The Power of the Network

Well I've officially begun my first "period of unemployment," as promised by the DGA training website. So with my free time, I've been taking the opportunity to better understand the nature of the job and connect with friends in the City.

As for the job, it couldn't have been more stressed throughout orientation week that I was signing on to freelance work. I will be paid by the production companies I work for, not the Directors Guild. If I work on a film that gets nominated for and wins a DGA award, then I get to fly out to LA with the rest of the Director's team to accept it. So this is as real as it gets! For those who, like me, don't really understand many of the positions that roll by in the credits, here's a quick breakdown: every department (Lights [Electrical and Grip], Sound, Hair, Makeup, Wardrobe, Camera, etc.) has a Head or Key guy. He's the top dog. The Best Boy (usually only for grip and electrical) is the number two. On the production team, there is the 1st AD, the 2nd AD, sometimes a 2nd 2nd AD, and then sometimes a DGA Trainee. That's where I come in. There are also four staff Production Assistant (PA) positions—Key PA, who oversees all the other PAs; 1st Team PA, who responds to the needs of the principal actors; Background PA, who responds to the needs of the background actors; and Paperwork PA, who does all the paperwork. As a DGA Trainee, I will essentially operate as one of those four staff PA positions on each project I work.

It's pretty much guaranteed that I will be a paperwork PA on my first gig. Why? Because we spent two full days out of seminar week discussing how to properly do paperwork. It's not the most romantic of positions, but it's a pretty solid start. And it should provide me a great opportunity to interact with everyone on set.

As for seeing friends in the City, it's almost hard not to meet someone I know. On an island with over a million and a half people, I thought I'd inevitably get lost. But then of course, all those people are packed into a 23 square mile area. So it's pretty easy to be exposed to a lot of people. The other night, I was out with a couple of friends, and we went to this place called Pommes Frites. As the name suggests, they make one thing...french fries. But the rub is that they make an endless amount of sauces. I got pesto mayo. It was delicious. Unfortunately, there's a line out the door, so seating is scarce. My buddies and I got our fries and ate them out on the sidewalk. All of a sudden, I hear my name. I look up and there's a group of about 4 or 5 people from college. I saw one of them again the following night, and she said that her friend asked her later about the homeless guy she was talking to. I know I need a shave, but homeless?!

In other news, we're pretty set to move into the Belltel building in Brooklyn, and tonight I'm going to make some pesto gnocchi and watch the Bravos rattle Stephen Strasburg. Till next time...