All of Eli Roths films are so imbued with his signature style and directorial sensibilities that they can never be mistaken as the works of any other filmmaker. Often regarded as part of the Splat Pack, an unofficial group of independent filmmakers who have been making R-rated horror films since 2002, Roth is most known for his horror projects like Cabin Fever, the Hostel series, and The Green Inferno. Knock Knock is his first attempt at an erotic thriller. The film stars Keanu Reeves as Evan Webber, a successful architect with a wife and two children.

One rainy night, he lets two young girls, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Ana de Armas), into his home after they appear at his doorstep, asking directions to a party. He hires a car for them and makes sure that they are comfortable. As the night progresses, the girls seduce him into having a threesome with them. When he tries again to get them to leave the house, their playful demeanor takes a darker turn as they begin to blackmail him. For the most part, Knock Knock is set in typical American suburbia. In this article, we try to find out which locations Roth and his team used to film the project.

Roth and his cinematographer Antonio Quercia predominantly filmed Knock Knock in Santiago de Chile and the City of Chicureo. Roth has a long association with the country. In 2012, he wrote, produced, and starred in Nicols Lpezs disaster horror film Aftershock. It was through Lpez that Roth met his future first wife, Izzo, while he was working on The Green Inferno.

The couple tied the knot in 2014. Before appearing in Knock Knock, Izzo portrayed a supporting character in Aftershock and the lead in The Green Inferno. Armas is also a Chilean national, and so are several other members of the cast and crew. Roth once said that, between Chile and the US, he prefers filming in the former country as it is easier to do so there.

The picturesque Chilean capital served as one of the filming locations for Knock Knock. In the past, the city has hosted the production teams of projects like The Amazing Race, Kingdoms, and The Wolf House.

Nice pictures of #keanureeves in Chile for Knock Knock filming April 2014 Thanks to Lola de Up on Facebook "Keanu Reeves en Balbona!! Estaba con Ana de Armas a la q nadie conoce" #knockknock#filming #chilehttps://t.co/UZcXJUFQBe pic.twitter.com/xdWuRpr3Jl

Keanu Planet (@keanuplanet) March 5, 2019

The glasshouse depicted in Knock Knock as Evans home is located in Chicureo, a town in the Chacabuco Province, Chile. At the time of filming, it belonged to an interior decorator, who apparently visited the set right after the scene in which the girls vandalized the property and had the shock of her life.

I saw her pull up and I run inside, Aaron Burns, who is cast as Louis in the film, recalled. Guys make sure she does not come in here. She comes ripping through her house. She almost fainted. Shes just distraught. We had to re-sod the whole backyard.

Read More: Is Knock Knock a True Story?

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Where Was Knock Knock Filmed? 2015 Movie Filming Locations - The Cinemaholic

Barack Obama's Inauguration Day was on January 20, 2009. But for the daughters of the Bush and Obama families, the "passing of the torch" was on a day in 2008, when Jenna Bush Hager and her twin sister, Barbara, took young Malia and Sasha Obama on a tour of the White House to help them transition to their new lives as first daughters.

While on The Dr. Oz Show, the book club maven, TODAY anchor, and memoirist opened up about the day the Bush sisters met the Obama sisters. Bush Hager said she and Barbara "loved that moment," per People.

We showed them what was our bedrooms, which was going to become their bedrooms. We just had such a beautiful day because, really, we have so much more in common than what divides usespecially the kids, Bush Hager said.

Bush Hager knows the White House better than most. Although she was a teenager when her father, George W. Bush, was elected president, she was similar in age to Sasha and Malia when her grandfather, George Bush, was inaugurated.

The mother-of-three also recently recalled the time her grandmother, Barbara Bush, scolded her and her sister for ordering peanut butter sandwiches to the White House bowling alley. You opened the door, scolding us, telling us under no circumstances could we order food in the White House again; this was not a hotel," she wrote in a tribute letter after Barbara's death.

The Obama girls had a similar incident of adjusting to White House life, which White House interior decorator Michael S. Smith describes in his book Designing History. After living in a D.C. hotel for a few weeks, Malia and Sasha savvily learned to request wake up calls from the White House operator once they moved in. Mrs. Obama then asked that Smith install alarm clocks in their bedrooms, as the White House was not a hotel.

Brooks KraftGetty Images

Given their similar situations, Bush Hager and her sister felt instantly connected to Sasha and Malia. We saw ourselves in those precious little girls, because when our grandfather become president, we were their age, she said on Dr. Oz, referring to George H. W. Bush. So we knew what was magical about the White House.

And on that tour, they showed the Obama girls what was "magical" about the White House. According to Bush Hager, they got up to some hijinks: We taught them how to slide down the banister, which Im sure Mrs. Obama loved, Bush Hager joked. There's photo evidence: Smith included a photo of the girls sliding down a ramp from the White House Solarium in his book.

Bush Hager and Barbara also wrote a letter for the Obama daughters in 2008. "It's your turn to fill the house with laughter. Although it's an honor and full of so many extraordinary opportunities, it isn't always easy being a member of the club you are about to join," they said, per CNN. "Our dad, like yours, is a man of great integrity and love; a man who always put us first. We still see him now as we did when we were 7: as our loving daddy." They included other tips, like cherishing their pets, and "going to anything and everything you possibly can."

Ralf-Finn HestoftGetty Images

Now, Sasha and Malia are 19- and 22-year-old college students, with the White House years behind them. For Bush Hager and Barbarafellow White House alumnaethe connection remains strong. Were so proud of those girls, she said.

When Sasha and Malia prepared to leave the White House after eight years, the Bush twins wrote them a letterjust like they did in 2008. In eight years, you have done so much. Seen so much. We have watched you grow from girls to impressive young women with grace and ease. And through it all you had each other. Just like we did," the Bush sisters wrote.

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Jenna Bush Hager Recalls Taking Malia and Sasha on a Tour of the White House - Oprah Mag

It's hard to imagine Jennifer Aniston doing anything other than acting because she rivets you to the screen with her talent and likeability but the Greek-American staple of movies and TV shows said she also switched to interior decorating.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan, she wouldn't reveal which role it was she hinted was so exhausting that it made her think of not wanting to go on and to switch to wanting to fix up houses.

During a SmartLess podcast, the Aveeno legend told Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, "I would have to say the last two years that [quitting] has crossed my mind, which it never did before." She added that it "sucked the life out of me" and she thought, "I don't know if this is what interests me."

The only other hint she gave about what made her rethink her life was that it was an unprepared project she completed before The Morning Show.

She said she'd love to try her hand as a professional interior decorator but didn't say what style she prefers. "I love it. It's my happy place. It's really a happy place for me," she said.

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Interior Decorator? Worn-Out Aniston Almost Gave Up Acting - The National Herald

Theyre probably not who you think they are.

We all have our own presumptions about politicians, and you know that most of those cliches are far from positive.

