behind the scenes
HOLLYWOODeast
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Amy Tipton is the kind of art department coordinator
who can find or build anything. She’s been working on
Wilmington TV and film productions for almost ten
years, and during that time she has honed her skills as an
expert prop scavenger. Need a vintage tin ceiling for a
1940s episode of “One Tree Hill”? Check. Need an
Army Abrams tank for a film set? Check. But now here
she is, on a cold rainy Friday in May, putting the finishing
touches on her own TV show pilot, her first ever,
and she can’t find a square of sod in the entire city
of Wilmington.
Why is the sod so important? Because it’s the last
piece of the renovation project Tipton and her crew
are doing for Wilmington-based United States Marine
Captain Murphy and his family for the first episode of
her television show, “Home Again.”
Tipton says Capt. Murphy’s first name can’t be used
because Camp Lejeune officials prohibit active duty
Marines from being publicly identified in media projects.
“Home Again” is a home improvement show with a
meaningful twist: It honors deployed military troops like
Capt. Murphy by renovating their houses while they’re
away. The episode’s ending, which will film on the
coming Tuesday, will be the ultimate surprise when
Capt. Murphy comes back from deployment to a new
laundry room, deck, shed and landscaped backyard.
But Tipton says the moment will be diminished
if she can’t get this important piece of landscaping
finished. The first person she calls is her co-producer,
Beth Crookham. The two had met on the set of
“One Tree Hill” where Crookham was an assistant
to the series’ executive producer.
“This was a passion project for us,” Crookham says.
“We worked on it every weekend for almost five months.”
Between Tipton’s many contacts with vendors from
her art department experience and Crookham’s film
production connections, the two had amassed a sizable
group of crew members, volunteers and vendors, includ-ing
Wilmington contracting company Old School
Rebuilders, to bring “Home Again” from idea to actuality.
Together, the crew worked with Murphy’s wife, who’s
also a military captain, on the renovation, which even
included an art project for 3-year-old daughter Solenne
Murphy and 9-month-old son Ronan.
Crookham reassures Tipton that the show would
go on, grass or no grass. But Tipton wants things
done right. She next calls Chuck Bennett, head of
Wilmington firm Morpho Designs, who had designed
and landscaped the Murphy’s backyard.
“When Amy said we didn’t have grass for the yard,
we were frantic,” Bennett says. “I called all of my suppliers
and no one had anything.”
Bennett is a good example of the typical volunteer
on “Home Again,” which attracted dozens of people
with military backgrounds. Bennett served in the
82nd Airborne and spent a year and a half fighting in
the first Gulf War.
“I was drawn to work on the show because I could
understand the feeling of wanting to come home after
being overseas,” Bennett says. “I lived that life,” he adds.
Bennett finally has a breakthrough. He finds a supplier
who has sod, but it’s been set aside for another project.
Home
Again
Captain Murphy embraces his daughter after a long
deployment.
By D.J. Bernard
Photography by Brownie Harris