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With rare footage, secret recordings and a Morgan Freeman voiceover, we had everything - except our most important location, writes Alastair Layzell
JFK & LBJ: A Time For Greatness follows president Lyndon B Johnson's efforts to push through Congress the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 - two laws that changed the country for black Americans. It's a corrective to Selma, which portrayed LBJ as obstructing Martin Luther King.
Our film uses previously secret recordings of Johnson's White House phone calls to demonstrate that, in fact, the president was a champion of civil rights. But bringing those calls to life on screen required a little ingenuity. I had the idea of using one side of the original conversation - with people such as Dr King and attorney general Robert Kennedy - and having our lead actor replace the voice of the president.
That was the easy part. Finding an Oval Office was another story. We knew Barack Obama wouldn't agree to move out of the West Wing for three days, and our PBS budget couldn't stretch to building a replica. We toyed with the idea of asking House Of Cards if we could borrow theirs.
Then I heard about Ron Wade, the larger-than-life presidential historian and collector of political memorabilia, friend of George W Bush and resident of Texas. Ten years ago, Ron converted the garage of his house into the Oval Office - 7/8ths scale but correct in every detail. Despite being a staunch Republican, he...