Helen Pai

Helen Pai
Occupation television writer, director, and producer
Notable work Gilmore Girls and Bunheads
Style Comedy-drama, screwball comedy film
Board member of Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions
Spouse(s) David Rygalski

Helen Pai is an American television writer, director, and producer. Member of the Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, Pai is known as a close friend of Amy Sherman-Palladino and coproducer of the television series Gilmore Girls and Bunheads. Gilmore Girls character Lane Kim was modeled by Amy Sherman-Paladino loosely after Helen Pai.[1][2]

Life and career

Helen Pai is a Korean-American and was raised in an Adventist household. She and Amy Sherman-Palladino have been friends since childhood. The two have worked together on Gilmore Girls and Bunheads. She is married to David (Dave) Rygalski, who is the basis of the character of the same name on Gilmore Girls, although the real Dave Rygalski plays bass.[3] Helen Pai's mother taught Korean to Emily Kuroda who acted as Gilmore Girls character Mrs Kim. Helen Pai often contacted her mother on sections of scripts dealing with Korean language and culture, and has quoted her mother as telling her: "Helen, you have to be very careful, because you're representing the Korean community".[4]

In addition to co-producing the Gilmore Girls from 2001 to 2007, Helen Pai acted as associate producer of Bunheads (2012–2013,[5] 18 episodes) and Grimm (2014, 2 episodes).

Gilmore Girls

When Gilmore Girls started, Helen Pai was one of the script coordinators: "I type like a madwoman," Pai said in an interview, "My typing speed is insane, and I think Amy was always impressed by that." Through her years working on the show, she was also involved with outside projects, and by the end of the sixth season, Pai had become involved in everything from set design, publicity, DVD special features, and legal clearances, to sound mixing and post-production tasks. Pai was also the coordinator in charge of any scene in Gilmore Girls in which Hep Alien performed on-camera.[6][7]

Gilmore Girls character Lane Kim was modeled by Amy Sherman-Palladino loosely after Helen Pai.[2][3][8] Helen Pai's husband was the model for another Gilmore Girls character, Lane's love interest and Hep Alien guitarist Dave Rygalski. Additionally, the band name of Hep Alien is an anagram of Helen Pai's name.[1] The band's "reunion" occurred on 4 October 2014.[9]

Books

Filmography

Television credits

Film credits

References

  1. 1 2 Julius Nam (2007-12-20). "Adventism According to Gilmore Girls: A Prime Time Commentary". spectrummagazine.org. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  2. 1 2 Keiko Agena in the 7th season DVD special "A Day on the Set with Keiko Agena".
  3. 1 2 Todd Van Luling and Lily Karlin (2015-09-04). "10 Stories You've Never Heard About 'Gilmore Girls' Band Hep Alien". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  4. ↑ David Lavery and David Scott Diffrient (2014-05-14). Screwball Television: Critical Perspectives on Gilmore Girls. Syracuse University Press, Google books. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  5. ↑ "Amy Sherman-Palladino Says Goodbye to 'Bunheads' With Ballet (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. 2013-08-26. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  6. ↑ Ada Tseng (2008-05-14). "Ode to Gilmore Girls: Behind the Musicality of TV’s Beloved Show". gilmorememories.com respectively asiaarts.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  7. ↑ Steven Foster (2010-01-01). "An Interview with Amy Sherman-Palladino". outsmartmagazine.com. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  8. ↑ Keiko Agena (2016-01-21). "With the Real Life #LaneKim, Helen Pai. Good #Gilmore things are coming...". Keiko Agena on facebook. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  9. ↑ Erin Strecker (2014-10-15). "'Gilmore Girls' Band Hep Alien Stages One-Night-Only Reunion". billboard.org. Retrieved 2014-10-16.

External links

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