AnthonyDe's first PA job is wrapped!

Just finished my first job on a film crew as P.A. I primarily ran the slate but I also transported rental lighting equipment, rigged and moved lighting equipment on set, was a stand in, sound effects(pounding on a door), provided the silhouette for the killer, ordered and picked up food one day, made coffee(just once), created sets, dressed sets, provided marks for actors and other assorted gopher work. There were as many as 5 P.A.s but we average about 3. Me and the sound guy were the only ones who made it every day including the last day. We kicked ass and knocked the rest of the shoot out early. The learning curve was huge. I literally spent most of the first day scratching my head. By the last day I was anticpating what the producer, director or D.P. would need before the scenes. Apparently they were impressed enough to give me a Production Coordinator credit, not that I know what that means exactly. I figure it has to be better than P.A. though.

Busy- hopefully in a good way

The Sundance internship is winding down and I've picked up some work as as background artist. It's quick cash and someone once told me to get a job on the lots any way you can and keep your ears open. Nothing but time on the set and if I had a paying coverage gig it would be ideal. At the very least it's set experience and did I mention quick cash?

I'm also lining up an unpaid PA gig for two weekends in Dec. Of course when it goes on the resume it won't mention the unpaid or two weekends parts.

I'm going to try and crank out 2 TV specs in Dec.

The art of the stall

I notice some frustration going around about LOST so I thought I'd pass this little tidbit from Finding Lost.

“We knew as we were shooting the pilot though that the only way to do the series would be to use the art of the stall. In any given season of 24 there's not that much happening, but they give the illusion of constant suspense. On Lost if every episode were about discovering the mysteries of the island than we would be sunk, because there's an inevitability to that where if the characters decided ‘we're going to explore this island and figure out what this place is' whereas if it's ‘we're going to figure out how to live with each other and figure out what this island is' and we're going to learn about the characters before the crash so that they're emotionally compelling, that was the only way we saw to do the show.”

So what happened last night? Sun lost her wedding ring basically losing the one tangible thing of Jin she feels she has left. Sun and Jin's flashbacks establish how they met. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and it looks like when he returns they will reunite. The tail section heads to rejoin the group. Micheal is so desperate to find Walt he takes off on his own. Jin is a real pal and goes after him. Shaft is a good guy and goes after Jin. Sawyer's an SOB and looks out for himself. The Others are so bad that even Shaft hides from them. Michael accepts that he's going to have to find Walt a different way.

So there you have it, the art of the stall in action. I'm going to go out on a limb, it's a strong limb so I feel pretty safe out here, and say that if you only watch sweeps episodes and the finale you'll be able to follow LOST just fine.

No news is good news

I received the phone call and it shakes out like this, a feeling out period has begun. For all intents and purposes the internship has a new investor(on a handshake deal) and I was asked how many hours I could committ to and how much it would it take. Hopefully a more formal meeting will take place tomorrow. Is this good news? In my world good news is when you see a check. The NY in me is skeptical.

Good little spec monkey

-I just read like 7 scripts in like 5 days. Note to self: don't get that far behind again.

-Been thinking about my script. I've been told it is more marketable as a horror. Problem is, I'm not into horror. I really didn't know where to begin. Did some research and found out horror is all about fear not just being scared or shock or gore. From fear I go to terror or terrorism. I think that's what most people fear today, what scares them the most. The idea that if you're standing on a subway platform and you look over the edge to see that the train is coming you have to be aware who is behind you. If you are on a plane you notice when that guy makes an unusual amount of trips to the bathroom. Even just the general, something is going to happen but you don't know what, you don't know where and you don't know when. That, I can tap into. That, actually works well for the story. Right now, the characters respond with heroism. I need them to be fearful. I'm going to try and work on it over the long weekend.

Stuff is happening. Is stuff happening?

So if I take what I'm being told at face value some good things could be happening soon. Thing is how can you take anyone at face value in the H'wood? If I put all my eggs in one basket and things fall through I'm doomed.It's like tip-toeing through a minefield.

Signs, signs, everywhere signs...

The following story is true.

*This morning I walked to the grocery store and I realized I was walking on Hollywood Blvd. so I started to sing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" to myself.

