While the Motor City will sparkle with Hollywood glitz and glam at tonight's "Detroit 1-8-7" premiere party at the MGM Grand Detroit, the behind-the-scenes action has been anything but flashy at the first network primetime series set and produced in Detroit.

Since production began July 20, cast and crew have been putting in 12- to 16-hour days, sometimes six days a week, as they work to stay on schedule and under budget as they work toward the Sept. 21 broadcast premiere and beyond.

As with most feature-film productions that have been accepted for Michigan's film tax incentive program, it's typically stop-and-go hustle on the set of the ensemble drama that follows the personal and work lives of a Detroit homicide unit.

Days often start about 6 a.m., and depending on the task at hand, there might be as many as 125 people on set. Camera men, lighting crews, set designers, hair and makeup specialists and the directing teams prep before the actors are brought in and cameras roll. Much of the shooting is done inside a 700-foot-by-200-foot Highland Park structure, a onetime automotive industry warehouse that has been converted into multiple soundstages by ABC Studios.

On a recent Monday, Nick Gomez is directing "Murder in Greektown/High School Confidential," the fourth episode of the series, and the third to be shot fully in Michigan.

Behind the Scenes