The best boy on Bones brought me in for the second unit shots yesterday - the cafe shots that were supposed to be done on Tuesday, but got dropped. He swore up and down that it would be a short day. It was, after all, only an eighth of a page, with no dialogue.
I suppose it was a short day in that it wasn't 14 hours, but it was way longer than the 4 hours he promised me. That'll teach me to tell friends I might be able to meet them after work.
To be fair, we did only shoot for a few minutes, but because the director and actress were having to run back and forth to squeeze our two shots in between whatever they were shooting on Stage 6, we spent a lot of time sitting and waiting..
Luckily, our second unit gaffer was hilarious. He's close to retirement, so he didn't give a shit what he said or who heard it:
"That makeup guy looks like Uncle Fester from that monster TV show. Hey, Uncle Fester, get your ass out from in front of the light!"
"That director's an idiot."
"I need coffee." Turns to producer "Hey, kid go grab me some coffee, willya?"
I actually got a stitch in my side from laughing so hard - the last time I got a stitch in my side on a set was the time the director on a movie of the week ripped a giant fart right in the middle of a love scene.
I think that may be the most fun I've had on a set in, well, it might be the most fun ever.
Old guys are great to work for, because there's no second guesses. He'd be chatting with the DP about fishing, turn around, say "Hey, put a light back there for that thing, willya? Just hit it from an angle. Thanks!", and then go back to his conversation.
We'd place the light, gab about whatever the topic was, and then a few minutes later he'd turn around and casually place another light.
The shot looked gorgeous. I mean heartbreakingly beautiful. The thing that made the whole episode tonight so impressive is that it's much more difficult to light with 'hard light' than 'soft light',* and the entire set was lit with hard light.
So we lit it, sat there for two hours, and then shot the first angle when the director got there. The director left, we set up for the reverse angle, and then sat there for another three hours waiting for the director and actress to show up after they wrapped on Stage 6.
Because we were only there for two shots, we had no craft service and they never broke us for lunch. Luckily, Kitchen Confidential was shooting on Fox's New York Street (right across the way from the cafe where we were shooting), and we were able to raid their craft service truck. They have much better food than we do, which makes sense since it's a show about gourmet chefs.
Call time: 7 pm
Wrap time: 4 am
*Hard light is just what it sounds like. No diffusion or 'softener'. The old black and white film noirs are lit with hard light. Done right, it's amazing and creates a sense of depth in the frame, but hard light casts shadows, so it can be a bit tricky to make it look good - A gaffer has to really know his or her shit to light with hard light. Soft light is easier to use as there are no harsh shadows, but it can look flat and crappy. Actually, it usually looks flat and crappy, but since most audiences don't know the difference and it's faster to use soft light, that's how most movies and TV shows are lit these days.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Friday, August 12, 2005
Stick a fork in me, I'm done.
Working 14 hour days every day is really tiring.. All I really want to do at night is wash off the layer of grime and pass out for my allotted 8 hours before I have to get up and go back to work.
It makes writing the blog hard, because when I get home I don't have any energy to sit at the computer and collect my thoughts.
So - highlights of the past few days have been:
Tuesday - we set up for two shots in the Fox commissary (which is doubling for a Starbucks) at the end of the night. Because the director was so slow (14 hours to shoot two scenes of three people talking in a room), they scratched the shot - at the last minute, after we'd rigged it, had all the lights burning, and were sitting there waiting for the actors to walk on set. And they wonder why they're over budget.
Call time: 9:30 am
Wrap time: 11:30 pm
Wednesday - on location with a company move* from a tenement in the drug dealer infested neighborhood of Pico - Union (where an angry neighbor leaned out of his balcony and threw water on some of our lights) to a residential area (West Adams) filled with more neighbors who were NOT happy to see us. I can totally understand this - once again, we were the victims of the slow director who took 12 hours to shoot two scenes of people talking in a room, so we got to a residential neighborhood for a night exterior at 10 pm. On a weeknight. I'm surprised they weren't shooting at us. I went up in the condor and got stung by a bee that had gotten tangled in my hair. This was at 1 am - for some reason I thought bees slept at night.
Call time: 11 am
Wrap time: 1:30 am
Thursday - the director must have gotten a talking to, because he moved considerably faster Thursday. We were back in the set of death on Stage 6, but we had an extra guy (making our crew total 8), so we didn't get peeled quite so badly.
Call time: 12:30 pm
Wrap time: 1:00 am
Tonight, I'm on the second unit that's shooting the coffee shop shot from Tuesday. I've got a 7 pm call, but it's only two shots and there's a different director, so I shouldn't be there that long.
* A company move is two (or more if you have a really sadistic production manager) locations in the same day. What this means for us is that we go to the first location, unload our truck, set up all our stuff, shoot, wrap the set, load our truck, go to the next location and do the same thing. Company moves, although sometimes necessary, suck and crews hate them.
It makes writing the blog hard, because when I get home I don't have any energy to sit at the computer and collect my thoughts.
So - highlights of the past few days have been:
Tuesday - we set up for two shots in the Fox commissary (which is doubling for a Starbucks) at the end of the night. Because the director was so slow (14 hours to shoot two scenes of three people talking in a room), they scratched the shot - at the last minute, after we'd rigged it, had all the lights burning, and were sitting there waiting for the actors to walk on set. And they wonder why they're over budget.