*On the way back I saw the biggest roach, dead on it's back in front of a sushi place also on Hollywood Blvd.

* A block later for some reason "We Are the Champions" then popped into my head. Not all the lyrics and not in order. I merged the first part of the first verse and the second part of the second verse.

I've paid my dues -
Time after time -
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime -
And bad mistakes
I've made a few

I consider it a challenge before the whole human race -
And I ain't gonna lose -

That about sums me up, especially the last two lines.

*Got back and immediately went back out to Borders on Sunset and Vine to pick up the Hollywood Reporter. I park and the meter takes some of my coins but not all. It's totally indiscriminate as to which ones it takes.

*Supposedly there's a special section I've been looking to check out that only appears the first Tuesday edition of the Hollywood Reporter each month. Last month I went on Tuesday and they had the Monday edition. I figured maybe they put them out a day later so being that I really couldn't make use of the info. anyway at that time, I decided just to wait until August. I went yesterday and again they had Monday's edition out so I go today and they have Wednesday's edition out! C'mom- work with me here.

*I get in the car and "Stayin' Alive" is just ending on the radio. I turn onto Hollywood Blvd., change the station and get the dead air just as a song begins.

Almost as if on cue, I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known...
Freaky

Lord of the Sundance

I'm reading for Sundance! Can't wait to get my first Donnie Darko like script where I have to decide if it's bad that I don't understand it or good.

My first year in the Hwood

A little over a year ago I picked up and moved from NY to LA. To be honest, things weren't going well for me back in NY, I was on the waiting list to be a postal carrier. While a noble profession, it's just not for me. I wanted to start over with a clean slate and somehow got in my head the reason why I couldn't get a career off the ground was that I was meant to be a writer. That MUST be it! In my defense, I had been toying with idea for a good while taking classes and reading books. I had been taking annual trips to LA and made some LA contacts: a director of a network show, a former PA, a producer who I met once, a coexec producer and a close friend of a showrunner. Not great contacts but a start. I also had a plan. I'd go to LA and become a reader first.
I arrive in LA and take a class at UCLA in Story Coverage and Analysis. Unfortunately, I can't find work. I decide to go the unpaid internship route but most of them require that you are in school. Finally I land an internship as a story analyst for a shady production/management company. My contacts? For one reason or another most of them are now useless. Lesson #1: people won't cash in a favor that they might want/need to use themselves one day. Only someone who is really established or in a non competing field is going to help you.
Story analysts can actually get into the Editor's Guild. Small catch, companies in the guild have to hire analysts in the guild and you can't get into the guild unless you work for a company in the guild. I apply to PA and WA jobs when I come across them but never get replies. I have a couple of feature spec scripts, a TV spec and working on another TV spec now. I mention to my boss at the internship I'm a writer and he actually asks to read a script! I get all excited at what I think is my first break and two weeks later we meet to discuss it. It becomes evident that he's only read 20 pages. All his plot questions are answered in the second and third acts. He asks for a treatment so I pump out a nine page treatment. That was almost a month ago. Since then I've called and emailed and received no reply. I have three scripts here that I did the analysis for and that somebody must want back. The guy seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth.

So as I look back on the past year I have experience as a reader and technically got read and I guess that's not too bad. I still feel like I'm back at square one though. From what I gather a lot of breaking in is being at the right place at the right time. Not quite sure what my next move should be. I'm leaning toward continuing with the reading.

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I have a theory...

I was just on another board where someone called The Inside a mini-series and suggested since it was probably heading to DVD maybe Tim should just produce 13 episode mini series. It got me thinking, how's Prison Break get more than 1 season? Surely Reunion with it's format of each episode representing a different year can't go more than 1 season. Could FOX already be using this 13 episode mini-series format? Am I on an island here? Is this crazy talk?

The First Post Blues

I need a first post,
but got nothin to say.
If I don't post something,
the blog goes away.
Gotta be something witty,
that'yll bring people back.
I'm in some trouble now,
'cause I ain't got jack.

I got the blues.
I got the first post blues.
I got the need-to-post-something-but-my-mind's-a blank-don't-want-to-be-boring-first-post-blues.