The magic of an angel on the street in the middle of the night

Sometimes the most magical things happen at the best possible times. That’s what we wish for isn’t it?

That happened to me once on a night shoot and it was totally unexpected, and just what I needed.

It wasn’t that late, but I remember it was a long day on an independent feature when I was first in Los Angeles. I was a set P.A. and it was early in my career.

At one point in the story, one of our characters was dressed as an Angel. I think if I remember corrrectly, she wasn’t an angel in the story, but rather was coming back from a costume party. But in the scene she was lit walking down the street being hit by a spotlight. The road had been wetdown.

She looked beautiful. But when you’re working on a set after a long day, you’re really just waiting to wrap. As much as I love the business, wrap is still one of my favorite words to hear on a set. As much as a I love movies and making them, sometimes it’s just work, and you want the day to be done.

We still had a scene to shoot so we weren’t quit there. Then it happened.

I was standing on the sidewalk ready to lock up. We brought the actress in to line up with her and the light and the cameras just before we rolled.

Then I heard children.

“Look, an angel,” a little voice said. A group of about three or four young children were gathered hiding behind the bushes of their yard with a woman I assumed with their mother. They stood wide-eyed, totally transfixed, watching and talking about the angel.

I’m sure in their minds, she was an angel, and probably each one of them holds the memory of seeing an angel walk down the streets of their neighborhood. I hope so.

We shot the scene of the actress walking down the street. Then we cut and moved on. I exchanged a smile with their mother. I had to go. We were moving on.

It made my day. Or night, I guess I should say.

Will the next best thing in movie Scheduling be - Artificial Intelligence?

I started writing this last year. I guess I was ahead of my time. (Well, actually behind it, as people have been working on AI for years now.)

But I can see advantages of AI for scheduling and script breakdown.

I’m not talking writing scripts but what happens after they are written and prep begins.

There is a lot of tedium in breaking down a script when you are an assistant director, or production manager, especially scripts by beginning writers (and some veterans.)

Inconsistent sluglines, no Day or Night, one long “CONTINUOUS” from scene to scene with no Day or Night so you have to keep flipping back and forth to figure out where this “Continuous” started.

Note to writers, if I can’t figure out that the next scene flows from the scene before you need to work on your writing.

What does ”Later” mean? Later could be 5 seconds from now or 5 years. If it’s a day scene before, than Later could mean Night, or Day. Maybe AI can help me with that. Writers…

But I digress. Let’s get back to breaking down and scheduling a script.

Couldn’t an AI program go through a screenplay and see a dog and add it in as an Animal in the breakdown? and add an Animal Trainer? Isn’t a gun always a prop?

I think so.

AI can have that part of my job - going through line by line and adding elements to scenes. It can be a slog.

I would love to be able to put a script into a program and get a basic breakdown and schedule out of it.

I’m not threatened.

And, I don’t mind if ‘they’ use my schedules to train an AI program to make better schedules.

Again, I’m not talking about the creative element of the process. Let writers write, and not put Day or Night in their Continuous scenes …

I just want the best most current tools I can find. I’m not worried about being replaced (In part because of my sparkling personality…)

But in order for that process to be effective, they should also train on production reports as well to see how the schedules they’re training from panned out.

Did the company make its days? Did they make the least amount of company moves and hair/makeup/wardrobe changes?

I’m not sure how you train in the particular quirks of our business and the many personalities you interact with, but maybe that’s what we need, a dispassionate computer algorithm to figure us out.

No good schedule ever survives contact with a director anyway, a DP, or a lead cast member who has a lot of conflicts, or a special location only available at the least efficient time for the least efficient amount of hours. But that is part of the fun and the challenge of what we do.

Machines will figure that all out eventually, though from the glacier-like pace of software updates for filmmaking software to date we probably have another two decades before it’s incorporated (yes EP, I’m looking at you.)

It’s fascinating and terrifying to see the world advance around you and reflect on how far it has come (and how far I have come since my early days learning how to schedule.)

I will miss that tedious but satisfying first pass of breaking down a script and strategizing how to schedule it — and figuring out whether “EVENING” means Night and what is up with “CONTINUOUS”?

Remember Thomas Guides?

I think the first rite of passage for any Production Assistant or intern was getting a Thomas Guide.

I wonder how in the age of GPS how I ever got along without turn by turn navigation but I’m glad I had to plot out my route on the grids of the spiral bound map book.