Call time: 9:30 am
Wrap time: 11:30 pm
Wednesday - on location with a company move* from a tenement in the drug dealer infested neighborhood of Pico - Union (where an angry neighbor leaned out of his balcony and threw water on some of our lights) to a residential area (West Adams) filled with more neighbors who were NOT happy to see us. I can totally understand this - once again, we were the victims of the slow director who took 12 hours to shoot two scenes of people talking in a room, so we got to a residential neighborhood for a night exterior at 10 pm. On a weeknight. I'm surprised they weren't shooting at us. I went up in the condor and got stung by a bee that had gotten tangled in my hair. This was at 1 am - for some reason I thought bees slept at night.
Call time: 11 am
Wrap time: 1:30 am
Thursday - the director must have gotten a talking to, because he moved considerably faster Thursday. We were back in the set of death on Stage 6, but we had an extra guy (making our crew total 8), so we didn't get peeled quite so badly.
Call time: 12:30 pm
Wrap time: 1:00 am
Tonight, I'm on the second unit that's shooting the coffee shop shot from Tuesday. I've got a 7 pm call, but it's only two shots and there's a different director, so I shouldn't be there that long.
* A company move is two (or more if you have a really sadistic production manager) locations in the same day. What this means for us is that we go to the first location, unload our truck, set up all our stuff, shoot, wrap the set, load our truck, go to the next location and do the same thing. Company moves, although sometimes necessary, suck and crews hate them.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Teamwork is for Sissies
It takes a few days to get used to a new crew, and then one starts to see the dynamics of the group. Working the set in any department is all about teamwork, and a couple of these guys are just not team players.
We have walkie talkies in order to communicate - one person brings a light, another brings power, someone else brings any gels or diffusion or anything else that's needed..some lights are so heavy that they need two or three people to lift them.. We have walkies so we don't work harder than we absolutely have to. More than once in the past few days, I've brought something that was asked for or pulled over power, only to get there and have one of the guys say "Oh, I've already got that." FUCKING TELL ME ON THE WALKIE, ASSHOLE, SO I DON'T WASTE TIME AND ENERGY BRINGING YOU SOMETHING YOU ALREADY HAVE. For fuck's sake, it's not like I don't have anything else to do.
It's the hero syndrome. They want to be superman - "Look at me boss, I got that for you. Oh, I got that too. Look how hard I'm working! You don't really need those other guys - I'm a hero!"
It's worth noting that the guys who do this (and it's only two of them), are both really young - as they get older, lose the testosterone and gain experience, I'm sure they'll settle in, but right now it's an enormous pain in the ass on a show that's not that easy to begin with. As a crew, teamwork makes you, and lack of it can break you - these days have been a lot harder than they've needed to be because of the lack of teamwork, and "Danika" was a lot easier than it should have been most of the time because everyone worked together so well.
Call time: 10:30 am
Wrap time: midnight
We have walkie talkies in order to communicate - one person brings a light, another brings power, someone else brings any gels or diffusion or anything else that's needed..some lights are so heavy that they need two or three people to lift them.. We have walkies so we don't work harder than we absolutely have to. More than once in the past few days, I've brought something that was asked for or pulled over power, only to get there and have one of the guys say "Oh, I've already got that." FUCKING TELL ME ON THE WALKIE, ASSHOLE, SO I DON'T WASTE TIME AND ENERGY BRINGING YOU SOMETHING YOU ALREADY HAVE. For fuck's sake, it's not like I don't have anything else to do.
It's the hero syndrome. They want to be superman - "Look at me boss, I got that for you. Oh, I got that too. Look how hard I'm working! You don't really need those other guys - I'm a hero!"
It's worth noting that the guys who do this (and it's only two of them), are both really young - as they get older, lose the testosterone and gain experience, I'm sure they'll settle in, but right now it's an enormous pain in the ass on a show that's not that easy to begin with. As a crew, teamwork makes you, and lack of it can break you - these days have been a lot harder than they've needed to be because of the lack of teamwork, and "Danika" was a lot easier than it should have been most of the time because everyone worked together so well.
Call time: 10:30 am
Wrap time: midnight
Monday, August 08, 2005
Peeled like a Grape
I was back on "Bones" today. One day has turned into the entire week. The best boy, first thing in the morning, told me that it was just today, and he didn't have any work until Thursday. I made plans for Tuesday (Mr. Movie Star's on a Wednesday through Sunday, so his days off are Monday and Tuesday), and then had to cancel them two hours later when the best boy asked me if I wanted to work Mon - Wednesday. Then, since I made other plans for Thursday, he asked me if I wanted to work the entire week.
No extra curricular activities for me until Saturday (although maybe not even then. We have night shots on Friday, which means I'll see the sun come up on Saturday morning).
As I tried to get into the Fox lot first thing in the morning, I discovered that Production forgot to call my pass in, and the guards wouldn't call anyone - I sat there for half an hour waiting for the pass to come through (guards at other studios will get on the phone and try to reach someone. Guards at Fox will ask you if you know who to call, and if you say no, they'll shrug and say "I can't let you through without a pass". It's enough to make me want to tear out my hair), and the whole debacle - production calling the pass in twice, and it not going through - made me 20 minutes late for work. I HATE being late.
Once I got to work, we were in the big set all day, and running like crazy. Most of the time sets are lit with soft light from above for ambiance, and all you have to do is bring in eyelights or a hard 'kick'* but this DP doesn't like the way that looks, so it's all hard light, which is much more difficult to do, and takes more units. We used every light in the floor set, and then blew a 400 amp** breaker on the transformer coming into the stage.
Then the dimmer board went down. Twice. We continued to run like crazy - at one point, I was standing under the catwalk, and I felt something dripping on me. I thought it was an overturned water bottle. I looked up, and it was one of the other juicers sweating like he was in a sauna. Of course, every time crafty brought food he'd do it right when we were lighting, so by the time we got done, the food was gone. By lunchtime I could have eaten a horse - which would have been preferable to the swill Fox serves in their commissary. Blech. I ate about half a rancid salad (when you're running around and sweating, you can't eat anything heavy like a burger or spaghetti or you'll throw it up. All of us have learned this the hard way) and then I spent WAY too much money in the Studio Store on Simpsons stuff.
