“Paradise” Supervising Location Manager Duffy Taylor on Building a Post‑Apocalyptic World—Without Leaving California
When we left Dan Fogelman’s post-apocalyptic thriller Paradise last season, Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) learned that his wife, Teri (Enuka Okuma), is alive—three years after an extinction-level event forced 25,000 handpicked Americans underground. As Season 2 unfolds, Xavier’s mission is singular: find Teri and bring her home.
One of the rare productions to shoot exclusively in California, both seasons of Paradise were made possible by $15.5 million in tax incentives from the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program—supporting hundreds of local jobs, including supervising location manager Duffy Taylor and his statewide team.
With the season finale now in the books, Taylor breaks down how California doubled for everything from Memphis to Colorado, how the show pulled off snowstorms in triple-digit heat, and why filming close to home still matters. Warning, spoilers below!
What makes filming in California unique?
California is very diverse. It offers so many opportunities to film different textures and landscapes—urban, residential, agricultural—and we have the ocean, lakes, and mountains too. You can duplicate many areas very well here.
How big is your team? Are they mostly local?
They’re local, within 30 miles of Paramount, where our base is. They’re from Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Torrance, Fontana, Westlake, and the Valley. I have 12 core team members with me daily, but we can get as big as 15 to 20, depending on how many locations we have.
Any sizeable production relies on an expansive ecosystem of vendors. Can you talk about a few?
I manage two to four layout board operators, depending on the scale of the location. AC vendors keep everybody cool and bring in heaters at night. Our waste disposal teams are fantastic. I also manage a security company that can scale from seven officers to 20, depending on the day.
What are some vendors people wouldn’t expect to be essential?
We film in open spaces and wild lands, so we work with a company called Snake Wranglers. They check for snakes—some are poisonous—but they also identify nests, like bees or yellow jackets, and they’ve even steered skunks away. I can’t think of anything that could shut a set down faster than a skunk.
Are Angelenos more jaded about hosting productions?
Some are, but overall, that hasn’t been my experience. It’s much easier to bridge the gap between production needs and neighborhood understanding here. We focus on making it mutually beneficial and taking care of the communities we film in.
Where was the Graceland opening sequence filmed?
We filmed all of it in California using seven locations. Interiors were shot in homes in Hancock Park and Windsor Square. The exterior was in Glendale, with sets and VFX. The gates and cemetery were in Westlake, and the museum doubled in an old Porsche dealership in Woodland Hills. We call it “Frankenstein‑ing.”
How did Gary’s post office bunker come together?
We filmed at RSI Pomona, a Cal Poly‑run movie ranch. We carved out areas to build the compound and combined it with interiors shot elsewhere. One challenge was creating snow in 90- to 100-degree heat. Real chipped ice was used for on-camera snow, supplied by Hollywood Ice.
How does the snow not melt immediately?
Once you build up layers, the internal temperature stays relatively low. You lose surface melt, but you keep building as the day goes on.
Where were the train scenes filmed?
That was in Fillmore, about an hour and 20 minutes northwest of Los Angeles, on the Northern Sierra Railway. We rented real trains, shut down the line, and choreographed everything. Shooting moving trains is like playing Tetris on steroids.
What went into shooting the finale’s bunker destruction?
We doubled the bunker doors at Pyramid Lake and built a massive set. We brought in tanks, vehicles, hundreds of people, and worked closely with VFX to destroy Paradise in one fell swoop.
Featured image: PARADISE – “A Holy Charge” – Xavier and Annie travel to Atlanta, contrasting life in this new world and the one he left behind in the bunker. (Disney/Anne Marie Fox) STERLING K. BROWN
