Behind the Scenes - Vive Le Perrier!

Alana Murray, our clearances person on Robson Arms, secures permission for branded products to be used on camera. As companies only want their product portrayed in the best light, it falls on her to ensure that this happens. She does her best to make sure all products are cleared before they appear on camera, but sometimes the spontaneity of the shooting day can result in some curious happenings.

During the shooting of episode 203, "I Did Not Have Sex With that Woman," Director James Genn was alerted that, after shooting a few takes of Sasha (played by April Amber Telek) delivering some rather racy dialogue while holding a classic glass bottle of Perrier prominently in frame, the providers of Perrier might have a problem with featuring their product in the scene as scripted. As there was no chance that the classic line of dialogue she delivers would change to suit the purposes, the decision was made to try to clear the use of Perrier in the scene. A fast call was made to Alana. As the original plan for this scene was originally to use a non-descript bottle of water, this call came as a surprise. Alana called our legal department, who recommended that alternate takes of the scene be shot using a plain bottle, which was done.

But James knew right away that the strongest takes of the scene were those that featured the bottle of Perrier, so our Executive Producer Gary Harvey asked Alana to send the scene to the agency that reps the product in the hopes of getting their approval for use of their product in the scene. Much to our surprise and to the delight of our director, the agency loved the footage. You just never know what companies will allow until it comes to situations like this. Of course it's best to err on the side of caution, but in this scenario everyone was thrilled with the outcome. And the new favourite beverage of choice for the crew of Robson Arms? Perrier, mais oui!!