In the heat of the hottest, nastiest election, probably ever, its easy to overlook especially on a more local level that the herd of people vying for your votes so they can rule our world, are people.

Each year, Sentinel Colorado reporters dutifully ask all the apposite questions about taxes, crime and homelessness. But we also ask personal questions to give readers some insight as to who these candidates are when theyre not candidates, and to marvel at a few surprises and eccentricities.

Here are some highlights weve gleaned from this years survey of 2020 Election candidates.

Congressman Jason Crow, the affable Democrat running for re-election, can actually give himself a hand. His hidden talent?

I am able to clap with one hand, he said in his Sentinel survey. This not only answers a philosophical question but is helpful when eating hot dogs at sporting events.

He doesnt say which hand, but all signs point to a left-hand talent for the guy that got appointed to help impeach the president.

His Republican challenger, the equally affable Steve House?

Im a good ping pong player.

No doubt a consistent right-hand server.

As far as prospective careers, few of these politicians grew up wanting to be politicians. There are a lot of wannabe astronauts in the group who, as their critics would probably point out, ended up as space cadets.

Incumbent State Sen. Jeff Bridges, no, not that Jeff Bridges, is a talented accent imitator. Hard to tell when that could come in handy, but he has fooled many on the Senate floor by actually sounding like a moderate Republican from time to time.

If he wrote a memoir? Hed call it The Other Jeff Bridges. Yeah, that one.

Libertarian Michele Poague actually is a writer. Shes running to unseat Democrat Rhonda Fields in Senate District 29.

Im the author of several novels and there is a little bit of me in each one. Maybe if I write a memoir it would be, The Road to Love: How I learned to forgive.

At least one of her novels hints at her biography.

A reviewer painting a picture of Poagues latest sci-fi fantasy work, The Broken Shade said this:

When she became a cocktail waitress at a mens club in order to earn a few extra dollars to help in her home renovation, Freja OConnell didnt suspect this innocuous job would open the door to new realms. But strange encounters can evolve under the oddest of conditions, and The Broken Shade reflects this experience as Freja explores a strange new world and considers her revised place.

Dystopian future table-dancing resulting in wallpaper inspirations?

Poague said in her Sentinel survey that growing up, she wanted to be an interior decorator.

Disappointingly, the one song she could listen to for all eternity is Amazing Grace by anyone.

Im old and have been to a lot of funerals. Few can sing it.

Fields? She fancies herself a chef these days, whiling away the pandemic looking for just the right kitchen accoutrement. If she were thrust into a reality show that wouldnt shame her family while they watched? Beat Bobby Flay.

Better hope that sauce doesnt break.

While most candidates appear to have had it with metro area traffic, wishing their superpower was flying over traffic or that Verizon or someone would finally roll out the Star Trek transporter, Republican Suzanne Staiert, candidate for the open Senate District 27 seat, wishes she had a superpower few aspiring politicians would think about.

To disappear.

Hmmm. Unclear if thats because of how tacky its become to be a fly on another politicians hair instead of the wall and get a front-row seat to history, or anything. It could be shes realized that, in a pandemic, there is no hiding from anyone or anything. Just as telling is that her all-time favorite song is I Will Survive, and the last book she read was, Why We Cant Sleep.

Between bouts of insomnia and other life stresses, it turns out Staiert is a ringer.

Ive won a lot of hula hoop contests, she said in her response. Gauging from the past few years, any kind of circus-like experience is certain to come in handy if she wins a seat in the next Legislature.

Her competitor, Chris Kolker, gives every sign he would read every word of every bill and listen to every hearing every day. Wild and crazy Kolker tells the Sentinel that his guilty pleasure during the pandemic is a fountain Diet Coke.

You rebel.

A former teacher and pilot, he always wanted to be a teacher and a pilot.

His favorite family fun?

Playing bid euchre at family get-togethers, he says.

For the 99% of the nation who has no idea what that is, you probably dont want to. Think having to play bridge with rules made up by the Colorado Legislature.

The guy is a natural for the General Assembly. So sad.

Like me, you might have had your suspicions about Democrat State Senator candidate Janet Buckner.

Shes not just the overtly kind and gracious teachers wife shes let on to be all these years. Yup, total showboat.

Her secret talent?

I sing really well.

And that ear-worm song she just loves, probably playing every time she gets in the car and definitely right before she gets out?

We Are Family, by Sister Sledge.

Uh, huh. The quintessential club song from the 80s that got everyone on their feet, back when clubs were clubs and Sister Sledge owned the world.

No guessing at what reality TV show she thinks shed walk away from victorious.

Dancing with the Stars.

Of course not everyone can be as flamboyant as Buckner.

If you had to pick one local politician to get stuck with for months at the Capitol during the pandemic, it would almost certainly be Democrat Dafna Michaelson Jenet, running for re-election to her House District 30 seat.

Her coveted superpower?

Eat as much ice cream as I want and not gain weight, Jenet said.

Now that would be a super power. And not that lame DQ stuff, that she says is her guilty pleasure, which you know melts under some serious hot fudge or caramel, otherwise, theres little guilt or pleasure. No, it has to be Ben and Jerrys or Haagen Dazs. Salted caramel truffle in a 5-gallon scuttle.

The fun ends there. Her secret talent?

I crochet.

Another maverick lawmaker.

On the opposite side of that spectrum is Republican 18th Judicial District Attorney candidate John Kellner.

Total Star Wars geek. He grew up wanting to be Indiana Jones.

Hes that guy, too.

The upside of wearing a mask all the time during the pandemic?

I can quietly sing along to music in the grocery store and no one knows its me.

My King Soopers loves Brittany Spears and the BeeGees. We no longer have to ask in the cereal aisle, who was that masked man, singing falsetto?

Hes a total glutton for the stuff most of us dread each year. For most people, the favorite part of family holiday is when the kids go back to school and the inlaws go home. These are a few of his favorite things: Hot chocolate, the merry go-round, with my wife and kids at Zoo Lights in December.

Who is this guy? It gets worse. If he had a superpower?

Unlimited access to Disneyland with my kids, says Kellner, and no one else, ever.

Just as interesting, as a euphemism, is Kellners Democratic opponent, Amy Padden. The 18th District seat is open.

Her guilty pleasure?

It would be from the Athenian on Iliff in Aurora. Love their Saganaki (flaming cheese), although not quite the same when you get it to go. That was the last place I ate before the stay at home order.

I consider Greek food health food. Dont they live forever there?

The most amazing thing about wearing a mask all the time for Padden is not having to put lipstick on every time I leave the house.

At least she doesnt sing about it in the grocery store.

And her secret talent?

I can run long distances (though not very fast). Ive completed many marathons (New York, Marine Corp, Chicago, and others).

These are district attorney candidates, people. No whiskey? No secretly building mud prisons for crickets in the backyard?

Instead we get Disneyland fans and marathon runners.

So disappointed, and yet Im mildly amused.

