Credit Where Credit Is Due

My friend made a movie, and completely left me off the credits. I essentially scanned all 9 hours of his footage for him to make a feature. In dollar amount, you're looking at roughly $8,000 worth of services. Personally, I didn't really care. I like people who are nutty in their endeavors to work with film, so I was onboard no matter what. I mention it now, because a person who did a lot for the movie certainly felt some massive slight for the work she did on it.

Screen/movie credits are a funny thing. Back when it took a lot of effort to burn your name into film, people jockeyed for position. You have to understand, this was a time when the only way they could see your name was at the movies. What it is now is just to show your crew you appreciate them. Luckily, I don't have many people in terms of crew, so it's easier for me to remember. But I understand how some people get rabid for being forgotten. A lot of people in this town are already marginalized, just to have it be done by someone you did a favor for is a more sour apple.

I remember going to a screening for a friend's documentary. I'd done ONE day of shooting on it. I caught him after the screening and jokingly told him "Hey, my credit wasn't on the screen."
"Yah, it was. I made sure."
"Nope. I would've seen it. Remember that interview at the house? That was what that was for, huh?"
"No, I swear it's there." His girlfriend confirmed it wasn't. "No, it is."
He looked after getting home. It wasn't. He re-did it with new titles with my name added, plus re-did the DVDs (as they were already pressed). Made me sign a release too. All because I was just joking. I didn't care, since it's pretty much lost in the other 50+ credits. But people are serious about that shit. So be careful.

Incidentally, a short film I'd scan for this kid from Chicago gotten into L.A. International Short Festival. It's a biggin' up in these parts. And yes...I am in their scrolling credits. So I guess, you just never know.

Cuckoo For Cocoa Puffs

We done lost our minds with emotional support animals. I love dogs. But got-damn! if I want their asses sitting in a booth at a restaurant.

Who first thought of this garbage? That a pet can make you emotionally feel better. Great, go to a pound, a petting zoo, an old lady's house...these emotional animals who go to a Starbucks and act like nothing's wrong is so real trouble. What it is is our entitlement rearing its head again. The attitude is that "I have a dog and I want it go where I want." Now it's an official disability. Yes folks, in America people who have emotional issues are entitled to a pet walking everywhere with them. By the way, this shit was passed before gay marriage, that's the extent of our stupidity.

There are good things that come from this though. Anyone with an emotional support animal, good we know the stay clear of your nuttiness. It's like a beacon to tell us who's crazy. Better that then stare into the whites of their eyes. The ones where their eyelids don't touch their pupils...yep...nuts.

I honestly thought this was a joke at first. Like what people did to mock the service animals, that hustled for the blind. It almost feels like an F.U. to the blind actually. As if to say "you may be blind, but I'm emotionally blind." Anyway, you walk around with this, you deserve to be thrown off planes if your pup gets out of hand. Like this lady:
Lady Gets Booted With Dog

"Hitchcock" (2012)

This is a really frustrating movie, since it moves at a brisk pace attempting to get all the myths answered, but in the end walking away with more questions than answers about Alfred Hitchcock’s making of “Psycho.” What we gather from the movie is his insecurities matched with his ability to take risks. And in the end, we know the outcome. So how did this get made into a movie? It seems they tried to get clever. By having Hitchcock narrate it himself. The same as he would his shows.

Hitchcock is played by Anthony Hopkins. Because the director is so iconic, his clever wit are moments we wait for. And they seem to come at pitch perfect timing. Something that draws way too much attention to the personality of Hitch and not necessarily the man. Yes, he was witty, but the banter is very uneven. It suffers from balancing his dark sense of humor with rudeness and cruelty. We’re not sure which one it is. The movie is referenced throughout by the actual source material. The real life serial killer Ed Gein, who whispers in his ear all the terrible thoughts, an internal monologue. But it seems so silly to stagger his visions of Gein to suit his mood. Or actually convenient. As I also doubt Gein would’ve been that expressive in his own thoughts.

Along for the ride, is his wife and collaborator Alma played briskly by Hellen Mirren. She is the real star of the movie, since she is the invisible talent that we learn did more for Hitch’s career than we realize. Perhaps it was the system at the time, when women weren’t taken so seriously. Or maybe it was just better to have the myth of genius foisted on Hitch as he generously lapped up the praise. Or maybe it's just being politically correct. Again, the truth is likely somewhere in the middle.

