Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Rip roaring start

Well, New Year and I'm doing my best to be a good blogger. It's been rough especially with all that's been going on lately, but I realize that's no excuse, so I'll just do my best to get caught up on all the happenings of the past and move on and be the good girl I know I can be.

Well, I went up to Santa Fe in November to start work on a film up there. I only decided to work on it because I needed a throw away job for a couple months until a producer that I have worked for previously came back with another show. Show I signed up to be a Wardrobe PA for a little while. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll explain. In the Costumes department they often hire a newbie to the industry to run errand and such for them so that they can do more important things. So that's what I signed on to do. I figured it would be pretty laid back since I knew everyone in the department anyway. Was I in for a serious shocker. The first day that I was there the designer asked me to be Assistant Designer. I'll explain that too. Sometimes on a film the designer hires someone who is working on becoming a designer to assist in fittings, and other ins and outs of getting the costumes bought, fit and taken to set or altered or whatever. So, that was the beginning of the end for me. Or perhaps it was the beginning of something completely amazing. You should know that I of course had no idea what I was doing at all. That's only a slight glitch though! So I began assisting the Designer in fittings with the actors, who I'm sure that you know, but I guess I shouldn't really name them.

Well, one week into everything, the director came by and had a meeting with one of the actors, JG, and the designer. Well she asked me to take note, not that there were any to take, and stay in the meeting. So I got to be a fly on the wall for one of the most interesting conversations. Strangely enough the director often referred to when he wanted another opinion on something. For a few minutes after the JG left and the designer stepped out for a bit, the director and I had a bit of a chat. He started asking me questions about myself. It just seemed so peculiar. Well, it came out that I was an actor and he told me that he wished he'd known that a month previous, because he would have had something great for me. That was one of the most disappointing things I think I've ever heard. I think time stopped for me in that instant. Then it somehow sped up when he told me that he would find something for me in the film. I didn't even know what to do.

Would you believe he actually came through? I got a few days on the set and I'm pretty thrilled. the role wasn't big or anything, but I definitely got some good screen time and a real name. I wasn't like so-and-so #50 or anything.

All I can really is say is that I'm so grateful for the opportunity to do something that I really love with a director who takes me seriously. Wow.