You can be, too. Discover your own pet peeves about the people who are going to run our world in a few months at SentinelColorado.com. Click on 2020 Voter Guide on top and amaze or disappoint yourself thumbing through the catalogue of candidates who will probably surprise you.

Follow @EditorDavePerry on Facebook and Twitter or reach him at 303-750-7555 or [emailprotected]

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GETTING PERSONAL: True confessions of the Colorado candidates wanting to rule our lives - Sentinel Colorado

Dorrie Walen

In the early morning hours of October 3, 2020, Dorrie Walen passed away, her body unable to match the strong will that had served her for 97 years.

A memorial service will be held for her in summer 2021, at Skabo Church Cemetery, COVID permitting.

Doris Katherine Larson Walen was born to Conrad and Ruth (Bracken) Larson at home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 28, 1923, second of their four children. They enjoyed growing up in Minneapolis near a large extended family; unfortunately, toward the end of the Great Depression, and before the onset of World War II, the childrens father passed away. Shortly after Dorries December graduation at the top of her class from Central High School, their mother passed away, leaving them orphaned. Rather than be divided among relatives, the siblings agreed to stick together to raise themselves. Dorrie immediately began working to support her younger siblings, and to put herself through college. She worked as a waitress in a downtown cafeteria, until a counselor at Augsburg College told her shed make more money working for the war effort. She spent the next few summers stamping serial numbers into bomb casings at the Honeywell plant in Fridley, MN, one of many Rosie Riveters. After two years at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Dorrie transferred to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, at the encouragement of J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker, her mentor and pastor. She graduated with a BA in English with a minor in Spanish.

Dorrie returned to Minneapolis after graduation and found work as a graphic artist at the grocery chain, National Tea. Her social life centered around Our Saviours Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis, where she was active in Luther League, making life-long friends, and sang in the choir. One day, a handsome, young, blue-eyed Norwegian bachelor farmer with a gorgeous tenor voice joined the choir, not knowing that he had just fulfilled every criterion on Dorries list for a perfect husband. They fell in love, beginning a journey that lasted a lifetime. M. David Walen and Dorrie Larson were married at Our Saviours. After a brief honeymoon, they returned to the farm in northwestern North Dakota where Dave had been born and raised. But, before agreeing to become a farm wife, Dorrie required one thing: an indoor, flushing toilet. It would be needed for all the diapers that were going to be washed! The farm neighbors welcomed the newlyweds with an old-fashioned chivaree. Perched atop a hay-filled wagon, towed by a tractor, they were paraded around the township, followed by horn-honking cars filled with friends announcing and celebrating their marriage.

Being a city girl, Dorrie mastered new skills as a farm wife. She was already a good cook, but she learned to churn butter and bake bread, since the nearest grocery store was 20 miles away, and a run to the grocery store only happened about once a month. Her delicious cookies, cakes, caramel rolls were always available for family and visiting friends, as well as weekly baked bread and buns, excellent for summer sausage sandwiches and toast. They raised cattle for dairy and beef, raised chickens and, for a time, pigs, and since they canned most of their own vegetables and fruits, there was no need to shop in town very often. And, as babies kept showing up about every year and a half, there wasnt much time for such luxuries. For two years, the couple and their growing family lived in the house where Dave was born. In 1952, they built a larger house. The house became Dorries canvas for creativity, artistry, and the dream-come-true for a little girl whose modeling clay furniture creations inspired dreams of being an interior decorator.

Dorries daily chores and occupations didnt prevent her from being involved in her churches, first Skabo near the North Dakota farm, and later Concordia, Crosby, and in womens groups. In addition to teaching Sunday School, she was active in Homemakers, Study Club, and Ladies Aid (later Women of ELCA). Dorrie thoroughly enjoyed the creativity of organizing and decorating for dozens of meetings and luncheons, continuing to host community womens luncheons well into her 80s.

Dorrie was the end of her generation for her family and Daves family. She lived after the deaths of her dearly missed husband, Dave, her parents, her sisters, Gert and Marilyn, brother, Conrad, her parents-in-law, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, her grandchildren, Anders and Janae.

Dorrie and Dave had seven children: Claudia Walen Larson, Beth (Steve) Walen, Miriam Walen (Paul) Sikora, David (Anna) Walen, Noreen (Steve) Thompson, Reid (Julie) Walen, and Annette Walen (Colin Evenson). They were blessed with 25 grandchildren, with two more welcomed as adults. There are, so far, 14 great-grandchildren. Dorrie also leaves numerous nephews, nieces, and cousins.

Dorrie relied on her deep faith throughout her life to celebrate joys, to sustain her in sorrows. Memorials may be made to Skabo Church Cemetery Association. Info may be had by emailing homewalen@gmail.com.

In honor of Dorrie, think of her when you see anything aqua or turquoise, and enjoy eating a piece of dark chocolate.

Now more than ever, local news is critical for the health and safety of our readers. Please, give what you can to support the continuation of your local news source!

As local economies struggle with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, income from advertising will be impacted for months to come. We encourage you to consider a donation equal to your annual subscription at this time to help make up this shortfall. If youre visiting our page, but not a subscriber, we hope youll become one. Select the Subscribe button to subscribe, rather than donate.

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Dorrie Walen | The Journal - Journaltrib

Twinkle Khanna shared this image. (courtesy twinklerkhanna)

It's Halloween month and Twinkle Khanna's latest Instagram entry is a subtle reminder of how the year 2020 has been one long Halloween and we couldn't agree more. In her post, Mrs Funnybones made a reference to the coronavirus pandemic and added, "It's close to Halloween, but 2020 has been such a special year, with masks, shivers and what feels like a zombie apocalypse." She added, "Where instead of a bite, it's a cough from the poor infected soul that would do you in, it seems that we have been celebrating it all year long." She added the hashtag #Halloween to her post.

Take a look at Twinkle Khanna's post here:

On Sunday night, Twinkle Khanna shared a picture from her "new normal" lifestyle. In the picture, the author could be seen getting her make-up done as she geared up for a Zoom meeting. She added a dose of her signature humour to her post and wrote: "In the chronicles of the middle-aged model, this would be worthy of an entire chapter. My first commercial with the director on Zoom and my poor make-up artist peering through a visor! #TheNewNormal #thechroniclesofthemiddleagedmodel."

This is the post we are referring to:

Twinkle Khanna is a celebrated columnist and the author of bestselling books such as Pyjamas Are Forgiving, The Legend Of Lakshmi Prasad and Mrs Funnybones. She is also an interior decorator, the owner of The White Window, and a film producer. Twinkle Khanna also runs a digital content company called Tweak India.

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Twinkle Khanna Points Out That 2020 Has Been One Long Halloween - NDTV

Greg Berlanti (left) on set with the cast

A lot of people ask me when I first knew I was gay. Fact is, I dont know.The character Kevin in The Broken Hearts Club

How did LGBTQ peopleonce erased or denigrated as villainsmake so much progress in Hollywood in just two decades?

