BEVERLEY HILLS, Calif. - "Dig" will arrive this fall on USA as a six-episode thriller set in Jerusalem, starring Jason Isaacs as an FBI agent and Anne Heche as head of the local FBI office.
The pilot episode was filmed on location, an experience executive producer Tim Kring called "absolutely exhilarating." But recent real-world turmoil has raised serious questions about whether "Dig" filming can return to Jerusalem
Speaking to reporters Monday at the summer TV critics' meeting, Kring explained: "My last two shows — 'Heroes' and 'Touch' — both relied extraordinarily heavily on creating worlds that weren't really here in Los Angeles, where we shot the shows.
"For 'Heroes,' we shot scenes in Tokyo and Paris and Africa, and we never left a 35-mile radius of our office," Kring said. "We created everything with green screens and set extensions and CG (computer graphics). And so the ability to actually go someplace and set up a shot and point your camera and see that world was so fantastic. The number of extraordinary locations that have never been on television — it was a huge honour to do that.
Currently, scripts are being written, with production to resume soon. Kring said the show is following the real-life turmoil in the region with fingers crossed, and a "stand-in" location for Jerusalem is a possibility.
"You CAN shoot other places, if you're clever," said the producer, who has made places look like other locations many times before. "But we have every intention of going back."
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Contact Frazier Moore at http://twitter.com/tvfrazier