Another Stupid Competition
I was listening to the Adam Carolla Show this morning, and they had Kaitlin Olson, from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as a guest. They were talking about how poor you are when you’re starting out, and Adam said, “But you’re making good money now, at least.” “Oh, yeah, I’m making big bucks,” she sarcastically […]
Why Didn’t You Remind Me That I Reminded You?
Some days, I think my boss is a blithering idiot. (By the way, did you know “blither” means “to blather”? Thanks, dictionary.com!) Other days, I think she’s pants-shittingly crazy. We have a production meeting tomorrow, so my boss wrote up a memo with the time and room number, and had me copy it fifty times […]
The Most Hated Department
The camera department are jerks. They’re rude, arrogant, self-centered, and self-important. Now, realize that I used to be a loader and a 2nd AC, and I was no exception. I’m speaking from the inside, here. In the camera department, we always sit by ourselves at lunch; we don’t mingle with the rest of the crew. […]
Sleepless in Production
This morning, I walked into my boss’s office while eating a bite-sized candy bar. “Oh, that’s a good way to start your morning.” With annoying and omnipresent sarcasm? Oh, wait, the candy bar. “Maybe, but I’m already two and a half hours into my morning.” “I’m five and a half into mine.” Really? Three in […]
Unhappy Birthday To Me!
Birthdays are always fun on set. My birthday, a few weeks ago, was a workday this year. There were cake and balloons and singing and all that good stuff. For the DP. Whose birthday was the same as mine. The best I got was, “Hey, isn’t it your birthday, too?” Whenever balloons or flowers or […]
On Location
I love shooting on location. Mostly because it’s an excuse to get out of the office. On my current show, we usually go to nice places, like the park or the beach. It’s not like The Shield, where we’d be filming in Compton all the time. (If you work for the The Shield, and I […]
Missed Opportunities
When you work on a studio lot, you see people you may not see elsewhere. When they were shooting Rush Hour 3, I saw Jackie Chan rolling around on a segway all the time. (Of course, I wasn’t allowed to rollerblade on the lot, because it was too dangerous.) The other day, I passed Larry […]
Anti-Semitism
We have a new AD, and he seems like a douche. Of course, I think everyone’s a douche, so my impression may be skewed. Then again, maybe he is a douche. So, I asked my fellow PA, and he said, “Yeah, that’s what you get when you have someone who’s an AD and a Jew.” […]
A Moral Quandry
A conundrum, if you will. Today, I overheard the showrunner talking to some other person who gets paid enough to not know my name: “I don’t know what _____ is going to say when she finds out she doesn’t get one. We’ll just keep assigning them until there aren’t any left, and then we’ll see.” […]
Crackin’ Wise
One of our 2nd ADs just did one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. We’re shooting on location, and we have those “Filming in Progress” signs up all over the street. You know the ones, where they say, “If you’re in this area, we have the right to use your image and likeness.” I’m […]
Jinx
The other day, we had a stunt where a truck was supposed to crash into a tree, flip over on its side, then explode. For some reason. Everything was set up and ready to go, and I noticed there was an extra guy at each camera. I asked the stunt coordinator what the deal was, […]
The Highest Up
Today, I was on location, to get stuff signed by the UPM. While I was standing around, a set PA asked if I could go grab the executive producer (who was in a coffee shop down the street that had free wifi), and bring him to set. I wasn’t doing anything, so I said sure. […]