Think of the shows and personalities that dominate todays televisionEllen, Queer Eye, RuPauls Drag Race, Pose, CNNs Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon, MSNBCs Rachel Maddow, to name just a fewand how stark a contrast that situation is from the 1980s and even well into the 1990s.

Will & Grace would not premiere until 1998, and sitcom star Ellen DeGeneres wouldnt come out (Yep, Im gay, blared Time magazines profile) until 1997, at the cost of her popular series, ABCs Ellen.

That same year, a young college graduate named Greg Berlanti sat down to write a script and get it filmed, somehow. What began as an exercise in self-reflection on his own search for friendship and love in West Hollywood soon took on a life of its own. A low-budget, art-house film with a cast comprised of mostly unknowns would become a showcase of young actors on the rise, and an affirmation for an oppressed community desperate to see itself on-screen. It would change the way audiences understood gay life in America.

It would also announce the arrival of a young writer/director as one of the most influential filmmakers of his era, a producer who would change the way Americans viewed the LGBTQ community.

This is the story of The Broken Hearts Club.

Tall, lean with dark hair and blue eyes, the then 25-year-old Greg Berlanti hailed from an Italian-American family in New Jersey. By 1997, hed come out as gay, graduated from Northwestern University, and transplanted himself to West Hollywood with ambitions to write for the screen. Like many starving screenwriters landing in Los Angeles, Berlanti found few career opportunities in his first couple of years. He spent his time churning out commercial spec scripts in hopes of capturing the attention of producers.

Moving to West Hollywooda growing hotbed for LGBTQ cultureprovided Berlanti with a surrogate family of close gay friends who could offer him support and suggestions in his original scripts.

When I developed the group of gay friends I had out here, Berlanti recalls, that was the moment. It was the first time I felt like I would be alright.

Frustrated with attempts to go mainstream, Berlanti decided to look inward instead.

I had written a lot, Berlanti says. I hadnt written anything this personal. I started writing about myself. Id always loved the movie Diner. I remember thinking theres no movie like that for all of us [queer people]. So rather than sit down to write the script that all my friends told me would finally get me a job, I wrote something personal to me. I forget how long it took to write around then, but I was definitely trying to capture the spirit of what it felt like to be one of my group of friends in Los Angeles in the late 90s.

Berlanti began working on a script about a group of young gay men living in Los Angeles and playing on the same local gay softball team. Together, they would confront existential questions about love, relationships, insecurities and redefining gay identity after the trauma of the AIDS epidemic. In other words: they would become a surrogate family. The young writer poured his heart into the story, taking snapshots from his own dating experiences alongside images of life in Los Angeles.

Gregs own love life would also suggest the scripts title. As he had a penchant for falling for aspiring actors, which his sister nicknamed his 8x10sanother name for an actors headshot.

The process of writing and self-reflection offered catharsis.

I definitely at the time didnt think my dealing with my sexuality would help me be a better writer, he admits. I had segregated those things in my mind. I focused on scriptwriting and, finally, was inspired to write about everything I went through and the friendships I developed. I learned a lot about myself in the process.

The ultimate scriptnow titled 8x10scomprised a collage of Berlantis life, integrating the personalities of his friends as well as much of their verbal shorthand.

We had language, Berlanti notes. Certain dialogue. Some were things we said, some I made up. But [my objective] was to create the spirit of being part of this little club, part of these guys. Diner, in particular, has its own vernacular in the 50s. American Graffiti was another.

That vernacular would become part of the scripts hallmark humor, dividing it into five acts, each introduced by mock definitions from the gay dictionary. Terms like meanwhile (a term used by friends to indicate the presence of someone attractive), newbie (a newly out of the closet person, usually emotionally vulnerable and facing heartbreak) and guy (a method of characterizing a person by their most apparent attribute; i.e. muscle guy) would become the movies lexicon and, eventually, part of its legacy.

With 8x10s taking shape, Berlanti again looked to his friends for inspiration, and a bit of help.

I worked on the script with two of my close friends who were very instrumental in developing the material, and who have gone on to great success themselves: Julie Plec and Ryan Murphy, Berlanti says. Both really helped me develop it.

Plec became a talented writer/producer herself, creating the long-running series The Vampire Diaries for The CW. Ryan Murphy, who needs no introduction, would go on to become one of the most successful writer/producers in television history, creating the shows Popular, American Horror Story, Pose, Feud, Nip/Tuck and Ratched, among many others.

Still, the comedy and warmth of 8x10s masked the ongoing struggle of Berlantis life as a starving writer. When I finished the script, he sighs, I think my car got booted the next day. I had to borrow a bunch of money from a friend to pay to get my car out. I was a script or two away from heading back home. I had a negative bank account.

Desperate, Berlanti handed the script off to Plec, who, at the time, worked as the assistant to horror director Wes Craven. Craven had scored a major hit with Scream in the early 1990s. By the time 1997 rolled around and Craven began work on Scream 2, Plec found herself promoted to an associate producer position on the film. Impressed with the quality of Gregs final draft of 8x10s, Plec passed the script to Scream 2 writer Kevin Williamson.

Williamson loved it and called Berlanti.

[Kevin] said it was really good and asked if I had other movie ideas, Berlanti says. So I started writing another movie for him. In the midst of that, he asked if I wanted to write on this TV show that hadnt premiered yet. So I started to write on that TV show.

The show would at last offer Berlanti an income. When it premiered, it scored the highest ratings in the history of its fledgling network, The WB. Critics praised it for its frank and sexualized depiction of teenagers, and it developed an immediate following.

It was called Dawsons Creek.

The success of Dawsons Creeks first season earned Berlanti an office space on the Sony lot and a steady writing gig in 1998. In the meantime, he circulated 8X10s in hopes of finding a director. According to Berlanti, agents and studio executives loved it, but often advised him that it would never get made into a film.

Other high-profile gay movies of the era focused on coming out (Beautiful Thing), the spectre of AIDS (Love! Valor! Compassion!) or bordered on softcore pornography (Nowhere). 8x10s took the radical step of focusing on LGBTQ people as people who cared about friendship and community rather than sensationalized and scandalous tabloid fodder. Hollywood, at the time, didnt believe there was an audience for such a film despite the success of television adaptations of Armistead Maupins beautiful Tales of the City, which had a similarly heartfelt community vibe.

It was doing its job, Berlanti observes of 8X10s growing notoriety. I kept getting meeting after meeting. I kept talking about the quality of the writing. It announced me as a writer. Anything beyond that was a gift.

Berlanti chose to focus on writing for Dawsons Creek and put 8x10s on the back burner.

As it turned out, it wouldnt stay there for long.

Down the hall from the Dawsons Creek offices, producer Mickey Liddell had set up shop at Sony. The blue-eyed, sandy headed Liddell had earned his own office space after producing a series of commercial and critical hit indie films, including Traveler, which starred a then-untested actor named Mark Whalberg, and Telling Lies in America for writer Joe Eszterhasthe highest paid screenwriter of the 1990s.

