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I’ll admit it: I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole with Selena + Chef. Every Thursday that HBOMax drops new episodes, I find myself binging them all (so far, they’ve shared three each week) in a single sitting, while Googling random questions as they come to mind: Where are those chef’s knives from? (Amazon, apparently.) How do I make Candice Kumai’s matcha chocolate chip cookies exactly? (Here’s how.) Inevitably, I got curious about filming during quarantine.
Yes, every episode shows Gomez putting on her own mic, turning on remote cameras everywhere and clapping to sync her audio with the video. But every once in a while, you see producers. And after a few years producing videos at PureWow, Delish and House Beautiful, I knew how much work goes into creating those episodes. And how many variables you try to control for, given that Murphy’s Law is in full effect on any shoot. Truly.
It turns out that Gomez, her roommates and her grandparents weren’t totally alone: Crew members operated the cameras remotely, from the singer’s backyard, Deadline reports. And the team took every precaution to prevent any COVID outbreaks: The crew wore face coverings at all times, received temperature checks upon arrival and were regularly tested for the virus. And they didn’t come in contact with Gomez, her grandparents or roomies. With several camera angles set up, including a floating cam that one of Gomez’s roommates would occasionally use for close-up shots, they had plenty of different shots to cut away to as they edited, which is crucial for an unscripted series. Still, that probably didn’t make the process any less bizarre.
“That’s so crazy it comes out so well,” Gomez told Deadline. “It comes out like a normal cooking show but also very odd because everyone is outside everywhere.”
With only four episodes left to air, I’m already crossing my fingers for a second season. My quarantine queue is getting mighty low.