The second half of the day was more of the same. When you run around like crazy because you're getting worked to death, it's known as 'getting peeled'. We got peeled like the proverbial grape today. By the time I got home I was completely wrung out - but I still managed to watch two "Simpsons" episodes from the Season 5 DVD!
Call time: 7 am
Wrap time: 10 pm
* A "kick" or "kicker light" is a hard light that shines onto the back of an actors head, and gives a bright backlight. This helps to prevent the actor from blending into the background.
** Amps are a measurement of power. 1,000 watts equals 10 amps. Our power is 'three phase' which means that we have three 'legs' carrying (in this situation) 400 amps of power each. On each side of the set. On the floor only. The power for the hanging stuff is off a different transformer.
400 amps per leg, three legs = 1200 amps. Two sides of the set = 2400 amps. Hanging stuff is probably another 2400 amps. We burned so many lights that we blew a breaker. That's nuts. To put all these numbers in perspective, if you live in a two bedroom house, you probably have 100 amps of power in the ENTIRE house. My two bedroom built in 1925 has 80 amps of power in the entire house.
No extra curricular activities for me until Saturday (although maybe not even then. We have night shots on Friday, which means I'll see the sun come up on Saturday morning).
As I tried to get into the Fox lot first thing in the morning, I discovered that Production forgot to call my pass in, and the guards wouldn't call anyone - I sat there for half an hour waiting for the pass to come through (guards at other studios will get on the phone and try to reach someone. Guards at Fox will ask you if you know who to call, and if you say no, they'll shrug and say "I can't let you through without a pass". It's enough to make me want to tear out my hair), and the whole debacle - production calling the pass in twice, and it not going through - made me 20 minutes late for work. I HATE being late.
Once I got to work, we were in the big set all day, and running like crazy. Most of the time sets are lit with soft light from above for ambiance, and all you have to do is bring in eyelights or a hard 'kick'* but this DP doesn't like the way that looks, so it's all hard light, which is much more difficult to do, and takes more units. We used every light in the floor set, and then blew a 400 amp** breaker on the transformer coming into the stage.
Then the dimmer board went down. Twice. We continued to run like crazy - at one point, I was standing under the catwalk, and I felt something dripping on me. I thought it was an overturned water bottle. I looked up, and it was one of the other juicers sweating like he was in a sauna. Of course, every time crafty brought food he'd do it right when we were lighting, so by the time we got done, the food was gone. By lunchtime I could have eaten a horse - which would have been preferable to the swill Fox serves in their commissary. Blech. I ate about half a rancid salad (when you're running around and sweating, you can't eat anything heavy like a burger or spaghetti or you'll throw it up. All of us have learned this the hard way) and then I spent WAY too much money in the Studio Store on Simpsons stuff.
The second half of the day was more of the same. When you run around like crazy because you're getting worked to death, it's known as 'getting peeled'. We got peeled like the proverbial grape today. By the time I got home I was completely wrung out - but I still managed to watch two "Simpsons" episodes from the Season 5 DVD!
Call time: 7 am
Wrap time: 10 pm
* A "kick" or "kicker light" is a hard light that shines onto the back of an actors head, and gives a bright backlight. This helps to prevent the actor from blending into the background.
** Amps are a measurement of power. 1,000 watts equals 10 amps. Our power is 'three phase' which means that we have three 'legs' carrying (in this situation) 400 amps of power each. On each side of the set. On the floor only. The power for the hanging stuff is off a different transformer.
400 amps per leg, three legs = 1200 amps. Two sides of the set = 2400 amps. Hanging stuff is probably another 2400 amps. We burned so many lights that we blew a breaker. That's nuts. To put all these numbers in perspective, if you live in a two bedroom house, you probably have 100 amps of power in the ENTIRE house. My two bedroom built in 1925 has 80 amps of power in the entire house.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
"The Aristocrats"
Since I felt better late this afternoon, I decided to go to the 8 pm screening of The Aristocrats at the Arclight, mainly because afterwards there was a question and answer with Larry Miller, one of the comedians in the film. Larry Miller gives really good Q & A - he basically turned it into 20 minutes of improv comedy, even if he refused to actually tell the joke live - something about not wanting to tell a version that just wasn't dirty enough to follow the movie (which was spectacularly filthy).
I won't break the 'code of silence' and give away the joke, but if you're not easily offended (this is key - the joke, when told well, is funny as shit, but offensive beyond belief), go see it! It's hilarious and everyone in it is great (my one complaint is some of the camera work - they shot two angles and kept switching back and forth to make it more interesting. These people do NOT need to be made more interesting), but...
There's one person in the movie who was such a standout that I don't understand why reviewers haven't mentioned him more often.
The mime.
The mime stole the show - so much more than I can say without veering into spoiler country.
Go see the movie.
Oh, and I now have a girly crush on Bob Saget, because his version was so awesome.
I won't break the 'code of silence' and give away the joke, but if you're not easily offended (this is key - the joke, when told well, is funny as shit, but offensive beyond belief), go see it! It's hilarious and everyone in it is great (my one complaint is some of the camera work - they shot two angles and kept switching back and forth to make it more interesting. These people do NOT need to be made more interesting), but...
There's one person in the movie who was such a standout that I don't understand why reviewers haven't mentioned him more often.
The mime.