I was more of an independent producer, and Id made four or five films at that time, Liddell reminisces. Then I made [the quasi gay-themed] Go, and Sony bought it [midway through production]. So I was in the Sony world at the time. I met Greg, and he was working with Kevin Williamson on Dawsons Creek. I didnt really know TV at the time; so I just knew he was a young writer around the office.

Despite the gulf between the television and film worldsnot to mention the excessive workloads of both menthe pair struck up a friendship. Liddell told Berlanti about Goan ensemble film that featured a number of up-and-coming stars including Sarah Polly, Jay Mohr, Scott Wolf and Dawsons Creek star Katie Holmes. Perhaps because of the Holmes connection, or maybe just the shared office space, a copy of 8x10s ended up on Liddells desk. Liddell recognized Berlantis name, and read it.

I had been sent a lot of scriptsthere were so many in the 80s and 90sabout AIDS and dying, Liddell recollects. Those were brilliant movies, classics. But that wasnt my story. We were coming out of that. I remember thinking [8x10s was] so light and romantic and fun. And it fell in my lap at the right time.

For Liddell, a gay, Midwestern transplant himself, the script struck an immediate chord. It was more the world I was living in LA at the time, he says. It was gay guys hanging out and going to parties and having friends and all that. Obviously, this was before apps. You had to make friends and family in a big city. You just tried to find your group. I know Greg and I talked about that a lot. Wed both had that experience. He came from New Jersey. I came from Oklahoma. We came here without knowing anybody. If you had two, three, four really good friends, they became your life.

The morning after Liddell read 8x10s, he ran into Berlanti. I remember being in the elevator and we were talking, Liddell notes. I said I just read your script. I really liked it. And he said Why dont you make it? But I was right in the middle of Go at the time. We were shooting nights. So I said Maybe. Ill talk to you when its done.

Liddell went on to complete Go, which would become a critical and commercial sleeper hit in the summer of 1999. Berlanti continued to enjoy his own success on Dawsons Creek, taking on duties as showrunner for the shows second seasona feat almost unheard of for a writer so early in his career. A year after their chance meeting in the elevator, with the release of Go and the second season of Dawsons Creek impending, Liddell asked Berlanti to dinner. He had one thing on his mind.

Unbeknownst to Berlanti, Liddell had already begun developing a plan to get 8x10s funded. The producer appealed to a young actor from Go that he might want to play a part in the potential film. His name: Timothy Olyphant.

I went to Tim, and asked if he would read the script, Liddell admits. He did and said I love it. Ill play any part. So I said What about the lead? He was like ok.

Over dinner, Liddell informed Berlanti that he believed he could get the movie funded with Olyphants interest. Then the producer dropped a bombshell.

I said Greg, you should direct this, Liddell sighs, his words still echoing the shockwave that every aspiring Hollywood creative wants to hear.

Liddells words stunned Berlanti. I had just gotten my first job as a writer, he remembers. I had directed plays in college, but not a movie, not even a short film. [Mickey] said I believe you are supposed to be the director. He had the utmost faith in me.

Liddell admits to making Berlanti his dream offer, though for less romantic reasons. The truth was I knew I didnt have the budget to hire a real director, Liddell confesses. In the end, however, Berlantis enthusiasm and evident dedication won him the job. I think thats why I asked Greg to direct it, the producer opines. It was personal. It was his story. Greg knew how [the characters] should sound. He knew the humor. He knew how to do it.

With Berlanti agreeing to take on the directorial duties, Timothy Olyphants agreement to play the lead, and the buzz around Go building, Mickey Liddell managed to leverage a deal with Sony to fund and distribute 8x10s on a modest budget, assuming the pair could convince enough name actors to appear in it. Given the attitudes of the late 1990s about LGBTQ people, they had their work cut out for them.

Though Mickey Liddell had total confidence in Greg Berlantis ability to direct 8x10s, the producer had no illusions about the production ahead. Filmmaking poses countless potential hazards, even for experienced directors. With a neophyte at the helmalbeit one of obvious talent and dedicationLiddell knew he needed to prepare as much as possible.

Everything that goes wrong falls on your plate, Liddell says of his role as producer. Youre protecting the director a lot. It was Gregs first time, and these were young actors. He moved up a lot more in the television world. His responsibilities became much bigger.

To help guide Berlanti through the shoot, Liddell hired veteran cinematographer Paul Elliott to film the production. He also called in casting director Joseph Middleton, who had cast Go, to produce as well and help the team over the next enormous obstacle on the path to production.

It may seem absurd now at a time when actors fight over who should have the honor of playing a queer character on the screen and when LGBTQ stories often bait major awards, but in the late 90s, playing a gay character was still seen as dangerous for a performer. Ellen DeGeneres had come out of the closet in 1997 only to see her once-popular sitcom tank in the ratings and meet with cancellation just a year later. When Will & Grace premiered in 1998, ratings were soft, and male stars Eric McCormick and Sean Hayes had to endure extremely personal questions from reporters about their own sexual orientations.

At the time, most guys thought if they played gay in a movie it would ding their career, Berlanti recalls. If they werent thinking it, their agents were thinking it. There were more closeted actors than out actors. I remember dinner parties where the subject would come up. It was a hot-button issue. There were definitely a lot of gay men who felt that other gay men shouldnt come out.

Liddell agrees. It was hard to get actors at the time. It wasnt just like were making a gay movie! We definitely got pushback. We got a lot of passes. The producer decided to leverage his own success as much as he could in hopes of convincing actorsgay, straight or otherwiseto read the script.

In my head, it was like, How do you make people think this is cool? Liddell remembers. Because I had just done Go with Jay Mohr and Scott Wolf [playing gay characters], who are both straight, I think that was half of my pitch. It was time. It was cool to do it. I said Look at Greg, our director. Hes going to be huge. I think it was mostly bullshit, but you fake it to make it. I talked to all these people, as did Joseph [Middleton], along with agents and managers.

Berlanti and Liddell began by casting Timothy Olyphant as Dennis, an aspiring photographer searching for his artistic voice, only to find it in his relationships with his friends. Throughout 8x10s, Dennis wrestles with his feelings of inadequacy, especially when compared to another member of the group: Cole, an aspiring actor and waiter. Cole would spend most of the films runtime enchanting men with his handsome charisma and hiding an affair with a closeted co-star. Therefore, the actor playing him needed to have a certain look.

We had to get someone so good looking that it made Tim Olyphant go I can never look like that, Liddell recalls. Middleton came back with a surprising suggestion: Dean Cain.

Cain had spent most of the 1990s lauded as one of the sexiest men alive, having landed the lead on the popular nighttime romance, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. That show had wrapped in 1997, and apart from a few TV movies, Cain hadnt had luck in landing a feature. Much to the surprise of Berlanti and Liddell, Cain agreed to a chemistry reading with Olyphant. Producer & director offered, and Cain took the part.

