"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself"
                                                                                  -Charlie Chaplin
Showing posts with label Production. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Production. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Movie Magic Moving On Up

Here's a look at the first addition to Movie Magic Media since coming to Los Angeles last year! Slow but steady wins the race! This office is shared by Bird and myself and is dedicated to development and production. Moving on up!

My desk. Excited about all the light!

Another look!

Needless to say, I'm ecstatic about having some dedicated space and a desk. I'm also excited about my bunk-mate, Bird. I am ALSO excited about all of the organization, but that's the neurotic in me I suppose.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Hungry Man @ MMM: Something to smile about...

I spent today working on a commercial for the City of Las Vegas at Hungry Man Productions and halfway into the morning, the power in the Culver City production office went out. The a/c was not working and ants wriggled all over our production bay. After the 3rd of 4th power outage my production manager sent me on a few errands. Almost immediately after she hit me up with a text that gently read, "Hurry and get back here! We're blowing this popsicle stand. Know of any places to go work?!?!"

I offered her the ever-ready, ever-modest Movie Magic Media office. Last week, Bird worked on clearing out the adjacent room for our production office (AKA The Mark and Bird suite). I told her about the great air conditioning and the free internet. Needless to say, she excitedly obliged to my offer.

So I spent today working from my new desk for the first time! Not the most important post in recent history, but it was definitely something to smile about...

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Maximum Capacity

I haven't been writing as much as I'd like lately, but I've been filling a little overwhelmed. Not necessarily in a bad way, but in a way that I'm loosing the ability to juggle work with my personal life. Again, I'm not complaining by any means - especially in this economic environment, especially in freelance production - being busy is a huge blessing.

Since getting back from Spain I have been piggy-backing producing a short film for Tullio Productions with another short for Movie Magic. On top of this, I helped coordinate a documentary spec with Robert Adanto (A Rising Tide) which is continuing in pre-production and I'm sitting in at my old job at HSI. Needless to say, my personal life has gone a bit to the wayside, but I'm sure that will right itself when another production lull slaps me to the ground.

I know I've spoken on the topic many times before, but I can't get over how seamlessly time passes in Los Angeles. I can't believe it's July now. More than a year here and I couldn't tell you summer from winter. I sometimes feel like I'm trapped in a bio-dome. Hermetically sealed away from the rest of the world. Every now and then, a report will come in from Philly or Boston or New York. A breeze from the outside world will follow quickly after. For a brief moment, my nostrils will fill with the air of another world and set in motion a thousand and one thoughts and ideas in my head about the coming year. Luckily, the sweet aroma dissipates quickly and I forget about these things and hunker back into my comfortable, protected zone.

Still, pervasive thoughts of career moves and physical moves creep into my brain throughout the day and I wonder what life is like beyond the safety of my glass walls. The thoughts are quelled during these period of intensity; work drowning out the inevitable over-thinking and over-sharing and over-justification of my own life.

To be honest, I'm looking forward to this Friday; no work and a holiday weekend filled (hopefully) with friends, with eating and with drinking. I can't wait to spend a day at the beach and do nothing but revel in a month well-spent with hard work and satisfying accomplishments. Then, after a few days, I'm sure I'll post something else about how panicked I am over the lack of work and the lack of understanding of my life here.

At least I put that off since returning from Spain. I think I can keep putting it off until I spend at least one day on the beach, not worrying about anything.

Monday, December 8, 2008

D2D Teaser

Here's a first look at DOOR TO DOOR! I can't believe we're in post already...



It might be better to click right to Youtube and then select to watch in HD.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Compare and Contrast

I was on set again this weekend and, needless to say, this experience was quite different than the last.

I guess I should blame myself - not realizing what I was getting into. When someone tells you that you're shooting a music video in one (that's ONE) day, you should know that that means one helluva long day. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to get discouraged from a long day's work, but when a production team - your superiors- foster a poor working environment, one tends to get discouraged. 

Days like these are ruthless, never-ending and people will almost always be on edge. I was shocked, however, by how caddy, demeaning and arrogant many members of this particular team were. Again, I'm not above working my way up the ladder, but when people purposefully go out of their way to make you feel small, insignificant - a PA, then something is seriously wrong. I hope I never forget that any successful production rests on on the sweating backs of its PA's. If I do forget - feel free to offer my a swift kick in the balls.

The good news? Productions are never permanent and I earned my paycheck.

Moving on...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Sleep Deprivation

My transition away from HSI is now in full swing. This weekend I spent Saturday through Monday in Palm Springs working on a music video for an up and coming artist, Daniella. To make a long story short, there was a lot of driving, too much caffeine, and a really great team. Props to everyone for working on about 4 hours of sleep for the whole weekend. The shots look incredible and the video will be amazing.

Freelancing jobs are lining up and hopefully, after this weekend, I'm finding my niche and home in the production world. This team was fluid, hard working and like-minded. I couldn't have been happier with the environment and the result!

The next step? Come January 1, I'll start tearing in the acting world. Oh yeah... I went to college for that didn't I?

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Daniella Music Video

On location.... Palm Springs