There’s no better way to learn Los Angeles then running scripts and schedules and other paperwork across town like we did before email.

We’ll there was email but there weren’t really PDFs so everything was copied and distributed by hand, well actually by an office PA or intern.

There were a few pages that would eventually fall out and (like Hollywood and Burbank) and you could tell the veteran PAs by their beat up Thomas Guide — and when they were over the office PA/runner gig.

I’ll never forget when a fellow office PA burst into the office around six thirty at night after being on runs all day and exclaimed, ‘I should just send photocopies of pages out of the f’ing Thomas Guide instead of a resume for my next job!’

I don’t remember really reacting.

IYKYK

The easiest lock-up ever...

I remember once locking up when I was a Set PA on the 2nd Unit for a Steven Segal movie. I had to stand by the end of a service entrance to the L.A. River because a Dump Truck driven by a stunt driver was going to barrel down the ramp with a Steven Segal double either hanging off it or the double was driving (I don’t remember.)

If anyone was walking on that ramp when the truck was racing down there they could possibly be killed because there was barely enough room for the big truck and it was going to come into that road fast.

I was at at the end of that road making sure no one walked up it and into the ‘channel’ made by the concrete walls on either side. There wasn’t anyone I could see for miles and it was kind of pretty looking out over the concrete river bed.

I was safe on one side of the entrance and just had to stay out of the shot. Easiest lock-up ever. I mean I had to pay attention but where could anyone come from? We rolled and down came the truck.

I had been daydreaming looking at a small hole in the concrete of the river bank on the other side of the entrance. Something seemed to be moving inside or it. It was impossible but a guy climbed out of there. I was mystified. How could he fit through that small hole?

He of course started making his way right to the entrance of the service road and once he walked into that channel he’d be walking right into the path of the truck. I was on the other side. I yelled and waved at him but couldn’t seem to get his attention. I was about to run across and call abort although it probably would have been too late for the truck to slow down and I might have been run over.

At the last minute, he seemed to understand and paused. The truck popped out of the channel and skidded safely to a stop.

We cut.

My heart was racing.

The guy nodded to me and walked casually past the truck and up the road. I called out on the radio that he was passing through.

That was a weird day.

I had $.37 in my pocket and I knew I was going to make it

It was after 2 am the next day when my car started sputtering after I had worked 22 hours on a promo for a movie that you would probably know of. I was totally broke, had no money in the bank, my truck was about to get repossessed and I wasn’t sure how I would pay for gas if I could get to it.

I was a production assistant and had been driving the production cube earlier that day, and well night. I had dropped the cube off about twenty minutes ago at the rental yard in Hollywood.

That truck was full of gas. My car was not. I had left my apartment a little above ‘E’, hoping karma would get me through the day and back to my apartment. Magical Thinking had worked up until now.

I hadn’t worked much over the last month. I had only been in town for about a year. I wasn’t totally sure how this was going to all work out. Especially when I rolled into the gas station in North Hollywood and my Nissan pick-up truck was out of gas.

I had known this was a possibility when I took the gig. I was on like a quarter of a tank. But I needed the work. Even though it was only one day. I had food in the refrigerator and if I just made it home tonight I could walk to the bank when my check for my last gig arrived, get cash, and then hope I would make it to the gas station then.

That had been a miscalculation.

I was at a bottom. The town was slow, or maybe I was just slow. I still didn’t know a lot of people and was trying to build my network. This gig actually was a result of those efforts. Another PA I had worked with on a feature had started coordinating and he was an assistant coordinator on this little promo and knew Ii had driven cube trucks for commercials. I had worked in construction before the film business, among a bunch of other professions, and had driven some bigger trucks then.

I was happy to be working until I saw the schedule at around 6 am that morning, which had us wrapping in 18 hours after a planned second meal. Yes, a scheduled 18-hour day. And that didn’t include pre-calls and wrap out.

Normally the long hours didn’t bother me, but that seemed a little excessive. Especially after all the Production Assistants had just humped 10’ sections of dolly track up four flights of stairs. (In commercials and promos, PAs pick up the dolly and track and are responsible for getting it to set and back to the rental house at the end of the shoot.)

Knowing that we almost always go over on every shoot, I was a little concerned.