From there, the creative team began an aggressive search to find the rest of the cast that would secure the budget from Sony. For the role of Patrick, a sweet, if slightly nerdy member of the group, Middleton reached out to a young actor named Ben Weber. Weber had attracted attention the year before as the curly-haired, lovable schlub Skipper on a fledgling cable comedy called Sex & the City.

I was living in New York at the time, Weber now recalls. I was kind of on my own. I had done the pilot for Sex & the City in 1998. I had worked with Tim Olyphant in episode three or four [of the series], so when I heard he was circling the project, I could see where they were going with casting.

Because of the Olyphant connection, Weber decided to have a look at the script. Much to his surprise, he found it delightful.

I really responded to the material, Weber says. I was such a Patrick. I was such a loser. The thing about Gregs work is that he makes these beautiful losers with these great friends that get them through all these things. That was what I responded to: I was always the butt of the joke, I could respond to that in the character.

Patricks storyline in the film saw him dueling his own cynicism and low self-esteem. He also battled his lesbian sister, Anne, and her longtime girlfriend Leslie. Together, the couple lobby Patrick to act as a sperm donor for their desired children. Besides examining same-sex parentingstill a new, hot button concept in the 90sthe lesbian couple added a feminine balance to the otherwise all-male story. Liddell and Berlanti also saw the roles as an opportunity to cast established actresses, which would help keep Sony from cutting their funding. To cast the couple, Joe Middleton turned to two up-and-coming bombshell starlets, Nia Long and Mary McCormack.

Long, a luminous beauty who rose to fame as Will Smiths on-screen girlfriend in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, began to eye the role of Leslie.

The script came to my agent and I remember thinking, Wow, what a cool project, says Long today. Im always attracted to telling stories about the underdog. I remember really liking Greg. He commands respect. He knows what he wants. Hes a character development genius. But hes also so gentle, which created a super safe space to do the work. I was young. I was open to trying new things. My character, Leslie, was a woman I had met many times in my life, but never had a chance to portray on film. Thats why I chose to take the role.

The part of Anne, Patricks sister, would go to blond-headed, blue-eyed Mary McCormack, a name on the rise thanks to her acclaimed turns in Private Parts opposite Howard Stern, and in the critically lauded ABC drama Murder One. For McCormack, the offer required no hesitation.

I was living in LA, McCormack reminisces. It was one job to the next. I spent the late 90s in West Hollywood dancing with the gay boys. It was my community. She said yes immediately.

With Olyphant, Cain, Weber, Long, and McCormack aboard, Sony moved closer to a final greenlight.

Finding the rest of the cast suddenly had a new urgency about it, as the creative team continued to look for men willing to play incidentally gay characters. They cast a wide net looking for actors to play two key roles: Howie, a neurotic psychology student in a dysfunctional relationship, and Taylor, a middle-aged interior decorator recently dumped by his boyfriend.

The team decided to approach actor Dan Futterman for the role of Howie. Futterman had appeared as the son of Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in The Birdcage just two years earlier. At the time of casting 8x10s, he had landed a role in a production of A Fair Country in Lincoln Center. One of his co-stars in the show was an actor named Matt McGrath, who had begun acting in his teens and already amassed a long resume of stage and film work. One night, Futterman invited McGrath out on the town.

Dan had this friend who was doing a play downtown at Playwrights Horizons, Tim Olyphant, who was also asked to do the film, McGrath remembers. So the two of them were like, Lets go hang between shows. And they said Weve been asked to do this movie, but we think you would be great for this part. Read it. We want to talk to Greg. So they kind of ganged up on Greg to at least see me for the part. We set up a meeting in New York. I auditioned, and it worked out really well.

Handsome, bespectacled and with pale skin to contrast against his dark hair and hazel eyes, McGrath felt an immediate connection with the material. Hed come out as gay himself the year before to friends and family, who accepted him with open arms. His agents at the time, on the other hand, had a very different reaction, especially when he began to show an interest in playing gay roles.

I had left an agency over a number of reasons, McGrath explains. There was a very well-known gay movie that I was offered. I opted to do the movie, but my agents said too gay. I luckily had this choice to make between that movie and [The Impostors] that I ended up doing. So moving on from that agency, I never forgot hearing its too gay. For McGrath, his moment of vindication had finally arrived.

When Berlanti sat down to write 8x10s, hed made a deliberate choice not to specify the race of any given character, save one. The writer had based the interior decorator Taylor directly on a personal friend. As such, the script described him as middle-aged, white and blond. But, as the old saying goes, theres no stopping a force of nature. Back in Los Angeles, Berlanti, Liddell and Middleton were about to confront just that.

I was the least known in that movie at the time, recalls Billy Porter, the towering, statuesque actor whose star turn in Pose made him a household name. I was juicier, before I lost my baby fat. I was like 29. [The film] started it all for me. Because I wasnt a name at the time, people very often dont even remember that its me.

Like McGrath, Porter had come up through the New York theatre scene, landing parts in popular musicals including Grease, Smokey Joes Cafe, and the original cast of Miss Saigon. His powerful vocals earned him a recording contract, and it seemed like stardom lay just ahead. Then Porter hit a snag: he refused to conceal his identity as a gay man.

Ive been out pretty much my entire career, Porter explains. There was a dont ask, dont tell policy. But I wasnt hiding anything. I wasnt acting like I had girlfriends. You didnt talk about it out loud, especially in the music business. I also was not lying about it. The choice was already made by the people in positions of power that I wasnt masculine enough to get straight parts.

Doors in New York slammed on Porter as quickly as theyd opened. By 2000 I had moved to Los Angeles. I had done a couple movies, so I thought Ill move to Los Angeles, maybe try my hand. My agent-now-manager Bill Butler, had read the script. He thought I was right for it.

Porter showed an immediate interest in the role of Taylor, despite the specification that the character would be played by an older, white man. Berlanti invited Porter to audition based on his theatrical resume.

I assumed he was based on a friend because what was there was so specific, Porter says of his character. But when I got there, I just did what I do. I went to meet Greg. He let me imbue the character with heart and something real, which was what was so great about that original script. And he was like Oh youre right. You are Taylor. So they gave me the part.

Casting continued, as Liddell and Berlanti plucked one up-and-coming actor up after another to round out their cast. The role of the party boy Benji went to a spikey-haired, blue-eyed upstart named Zach Braff. The part of the newly-out 20-something Kevin went to teen heartthrob Andrew Keegan, known for the primetime soap Party of Five.

That left one part left to fill, and with Sony still waffling on a final budget and green light, casting it would prove essential. When Berlanti had begun writing 8x10s, hed created an older character not inspired by anyone he knew so much as an imagined friend he wished hed had. In the story, the younger men all turn to the character of Jack, the groups softball coach, and the owner of the restaurant where Cole, Taylor, Patrick, and Dennis all have their day jobs. Jack acts as the moral guide and role model to the other characters throughout the film, not to mention a connection to an earlier generation of LGBTQ people.

