endeavors

Friday, May 30, 2008


I have been doing background for The Informant, a Steven Soderbergh movie starring Matt Damon, since Wednesday. It has been incredibly fun on set. I’m meeting a ton of cool people and am really enjoying working on an actual movie set (even though I’m not doing anything nor am I ever on screen). It’s funny b/c I feel very much like a country bumpkin. Like, holy crap, the director of the Ocean’s movies is standing 5 feet away from me setting up a scene.

A few weeks ago I did background work on a commercial that will only air in Holland—but I learned so much from that set. Unfortunately on this one, I don’t really get to hear the director talking to anyone, but I still have today and Mon-Wed of next week. I’m an office worker in 1994. My cubicle has a ton of dolphin paraphernalia, so I’m the crazy dolphin lady. There’s a weighted thing (pic above) that has become a fun game. We’ll set it off, then time it to see how long it see-saws. So far it’s been about an hour.

Today my call was at 10. I was done with hair and make up by 11 and have been sitting around with The Cool Kids playing a fun game of Phase 10. I’m not getting paid much, but I’m hoping to get a SAG voucher out of it. Originally I was saving for a house, but some very large unexpected expenses have come up and completely wiped out all savings and put me in debt. I need more money than I currently make, so I’m going to try to get my SAG card soon so I can do higher paid gigs.

The best part about these gigs is Craft Services. Yesterday I had Mahi-Mahi, mashed potatoes, broccoli, Jerk Chicken, blackberries, strawberries, and orange sorbet and a frozen custard for desert. I may only be making $8 an hour, but I’m eating like a king! They also serve us breakfast, which is bacon, eggs, fruit, muffins, bagels, donuts…the list goes on and on.

Something the 2nd AD said the first day was, “If you fall asleep on set, I will send you home and make an example of you.” Obviously he said that because it’s happened in the past. I guess I’m still a little shocked at how unprofessional people can be sometimes. I came from a very intense BFA program at Wright State, and they would kill you if something like that happened.

Oh, one last thing. The first day Matt Damon was on set, there were 100 office workers staring at him as he walked to his place. I realize he’s done this a million times before, but I wonder if it’s still weird for him to be stared at.

And I guess a second last thing. On the commercial I did a while ago, I met a ton of people from Austin. One of them even went to high school with Jeremy Lamb! On this set I’ve met a ton of people from Ohio. One girl was from Centerville. One gentleman went to Miami a few years after my parents graduated. And one of the guys I’ve been playing cards with, Guedig, was on the Nescafe set with me (no relation to Ohio or Austin). I like that the more stuff I do, the more it feels like a family.

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