Today my dear friend and I did what many tourists and TV addicts might dream of; we hung around a film shoot for close to an hour. Earlier in the week (at my therapist’s office of all places) I found out there was a Wednesday shoot for the TV show “Brothers and Sisters” which I happen to watch. One of the many perks of being unemployed, I decided to go take in the craziness for as long as I could stand. Granted, I have lived most of my life in Southern California and this is the first time I have intentionally done this. However, having worked in downtown LA and living in Pasadena, I have certainly been around the hustle and bustle of a film crew on a few occasions. A guy I used to work with who is absolutely crazy used to routinely sneak into film shoot to steal food. If today is any barometer for the scope/amount of people needed to pull off even a seemingly short shot, I am sure it was very easy to blend in for my old co-worker.
The shoot was on Oakland between Green Street and Colorado. We lunched around the corner at the School House Café which is a great little venue I completely recommend. (It is the affordable section of the Culinary Institute’s restaurant – gourmet food at a fraction of the cost of the fancy restaurant side). After a leisurely lunch, we strolled around the corner to take in the film shoot. There were police offices, security guards, a legion of attractive and nicely dressed extras, scores of extra vehicles, all sorts of crazy lights, and even a few port-a-potties and yes, we were just lucky enough to see a short scene being shot catching glimpses of regular cast members. In fact, my friend rightly identified Smith from “Sex and the City” who’s part was very racy to say the least as it involved him kissing another guy (also a bit of a scoop as that character, Kevin if you follow the show, has a committed partner).
From my short window into The Industry, I can safely say it all seemed very unglamorous – much standing around for a less than ten minute scene. I know these Hollywood types get paid big bucks but as I understood it the shot lasted well into the evening, long hours any way you slice it. And so very boring – if it took all of this hoopla to shoot just a few minutes of the show, they must be doing these types of hours all of the time. No thank you.
3 comments:
It is. I have done a handful of extra jobs and the ONLY one that was fun was the one where I had a SAG waiver and was on a little set with about 25 people...oh, and one of them was Meryl Streep. Oh, and we were all dressed up in vintage outfits (circa 1950). Okay, THAT was cool and I made alot of money that day. But the rest of the jobs I had have suck so hard that I've stopped accepting the gig offers. I worked with Meryl Streep. I'm done. :)
I have a older friend (think Rose Marie on the Dick Van Dyke show) who earns a living as a combination substitute teacher and film x-tra. She approaches her junior high classes by telling them she's worked with Brittny Spears. It's how she gets "respect"
Now you know why the pay is good. It's hard work!
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