It was wish fulfillment for me Berlanti admits of Jacks character. It was the one thing my group of young friends didnt have. Truthfully, the generation Im a part of that was just coming out at that time: AIDS had wiped out most of the generation above us. You really felt the void of not having a lot of role models, or the sense of tradition to be passed.

Sony had initially pushed Berlanti to consider a number of respected, high-profile character actors for the part, including some Oscar-winners. All the studio suggestions either balked at the proposed salary, the subject matter, or both. Fortunately, that left Berlanti in a desirable position. From the outset, he had only one actor on his list.

I very rarely have actors in mind when Im writing stuff, Berlanti confesses. But, John Mahoney I did have in mind. So when I finished the script and Mickey said we would make it, I wrote him a letter. And he said Id love to sit down with you.

John Mahoney had emigrated to the US from Britain as a child and grown up in Illinois. As an adult, he joined Chicagos prestigious Steppenwolf Theatre company before launching a long and successful career as a character actor, picking up a Tony Award in 1986 for the play The House of Blue Leaves. By 1999, however, most of the world had come to know him as Martin Crane, the cantankerous father of Frasier and Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier. Off-screen, Mahoney seldom discussed his personal life in any detail, in part because doing so could have harmed his career. As a gay man himself, Mahoney saw the character of Jack as a way to acknowledge his own sexuality in a subtle way without having to surrender the whole of his privacy.

[John] was the character from the movie, Berlanti affirms. He would hold court off-camera. He wasnt a showy person. He would do it in a quiet way. But he was the sun people would orbit. He was kind and genteel, and he set the tone for everybody. He was like an angel for the movie: everything you wanted to be when you grew up.

Sony loved the casting of Mahoney, a major television star at the time. The studio finally gave the production the go-ahead on a $1 million budgeta modest price tag for an ensemble film at the time, especially one with such high-profile actors. Their cast finally assembled, Berlanti and Liddell could finally move forward with shooting in Los Angeles in October of 1999. Around the same time, Berlanti decided the film should have a less obtuse title, and borrowed the name of the main characters the softball team as the new moniker. Thus did 8x10s become The Broken Hearts Club.

But, for Greg Berlanti, writing and casting The Broken Hearts Club was little more than an overture. The real test lay ahead.

As production on The Broken Hearts Club ramped up in September 1999, Greg Berlanti had his work cut out for him. Hed begun showrunning on Dawsons Creek, which would mean that he had to split his time between both projects, rehearsing his cast and working with Director of Photography Paul Elliott to develop the visual style of the film over a three week period. On breaks, or in the evenings, Berlanti would have to oversee work on Dawsons, often penning new scenes during lulls. The young director also went about building a rapport among his cast, showing them around West Hollywood to get a sense of the lives they would have to embody.

We had a fun rehearsal period, says Ben Weber. We went to gay nightclubs and met all the real people that inspired the movie. Spending time around his friends, seeing how much love there was, how much support they had. These were friendships that had pre-dated Hollywood and gone though different states of coming out. It was interesting to see characters who were making up for lost time, who came out late. That was something I had no ideait makes all the sense in the world.

Says Matt McGrath: Its very much an LA story. Coming from New York, being a New York actor, I had to play catch up. West Hollywood, especially at that time, was its own beast. It was the Mecca of being young and gay at that time. It was becoming a desirable place to live. There was a lot of nightlife. What Greg wanted to do was have me meet his friends. Getting to know these guys and how they moved through the worldthey were very very talented, and like Greg, were striving to take over the town. I see them around still. Theyre writers and producers and executives. It was a special group that this was written about.

Shooting on a modest budget also meant the production would have to consolidate where possible and call in a few favors.

Every one of those apartments: Those were my friends houses, Mickey Liddell admits. We were living that life anyway, and it was easy. We could grab all those places. We knew what a club would look like on a Saturday. It was easy production-wise to do to.

For the cast, that also meant becoming unusually close.

At the time, Matt McGrath was living with me, sleeping on my couch, Mary McCormack reminisces.

I lived with Greg while we were shooting the movie, at his place in West Hollywood, Weber offers. It was the first time Id spent extended time in LA. One of the first nights I was there, there was an earthquake. I was in my room and came running down the hallway and into Gregs arms. He was like, Its OK! Its OK! All these complex emotions of if I could trust my director have answered right away.

The trust came in handy when shooting commenced in early October. To complete the film on time and on budget, Berlanti and Liddell would have to move at a breakneck pace.

It was really helpful that I didnt know much, confesses Berlanti. I got a great DP. And I kept doing things that, after the fact, [the crew] would say I didnt think wed do the whole movie that way, but it worked. We were shooting 8-9 pages a day. For anyone keeping track, most productions shoot 2-3 pages in a standard day.

We were on a moving train, McGrath analogizes.

Continued here:
Happy 20th: How Greg Berlantis The Broken Hearts Club changed the course of queer cinema - Queerty

Michael Smith gives us the inside scoop on his tenure with the Obamas.

When it comes to interior design, Michael Smith is no stranger to high-profile clients. His impressive rsum includes projects with Cindy Crawford, Steven Spielberg, and Shonda Rhimes, to name a few. Throughout the years, he learned they all require a certain level of privacy, discretion, and an insane attention to detail. Then, in 2009 he was commissioned by the Obamas to update none other than the White Houseprobably the most major interior design gig in existence.

Since WWII, it has become customary for each president to leave their mark on the White House in some way. Because there is so much history, so much beauty within the commemorated space, the interior design is a bit of a puzzle; how to modernize without fundamentally altering? A notion that Smith, a self-dubbed student of history, was extremely conscious of. Its still really surreal, explains Smith. Youre always aware of the weight of history. Always. Not to mention, a sitting president will only live there for four to eight years, so youre on a time constriction. Then layer on the added fact that it is the one of the most photographed, documented spaces in the whole country.

Smith not only understood all these factors, but also recognized that when the Obamas entered the White House, they were first and foremost a family with two young children. They needed to be able to not just live, but feel comfortable in the space they called their home. We caught up with Smith to discuss collaborating with the Obamas, working with history instead of against it, and *subtly* modernizing Americas house, which you can read more about in his new book,Designing History.

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So you are approached to design the White House. Where do you begin?

I think you start by doing a lot of research, which is what I did. I wanted to understand what had come before, who had done what, and to really understand context more than anything else. I think that was the most important thing for me, initially, was to kind of just do all the research so I would know whats happening.

Can you speak to the Obamas design sense?

Its sort of what you think it would be. Theyre super relaxed, super respectful of history and of what had come before. The whole mandate with Mrs. Obama wasHow will this work for our family? And then how will it work for the next family and the next family after that? I think that theres a tradition with presidential families, theres a spirit of stewardship and understanding that youre only going to be there for four years, hopefully eight years, and in that time you want to be comfortable. Its Americas house and everything you do hopefully makes it better for the next presidentthe way that the Bushes left the house in really beautiful shape for the Obamas.

With a place with so much history, what do you have to keep in mind when youre doing the design?