The mime stole the show - so much more than I can say without veering into spoiler country.
Go see the movie.
Oh, and I now have a girly crush on Bob Saget, because his version was so awesome.
Very Angry Tummy
One of the advantages of having a really acidic stomach is that I don't tend to get food poisoning easily, but every now and then some sort of food comes along which is so bacteria heavy (or something) that it defeats even my normally iron tummy.
Last night, second meal was Tito's Tacos, which everyone raves about, but which have left me nauseous (even almost 12 hours later) and really wishing I could just throw it up.
I had such big plans for today, too. Laundry, beach, gym, general fabulousness... now I'm sitting at home in my underwear carrying the bathroom trash can around with me because the view from in front of the toilet got really boring.
Blech.
Last night, second meal was Tito's Tacos, which everyone raves about, but which have left me nauseous (even almost 12 hours later) and really wishing I could just throw it up.
I had such big plans for today, too. Laundry, beach, gym, general fabulousness... now I'm sitting at home in my underwear carrying the bathroom trash can around with me because the view from in front of the toilet got really boring.
Blech.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Dem Bones, dem Bones.
I had an 11 am call (on the tv show "Bones"), with the idea that I'd get there in time to help first unit with a stage move. Since they worked so late the night before, crew call got moved to 10:30 (it was originally 8), and our union has a rule that you can't change a call after a certain time of the day, so since they couldn't change my call and they didn't need me for the first half of the day, I spent the morning on the rigging crew.
Rigging and working first unit are two entirely different mindsets, so going from one to the other (also known as a 'rig/operate' day) is kind of a mindfuck. The riggers on this show have been working 14 hour days, 6 days a week - in two shifts. This is unheard of for a tv show ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith" had two shifts of riggers working 12 hour days, and we all thought that was insane) - most rig days are 8-10 hours and a 5 day week. The riggers (whom I've worked with at Paramount) all have that 'thousand yard stare' because they're so tired. .
The sets for this TV show are HUGE. Someone said (and I believe them) that they're the biggest sets ever for a TV show. On Fox's Stage 6, the set is built out to the firelane on all four sides and all the way up to the perms. I'll have to try to dig up the dimensions of the stage somewhere (Fox doesn't post them on the stage wall like everyone else does. If anyone has the dimensions of stage 6 - length, width, height to perms - I'd love to know).
Most of the sets are steel, too - sets are never, ever steel. Steel is expensive. Steel requires paying higher construction costs, because you have to pay a welder a bazillion dollars an hour to cut and weld instead of just staples and nails on plywood. This set alone (there are two others) had to cost about two million bucks just for the materials (I think it's an insane gamble, spending this much money on the set for a TV show that hasn't even aired yet).
Unfortunately, one of the things they forgot to put in the super expensive set was 'wild walls'. Wild walls are walls that come out, or swing open so the set's easier to light, shoot and generally get in and out of. I think there are four wild walls, and they're all in the smaller sets that are off to the sides of the main set. It's a bitch trying to get in and out of that big set - you have to walk around to one of the four access points (one in each wall - in a set that's well over 100 feet long and 90 feet wide). During my rigging half of the day, I was placing lights in a sort of overhang filled with silk bamboo plants (nicknamed 'Vietnam' because you had to walk hunched over through the stand of bamboo), and every time I forgot something, I'd have to go across the catwalk, down the zigzaggy stairs (with freshly painted handrails so nothing to hold onto), across the set, out the door, and back across the stage to where our stuff was - about 20 feet away had there been a direct path.
After lunch (warmed over commissary food - yum. Actually, I shouldn't say that. Since we had lunch after the commissary officially closed, they probably cooked us something new), I 'fell in' with first unit on the big set - they're a nice bunch of guys, and the gaffer's a good guy. The only complaint I have is that he doesn't use his walkie talkie. He'll turn it on, say something to you, and then turn it off again. This sucks if you have a question. You have to get one of the other guys on the radio and have them ask the gaffer the question, and then he turns his walkie on, answers the question, and turns the walkie back off again. Very, very annoying.
Call time: 11 am (mine - general crew call was 10:30)
Wrap time: 1 am
I'm back today - on a 12:30 call, which means I'll get home around 3 am if they work a 14 hour day. I didn't have to sign a 'no photo' clause, so I can bring the camera today and take some photos.
Rigging and working first unit are two entirely different mindsets, so going from one to the other (also known as a 'rig/operate' day) is kind of a mindfuck. The riggers on this show have been working 14 hour days, 6 days a week - in two shifts. This is unheard of for a tv show ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith" had two shifts of riggers working 12 hour days, and we all thought that was insane) - most rig days are 8-10 hours and a 5 day week. The riggers (whom I've worked with at Paramount) all have that 'thousand yard stare' because they're so tired. .
The sets for this TV show are HUGE. Someone said (and I believe them) that they're the biggest sets ever for a TV show. On Fox's Stage 6, the set is built out to the firelane on all four sides and all the way up to the perms. I'll have to try to dig up the dimensions of the stage somewhere (Fox doesn't post them on the stage wall like everyone else does. If anyone has the dimensions of stage 6 - length, width, height to perms - I'd love to know).
Most of the sets are steel, too - sets are never, ever steel. Steel is expensive. Steel requires paying higher construction costs, because you have to pay a welder a bazillion dollars an hour to cut and weld instead of just staples and nails on plywood. This set alone (there are two others) had to cost about two million bucks just for the materials (I think it's an insane gamble, spending this much money on the set for a TV show that hasn't even aired yet).
