Sympathy
I’ve found a distinct lack of sympathy for my current joblessness. In the business, you’re in and out of work all the time. You get used to it pretty quickly. But when you’re friends and family hear that your show just got cancelled, you get barraged with, “Oh, I’m so sorry! Do you have another […]
My Last Political Post, I Swear!
This week, anyway. John Rogers has posted a clarification about the whole “self-pitying self-indulgent narcissist” thing. He didn’t mean for it to apply to all conservatives who feel bullied around town. Fair enough. I think he was referring to me to me when he wrote, “There was one commenter who noted that in some jobs, […]
Hollywood Conservatism
I should amend yesterday’s post. I made Hollywood’s liberalism seem monolithic, when that’s not completely true. I worked at a video production company where all the top people were conservative. They went to church. They had four or five kids each. They were married to the same person for decades. It was bizarre. The staff […]
I’m a Self-Pitying, Self-Indulgent Narcissist With My Head So Far Up My Ass That I Equate “Occasional Discomfort During Cocktail Party Conversations” With “Being on the Fucking Blacklist.”
Allow me to explain. There’s an article from the Hollywood Reporter making its way around the blogosphere, “Republicans in biz feel stifled, bullied.” (Their headlines are so creative.) Now, I don’t generally talk about politics, because that’s not what this blog is about. (Unlike John Rogers, who, in the last two months, has posted maybe […]
A Map of Hollywood
The Industry, not the town. I actually feel a little left out, since it refers to set PAs, but not us lowly office PAs. Everyone forgets about us. 🙁 (Hat tip: Script Goddess.)
Sneak Preview
I had a chance to see The Dark Knight last night, at a screening on the Warner Brothers lot. It was for employees, mostly executives and their assistants. Usually when I see movies ahead of time, it’s with LA Weekly or Campus Circle; the crowd is mostly wearing flip flops and t-shirts. Last night was […]
Blame Arbitration
I remember a director trying to give a pep talk at the beginning of a shoot. It’s going to be a great film, we have a great cast, great blah blah blah. Then he gets to the part about how this film will be great for all of our careers. Pretty standard, until he says, […]
Do Your Own Job
The people in charge don’t have any idea what’s going on. They hire people like me, so they don’t have to know. That’s why it really burns my toast when my boss tells me how things are run. Just today, our additional 2nd AD (not to be confused with the 2nd 2nd AD, which is […]
More Industry Blogs
I was reading Alex Epstein’s Blog, and followed his link to the Film Industry Bloggers’ site. It’s a great site, since it tries to cover a lot of the crafts. It seems that screenwriters are disproportionately represented in the blogosphere. (I’m gonna go ahead and guess this is a result of self-selection.) It’s fun to […]
Small Talk
I just had a bizarre conversation in the office kitchen. I was making some coffee, and someone came in to grab a pop. (Yes, “pop.” Look at the drink. Do you see bubbles popping, or sodaing? You bake with soda, you drink pop.) Anyway, the conversation went like this– Me: “How’s it going?” Him: “Pretty […]
I Love It. Now Make Me Hate It.
I was walking by the set the other day, and I saw a friend in the art department painting a sign. He was doing a really bad job, which was kind of surprising, since I’ve seen him paint some nice signs in the past. I asked him about it, and he said it was supposed […]
Economics 101
Fodd responded to yesterday’s post with this comment: “They are going to do some serious creative accounting at Warner Brother to make it look like Speed Racer made any money.” But the box office is not the only way it’ll make money. After all the ancillary markets, it will break even, at least, but there’s […]