I don’t fully understand Hitchcock as a complete person. As we discover in the making of “Psycho” he mortgaged his home to fund the production of it (a myth, never happened). Yet, the shoot was consumed by what he thought was his wife having an extra-curricular affair. Was it a possibility? More than likely. Did it belong in this movie? I’m not sure how you would make her interesting if all she did was garden.

I didn’t know all that much personal about Hitchcock going in. He was always a film school favorite, considering his mode of working was unconventional. I’m sure our movies are really influenced by him today. Especially certain are how murder mysteries are constructed. To me, maybe his overblown popularity struck me in the same sense Woody Allen movies do. When you like them, you can’t shut up about them. This movie is a light snack if you plan on watching “Psycho” afterwards. So, in all, it’s not bad. But, the tone of the whole movie gets pulled into Lifetime movie land. Which is strange, considering who we’re talking about. Or appropriate if you consider their library of murder mysteries.

Sir Ian McKellen

When I was working on my thesis project in film school, I knew I was shooting film. Not just film but 35mm film. Loyola Marymount didn't support this, since it didn't own any 35mm film gear.

For whatever reason, and perhaps this is why I covet working in film, it gave me the confidence to swing the fact that I was shooting what the big dogs were shooting. I sent out a backstage notice for an older gentleman for the role of Jerry. I've mentioned this in the past, but...there isn't really a call now for more mature actors. Women or men. I didn't know this at the time. The roles were very specific, and the Hollywood market could care less. So I thought maybe writing something that had an older actor in it would get some real talent. I got really great submissions. I actually got to talk to Seymour Cassel. He seemed miffed I didn't know he'd been nominated for a Best Supporting Academy Award in 1968. This was the time before IMDB was really in full bloom. But I guess I should've at least remembered him as the father in "Rushmore." Odd coincidence, but I also got a submission from Mason Gamble for the kid part in my short, another "Rushmore" cast member. And I got a submission from Conrad Bains, the father from "Dif'rent Strokes." Being truly a film student snob, I didn't even consider Mr. Bains. I think it had to do with being tempted with asking too many questions about the show. But probably more that I'd be overwhelmed by his celebrity. I'd felt obligated to cater to him, and on a student film budget, it wasn't going to roll. Stupid when I think about it now. BUT, I also believe his presence wasn't right for the role. Taking-in-orphan stories shouldn't follow him around.

Well, early in the writing stage, for some reason I'd seen Ian McKellen in a movie called "Apt Pupil." It's a dark Stephen King story about nazi living next door to a young man. I thought he was great. He had the look of a silent film actor (which is what the role called for). I wrote "Jerry and The Kid" with him in mind. Just his steely look that could intimidate. Though the character in my movie was suppose to be like a cactus. Really soft deep down inside. I'm not sure what prompted me, but I dug up a Hollywood 411 (which is a book back in the day that showed you who the actor's agents/publicist/managemet were). And I printed out a script on my shitty dot matrix printer, and enclosed a handwritten letter (which I wish I remembered what it said. Most likely I was begging my ass off). And I scribbled in my AOL email (remember those?!). And signed it. I mailed it. And freaked out, knowing I'd sent it "out there."

A month later I got this:

My first reaction...I won't lie "Fuck! So close." The second reaction was...holy shit, the guy actually personally turned me down. Without any money on the table, without any credits, without even knowing who I was but a student with a script, he took the time to write me to tell me that he couldn't be in my movie. I spent the first years with this email convinced his publicist or management wrote this form letter. BUT, when I read it again it really is him as the writing is informal. He'd read the handwritten letter I'd sent, and I was amazed that it reached him in some way. I'm not sure you can get away with this now, since the world is what it is now.

I eventually made the movie, and it's still screened at Loyola Marymount for incoming students wanting to get in their program. It's flattering in that sense. But I wonder...what if Ian McKellen...

Naps R Good

I think if you want to live a long life you really need to take naps. My parents are huge endorsers of naps. It recharges your brain from the morning or night. I think more important if you have a night schedule. I use to have something of a night schedule. Started at 4 P.M. and didn’t get out until 1A.M. I find it odd now that I was able to sustain that. It did buffer the shift a lot easier knowing I had a bottle of scotch waiting for me when I did get home. Drinking did make the day go by faster.