I had been up since about 3 in the morning, since I was already worried about my gas situation and I had to pick up the cube truck, park my car around 4:15 am to make sure I was at the lot by 5 a.m. to start downloading that dolly track so we could have it all up there for the 6 am crew call.

That all went well. I rolled into the rental yard, picked up the truck that had been left for me and drove to the studio.

Other than the whole 18-hour day thing, and the thought of driving home and maybe not making it the whole day, the gig went well overall.

Thinking back, I should have asked somebody for some money or something but I was too midwestern proud to ask for help. This was my problem. And I’m sort of glad i didn’t because then I wouldn’t have this story to tell. All right, I’m off track. About the shoot:

Although it first seemed like we would have a bunch of A-List stars on the shoot from the movie, but we were just photo-doubling them. I’m not really a star fucker, but I do like to check off those little boxes of meeting the peeps.

The crew moved pretty well for coming together in a day and having a boat load of work to accomplish. But the day just seemed never ending. We were shooting vignettes and so we would move, block, light and then roll for awhile on a couple of angles, then move to the next one. Rinse and Repeat.

But I couldn’t help but keep looking at the clock. The day went forever. The PA’s joked about how maybe they would cut something, after all, would we really shoot this long. We did. Shoot that long. Not cut anything.

And then went a little extra because that’s Hollywood.

We wrapped out and carried all the stuff back down stairs that was too big to fit in the elevators we weren’t really supposed to use anyway because we were shooting in someone’s office on the lot, not stages or back lot.

We packed it all back into the cube truck and I drove it to the rental yard. Backed it in a spot. Hid the key in the jockey box so the morning P.A. could take it and do the returns. Check.

I got in my pickup and convinced myself that the needle was pretty way over ‘E’ and I had this. But could magical thinking get me home? It was kind of crapping out on me lately. O

I mean, it had gotten me this far in Hollywood. I hadn’t really known a lot of people when I got there, but through work and meeting people and staying in touch and just trying to do my best, things were seeming to fall into place.

I seemed to get jobs when I needed them and get by every month. But it had gotten tighter and tighter recently. I still had a car payment. The weeks I didn’t work, were catching up.

I was actually pretty close when I ran out of gas.

And this is where it achieves the spiritual dimension of Magical Thinking seeming to work.

I’m going to back track. Well side track actually. Oh, and I still have to explain the $.37 from earlier.

In L.A. people would quote the book “The Secret,” in the midwest or south they might say, “God helps those who help themselves.”

I could have in theory, turned down the job and claimed unemployment. And I’m not righteous about taking unemployment or not, just I also believe you should never turn down work. Who knows where it will take you (even it it’s running out of gas in North Hollywood at o-dark-hundred)?

So I was in theory, losing money already when I took this gig because I would have made more by doing nothing — and still had some gas. But I took it because It was the right thing to do to keep moving forward. Work begets work, you’ll hear said a lot here.

Okay, back to magical thinking, The Secret, and the woo-woo of it all:

When I ran out of gas, ultimately, I was able to roll into a gas station. Right to the pump. Truth.

I had one problem well, lots but the one at the moment was that I had no money and my debit card would have been declined anyway

I’m not the kind of person (or at least I wasn’t) to tuck $20 in my wallet for emergencies such as these. I had long since raided all the change stashes in the vehicle.

And I’m not the person who could easily go up and wake up the sleeping attendant and ask him for free gas.

So, I started digging around under the seats of my car anyway. And that’s when I found the $.37 cents.

I dug and I dug through all my P.A. debris in the cab and the extended cab but that’s all I could locate. The weird thing, I had dug through there a lot lately for changes and was pretty sure I had raked it clean.

I took that .37 cents to the little booth, woke the dude up and tucked the quarter, dime and two pennies into the tray.

And he gave me .37 cents worth of gas and went back to sleeop.

The truck started up after a few turns. I got home.

What made this day for me was though that when I started up my truck after putting in a third of a gallon of gas was that I knew I could make it. I could make it through this week.

And I could keep making it through weeks.

Things were going to work out.

That week, I hung out, went to the gym and waited. A check from a previous gig arrived a couple of days later. I walked to the Wells Fargo, deposited it, took the little bit of cash I could for an advance.

I drove on ‘E’ again back to the gas station. This time I filled it up.

Be the path of least resistance and you'll be successful in the film business

The Path of Least Resistance

When you think of the path of least resistance, what comes to mind?

