Whoa! or The Importance of Being on Time

Note: I started this post last night after I got home from work. I promptly fell asleep (as you will soon understand why). So for chronological accuracy pretend like this post actually went up last night.

There are only a handful of paths to attaining immortality. Maybe conquering a Holy Empire. Saving a nation from Civil War, perhaps. Walking on water often does the trick. But one knows he or she has really reached the upper echelon of immortality when he or she has landed his or her (man, I should have just picked a hypothetical gender for "one") name within the comfy confines of computer screen, splashed across IMDb in all its pixelated splendor. Well I finally made it. And it's glorious!

In other news, I got back to NYC, from my restful and relaxing 10-day trip home, about 48 hours ago and what a crazy 48 hours it has been. I got an email from the production office on Wednesday about a "kick off party" that night. I arrived right at 8 (when the party was supposed to start) and I was the first one there. A guy from the props department showed up shortly thereafter and we started talking. A couple then arrived and the guy of the couple turned to me and said, "I don't think we've met yet, I'm David." I turned from my conversation with the prop guy and realized the extended hand was that of the director! I shook his hand, introduced myself, and managed to get in a conversation with him before the place filled up with people. He was a very nice guy, interested in my involvement with the DGA program and that I came to New York from Alabama.

Yesterday was my first day on the job. I was the only set staff PA called in, so I took on a kind of hybrid responsibility that combined all those of each of the individual PAs. I began my day by discussing the production report (PR) with the production accountant. Straightforward enough. But then the 2nd 2nd AD asked me to wait outside for the kids (the movie has kids in it, if I hadn't already made that clear), their parents, and the set teacher (SAG mandates that children have 3hrs of school on schooldays when they're working) to arrive. So I was temporarily switching over to the 1st team PA.

Their van arrived and I took them upstairs to the rehearsal space on the 3rd floor (the production office is on the 4th floor, this detail will be become important soon). I got the kids and the teacher settled into their classroom and made sure the parents were comfortable in the adjacent rooms to the rehearsal space. Jonah, his assistant, and the 2nd 2nd entered the room soon after and Jonah came over to me. "Hey dude, I'm Jonah." Also a very nice guy. Just about 5 hours into my first day on the job, I could tell that this film is going to be a very enjoyable experience. The 2nd 2nd had me hang out on the 3rd floor and be available should anyone need anything from the production office. I set up shop in one of the other empty adjacent rooms and began reading the shooting script that I had picked up earlier in the morning. Through the wall I could hear the rehearsals and hear how they all work and improvise. It was a great learning experience for me and great hilarity could be heard. In the afternoon, I temporarily switched over to walkie PA, took the walkie delivery inventory, and labeled all 100 walkie talkies so they matched up with the inventory.

Though I was split among the work of three different set PAs yesterday, at least they were one after another. Today, I felt like I was balancing four (add background PA) at the same time. We were doing a photo shoot, involving background, so I had to get them started on all their paperwork, take them to wardrobe, and basically make sure they were ready to go when we needed them. After the photo shoot, I continued to prepare the walkies (walkie PA) and the AD kit (paperwork PA), but had to be ready to wrap out background whenever they were wrapped.

Needless to say, I really hit the ground running with this job. But it's what I signed up for. The DGA training program is not going to teach you to do your job, your job is going to teach you your job. It's all on-the-job training, as it has become all too abundantly clear. And I love it. I come home with tired feet, a tired back, and a tired mind, but in the end it's worth it. My brother gave me some great advice tonight. He reminded me that, while I may be getting carried away by the little jobs I have to do, I can't lose sight of the bigger picture. I recall one of the great tenets laid out in the seminar week...GET THE SHOT. As long as the movie is being made, everyone's happy. I will screw up, but as long as filming continues to move forward, everything will be okay.

At the end of the day yesterday, Jonah was walking through the hallway saying his goodbyes to everybody and he saw me at my makeshift desk. "Hey Dixon, have a great weekend! See you next week." Whoa.