''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
Charlie Huston is an American novelist, screenwriter and comic book writer. His twelve novels span several genres from crime to horror to science fiction. His books have been published in English by Ballentine, Del Rey, Mulholland and Orion, and ...
, 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
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
.
Story
''All Signs of Death'' tells the story of Webster "Web" Fillmore Goodhue, a typical twentysomething slacker living in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
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
Benjamin John Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Whishaw, various accolades, including three British Academy Television Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...
as Webster "Web" Fillmore Goodhue
*
Clayne Crawford
Joseph "Clayne" Crawford (born April 20, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Martin Riggs on the Fox series ''Lethal Weapon'' (2016–2018) and Teddy Talbot on the SundanceTV series '' Rectify'' (2013–2016), the la ...
as Chev
*
James Read
James Christopher Read (born July 31, 1953) is an American actor. He played the role of George Hazard in the ''North and South'' television miniseries, and had a recurring role as List of Charmed characters#Victor Bennett, Victor Bennett on th ...
as Westin Nye
Production
Ball became aware of Huston through
Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris Schulz (born November 25, 1951) is an American author who specializes in mysteries. She is best known for her book series '' The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', which was adapted as the TV series '' True Blood''. The television sh ...
, author of the popular
series of novels that inspired Ball's HBO series ''
True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...
''. 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.
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."
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.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 1688060
HBO original programming
Television pilots not picked up as a series