Maybe it's taking the easy way out or not putting in any effort. But in reality, being the path of least resistance is one of the smartest things you can do if you want to be successful. Make it easy for people to hire you, and be ready for when they want to hire you.

Here are some tips:

BE READY FOR ANYTHING

I learned early as a Production Assistant that I might be sent to the middle of nowhere to stand all day and call out rolls and cuts. I could have complained. But I didn’t. If the AD’s asked for someone to do something I usually volunteered. Next time, who do you think they will call for work?

ASK FOR MORE

Too many people are trying to do the least. Do the most. That’s the person I want to hire. The one who does extra. Maybe some of you think this is taking advantage of people. I don’t.

Do you really think anyone made it into the NFL or anywhere else at the top by doing less?

BE RECOMMENDABLE

What does that mean? Look at yourself and think, would I recommend me? Think of your co-workers or family workers, would you recommend them?

Have you ever recommended someone or some place to a friend, and then the person or place you recommended sucked? You don’t want people to have that feeling.

Just like the business you love going to because they are fast, reliable and polite, be the same. Be the person someone wants to call when they need a P.A. or a Producer.

KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE RECOMMENDABLE

When I was a Production Assistant I quickly learned to have a list of good people. That way, if I wasn’t available when someone called me for work, I was quick to offer up names. They wouldn’t always take them and that’s okay.

The important thing was I knew that AD’s, Producers, Production Managers and coordinators would think to call me because even if I wasn’t available, I would have good people to recommend.

Bonus: When you move up, you have your people.

2nd Bonus Tip: Keep that list and grow it. You’ll need it as you move up. AND — some of those people will move up too, and hopefully recommend you and/or take you with them.

Work Hard

Laziness will get you nowhere. Every job, you should have a goal — what will I get better at on this job. What will I learn. How will I grow. What contacts will I be able to nurture? How can I help people?

If there's something you're passionate about, go after it with everything you've got, but remember the above.

DON’T START DRAMA OR JOIN THE PITY PARTY

Filmmaking is not for the faint of heart. The day to day, year to year, decade to decade grind can be a grind. Don’t be a complainer.

It’s okay to bitch a little and speak up when things aren’t right, that’s okay and you should be doing that. I’m not saying you should endure harassment or unsafe conditions,

Avoid that group on set who complains about everything (the Pity Party). You chose this profession, now get to it.

If it was easy, well you know the rest of that statement.

Don’t complain about the food, be grateful you get to eat. (Okay, you can complain about the food, just not too much because it’s kind of cliche.)

Stay positive as much as possible. It’s better for you and I want positive people around me, especially if the show is hard.

Someone with no experience but who comes to work happy to be there is a joy and also uplifts grumpy old men such as myself.

BE SOLUTION-ORIENTED OR BETTER BE THE SOLUTION

No manager or leader likes to hear about problems but we have to. That’s our jobs.

We want to know about them but we want solutions, not just complaining.

Come to your leaders with solutions to the problems and you will move to the front of the line.

Bonus tip: The less your solution costs the better. Either in money, time or disruptions.

BE HONEST

Own your mistakes, even if you’re not sure they’re mistakes. I, and anyone who has been doing my gig for awhile, can tell when you’re bullshitting. Just be honest.

If it’s your first day or first time doing something, speak up. You’ll find that most people on film crews will respect you more than if you try to fake it.

And the ones who don’t, well avoid them as much as possible.

Believe in Yourself - AND BE YOURSELF

Have confidence in your abilities, even if it’s your first day. You bring something to the party, be it intelligence, attitude, good humor, a strong back.

Just be yourself and be fun to work with. There’s going to be ups and downs, so also know how to read a room, but a good upbeat attitude helps tremendously.

Remember that everyone has to start somewhere, and even the most successful people were once beginners. It doesn’t matter to me really what you know. It matters to me who you are and how hard you work. I can teach the rest, but I can’t teach that.

So don't be discouraged if you don't know everything—just keep learning and growing, and eventually you'll get to where you want to be. You will find the right people, or more importantly, they will find you.

Be someone people want to call, someone who will take the hardest jobs, can get along with others, and you will start getting the calls.

What can I be doing now? Or what the film business really taught me.

I’ve learned a lot from working in the film business, and not always fun lessons. 

“No good plan survives contact with the enemy,” Helmuth von Moltke, a field marshall said in the 19th century (according to google.)

