‘Rough Cut with Tommy Mac’ makes its mark
By Danny Joseph
Tommy MacDonald on the set of Rough Cut (Photo by Anthony Tieuli for WGBH Educational Foundation)
The backroom of Tommy MacDonald’s Draper Street workshop is adorned with all manner of beautiful woodworking pieces — from laminated coat racks and folding kitchen tables to traditional sand-shaded clocks and standing mirrors. Beyond another locked door, in another nondescript backroom, stands MacDonald’s magnum opus: a beautifully detailed and seamlessly intricate chest of drawers that took him 14 months to construct.
Despite his obvious skill and virtuosity, MacDonald remains as humble and unassuming as the room that houses his masterpiece.
“I’m not that talented; I just know enough to work very hard,” he said. “I’m smart enough to know I’m not that smart.” During the creation of the chest, MacDonald started a podcast discussing the project, which soon had thousands of followers. Despite his self-deprecation, the woodworking community had clearly discovered that MacDonald was talented and compelling enough to tune in to and learn from.
MacDonald’s woodworking prowess and knack for entertaining audiences was soon parlayed into a dream gig as the host of a national television show, WGBH’s Rough Cut — Woodworking with Tommy Mac. After a succsessful first season, and a Daytime Emmy Award nomination to boot, the Rough Cut crew is back for a second go-round, with filming occurring throughout the summer at MacDonald’s Canton studio, as well as on-site shoots at different locations throughout the country. The second season is set to premiere on October 1, with a new episode debuting every Saturday.
In each half-hour episode, MacDonald demonstrates how to craft a different piece of furniture and how to properly implement power tools, hand tools, and building materials. Every Rough Cut episode also features an appearance from a master craftsman (or woman) from around the country — an element of the show that has helped to draw the national woodworking community ever closer.
“I feel it’s very important to involve the woodworking community on a woodworking show like this,” said MacDonald. “And it’s fun to hang out with a bunch of characters.”
Rough Cut has also managed to push the boundaries of the lifestlye show beyond the confines of the studio. In a weekly segment called “Rough Cut Road Trip,” MacDonald undergoes a quest to find design ideas for his projects.
“We draw a lot of inspiration from our road trips,” said Laurie Donnelly, the show’s director. “We’re on a roll with them and we are expanding our geographic horizons.”
The upcoming season finds MacDonald on the road to behold the Arts and Crafts style of architects Charles and Henry Greene in Pasadena, California; to Brookhaven, New York, where he will get a look at the coat rack lamination and turning techniques of studio artist David Ebner; and, of course, to Boston to soak in the aura of the Museum of Fine Arts’ new “Art of the Americas” wing.
Behind-the-scenes photo of Tommy Mac with Director of Photography John Maynard (WGBH Educational Foundation)
Although his charm and easy-going nature translate well on screen, MacDonald insists that his role as host doesn’t come naturally to him. “One of the challenges is to relate a concise thought in just the right amount of time,” he said. “But I’m learning, not only how to be a woodworker on television, but to be a host as well.”
However, there is another role, that of “local kid made good,” that MacDonald doesn’t need to grow into, because he has lived it. MacDonald grew up in Canton and is a graduate of Blue Hills Regional Technical School. After paying his dues in the world of carpentry and woodcraft for many years, he enrolled at the famed North Bennett Street School in the North End in 2000. Since his graduation in 2002, MacDonald has seen his notoriety in the woodworking world grow, as he has been featured in the Boston Globe, Forbes Magazine, and Fine Woodworking Magazine in recent years. His success has now enabled him to purchase a home in Canton and return to the town of his youth.
But to MacDonald, Rough Cut is the culmination of all his hard work; he has seen his dreams come full circle.
“This is the biggest opportunity of my lifetime,” he said. “This is something I’m passionate about, and I’m trying to involve anybody and everybody in it.”
He is also quick to acknowledge that the production team deserves the lion’s share of the credit for the success of the show. In addition to Donnelly, MacDonald is joined on staff by Senior Program Producer Anne Adams, Technical Advisor Eli Cleveland, Director of Photography John Baynard, audio engineer John O’Connor, and makeup artist Elizabeth Moon.
“It really does take a team to make a television show,” said MacDonald. “It takes the support of eveyone here, the people at WGBH, and [our sponsor] Woodcraft to make this happen.”
Donnelly, a veteran director of lifestyle programs for WGBH, garnered the show’s Daytime Emmy nomination for outstanding direction for a lifestyle/culinary program after season one.
“It’s a fabulous honor to be nominated for a brand-new series,” Donnelly said. “It shows that we are doing something fun, new, and out of the box.”
Both MacDonald and Donnelly see the show’s accessibility as a key component to its success. Rough Cut is produced to not only appeal to veteran woodworkers, but also novices who are interested in trying something new.
“The show is aimed to make woodworking more accessible,” Donnelly said. “We want to speak to people who have been on the bench, but also to beginners.”
Reaching out to beginners has, in turn, spawned a youth movement in the woodworking world. At expos and trade shows around the country, MacDonald has seen more and more kids involved in the craft. At a recent Association of Woodworking & Furnishing Suppliers trade show attended by MacDonald, a 19 year old won a national build competition and will now go on to represent the United States at the international championship in Germany.
MacDonald also hopes to use his position and visibility from television to integrate youth initiatives into his ongoing efforts to get more people interested in woodcraft. “You don’t realize the power of television until you’re on it,” he said.
However, the Rough Cut crew is using more than just TV programming and trade shows to get their message across. The show’s interactive facebook page has over 3,000 followers who can upload pictures of their latest pieces and discuss what projects they will undertake next. And with season one of Rough Cut out on DVD and an upcoming companion book from Taunton Press scheduled for release, the phenomenon is sure to gain even more momentum.
For MacDonald, it has been a whirlwind couple of years. He often finds himself taken aback with his newfound fame. He is now recognized by strangers on the street, and was touched when a young fan at an expo show broke down into tears at the chance to meet her idol.
MacDonald intends to use his platfrom not for his own personal benefit, but for the betterment of the art.
“I put it on myself to be the reponsible steward of the craft,” he said. “I try to tell people, if you can see youself some place then you can do it. You just have to persevere and never quit.”
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Posted by Danny Joseph
on Aug 10 2011. Filed under Features.
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