• About Us
  • Advertising on Awards Daily
Sunday, August 7, 2022
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
Awardsdaily
  • Home
  • Good As Gold
  • AD TV
  • Calendar 2023
  • Podcasts
  • Interviews
  • Follow us on Twitter
    • Awards Daily
    • Sasha Stone
    • Ryan Adams
    • Clarence Moye
    • Mark Johnson
  • All News
  • Home
  • Good As Gold
  • AD TV
  • Calendar 2023
  • Podcasts
  • Interviews
  • Follow us on Twitter
    • Awards Daily
    • Sasha Stone
    • Ryan Adams
    • Clarence Moye
    • Mark Johnson
  • All News
No Result
View All Result
Awardsdaily
No Result
View All Result

Set Decorator Brandi Kalish On Accenting the Look of ‘Dead To Me’

Netflix's buzzy comedy-drama boasts Kalish's enviable set decoration on which audiences fixate.

by Clarence Moye
June 23, 2020
in ADTV, Interviews
1
Set Decorator Brandi Kalish On Accenting the Look of ‘Dead To Me’

(Photo: Brandi Kalish)

Netflix’s Dead To Me earned near-unanimous critical huzzahs for its sophomore season. Stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini doubled down on their Season 1 chemistry and produced some of the finest acting of their career. In addition, show runner Liz Feldman managed to keep the surprises coming without insulting the audience by artificially enhancing the twists and turns. As a result, Dead To Me continues to be one of the buzziest shows streaming on Netflix right now.

But part of that audience allure can be attributed to the fantastic set decoration. Audiences are as obsessed with having the look of Dead To Me as they are with learning its secrets. Thank set decorator Brandi Kalish for that.

“This is insane: every day since Season 2 came out, hundreds of people email me through Instagram and through my website asking me, ‘Hey, I’ve been wanting to remodel my master bedroom for a million years, and I didn’t have any inspiration. Now that I’ve seen Dead To Me, I want my bedroom to look like Jen’s. Where did you get those lamps? Where’s the rug from? Where did you get those end tables?,” Kalish laughs. “I’m answering everybody, but it’s a lot of people. I’m super honored, but it’s wild.”

Included in the mostly female below the line team on Dead To Me, Kalish honed her craft over twenty years of being in the business. Part of the challenge of a set decorator is to anticipate the design choices that a fictional character would make. To do that, Kalish puts her herself into the place of the characters. In the case of Dead To Me, she imagined what a real estate agent with such a unique personality as Jen Harding (Applegate) would select to populate her house. That also includes research based in the location of the series the affluent area of Laguna Beach, California.

Jen’s income and desired image she wants to project also come into play. The look of Jen’s house, according to Kalish, is aspirational. She wants her house – which was 100 percent built from scratch – to look a certain way to project success given her professional. Jen’s house takes on a permanent staged look as if it were ready for a showing at any moment.

In that setting, though, there are still touches that reflect Jen’s personality as well as the personalities of Judy Hale (Cardellini) and Jen’s boys.

“For instance, on the coffee table which we custom made there’s stuff from the boys on there. There are Chinese finger cuffs and a Rubik’s Cube. There’s Silly Puddy that belongs to Henry. There are a pair of headphones belonging to Charlie,” Kalish explained. “We do those micro layers. No detail is left unchecked. Every single thing that we put in the set, we deeply talk about and think about, down to the keys hanging on the wall and the kind of mops she would use.”

What Size Freezer Can Hold James Marsden?

One of the most famous pieces of set design in Season 2 has nothing to do with Jen’s aspirational goals. Quite the contrary, actually. It’s the freezer in which Jen and Judy stash Steve’s (James Marsden) body. The one that the exterminator calls “the Cadillac of freezers,” which made total sense as Jen Harding would have bought the best freezer possible.

The selection of the appropriate freezer, Kalish said, is the perfect example of set decoration well done.

“I have to work with every single department. It’s not just me saying, ‘I’m going to choose this freezer, and that’s it.’ I had to work with camera because we had to cut a hole in multiple freezers to get camera angles of the body within. I had to work with the DP, grips, production designer, props and Liz. Also, character-wise, what kind of freezer would be reasonable for a family of that size?”

Kalish bought four freezers in total for filming. The freezer selection process also required someone the same height as James Marsden to get in and make sure it was a fit. And Marsden did get into the freezer in makeup approximating the look of a frozen body. He was also surrounded by prop frozen foods, all covered with a substance to show freezer burn.

It was a far more complex process than just picking out a good looking freezer.

“That’s the really fun stuff involved in set decoration,” Kalish enthused.

Dead To Me Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

All photos courtesy of Brandi Kalish.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • WhatsApp
  • Print
Tags: Brandi KalishDead To MeNetflixSet Decorators
Clarence Moye

Clarence Moye

Clarence Moye is an editor of film and television at Awards Daily. He is a member of Critics Choice and the Hollywood Critics Association. You can follow Clarence on Twitter — @ClarenceMoye

Next Post

Cannes Dispatch - Sweat / Gagarine

Sign up for Awards Daily's Breaking News

* indicates required
  1. Chase Meridian on Predictions Friday: As the Pendulum SwingsAugust 7, 2022

    In comparison to Peele's other films, it has the lowest critical rating, the lowest audience rating, and the lowest grosses.

  2. Jesus Alonso on Predictions Friday: As the Pendulum SwingsAugust 7, 2022

    sorry to point the obvious (again), but The Happening wasn't well received. Nope, is.

  3. Don Draper on Predictions Friday: As the Pendulum SwingsAugust 7, 2022

    I have no problem with this. Hildur is fine this season with TAR and Women Talking. Couldn't care less about…

  4. Don Draper on Predictions Friday: As the Pendulum SwingsAugust 7, 2022

    According to World of Reel, one source says that 'Don' t Worry, Darling' is... "an absolute misfire and absolute mess,…

  5. Jerm on Favorite Oscar Year, Favorite Oscar WinnerAugust 7, 2022

    Olivia Colman also gave one of the greatest speeches ever, in my opinion. Her genuine shock, was beautiful to see.

  • Predictions Friday: As the Pendulum Swings

    Predictions Friday: As the Pendulum Swings

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The State of the Race: Best Picture and the Film Festival Bounce

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What is a Critic? The Curious Case of No Reviews for “What is a Woman”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Favorite Oscar Year, Favorite Oscar Winner

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Predictions Friday — One Month Away From First Big Festival Drop

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

AwardsDaily Crew

  • About Us
  • Sasha Stone
  • Editor Ryan Adams
  • Editor Clarence Moye
  • Editor Mark Johnson
  • Contact Us

ADTV Crew

  • ADTV Home
  • Megan McLachlan, Editor
  • Joey Moser, Editor
  • Clarence Moye, Editor
  • Jalal Haddad, Senior Contributor
  • Shadan Larki
  • Ben Morris
  • David Phillips
  • Advertising on Awards Daily
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Oscar Podcast
  • AwardsDailyTV

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Good As Gold
  • AD TV
  • Calendar 2023
  • Podcasts
  • Interviews
  • Follow us on Twitter
    • Awards Daily
    • Sasha Stone
    • Ryan Adams
    • Clarence Moye
    • Mark Johnson
  • All News

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In