loads of coffee

I worked on my first ever real film set this past weekend. I have a friend named Jon Stewart. He's not the one on tv, but even he thinks it a bit strange that the first name is spelled the same. Whatever. He moved out here recently from Arkansas and has been getting work as an assistant director on various projects. So he calls me up. The converation goes something like this:

Jon: Hey, man, come be a PA this weekend.
Me: Ok.

For those who don't know and there's no reason why you'd ever be curious, a PA is like a glorified intern on a film set. Production Assistants assist production. Who'd have thought, right?

AFI(American Film Institute) sponsored eight women directors to direct eight short films they'd each submitted. The film was shot out in the desert hills of Santa Clarita, where it was easily 100 degrees in the afternoon. The PA's jobs consisted of locking down set(echoing the assistant director's commands to "roll" and "quiet on the set" and "cut"), setting up crafty(the snack table), assisting whatever crew member needed help, and most importantly, making sure everyone had a bottle of cold water in their hand at all times. We spent all of Saturday shooting an interior scene in one of the little town buildings. No fans. No AC, and for some reason the little structure sucked all the heat in and kept it. It was easily over 100 degrees inside the structure, and since it was inside, that meant no breeze, either. Most of the PA's stayed outside to be out of the way and just ran in with water whenever we weren't rolling. I'd volunteered to be on boom(hold the boom microphone), so I stayed inside with "First Team"(crew members working directly with the shot: Director, Assistant Director, Director of Photography, Gaffer, Camera, Assistant Camera, Audio Technician, and various grips). Now, if any of you know me, you know I sweat more than any breathing creature on the planet. So I was standing there, the boom mike over my head with my shirt soaked through. I felt like I was constantly bringing water up to my mouth and I truly believe I drank more than five gallons that day. Even drinking all that water, they still had to take me to the side and cool me down 'cause apparently I looked like I was gonna pass out.

That was a fourteen hour day, and it was the most fun I've had in a while.

Interesting story: the next day they sent me on an errand into Studio City(portion of LA with all the huge studio lots) to track down an actor from the day before who wouldn't answer his phone and who we forgot to get to sign his paperwork. The first thing cool about that was I got to drive the UPM's(Unit Production Manager) car. She had a french car that looked and felt like a space ship. Then the actor. As soon as I saw him on Saturday, I knew I'd seen him before. He's been all over TV as a character actor with bit parts here and there. So I'm sitting in his living room, covered in dust and sweat, and we're talking about the film while he signs the papers. He mentions that it was nice to work with the director again.

Me: Oh yeah? What else have you and Ana done together?
Him: We did a little film a couple of years ago called "Chestnut".
Me: Cool.

"Chestnut," of course would be the film I did the chapter stops for at Weinstein and is soon to be released on dvd. He plays one of the "bumbling bad guys," as he puts it. He was glad to know that it was finally bought and is going to be distributed.

I may get to work as a PA on a pilot being shot in a week or so. Jon says HBO and FX are real interested in it. It's no pay again, but another great experience, I'm sure.

Going to see an advance press screening of Clerks 2 tonight after work. Not sure how good it's gonna be. The editors at Weinstein saw an early cut and hated it. Ah well.

Free movie, right?