Who Knew?“You wouldn’t believe how much time, money and planning went into making that proposal look casual, authentic and unpremeditated. The original plan was to film this at the actual Merritt Parkway on the East coast — but there were just too many variables. So it was decided, after about a dozen meetings, that we would –- at considerable cost –- recreate the Merritt Parkway in the parking lot of a Best Buy in Los Feliz, California. Led by our most excellent production designer, Michael Gallenberg, and a small army of crew members, a fake gas station was built, complete with rain machines and stunt drivers driving in figure eights to recreate the feel of a highway. After filming, we sent that footage to a company that does special effects and they covered up the California mountains with those tall East-coast type trees that you now see in the background.”
- Gene Stupnitsky (“The Office”) on preparing the Jim/Pam proposal scene