Unfortunately, one of the things they forgot to put in the super expensive set was 'wild walls'. Wild walls are walls that come out, or swing open so the set's easier to light, shoot and generally get in and out of. I think there are four wild walls, and they're all in the smaller sets that are off to the sides of the main set. It's a bitch trying to get in and out of that big set - you have to walk around to one of the four access points (one in each wall - in a set that's well over 100 feet long and 90 feet wide). During my rigging half of the day, I was placing lights in a sort of overhang filled with silk bamboo plants (nicknamed 'Vietnam' because you had to walk hunched over through the stand of bamboo), and every time I forgot something, I'd have to go across the catwalk, down the zigzaggy stairs (with freshly painted handrails so nothing to hold onto), across the set, out the door, and back across the stage to where our stuff was - about 20 feet away had there been a direct path.
After lunch (warmed over commissary food - yum. Actually, I shouldn't say that. Since we had lunch after the commissary officially closed, they probably cooked us something new), I 'fell in' with first unit on the big set - they're a nice bunch of guys, and the gaffer's a good guy. The only complaint I have is that he doesn't use his walkie talkie. He'll turn it on, say something to you, and then turn it off again. This sucks if you have a question. You have to get one of the other guys on the radio and have them ask the gaffer the question, and then he turns his walkie on, answers the question, and turns the walkie back off again. Very, very annoying.
Call time: 11 am (mine - general crew call was 10:30)
Wrap time: 1 am
I'm back today - on a 12:30 call, which means I'll get home around 3 am if they work a 14 hour day. I didn't have to sign a 'no photo' clause, so I can bring the camera today and take some photos.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Damn Insomnia
I got called last night to work on a TV show ("Bones"). They have an 11 am call today (which means they've been working really long hours and are pushing the call later every day in order to make turnaround), which also means I can't go to the LAist party, which is tonight, and which will be long over by the time I get off work. Damn.
Of course, as soon as I decided it was bed time, I lay there, wide awake, staring at the ceiling.
Because I can't take sleep aids - Tylenol PM and Nyquil make me hyper, and the stronger ones will knock me out for 15 hours and I'll be groggy for the entire next day - pretty much all I can do when this happens is lay there and hope I'll be able to sleep.
At some point I gave up and turned on the TV, but even Jay Leno reruns didn't bore me enough to knock me out.
This starts a really vicious cycle. I drink coffee all day to stay awake because I'm tired, and then when I get home, I'm too amped up to sleep. There's an art to timing that last cup of coffee so I can stay awake until wrap (which I'm betting will be 1 am at the earliest, but we'll see) but still be able to get some rest when I get home.
Of course, as soon as I decided it was bed time, I lay there, wide awake, staring at the ceiling.
Because I can't take sleep aids - Tylenol PM and Nyquil make me hyper, and the stronger ones will knock me out for 15 hours and I'll be groggy for the entire next day - pretty much all I can do when this happens is lay there and hope I'll be able to sleep.
At some point I gave up and turned on the TV, but even Jay Leno reruns didn't bore me enough to knock me out.
This starts a really vicious cycle. I drink coffee all day to stay awake because I'm tired, and then when I get home, I'm too amped up to sleep. There's an art to timing that last cup of coffee so I can stay awake until wrap (which I'm betting will be 1 am at the earliest, but we'll see) but still be able to get some rest when I get home.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Sold! Maybe.
We just got offered a co-production deal for the TV show.
This is not quite what I wanted, but it's better than a buy-out (which is for chumps - it's a one time fee, and I'd have to sign over my intellectual property rights. Screw that).
What I really wanted was to produce the show ourselves - which would give me a bigger slice of the pie. I have to assume that the show will either never get on the air or will be a mid-season replacement that will air four episodes and then die an unmourned death (call me a pessimist if you like), so I'm trying to get the biggest slice of pie I can. If I produce it myself, then I get more cash. On the other hand, with a co-production deal, I don't get as much, but if the show tanks, I have someone besides myself to blame.
Now begins a phase of legal wrangling in which our hold fee (deposited into an escrow account, of course. No new car for me*) stops us from pitching the show anywhere else - except that we haven't signed anything yet, and since NBC's desperate, I'm going to slip them a copy of a different show using some of the same footage..
I'm greedy and evil, but surprisingly, it's not bothering me.
* When Nigel died, a friend of mine sold me her Explorer for what the scrapyard paid me. I hate Fords, and this one's not changing my mind. Priority one right now is saving enough to get another car.
This is not quite what I wanted, but it's better than a buy-out (which is for chumps - it's a one time fee, and I'd have to sign over my intellectual property rights. Screw that).
What I really wanted was to produce the show ourselves - which would give me a bigger slice of the pie. I have to assume that the show will either never get on the air or will be a mid-season replacement that will air four episodes and then die an unmourned death (call me a pessimist if you like), so I'm trying to get the biggest slice of pie I can. If I produce it myself, then I get more cash. On the other hand, with a co-production deal, I don't get as much, but if the show tanks, I have someone besides myself to blame.
Now begins a phase of legal wrangling in which our hold fee (deposited into an escrow account, of course. No new car for me*) stops us from pitching the show anywhere else - except that we haven't signed anything yet, and since NBC's desperate, I'm going to slip them a copy of a different show using some of the same footage..
I'm greedy and evil, but surprisingly, it's not bothering me.
* When Nigel died, a friend of mine sold me her Explorer for what the scrapyard paid me. I hate Fords, and this one's not changing my mind. Priority one right now is saving enough to get another car.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Bad, bad me.
I should be ashamed of myself. Really, I should.
I missed most of yesterday's Defamer link fun due to a migrane, but the email floodgates opened up while I was 'resting', and here are excerpts from a few of the choice ones (all of them have had the more glaring spelling and grammar errors corrected - cause I'm nice like that):
The above is not an excerpt. That's the entire email.
