Today we’re over at Fox. Security command us to park beneath Julie Andrews. An astonishingly intimate request – and one we hope her agent has legally approved. There’s palpable relief when we spot the 50ft painting of The Sound of Music star splashed over the car park wall.
We’re shown through the beautiful historic lot to our screening room, where our aged projectionist (hunkered amongst his whirring devices) looks as though he had the studio built around him. First we watch comedy Do Not Disturb and a number of presentation reels. Then we see The Ex-List about a 33-year-old searching for love (I feel your pain, sister) and a 10-minute clip of Dollhouse, Joss Whedon’s new network show.
We left Julie and headed for Sony. They have many shows in development and a new drama for A&E called The Beast. Patrick Swayze stars as a cop who may be on the take – the swine. We are invited for dinner at the home of Warners’ head honcho, which is a grand and lavish affair. JJ Abrams is there and we end up, perhaps unexpectedly, bonding over a shared enthusiasm for Laurel and Hardy. Our US consultant Crispin (our mole, our insider) starts performing elaborate magic tricks for JJ. He now has his own show on the CW network. Only in Hollywood.
