• 6 months ago
Get a peek behind the curtain as we delve into the making of the opening scene from Season 3, Episode 1 of the hit Max comedy series, Hacks. Join creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky as they unravel the creative process behind the laughter.

Hacks Cast:

Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Kaitlin Olson, Christopher McDonald and Laurie Metcalf

Stream Hacks Season 3 now on Max.
Transcript
00:00Hi, I'm Christopher McDonald, and we are here in Las Vegas
00:03shooting the opening shot of Hacks, Season 3, at Caesars.
00:10The opening drone shot was actually the very last shot
00:13that we shot of our whole season.
00:15From concept to execution,
00:17I would say that this has been about 18 months.
00:19I think the most gratifying thing about something like this
00:22is that there's no CGI.
00:24We are flying a drone into the front door of Caesar's Palace.
00:26Well, the challenge with any drone shot, I think,
00:29is coordinating multiple different people.
00:31Someone who's operating the actual drone flying it,
00:33me who's operating the pan and the tilt,
00:35and the guy who's catching it.
00:37The toughest thing is having a smooth transition
00:40from flight to hand-carried, hopefully very seamlessly.
00:43Background and action!
00:46It comes from on the strip, and then it gets caught
00:49and walked through the entire casino.
00:51Some of the people you see in the casino noticing Deborah Vance
00:55are not extras. They're actually patrons of the casino.
00:58We did have a couple patrons.
01:00Literally almost hit the camera, but it seems like...
01:02It seems really real.
01:03Yeah, there's like a chaos and a frenzy.
01:05It is real, yeah.
01:06We reveal that it's not actually Deborah.
01:09It is a drag queen amongst a sea of Gorgina drag queens.
01:13It is, of course, supposed to mimic the first shot of the pilot
01:17where we're behind Deborah on stage,
01:18and then you eventually reveal who it is.
01:21It was really celebratory for our cast and crew to get it.
01:25People were ready to party. I think some people did.
01:27I think people stayed on the gambling floor.