My folks would always shut down the restaurant after the lunch break. Somewhere around 3:30 P.M. Kinda’ sucked for people who wanted their food at a certain time. They could always hit the fast food Chinese restaurant place next door, if they were desperate for it. Yes, my folks opened up a restaurant next to another Chinese restaurant. In today’s business this would be death. Back in the 80’s, no one cared. There weren’t that many Chinese places anyway.

When they shut down, they were closed. Phone off the hook, and just silence, up until dinner time. I wager they saved themselves a TON of stress issues not having to drive back and forth from the restaurant (although we only lived a mile and a half from work). It was really convenient. I didn’t realize how efficient this set up was until I had to commute in L.A. traffic from the San Fernando Valley to Santa Monica (23 miles). The wear and tear on your car too. At the previous schedule I had, I usually went to the beach and read a book or took a nap before going into work. So in that sense, it worked out really well. Wake up, went to the gym and just hung out at Will Rogers beach until I had to get to work. I didn’t know it then, but this was pretty much how my folks functioned throughout their life. Just easy with the siestas. I think most Americans lead a stressful on-call life. We seem to be so paranoid that a phone will ring and we won’t be there to answer it. Or that we are required to check in with the office. I mean, the more successful you get, the more indispensible you become. And you are constantly fighting your time. As I’ve said in the past, time is a commodity that we fully own. It would suck to realize other people have control of it.

Dude...Shut The Fuck Up...

“Dude…shut the fuck up” I muttered to the actor that was fidgeting and singing to himself. To stave off his own boredom, he took to talking to himself and “acting up.” Like a child.

“Did you just tell my actor to ‘shut up’?” the director confronted me.

“Yeah. Guy won’t shut up.”

“Don’t tell him that” the director wasn’t being a hardass. He knew the guy was being annoying. But he needed him. He was confused as to what tone to use in order to be firm without insulting either parties. I wanted him to fire me. I should’ve just walked. But I couldn’t do that to a friend. No matter how irritating this “actor” was.

This was a student film during my last year there. It was a project for my friend Stu and we’d commandeered a used car lot in Santa Monica, and time was limited, they were still selling cars, afterall. The sun was beating on us, and I was just done with this guy making me miserable. For one thing, he was a nobody. In order to even have the nuts to stall a film when all this was going on…that sort of not paying attention to your surroundings has ALWAYS irritated me. My philosophy of life has always been to keep my head on a swivel. People who are oblivious should be killed.

Yeah, unprofessional of me. I’ve done it on a real set as well. There was an actor who couldn’t remember his lines as film was burning through the camera. He said “why aren’t you guys shooting digital?” To which I leaned on the magazine on the camera, stared at the guy directly, scoffed as if to question his talent, and told him “get it together.” To which the director stepped in, took him aside and went through it piecemeal in order for him to feel comfortable. Does this help the situation? Absolutely not. But I think it should at least drive it into their brains that we’re all here for them. That if you show up unprepared, you should feel terrible (if this is what you want to do for your living).

 I’m not sure why I have this animosity towards actors as a cameraman, only that I have very little patience due to my crew. I treat my crew with kid gloves, because I know the pressure they have and the boredom they endure. There is no assistant cameraman reel. They have nothing to show for it other than hustling for the next job. I would expect an actor to feel that their stupid fucking faces on a project, no matter how small, will go “out there.” To be dissected and criticized. This focus when money is involved seems to have blown over these examples I’ve just mentioned. There is no never ending well to which they will constantly work. Most of us are thankful for any opportunity (well, not me…since I’d been a punk kid then). To me, I did my research before coming in. In fact, I thought I was doing the director a favor by saying something he cannot.

But, they are fragile creatures: actors. They have an audience in the makeup girl, or grip…they take it. If say, the actor were taking moments to think about where they are in the script, it seems it would gain respect. To me, the ones that goof off, get distracted and lose focus…no one takes them seriously.

I recall being on the set of “Saw.” I was standing next to Cary Elwes, cautiously approaching him the bathroom set, as he was chained there (for 12 hours, mind you). He silently sat as the set ups were being changed. Not one complaint. No singing to himself. It is DULL as dirt. I was eager to give him a zinger from his past movie “…as you wish.” Waiting for the perfect opportunity. It was down time, why not?

That’s when he spotted me “hello.”

“oh, hey man. How’s it going?” I froze.

