The Leverage cast, crew and production are non-stop slammed putting together one of the most enjoyable experiences on television. If there’s one thing (out of the many) we love about this show, is that everyone involved always makes time for their loyal grifter fans. Today we chatted with Rachel Olschan, partner at Electric Entertainment and co-producer of TNT’s Leverage.

The show has such an incredibly loyal fanbase. Has the public support and love from the fans been a surprise? Do you think the fact you share behind the scenes footage, comments, pics and vids via social networking sites has helped create this loyalty? We think we’ve made a quality television show for the viewers, so I’m not sure we’re “surprised” as much as very appreciative that we have such a hard-core group of supportive fans. Yes, we do think it’s important to try to supply our fans with fun and interesting material whenever possible. Our fans are very active on the social media sites so it’s important to not stop working on producing content once the shows are done. We’re always trying to come up with creative ways to offer more.

Rachel Olschan with Mark Sheppard, Tim Hutton & John Rogers

Are there any known ex-con groups that actually do what the Leverage crew do? We could tell you but then we’d have to kill you. ; )

How progressively larger has the Leverage budget gotten since Season One? It really hasn’t. We have to find very creative ways to stretch our dollars. We’re making a mini-movie every episode and shooting it within seven days. It’s a crazy schedule with a limited budget but we have a cast and crew that works very hard to make it happen.

Were you originally using the Red camera to save money? Will you continue utilizing it? And if so, what are the advantage? Our initial attraction to RED was multi-facetted. Cost and ease of ownership was certainly a factor however that combined with the image quality and the “pure data” nature of the workflow were equally appealing. Electric had been experimenting with an “inhouse” or DIY approach to Post Production and the RED was a perfect fit in the environment we were building. We’ve shot the entire series on the Red cameras and will continue to do so, not only on Leverage but on our other Electric projects as well.  We have already upgraded to the MX sensor (as of season 3) and will continue to work with RED as the Epic evolves. [Rachel wants to make it clear that she had help answering these technical questions from Mark Franco, the visual effects supervisor ]

Anything planned we can tease fans with regarding next year’s ConCon? We plan on doing another ConCon but we have to officially get picked up for Season 4 by the network (TNT) first. Fans should write in to TNT telling them they want another season of LEVERAGE! Once we’re picked up, ConCon 2011 planning begins!

Rachel on set for The Three Strikes Job

Follow Rachel’s Tweets at @rachelolschan. Check out Electric Entertainment: http://electricentertainment.com. And if you haven’t yet (poor ting) watch Leverage on TNT! Leverage (starring Timothy Hutton, Aldis Hodge, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf).

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In honor of Comic Con we’re giving all Grifters 20% off til August 12th. Use the promo code: LEV20OFF. Check the deets. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates on news, discounts and new Leverage product!

Dexter Season 5 Trailer from Comic-Con 2010. Sins may be forgiven but conscience is a killer. Looks… heavy, man. Season five premieres Sunday, September 26th.

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Tease + Mary Louise Parker = redundant. We know that. And like other Weeds fanatics, we’ve been a little lot bit hot and bothered awaiting Showtime’s Sixth Season of Weeds. Take a deep breath, don’t hyperventilate….

Coming Monday, August 10, 10 PM. The promo teaser trailer….

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