#1. Slander is spoken, libel is written, but neither apply here. Here's an explanation.
#2. For fuck's sake, I'm not going through his trash. I'm just going to the beach.
Wow.. This is the second time in three days that I've been called a 'commie'. Pretty good for a blog with no political content, huh?
I don't know David Geffen either, but just speaking in general terms, one does not become the head of a media empire by being a nice, nice man. Again, that's just a generalization on my part.
I never insulted anyone, nor did I post anything with malicious intent. I simply went to a beach - a beach where the law of the state in which I live gives me the right to access.
Bite me if you don't like it.
I'll see the rest of you at the beach.
I missed most of yesterday's Defamer link fun due to a migrane, but the email floodgates opened up while I was 'resting', and here are excerpts from a few of the choice ones (all of them have had the more glaring spelling and grammar errors corrected - cause I'm nice like that):
You should be ashamed of yourself. Just because someone has money doesn't make them bad. You're mean. (Incorrect guess at Mr. Movie Star's identity deleted) should dump you.
The above is not an excerpt. That's the entire email.
How could you publish a innocent man's address on the internet? What about his right to be left alone? What about his rights to live his life in peace and not be bothered all the time and have his private life splashed all over the internet? That's slander, and he should sue you.
#1. Slander is spoken, libel is written, but neither apply here. Here's an explanation.
#2. For fuck's sake, I'm not going through his trash. I'm just going to the beach.
I'm sure David Geffen's a nice, nice man and doesn't deserve to be made fun of by commie liberals like you. You just want everyone to be a ghetto living (racial slur aimed at an ethnic group of which I'm not a member deleted) like you.
Wow.. This is the second time in three days that I've been called a 'commie'. Pretty good for a blog with no political content, huh?
I don't know David Geffen either, but just speaking in general terms, one does not become the head of a media empire by being a nice, nice man. Again, that's just a generalization on my part.
I never insulted anyone, nor did I post anything with malicious intent. I simply went to a beach - a beach where the law of the state in which I live gives me the right to access.
Bite me if you don't like it.
I'll see the rest of you at the beach.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Hangin' with "Biggie D"
This is David Geffen's house.
This is the coastal access way next door to David Geffen's house.
David Geffen fought the California Coastal Commission for a long, long time (and spent lots of money) because he didn't want to allow the unwashed masses like you and me access to the beach - an area that, according to California state law, can't be walled off from the populace.
The California Coastal Commission stood up to Geffen's army of immaculately dressed corporate drones and won.
So - I'm pleased to announce that the court mandated coastal access is now open, next door to David Geffen's 'estate' at 22132 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu (also known as Carbon Beach).
I didn't bring my camera onto Carbon Beach itself (salt water + sand + electronics = bad), but I can assure you that it's gorgeous, and well worth the litigation. It's a natural small bay so the waves aren't to crazy if you want to swim, the water is crystal clear and not nearly as cold as Zuma (the other white beach), and there's a conspicuous absence of the floating trash that's become a part of the Santa Monica Bay experience. As I was being given the bum's rush at closing time, dolphins cavorted just beyond the breakers, backlit by LA's amazing golden late-afternoon sunlight.
Heaven. Pure heaven. I highly recommend the lot of us descend upon our court mandated community accessible beach. It's open from 9 am until 6 pm SEVEN days a week.
If you're not familiar with the area, may I suggest Mapquest.
Once again, that's 22132 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California. It's north (by quite a ways) of Topanga Canyon Blvd and south of Pepperdine University.
Buzzle.com article about this particular battle in the coastal access war
This is the coastal access way next door to David Geffen's house.
David Geffen fought the California Coastal Commission for a long, long time (and spent lots of money) because he didn't want to allow the unwashed masses like you and me access to the beach - an area that, according to California state law, can't be walled off from the populace.
The California Coastal Commission stood up to Geffen's army of immaculately dressed corporate drones and won.
So - I'm pleased to announce that the court mandated coastal access is now open, next door to David Geffen's 'estate' at 22132 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu (also known as Carbon Beach).
I didn't bring my camera onto Carbon Beach itself (salt water + sand + electronics = bad), but I can assure you that it's gorgeous, and well worth the litigation. It's a natural small bay so the waves aren't to crazy if you want to swim, the water is crystal clear and not nearly as cold as Zuma (the other white beach), and there's a conspicuous absence of the floating trash that's become a part of the Santa Monica Bay experience. As I was being given the bum's rush at closing time, dolphins cavorted just beyond the breakers, backlit by LA's amazing golden late-afternoon sunlight.
Heaven. Pure heaven. I highly recommend the lot of us descend upon our court mandated community accessible beach. It's open from 9 am until 6 pm SEVEN days a week.
If you're not familiar with the area, may I suggest Mapquest.
Once again, that's 22132 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California. It's north (by quite a ways) of Topanga Canyon Blvd and south of Pepperdine University.
Buzzle.com article about this particular battle in the coastal access war
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Yet Another Reason For Me to Hate "The Grove"
In April of 2005, about 10 pm, a waiter named Eric Gelman was stabbed to death while walking to his car after getting off work at one of the restaurants in "The Grove" shopping center. Other than my initial "oh, that poor guy" I didn't really think about it again. Sadly, that type of thing has become pretty much an accepted part of life in a large city.
The other day, I read the following story posted on Bitter Waitress:
Yet another reason for me not to shop there.
"Bitter waitress" story was edited slightly to take out a few speculative statements about Caruso's dubious parentage and poor breeding that could potentially get me sued.
