All Signs of Death

{{Short description|American unaired TV pilot, produced in 2010}}

{{Infobox television

|genre = Murder Mystery
Drama
Comedy

|company = Your Face Goes Here Entertainment

|director = Alan Ball

|writer = Charlie Huston

|executive_producer = Alan Ball
Charlie Huston

|starring = Ben Whishaw
Clayne Crawford

|country = United States

|language = English

|network = HBO

|num_seasons =

|first_aired =

}}

All Signs of Death is a unaired television pilot based on the 2009 novel The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston, who also wrote the teleplay. Huston served as executive producer along with Alan Ball who directed the pilot. Filmed, then shelved, in 2010, it was produced as part of Ball's multi-project contract with HBO.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/38477/alan-ball-point-out-all-signs-death-hbo|title=Alan Ball to Point Out All Signs of Death for HBO|work=Dread Central|last=Barton|first=Steve|date=July 12, 2010|access-date=July 16, 2010}}

Story

All Signs of Death tells the story of Webster "Web" Fillmore Goodhue, a typical twentysomething slacker living in Los Angeles, California who becomes a crime scene cleaner and discovers that the work helps to ease the pain of his own past trauma. However, Web soon finds himself at the center of a murder mystery that eventually puts his own life in jeopardy.

Cast

  • Ben Whishaw as Webster "Web" Fillmore Goodhue{{Cite magazine|url=http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/07/23/ben-whishaw-alan-ball-all-signs-of-death/ |title=Alan Ball's new HBO pilot casts first import, Ben Whishaw |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |last=Bierly |first=Madi |date=July 23, 2010 |accessdate=August 2, 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726162243/http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/07/23/ben-whishaw-alan-ball-all-signs-of-death/ |archivedate=26 July 2010 |url-status=live }}
  • Clayne Crawford as Chev{{Cite magazine|url=http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/07/29/clayne-crawford-joins-hbo-death-alan-ball/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731144423/http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/07/29/clayne-crawford-joins-hbo-death-alan-ball/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 31, 2010 |title=Exclusive: '24' baddie Clayne Crawford joins Alan Ball's new HBO drama 'Death' |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |last=Ausiello |first=Michael |date=July 29, 2010 |accessdate=August 2, 2010 }}
  • James Read as Westin Nye

Production

Ball became aware of Huston through Charlaine Harris, author of the popular series of novels that inspired Ball's HBO series True Blood. Huston confided to Ball that he was thinking about pitching his then latest novel as a series, and the two worked on the pilot's development.{{Cite news |url=https://www.collider.com/2010/07/09/all-signs-of-death-pilot-hbo-alan-ball-true-blood-charlie-huston/ |title=HBO Orders Pilot ALL SIGNS OF DEATH from TRUE BLOOD Creator Alan Ball |work=Collider |last=Bettinger |first=Brendan |date=July 9, 2010 |access-date=July 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710225345/http://www.collider.com/2010/07/09/all-signs-of-death-pilot-hbo-alan-ball-true-blood-charlie-huston/ |archive-date=10 July 2010 |url-status=live}} Speaking of the book, Ball said "It's not so much about the crime, it's about the personal story of the central character and his journey back to being fully connected with his life after some very traumatic things."

On shooting the pilot, Ball stated that he wanted to stay "away from the overlit, stylized noir for a more frantic, contemporary, naturalistic style."{{Cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2010/07/hbo-orders-death-pilot-from-alan-ball-52674/ |title=HBO Orders 'Death' Pilot From Alan Ball |work=Deadline Hollywood |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=July 9, 2010 |access-date=July 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712072255/http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/hbo-orders-death-pilot-from-alan-ball/ |archive-date=12 July 2010 |url-status=live}}

Filming took place over 11 days in various parts of Los Angeles in June and July, 2010.

HBO announced on December 8, 2010 that it would not be taking All Signs of Death to series. The pilot remains unaired.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/live-feed/signs-death-doa-hbo-57936 |title='All Signs of Death' DOA at HBO |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |last=Hibberd |first=James |date=December 8, 2010 |access-date=January 4, 2011}}

References

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