I Got a Job! Part II

I've got a new job and it feels great. Today was my third day working on the indie film "The Ultimate Gift", which stars James Garner and had at one point hoped to cast James Earl Jones as his best friend. It's shooting here in Charlotte, has a budget much bigger than that of "The Dog Days of Summer", and looks to have a great crew working on it.

I myself have been upgraded from lowly PA (Production Assistant) to highly regarded PA (Props Assistant)! Now, instead of doing all the crap work for the entire crew and production staff, I do all the crap work only for the props department, which is comprised of the Props Master, the Assistant Props Master, and me, the Props Assistant, or Third Props... Guy.

It's really not bad at all, despite my use of the vernacular "crap". The days fly by, working on the props truck. Unlike being a PA, where I rush in the morning, get things set up, then sit around all day until it's time to take things down- a time I dread because I always end up doing more work than most, running film to the airport or taking all the garbage bags to a nearby dumpster- my day as a props assistant is filled with numerous tasks that are both time-consuming and somewhat mindless.

Most of my day is spent in the Prop Truck doing assorted jobs like taking some newly bought rope, stretching it out to get the kinks out, then "aging" it by wetting it down and pulling it through some mud.

Or I have to scrape off all the price tags with Goo Gone from some cheap cups and plates that are supposed to be used by poor Ecuadorians. Or I take all the props I'm given and organize them in the truck by placing them in certain bins, labeling them "Flashlights and phones" or "Juices" (used to make fake tea and whiskey), or "Office Supplies", "Colorful Dinnerware", and "Fabrics: Bandannas and Poor People's Clothes".

It may not sound like much, but after they've asked me to organize the tools, drill holes in the floor so I can screw in bolts to lock the gun safe to the floor of the truck, and yes I *did* say gun safe, the tasks add up and end up taking a good portion of the day to finish.

So, for you violently inclined, we do have a gun safe on board, which we picked up yesterday, to hold the firearms we are going to use in tomorrow's shoot. Today I handled some AK-47s and Uzis as they were placed in the safe. My dad owns a few guns, but none of them are machine guns, so it was strange to hold the same weapons gang-bangers and militias use to kill people. Just like they do in the movies too.

Working in the Prop Department has been very beneficial for me. For one, the pay is infinitely better. For twosies, the two guys I work with, despite having worked on numerous Hollywood movies and shows (the Prop Master is from H-Dub, the Assistant from Wilmingon), they are both very grounded and both very cool.

After working on three movies and many commercials with directors from either NY or LA, I've come to realize there are two types of people in this industry. There is the type of guys who look to you as an adopted son, a fresh, young, naive face that reminds them of how they used to be just when they were starting out, so they are kind to you and show you the ropes. They become your mentor.

Then there is the other kind of crew member, the kind of guy that is disgruntled and upset with his job, the kind that is bitter about being a Second Assistant Director or something of the like, the kind that sees you as a threat, some young punk that thinks he is better than he is, someone that is vying for his job.

Luckily, the two guys I am working with are of the former and not of the latter, as I felt some of the people on the Will Ferrel movie were.

But the Prop Guys are great. Randy, the Asst.Prop Master from Wilmington treats me like a student and teaches me everything I don't know as we go through the day. Thanks to him and Dan, the Master, I am not afraid to ask questions about things I don't know for fear the boss-man might think I'm not qualified enough for the job. The last thing I want them to do is regret hiring me.

As proof of their good character, they did not fire me yesterday even though I showed up an hour late for work. To show up late in the movie industry is career suicide. People are fired instantly for that sort of behavior because if you show up late to a movie shoot, and you are very important as I'd like to think I am now, you can severely delay the production because you aren't there to help and someone has to pick up your slack and do their own difficult job at the same time.

*As a side not, I'm not usually late to jobs, but for some reason, I managed to sleep through my alarm for two hours. I don't know if I set the alarm for PM instead of AM, or if I turned the alarm off in my sleep. All I know is I did set the clock the night before but jumped out of bed in a panicked frenzy when I realized I had majorly screwed up.

Now yes, Dan did tell Randy to start looking for someone else in case I was unreliable, but Randy likes me and reprimanded me as a disappointed mentor would, reminding me that I'm getting paid very well (Union wages!) for an easy job as opposed to yelling at me and making me feel like a stupid toddler before telling me they wouldn't need my services the following day.

Anyone else and I would have been fired. The Will Ferrel movie? Fired. Maybe I just lucked out because the guys really really needed my help that day.

Anyway, my laundry is almost done (we need clean blankets for the actors tomrrow), and I'm getting up at 5AM to make sure I'm early for tomorrow's shoot which takes place in the Ecuadorian jungles of North Carolina, so I should expect to get very wet and very muddy by 8AM at least.

And I never went to go buy some workboots like I planned. I should be looking pretty attractive come tomorrow.

--Cbake

PS: Mark Freiburger is editing "Dog Days" at The Film Foundry, the same company where the production offices for "Ultimate Gift" is located, so today while picking up call sheets, schedules, and maps, I stopped by to check out how editing was going. He and his editor John-o showed me a trailer they cut for the film. And it looks... GREAT. They should be giving me a copy to show friends and family by next week. If I can somehow leak it online, I'll let you guys know.