The last three months have been a tornado of activity to say the least. This is the final day of shooting on location of an 18 day, 3 week, 6 day-per-week shoot. We have had tons of challenges, but the production as a whole has come together made good choices and we have been very very very "blessed" (for Our EP, normally I would say "lucky", she has convinced me we are "Blessed".)
In the middle of this show I had to move, quit a non-industry full time job, live out of my backpack, pull many all night work sessions and had a family medical emergency. On top of all of this a business that my girlfriend owns who is also in the business and I help run had a ton of challenges because of the this show.
My point is, as hard as that all was I would do this show again in a heartbeat. It was totally worth it.
No, the money I am getting paid for doing this job is not industry standard or even any kind of scale. That is true for the entire crew. So this is a "for the love of it" kind of job. It's also for two more things, one is experience and the other is the credit at a different job.
A few years ago a 1st AD told me and a group of PA's on set one day that he had only PA'd one show. He never did that job again, he went out and worked on small shows as a 1st AD, a couple times as a 2nd AD then got into the DGA Union and never looked back. 20 years later he is a 1st AD on major TV shows and pilots, he makes good money and lives well. His point was, you have to DO the job you want to be doing. As much as you can, do it at the small level when it has a point.
This piece of advice has never been more relevant than on this show for me. I came in replacing someone else but essentially sharing a credit. After a few days I was running the show. Then at the end of the first month in Pre-Production I find out that a big time Television Show Runner is coming in as my Unit Production Manager or (U.P.M.). It didn't take a week she become the Line Producer and now my credit will read Assistant Line Producer. Originally
it was Co-Line Producer.
This is the business. It's now been months since I started writing this post. I am now looking at this project with hind sight and seeing how it's almost done with post and where everything is. They say that it's 20/20 when you look into the past, that said I feel like my assessment at the time was still on point. When somebody comes in with a better resume than you at a lower position it is often in the show's best interest to put that person above you. Really what that comes down to is your leverage with the person calling the shots at the top. If you have none, like I did then your lucky if you stay on the show at all. I have heard of this where the person in my position is basically let go. What it looks like is they hire the person with the better resume after they hire you already then they offer you an insulting lower position and your basically left with no choice but to quit the show.
In my cast that's not exactly what happened. The bigger name that was hired under and after me when she got elevated didn't force me out. Which I will always be grateful for. She educated me on many things and I was able to turn a seeming bad situation into a learning situation that I still draw from until this day.
Don't get me wrong, it totally stings every time my "screen credit" get's changed or I have to say I "helped Line Produce" instead of "I was THE line producer". If nothing else film is the continual process of refining what you do. Which means, being humbled but not letting that turn into humiliation or self doubt. This won't be the last time something like happens, and it certainly was not the first. I am grateful for the experience and have no regrets. They got a usable product that hopefully will do well at the festivals and I will be able to point to my name and say this was a brick in the wall of my career. Maybe not the biggest brightest brick, not solid gold, but I gave everything I had honestly and am proud at least of that.
Thought thread,
YOU decide what any project is worth. Not every project is worth fighting for, sometimes it's better to walk away. Like the song says, "You gotta know when to hold, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to run!"
No comments:
Post a Comment