The one you want is always buried.

January 31, 2006 in Work

When a stage is rigged, we lay the cable down in layers, and when it’s time to take the whole thing out, of course the cable that I’m trying to wrap is always at the bottom of the stack – but it tricks me; I wrap about a quarter of it, think I’ve got a [...]

Call for gripes!

January 29, 2006 in Uncategorized

Well, not gripes, but I’m writing an article for an actor’s magazine about what they can do to help make crew’s day go smoother.
Instead of doing my usual lighting-centric thing, I thought I’d poll those of you in other departments and really make this something well-rounded.
So, aside from the obvious general advice (stay on [...]

Last day on this movie.

January 28, 2006 in Work

The last day of a movie is always filled with busy work. Stuff that got shoved somewhere in the set weeks ago has to be found, sorted (the gaffer has his own equipment, the stage has it’s own equipment, and there’s a rental house package as well. Over the course of a movie this [...]

What is it with me and catering trucks lately?

January 27, 2006 in Work

Thursday, I got food poisoning again. This time, I think it was the sausage.
I showed up for work at the LA Port (where they’d turned an old cruise ship terminal into JFK, since it’s impossible to shoot in an airport anymore), and since I got there about 10 minutes before call time, I ate off [...]

One well placed bomb would have meant you’d have to read for entertainment.

January 25, 2006 in Uncategorized

I just got back in from Vegas – I’m exhausted.
Conventions are all about connections, so in addition to pacing the floor all day (and the Mandalay Bay convention center is HUGE), it’s vital that one go to the bar after the convention closes to network.
Since all of the heavy hitters were staying at THEHotel, that [...]

Vegas Again.

January 23, 2006 in Uncategorized

After a harrowing drive across the desert (wind gusts up to 70 mph), The Blonde and I are in Las Vegas for NAPTE – a television programming convention.
We’re hoping we’ll come home with an episode order.
This time, we’re staying at the Monte Carlo – way more ghetto than the Wynn, but much, much cheaper.
I’ll be [...]

Baby, it’s a company town.

January 22, 2006 in life in LA

It seems like just about everyone in town’s at Sundance.
The Blonde and I have been going to this exclusive after hours club thingy on Saturday nights (well, Sunday mornings, actually. It doesn’t even start until midnight).
Normally, it’s packed with film industry mediumweights*, but last night I think there were 20 people there.
Want to get [...]

I hate it when things are my fault.

January 21, 2006 in Work

Carrying lights into or out of a set can be tricky – a light on a stand is about five feet tall and the whole contraption must be balanced on the shoulder as it’s carried through tight quarters packed with people (some of whom heed the call of “hot points” or “watch your back”, some [...]

Oh, no way.

January 19, 2006 in Work

Big budget movies shoot very, very slowly. On this particular movie, they’re averaging two pages per day.
To stave off insanity, we speculate about things – our next contract and what the international’s going to screw us out of next, where in the world Osama’s hiding, who’s screwing whom, why we can put a man on [...]

I hate it when this happens.

January 19, 2006 in Work

After years of erratic hours, my sleep patterns are pretty well fucked up.
Sometimes it’s not too bad, but this morning I woke up at 6 am and couldn’t go back to sleep.
I’ve got a 9:30 am call (same place as Monday), which means I’ll be at work until 10:00pm (at the earliest).
Lucky for me crafty’s [...]