In a clean British accent “It’s cool.”

“Must be rough, not being able to move.”

“Oh yeah” he laughed to himself, indicating the chain which was around his ankle.  Something bugged me about where he was staged in the shot. The corner was shadowed. Dark. We just stood there for a while. Finally, as I saw camera wasn’t set yet, I walked just outside of the stage flat and brought a ladder.

The whole time I was thinking that I had to zing him. He quietly watched as I ascended the 6 step ladder to peel off a cover on a fluorescent bank of lights. It boosted the light by about a ½ stop.

He looked up, smiled…“that’s better” the British accent again. Seemed thankful that someone was looking out for his key light.

I looked down, just smiled and nodded. Missed my opportunity to say the line “as you wish.” Just took my ladder and walked away. Two professionals. Respect.

He remembered me on the day I’d been absent. I was touched he did. That’s why he’s a working actor.

Opportunities

About six months ago, I'd gotten a text from an old friend (Sal) who'd I'd work with in Santa Monica. He'd wondered if I were still working in post-production. "Yeah" I said.
Then he asked me specific technical questions about compression, conversion, digital workflow and so forth. All pretty standard. I knew he'd left the company we worked for in duress. Broke his contract, in fact, since he wasn't being treated fairly.

Sal was a b-boy who you would never know was really smart. He'd worked his way up the ranks to be one of the highest paid conform artist. Conform is taking an edit from the studio and matching it with the raw files that come from the camera. He simplifies it by comparing it to being at a potato factory. Someone cleans the potato and asks you to move the potato from here to there. That's it. He oversimplifies it, to be honest. It's a lot of shuffling. He thinks it's monkey work. Considering he is also a DJ who mixes. He turned records at the company Christmas party that year.

I sat with Sal, to see what he was doing. Most of his co-workers were middle aged men with a family, a mortgage and were definitely world weary. He was a young cat with creative energy that was being stifled by potato moving. To me, it was a pretty cool job, considering you dealt with editorial. Sometimes the director would come in and want to watch their cut of the movie. I really enjoyed hanging with Sal. My training wasn't all that involved since I really enjoyed just talking to him one on one about his future. He really liked that someone took an interest in him, rather than throwing a work order in his face. I know the upper management didn't really fully like me being around since he was getting paid a large sum for what he did and any time away from the edit bay, was time away from work. He was a very negative person. I think he'd be the first to admit it. I think he thrived in being a ball-buster. Would openly criticize the company and the boss, even to clients sitting in the room. They all had a great laugh over it. Sometimes people without filters are who we admire the most.

When he left, I was bummed. My training went out the window. And the new people they brought in were much like the people who always did this type of work. Dry and dull.

So he texted me to ask me if he could call me. Which I was curious, since he seemed so excited. It turns out that a position had opened at a company "up north" (I can't mention it since...well, I was told not to) and he wanted to offer me a first crack at it. Holy shit! Really?! A lot of things raced through my mind. In particular the logistics of moving up north. He told me if I was interested, a plane would fly me there to interview and then sign a contract. Six figures and stock options, better treatment, cleaner air.

I paused. I'd been in L.A. for over 10 years now. Although I had no real ties to this town, I was gearing up to do another movie. It was in germination process, and I was desperately wanting to do something creative. That's when he heard that hesitation in my voice.
"What the fuck, Thom?"
"I've got a movie I want to do."
"Do it up here."
"It's on film."
"Well, that's not going to happen."
"yeah, I know."
"Listen, just send your resume, and we'll go from there. You really should consider this. Even if you want to take a few trips down to make your movies, cool."

But I knew, once I left this place, I'd drop it all. The interest would wane, and I'd be that face in the crowd. To boot, I'd been off the sauce and was feeling the residual effects. I thought it would be frustrating for him to deal with my affliction. And my brain was fogged, trying to make heads or tails of it all. Some may believe this was the dumbest decision of my life. It's hard to say, since I've never shared this story, as I find it unnerving that most people would consider this sabotage. It's hard to know what the outcome would be. Knowing Sal and his high standards and commitment, at that point I felt if I was going to abuse myself, it may as well be for my own interest. Some would also consider this fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of success. I didn't feel all fear. It was an instinct.
I didn't hear from Sal after this. I really didn't want to, because I really didn't want to tell him the reason why I couldn't take the job. Because I didn't want to be chained to a potato factory.