I think you want to be mindful of it, but it depends. I mean, certain rooms like the public rooms, youre more hyperaware of not upsetting whats happened, but kind of adding to it and maybe tailoring it a little bit. With the upstairs rooms, there was a lot more leeway. Theyre more personal for the president and for his family. But again, youre just conscious. Anyone who is a student of history, like I am, is obsessed with trying to stay in the lane of history. Then to do two little girls rooms when they moved into the White House, you have to make them cheerful and kid-like, but still keep them in context where they feel like theyre in the White House. That was the thing that I really wanted to achieve.

Were there any great historical pieces that you were able to work around and build into the space?

Everything was essentially historical, so its all really good. I think the great thing is we used this bed from the White House collection which we re-curtained and updated for their bedroom. Every room had some amazing piece of furniture. There was a room that used to be President Kennedys bedroom that we made into a sitting room for the Obamas. It was a different plan for the room, but it had the same chest of drawers that had occupied the same wall when it was President Kennedys room. That kind of idea is really wonderful.

Working in a space with so much history, it can become museum-like so quickly. Was there any way that you tried to make the interiors a little more approachable?

I think the big thing was trying to figure out how to bring in contemporary art, because by bringing in modern art, it really made it feel personal to them and really, really interesting. Theres a huge list in the book about it. I think it was really interesting that we could borrow work from various museums, which was great. It was a huge resource to have because you could really quickly make it something that was personal. We just knew that by putting big contemporary paintings we could make it more colorful, make it brighter and just lighter and younger.

In a house with so many traditional elements, how much do you modernize it?

I think we pushed it. Again, the contemporary art was really pushing it, but that was the big gesture. They were huge paintings since the rooms are so tall. There were elements like 20th-century coffee tables and other things that add a sense of modernity to the space. I also think you want to keep it really simple. Again, four years or eight years is not so long, but its long enough that you want it to feel comfortable. You want rooms to be simple enough and flexible enough that it all worked with what was there.

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Were the Obamas super involved in the design process, or did they just hand it to you and let you go?

They were involved, but they were super busy. The business of government sort of took a lot of time, but they were very good communicators, as you can imagine about what was important to them. Again, like all my clients, I really tried to listen and be very mindful of what they were looking for and how they needed it to function for their family.

Obamas Oval Office is one of the most photographed places ever. What was the process like designing for it?

It was very much the same idea of just being really mindful of function and use and what had come before. Look, its a space that you can never win. Fifty percent of the people are going to think its too traditional. Fifty percent of the people are going to think its too modern. Its just always, always going to be challenging. Half the people are going to hate it, half the people are going to like it. I think you just go into it understanding that over time, peoples perception of the space becomes classic. Your eye kind of gets used to it. It was about doing something that was special for this president. It has to sit in the building in a way that is really comfortable and appropriate.

I know you had to be cognizant of budget, as the Obamas paid for most of the additions themselves, so where did you shop for furniture?

Over the years of having worked for all these different vendors and craftsmen, I have such a loyal group of people who would do stuff for me at a cost that I could afford but also were really discreet and mellow about avoiding the press. I think thats why I turned to the people that I really knew and trusted the most, who I had worked with for long periods of time on other projects.

Youve had such an extensive career. Was there anything you were able to learn from the process?

Oh my god, I learned stuff every dayjust the scale of everything, the complexity of it and what was needed, the history of things, and just to be thoughtful. I think that the number one thing that the Obamas inspire in everyone is to be thoughtful and mindful of every aspect. Who made it? How much does it cost? To have people who made things where you knew it was really going to be impactful. It was going to mean something that they had made something for the White House. I think that was a big part of the job and something that was so satisfying. People were really proud of what they had done for Americas house.

You talk about incorporating the Obamas more progressive view into the space. How do you do that through design?

Well, I just think this idea of trying to get as many different people who hadnt been in the White House beforecraftsmen and artists of color and LGBTQ artistsjust trying to bring voices and things that hadnt been in the building before because no one had really thought of it.

You also worked on the Obamas current home in Washington. How does it compare to the White House?

Well, its not white on the outside. Its a really lovely, fairly normal family house. I think that they are thrilled to be in a space that is just easier. Theres a difference between their public life and their private life. They get to have a home that is not above the store, so to speak. They dont have to live and work in the same space. I think, again, to not have such scrutiny and lack of privacy is probably a really wonderful thing for them to finally have.

Photos: Michael Mundy

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Michael Smith on What's It Like to Design the Interiors of the White House - Coveteur

We completely fell in love with it straight away, says Beata Heuman (above) of the Victorian house she has lived in for the past four years with her husband, John, and their two young daughters, Gurli and Alma. So many houses like this get picked apart and become open plan, but this was quite well designed to begin with and unspoilt.

Swedish-born Heuman started her design career working with the legendary decorator Nicky Haslam, and evidence of that training can be seen here, in the humour of her interiors, and her love of design history. Its so important to be informed by the past, she says.

She has created an interior that is joyful and unexpected, with echoes of her Swedish childhood. An example of her wit can be found on the walls of the dining room (below left), covered in a custom wallpaper by Tibor. I love the fact that it looks as though someone has just drawn on to the wall, she says.

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How the UK's top interior designers have decorated their own homes - Telegraph.co.uk

Foam mirrors

These recently burst onto the scene as the cute quarantine decor item everyone wanted. While its an affordable and creative craft project, the trend has been divisive on social media.

This is another iso-craft project that has been gaining traction on social media. So far the style has been adopted for kitchenware and decorative items.

Its safe to say thatindoor plants have been one of biggest trend of the decade, however its really been in the last 5 years that theyve become a household staple.

All you have to do is look at the cultural influence of Swedish brand Ikea to understand why Scandinavian interiors are such a big deal.

Modern kitchen designs are all about functionality and what better way to add more space than with an island bench.

These body-positive decorative vases were one of the top recommended gifts of 2019 and come in every shape and colour.

Bar carts have added a dose of glam to homes for many years, but if there ever was a time to buy one, wed say its been 2020.

Macrame has been in-and-out all decade but it turns out its here to stay. Not only is it easy to make but it's an affordable way to add boho style to any home.

Linen is the gift that keeps on giving. Its versatile, easy to clean, affordable and biodegradable. And it's especially handy throughout summer.

Home organisation has never been so cool with so many people sharing viral hacks and tips to social media.

This retro trend which made waves in the '70s has seen a recent revival with stores like Kmart, Big W and Bunnings releasing rattan collections and wicker chairs.

Painting with one thin black line doesnt seem easy but the trend has spawned so many tutorials and Instagram artwork.

This sophisticated styleis truly timeless and has long been giving homes an effortlessly chic feel.

This iconic artwork dates back to pre-Instagram days but the legacy has continued on with the help of social media. It's even made appearances on television shows like Gossip Girl and The Simpsons.

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These are Instagram's top 14 home trends of the decade - Better Homes and Gardens