worry, the body’s just a dummy.)

And here, I’m playing a police reporter, interviewing two actual LAPD officers who play fictional LAPD officers on Bosch. But really, I’m an arts and culture reporter interviewing actors about a television show. But even that feels like a role—I’m playing a Hollywood reporter when I usually write about mobility and feminism.

The photos above were taken by the excellent Ryan Orange, who specializes in celebrity editorial. He was playing a photojournalist that day, which he is, but he told me film production is his real love, a role he hasn’t played too much recently. He agreed to take a selfie with me while we waited for hours in the heat to get all the material we needed.

We sat in directors’ chairs in a tiny bit of shade, along with a couple of actors waiting for their scenes, and talked about women’s representations in Game of Thrones and selfie sticks and roles for Latino actors. I guess at that point, we were just playing regular people, maybe even ourselves.

#Bosch #Los Angeles Plays Itself #LA Weekly #Ryan Orange #Michael Connelly #Los Angeles #Television