The other day, I read the following story posted on Bitter Waitress:
My daughter is working hostess in a restaurant located in The Grove, a big mall in Los Angeles.The owner of the Grove, Rick Caruso, is charging the all the employee $5.00 everyday for parking in his big 8 -story garage. The garage can put over 3000 cars!
Even on the Mondays, when only the garage is only half-full. He still like to charge the empoyees 5$ for the parking!!! Why?
My poor daughter is working hard and studying to be an actress and she's just graduate college last year. Her student loans is $160 a month.Her health insurance is $95.00 for one month. And she working in the night. Then she pay $80.00 a month also for parking her car now!
Before, she parking in the street and walk to her car for ten minutes.
But 2 weeks ago one of the waiters from the other resaurant.He was walking to his car at 10:00 in the Sunday night after he finishing work.
He was stab in the back of the neck by a homeless. The homeless leave a six-inch knife in the waiters neck to die.
I say pobresito. I tell my daughter she needs to get a second job so she can pay for park in the garage.She tell me that the waiters and employees is not allowed to park in the 8-floor garge on the weekend. Thats how come the waiter don't parking there. She say Rick Caruso make the empoyees paying $5.00 in the weekend to park, but he make them park at the parking lot at CBS tv Studios. They still have to walking ten minutes so nobody want to pay $5.oo for parking ten -minutes away, because they can parking ten minutes away for free in the street.
I was crying in Church last Sunday and I pray for this man Rick Caruso that he find God in his heart and let the children parking when he have the room in his 8 floor garge to let them parking for free. Then maybe in the weekend they can afford to parking in the lot where is the security guard are.
My daughter she say all of the employees is parking in the street in the weekend , because they pay for parking every day during the week, so if they seeing a free parking in the street in the weekend, they parking in the free spot in the street.
She say sometimes the waitresses in the restaurant pay $12 in the weekend for parking in the weekend night, because they want to be safe in the 8-floor garage and not walk too far in the night.And no employee discount in garage on the weekends.
I tell my daughter to go to the funeral service for the waiter to say she's sorry to his mother for she's loosing her only son. She went to the service they having in the resaturant in the grove for the family. She say she was leaving the service on the Monday of the service and the mother is crying and the owners of the restaurant is sad and crying also.And all of the waiters and the waitress is crying.
Then I say, next time you working late in the weekend, I give you money for parking in the garage, even you $12.00 maximum rate. She say,"Mama they raise the maximum rate. Is more than 12$ maximum for parking, they raise it to keep employees out of the parking so the customers can park and eating in the Cheesecake Factory."
I understand that parking is a problem at the Grove, but sheesh. Once an employee gets killed because he's forced to walk through a not so great area late at night I'd think Caruso (a former member of the LA Police Commission) would feel some type of obligation to try to protect the underpaid worker bees who keep his INSANELY profitable mall running smoothly, but I guess not.
Yet another reason for me not to shop there.
"Bitter waitress" story was edited slightly to take out a few speculative statements about Caruso's dubious parentage and poor breeding that could potentially get me sued.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
The 21 hour day
It's my fault - I decided it would be a good idea to 'double dip' yesterday.
Well, not really a good idea, but the problem is that if you cancel on people or turn them down too often, they stop calling you.
This guy I work for a lot (who looks just like Shakespeare), called me Sunday night and asked if I wanted to work Monday night - "It's a commercial", he said "You'll be coming in at the end of the night for a few hours to help them get off the stage since production doesn't want to pay stage rental for a wrap day".
I agreed, and figured I'd spend Monday day doing laundry.
Not five minutes after I'd hung up, the phone rang again. This time it was the best boy from Mr. and Mrs. Smith, wanting to know if I was available Monday morning. The movie Flight Plan was doing some reshoots that night and all we'd do is go in really early Monday morning, pull out the rig, and be done with it. "It'll only be a few hours work", he swore when I asked him if he thought we'd be done by 6 pm (my call time for the commercial).
I'd already said yes when he told me where it was.
Mohave Airport. The middle of the desert at the end of July. Whenever I'm having a really, really sucky day at work, I always say "at least I'm not pulling cable in the desert in summer" - pulling cable in the desert in the summer being just about the suckiest thing I can think of.
Since I'd already said yes, I couldn't back out of either job without damaging a work relationship, and both of these guys throw me a lot of work.
The plan was to have a 5 am call time at "The Lot" (formerly Warner Hollywood), and ride up to Mohave in a stakebed, then get the cable up and get the hell out of there before the temperature got over 100 degrees F.
It took us two hours to drive up to Mohave - we got there about 7 am, and it was already 80 degrees. We wrapped some stuff out of the main hangar, and then went to pull up the cable runs. The cable was run down the side of an active runway and on both sides of the taxiway to the runway. We spent most of the morning in the field between the runway and the taxiway. Thank god Mohave's not a busy airport), so we had to have security with us.
The security guys were really, really nice guys - they had great senses of humor and we had a great time with them.
The movie takes place somewhere where it snows, because there was fake snow (it's made of shredded paper, in case you were wondering) on the runways - hilarious in the baking heat.
It took us a while to get the cable pulled up because everytime a plane took off or landed the security guys had to clear us back 500 feet. As we were finishing, it got so hot that the sweat was evaporating before I could feel it on my skin.
We ended up closing the truck doors just as the temperature broke 100.
We got back to the lot about 3. Since my call time was 6 at the same lot, and I didn't want to fight traffic, I'd decided to go have dinner (and more coffee) in the interim. I was so sleepy that I ended up taking a 90 minute nap in the back of my car and then going to eat. I had some pasta (that low carb thing can bite me, and no, I'm not fat) and more coffee and then reported to job number 2.
