How the ‘Percy Jackson And The Olympians' team brought the epic fantasy to life

CR: Disney/David Bukach

“Every season, it just gets bigger and more complex” says executive producer and showrunner of the Disney+ series Percy Jackson And The Olympians, Dan Shotz.

For the show's second season, adapted from the second novel in Rick Riordan’s beloved series, the production team were tasked with bringing to life a chariot race, several waterborne scenes aboard an Ironclad and, of course, more monsters. 

“We tease Rick all the time, being like ‘You were not friendly to production with the way you wrote these!’,” joked Shotz.

Produced by Disney Branded Television, 20th Television and the Gotham Group, the second season follows the titular Percy Jackson as he embarks on an epic odyssey into the Sea of Monsters in search of his best friend Grover and the one thing that may save his camp — the legendary Golden Fleece.

Shotz, joined by fellow executive producers and showrunners Jon Steinberg  and Craig Silverstein, speaks to Screen Global Production about shooting on location in Vancouver, balancing practical and visual effects, and the challenges of adapting a beloved book series.

What was the draw with shooting in Vancouver?

Steinberg: We looked all over the world. There's a long checklist of things you're hoping to find: beneficial currency exchange, tax breaks, and great crews and environments. Vancouver, it’s a great place to shoot, and a place which is not difficult for kids and their families to get home from. That was actually near the top of the list of things we were trying to make sure we got right.

Shotz: One of the other benefits was that we partnered with ILM, Industrial Light and Magic, and one of their biggest hubs is in Vancouver. In season one, we used the StageCraft Volume with them, so it was a great partnership and they have continued to be our lead partner in creating these VFX.

What were the logistics and benefits of shooting some of the virtual set pieces with ILM’s StageCraft Volume?

Shotz: It's such an incredible tool to have, and we used it heavily in season one. Some of the key environments for season one really lend themselves to the volume, the way we did The Met [museum in New York], the way we did Medusa’s Cavern. But with season two, the scope and scale got so big that we had to think about a new way of shooting. And that's what's great about television, each book is very different, so we have to adapt to whatever the show needs.

How did you balance shooting on location versus soundstages at Mammoth Studios in British Columbia?  

Silverstein: We discussed it [using the StageCraft Volume] for the island of Polyphemus early on because we knew we were staying in Vancouver. But British Columbia came through in having a location four hours inland that had a completely different landscape which was much drier, much more desert.

Shotz: We're all over the place. It just depends on what the scene needs. Like on the Ironclad, we could have more control on stage to work with the dump tanks and the rigs. And then there's the chariot race, which was built practically outside with full chariot circuit, amphitheatre, horses and stables.

Silverstein: And to do a show this size with kid hours, it's very important to have stage work, because there are certain hours they cannot do. Plus, we're restricted with how much there actually is of day and night: in Vancouver in the winter it's dark by four o'clock.

Episode two has an epic chariot race which sees the key characters fiercely compete for a spot on a coveted quest, and it ends in chaos when monsters attack. You mentioned it was all practical – can you talk a bit more about that?

Steinberg: You need to have somebody who you trust to put kids and animals in a dangerous situation. We worked with Danny Virtue, who is a stunt and horse training institution in North America. He helped us build the whole thing, and made sure that it was going to both look great, and that it was as safe as it could possibly be.

Shotz: The scene was all real. And no horses were hurt in the making!

Silverstein: When the horses pull up at a certain speed you can have the kids on the chariots, but when they’re running full out that's the second unit and stunt team. And then when you're on them there are different rigs. One of them was a rig with two chariot bucks side-by-side being pulled by an electric cart, so you could get that movement.

Shotz: When we started we said, “No CG horses. We’re going to do this for real.” We had 20 something horses from Danny, and those are set deck prop chariots that were built; they could ride on real wheels that were protected to protect the horses.

Steinberg: A lot of credit to Jim Rowe, our producing partner, who was very committed to making that a target. I'm pretty sure there's at least one production meeting where I threw a fit. I didn’t think this was going to work. And it did. I think sometimes you’ve just got to believe it and then the rest figures itself out.

The books contain huge, epic sequences involving monsters and magic – as a producer do you read those and panic about how you’re going to adapt it?

Silverstein: The surprising thing is it's the small stuff that can get you – like Tyson's eye or Grover's legs. These are scenes where you might think it isn't a big VFX scene, because we’re just sitting around talking. But it is a big VFX scene! They're supernatural creatures, and that kind of stuff is happening all the time.

You mentioned Tyson’s eye – what did that look like practically? What was Daniel (Diemer, who plays Tyson the Cyclops) wearing in real life?

Shotz: Nothing. The tech of it was to take his performance and then make it in that eye. So the biggest priority was – how do you maintain the humanity that that actor is giving? Your eyes tell so much of a story. We had to protect his performance. So, yeah, there's no dots on him. He was just able to perform, and ILM was able to take that performance and incorporate it.

The Ironclad sequence involves the main characters being attacked by huge monsters while at sea, one of those monsters taking the form of a whirlpool which threatens to topple the ship – what did that look like practically?

Silverstein: [The Ironclad was] a 170 foot set on the giant stage. You could walk from stem to stern. The crew had to retrofit it and make it tilt eight degrees to shoot the sequence where the boat hits the whirlpool. So they're trying to balance without rigging, not just the stunt men who are yanked out by Scylla [the monster], but also the kids just to not fall off as water was running down it. It was pretty huge.

Shotz: It was dump tanks and rain machines and wind machines. It was a blast, but it took a lot of technical challenges to get that right. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Erik Henry, our senior VFX supervisor, who oversaw a lot of that sequence with our director Jason Ensler. He was really the visionary behind that.

And finally – looking forward to future seasons, is there a moment from the books that you’re particularly looking forward to adapting? Or one that you’re dreading to adapt because of how big it is?

Silverstein: If we're so lucky as to get to season five, which has a gigantic battle in New York City, that’ll be a fun problem.

Shotz: To tease for the future, in season three we have some pretty unbelievable creatures. There's one called Talos that’s very iconic from the books, and it’s very complicated figuring out how to tell a story with a giant that is 110-feet-tall, so that I'm excited for people to see.