Over the phone from her office on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank, Calif., Stephanie Savage sounds like the girl next door, whether the house is in West Hillhurst or Westwood: nice, good-humoured and appreciative of another opportunity to tell her story. Perhaps this stems from her Calgary upbringing, and the fact she's a Canadian transplant living the American dream.
Savage, 41, didn't set out to be a television producer. While researching a PhD in film history, she landed a job at Drew Barrymore's Flower Films. There she tried her hand at scriptwriting and was so good at it -- Charlie's Angels and The O.C. followed -- she soon abandoned her dissertation.
Now, instead of theorizing about movies or television, she creates media images for public consumption and, in some ways, influences that ephemeral zeitgeist that is the style-du-jour. This translates off-set, where the fresh-faced Savage channels her creative energy into her storybook home in Los Feliz, east of Hollywood.
She's been living in Los Angeles for 15 years, and moved into her current residence, a 1927 European-style, two-storey, 18 months ago. The house is all Savage, decorated with items she's collected or found on her travels, including candles from Notre Dame Cathedral and serving trays by decoupage artist John Derian.
The open-concept home was designed with her housemates -- two dogs and two cats -- in mind. Custom white shag-style dog beds add a glam Hollywood statement to the living room, and she insists she put her money into light fixtures and art, items her furry friends couldn't wreck. As for shedding, she says, "The pet hair is an insurmountable problem, so I just have to embrace it as part of life."
Postmedia News caught up with Savage, busy writing the fourth season of the critically acclaimed CW series, to chat about her career, Calgary, the place she now calls home, and whether Gossip Girl viewers will find out what happened to Chuck.
Q: You once described your Calgary childhood as a far cry from the upper-crust youth you create for Gossip Girl. How does your upbringing inform the media images you produce?
A: I think that being someone from Calgary and then being a transplant to Los Angeles gives you a little bit of an outsider perspective, and I think that's something that's seen in a lot of the projects that I work on: the notion of the outsider in the fancy land, having to figure out how everything works.
Q: How does Gossip Girl influence your personal tastes?
A: One of the most fun things about being a writer in television is that it's almost like being a director in a film, where you have a lot of say over what goes into the show, whether it's music or fashion or art or the places that we shoot. So that, for me, is one of the most fun parts of my job: being able to identify people who I think have great taste and then collaborate with them. People like Eric Daman, who is our costume designer (and author of You Know You Want It). And also being able to take some of my passions and find ways to translate them into the show.
Q: How would you describe your personal style?
A: I like things that feel specific and organic -- so, things that come out of a person's own journey, things that represent where they've been and who they are. I collect a lot of books . . . for example, Truman Capote is one of my favourite authors, and I have some items of his from his auction from a couple years ago, so I have some stuffed animals that were his, and some Polaroids (on display in the house).
Q: It sounds like you have quite an extensive library. What other books are on your shelves?
A: I love art books. Any time I go to an exhibit, I need to buy the catalogue.
Q: How would you describe your home style? On the inside, it looks like you've borrowed a bit from 1920s glam Hollywood.
A: Yeah . . . I think that I would say it's eclectic. I don't like anything to feel like it's too designed or like someone came in and did everything, so it doesn't feel like a hotel. I live by myself so I get to express myself in all the rooms.
Q: I'm guessing that you didn't use an interior designer?
A: I actually worked with a young up-and-coming designer named Kathryn Sykora. . . . She's a real collaborator. She's really trying to figure out what it is that you like and what it is that you want and how to help you fulfil your vision. I also think it's really important that a house works with how you live. I have two dogs and two cats that have the run of the place, so the things that I spent more money on were things like light fixtures and artwork, not rugs or couches that get wrecked by pets.
Q: Do you entertain a lot?
A: I'm a pretty informal entertainer. I love to have people over for dinner, especially if other people are doing the cooking. But it is something that my house is great for. It's got a nice open floor plan. It's an informal family house. It has an eat-in kitchen on the back of the house and all the rooms kind of flow in to each other.
Q: What are some of your favourite pieces? Where did you find them?
A: Because I don't like to write at home -- I write at the office -- I turned my never-used office into a dressing room and Kathy hooked me up with (a millwright) who made me a custom vanity. And Kathy found, at an estate sale, a white leather and Lucite chair from the Lucille Ball estate, so that was very cool.
Q: What's your favourite room?
A: My favourite room is probably my bedroom, because I have a giant king-sized bed and a 65-inch television. When I'm tired, that's where I need to go.
Q: Can you give readers any insights into what they can expect in the Gossip Girl season opener on Sept. 13?
A: We had an amazing experience shooting the first two episodes of Gossip Girl; we went to Paris. Paris is one of my favourite cities and you see some evidence of Paris, some influences of Paris, in my home, so it was a real thrill to be able to take the show there and be shooting with Blake (Lively) and Leighton (Meester) and Ed (Westwick) in a lot of my favourite locations. . . . In the first couple episodes, you'll learn the truth. I'll say you'll meet Georgina's baby, you'll find out what happened to Chuck.
-- Postmedia News