Job number two was uneventful - just wrapping sets, although I crashed hard right after craft service took the coffee away. That and the perms here have never, ever been vacuumed, so there's a real good layer of slippery dust up there. Every time I have to go 'up high' I'm afraid I'm going to slip on all that dust and fall.
Got home a little bit after midnight.. Since I'd had to get up to go to work at 3:30, that makes almost a 21 hour day.
It's Tuesday morning, and I'm still wiped out.
Well, not really a good idea, but the problem is that if you cancel on people or turn them down too often, they stop calling you.
This guy I work for a lot (who looks just like Shakespeare), called me Sunday night and asked if I wanted to work Monday night - "It's a commercial", he said "You'll be coming in at the end of the night for a few hours to help them get off the stage since production doesn't want to pay stage rental for a wrap day".
I agreed, and figured I'd spend Monday day doing laundry.
Not five minutes after I'd hung up, the phone rang again. This time it was the best boy from Mr. and Mrs. Smith, wanting to know if I was available Monday morning. The movie Flight Plan was doing some reshoots that night and all we'd do is go in really early Monday morning, pull out the rig, and be done with it. "It'll only be a few hours work", he swore when I asked him if he thought we'd be done by 6 pm (my call time for the commercial).
I'd already said yes when he told me where it was.
Mohave Airport. The middle of the desert at the end of July. Whenever I'm having a really, really sucky day at work, I always say "at least I'm not pulling cable in the desert in summer" - pulling cable in the desert in the summer being just about the suckiest thing I can think of.
Since I'd already said yes, I couldn't back out of either job without damaging a work relationship, and both of these guys throw me a lot of work.
The plan was to have a 5 am call time at "The Lot" (formerly Warner Hollywood), and ride up to Mohave in a stakebed, then get the cable up and get the hell out of there before the temperature got over 100 degrees F.
It took us two hours to drive up to Mohave - we got there about 7 am, and it was already 80 degrees. We wrapped some stuff out of the main hangar, and then went to pull up the cable runs. The cable was run down the side of an active runway and on both sides of the taxiway to the runway. We spent most of the morning in the field between the runway and the taxiway. Thank god Mohave's not a busy airport), so we had to have security with us.
The security guys were really, really nice guys - they had great senses of humor and we had a great time with them.
The movie takes place somewhere where it snows, because there was fake snow (it's made of shredded paper, in case you were wondering) on the runways - hilarious in the baking heat.
It took us a while to get the cable pulled up because everytime a plane took off or landed the security guys had to clear us back 500 feet. As we were finishing, it got so hot that the sweat was evaporating before I could feel it on my skin.
We ended up closing the truck doors just as the temperature broke 100.
We got back to the lot about 3. Since my call time was 6 at the same lot, and I didn't want to fight traffic, I'd decided to go have dinner (and more coffee) in the interim. I was so sleepy that I ended up taking a 90 minute nap in the back of my car and then going to eat. I had some pasta (that low carb thing can bite me, and no, I'm not fat) and more coffee and then reported to job number 2.
Job number two was uneventful - just wrapping sets, although I crashed hard right after craft service took the coffee away. That and the perms here have never, ever been vacuumed, so there's a real good layer of slippery dust up there. Every time I have to go 'up high' I'm afraid I'm going to slip on all that dust and fall.
Got home a little bit after midnight.. Since I'd had to get up to go to work at 3:30, that makes almost a 21 hour day.
It's Tuesday morning, and I'm still wiped out.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
"Danika" Wrap Party
The wrap party for "Danika" was last night at the "RokBar" in Hollywood.
Wrap parties are fun because you get to see everyone dressed up, relaxed and in a less stressful situation than at work. You also get a TON of good gossip about stuff that happened on set, and you get to see who's been secretly dating whom.
I sat and chatted with my boss and his wife until they left, and then I introduced The Blonde (my date for the evening) to the makeup designer. It turns out that they already knew each other from working the counter at Bloomingdales years ago. Small world.
One of the grips became instantly smitten with The Blonde and spent the entire evening trying to impress her (unsuccessfully, might I add). When she left to go to another party, he sort of slunk off to a corner to sulk while the rest of us danced.
RokBar played 80's and early 90's music, and we all had a great time . I wish the place had a better dance set-up, but I still got a priceless photo of one of the actors 'dirty dancing' with the makeup girls. Fun stuff!
I reviewed the "RokBar" on LaFoodblogging. You can read it (if you care), here
Wrap parties are fun because you get to see everyone dressed up, relaxed and in a less stressful situation than at work. You also get a TON of good gossip about stuff that happened on set, and you get to see who's been secretly dating whom.
I sat and chatted with my boss and his wife until they left, and then I introduced The Blonde (my date for the evening) to the makeup designer. It turns out that they already knew each other from working the counter at Bloomingdales years ago. Small world.
One of the grips became instantly smitten with The Blonde and spent the entire evening trying to impress her (unsuccessfully, might I add). When she left to go to another party, he sort of slunk off to a corner to sulk while the rest of us danced.
RokBar played 80's and early 90's music, and we all had a great time . I wish the place had a better dance set-up, but I still got a priceless photo of one of the actors 'dirty dancing' with the makeup girls. Fun stuff!
I reviewed the "RokBar" on LaFoodblogging. You can read it (if you care), here
Friday, July 22, 2005
Friday Photo
Stair Car
Originally uploaded by Peggy Archer.
My version of a celebrity sighting!
The infamous (for those of us who watch the show) Stair Car from "Arrested Development" - now painted yellow and riding a flatbed through Hollywood.
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