HBO Launches New Blog: Inside True Blood; Valentine’s Day Promo

Debi Moore |

Feb 11, 2011

The wait for the debut of Season Four of HBO’s “True Blood” this summer just got a bit more tolerable with the launch of “Inside True Blood”, a production blog being written by Gianna Sobol, who has been working for Alan Ball for the past two years.

Here’s a sample of the type of goodies you can expect Gianna to share:

It’s early February, and episode 403 is shooting at an undisclosed location just outside of sunny (but surprisingly cold) Los Angeles. The halls of the production office are bustling. Everyone is talking about how insanely talented Fiona Shaw is. Rebecca Wisocky just came in for a fitting. Our script coordinator Daniel is rushing out new pages. Post-production is delivering their watermarked dailies to all the powers that be.

You might be wondering who I am. My name is Gianna and I work for the extraordinary Alan Ball. So I am in the middle of things, and I will start in the middle of things. Because there is no beginning or end to True Blood. Quite frankly, it’s the show that never sleeps. So though our production blog might be starting just now, you’re jumping on a train that’s been moving for four seasons and has been picking up speed (and friends) along the way.

Now I don’t want to give away too many details, but today’s call sheet includes the words hostage, bites, dinner and Eric. There is also a General Safety Memo When Working with Exotic Animals attached to the front. This is one dangerous place to be, and things are as big and crazy as ever. But it’s a long road from now until the premiere of Season 4. There is a lot of work to be done and a lot of waiting to suffer through. But you needn’t do that alone, I am here to provide your weekly dose. So keep checking back for news on production, plus a little backdoor peek at how things work around here. And just to whet your appetites, here’s a quick Q&A with Alan:

Gianna: What are you most excited about this season?
Alan: I really love the Eric storyline.

Gianna: What’s going to shock the fans?
Alan: What happens to Jason…throughout the whole season.

Gianna: Got any advice for fans that are chomping at the bit?
Alan: We’re working as fast as we can! In the meantime, I recommend watching the Swedish film Let the Right One In and the Russian films Day Watch and Night Watch.

Considering Night Watch and Day Watch are among this writer’s most favorite films of all time (and Let the Right One In is certainly no slouch either), things are sounding pretty great for Season Four! For more from Gianna click the below graphic to visit “Inside True Blood”, and also be sure to stop by HBO’s official “True Blood” site.