That could be updated to “No good schedule survives contact with anything” for the film business. It doesn’t matter how big the show or how small, there are always hurdles and bumps in the road. So what?

What can you do about it? 

The best thing I ever learned from working on set as a production assistant and then Assistant Director and what I try to remember now that I’m a Producer and Production Manager is what can I be doing right now, with what I have, where I am?

Well, of course you say, that’s obvious. 

But it’s not when a key piece of equipment breaks, or a location is suddenly locked when it shouldn’t be or you’re waiting on approval for hair and make-up, or wardrobe, or whatever.

Even on a great day, challenges constantly arise. Activities can grind to a halt. 

It’s hard not to get stalled when things don’t go in your direction when you have a large to-do list or you are working to get a large project off the ground, or pushing to keep it moving. 

You can’t just stand there when you’re on a movie set, and wait for anything. You have to make the day.

So you have to think as a Producer, Assistant Director or production manager, what can we be doing? 

What can we be shooting? 

Is it worth moving to another shot, is it worth thinking about the problem a different way? How do you keep pushing forward?

• Maybe it’s giving up on an elegant schedule and brute-forcing your way through the day moving

• Always have a plan B, plan C, etc etc

• Run scenarios in your head when you’re planning - walk through your day from when you arrive until when you wrap, then start throwing wrenches into it

Generally, when scheduling, I’m always trying to ‘roll’ the schedule in my mind. What can go wrong? 

If it does go wrong, what’s my go-to? Is it another scene, some owed shots, or is it pulling up something from the day ahead? 

ABC - Always Be Calculating. What are your moves if things go wrong?  How can you re-juggle the balls you’re constantly tossing around you.

Apply this to a vacation, or any other large endeavor. It doesn’t have to be a film project.

What happens if your plane flight gets canceled or bumped? What if your hotel reservation got lost? 

Do you have cash to cover expenses if you can’t get to an ATM, or they’re down? 

Maybe there isn’t an easy solution, but maybe there is.

And the next step — how do you design these problems out whenever possible before you start filming? 

Like I said, I ‘roll’ my schedules in my head — I always try to have something coming ahead in the following days that I can pull up or has the same cast, something that’s simple and can keep you moving. 

I try to design the schedule so I don’t have turnaround issues. We shoot out the most important scenes first, and also any day-playing actors or equipment so we’re not forced to carry them if something goes wrong.

This will sometimes drive your loved ones crazy when you apply this to your life. They don’t always like to be overscheduled.  Or to talk through all the alternatives and there’s also the magical thinking that if you talk about it, you will make it happen. 

That’s the life of living with someone who works in Film Production.  And if you have plans B-Z, you’re covered. 

Start Big. Die Small.

The biggest mistake I see filmmakers make, both experienced and new is to schedule small scenes before big and/or critical scenes.

It can seem counter-intuitive, but experience has taught me that you should start with the biggest scene first. 

The thought process may be, well we’ll warm up with this small two-person scene while we get the other 5 cast members ready and all the extras and the special effects. 

Makes sense right? 

I can’t even remember how many times I’ve been on a show where we got buried in the first ‘little’ scene. Then we scrambled to complete the monster 4-page scene with seven cast members, cars and background. 

Once you fall behind, you are scrambling. And you’re not giving your directors their opportunity to have the most shots at the big, important scene.

You may have seen that on the latest Mission Impossible movie, they shot the big hero stunt with Tom Cruise launching off a ramp on a motorcycle into a breathtakingly high valley.

While this may be a very large example of this, here are the advantages:

• They got the big, scary, technically challenging thing out of the way. 

• They were able to focus completely on this stunt, and give it the proper time and focus it needed for execution and for safety.

• If there was a problem and they had to abort, they have time to regroup, re-evaluate and go at it again

• It let them start marketing and build the film around the stunt and the hype. 

Some disadvantages:

• It might have been better to end with this because (and this is a cold analysis) if Tom Cruise had gotten hurt, the movie is at least in the can. If not, the project is shut down indefinitely.

But, now that big weight is off their shoulders.  And there are other benefits.

1. Work expands to fit the time allotted. If people don’t feel the deadline pressure to get the cast ready you will get to that big 4-page scene and people still won’t be ready even though you’re running behind and they had an extra hour. It’s just how it is.

2. People problem-solve better under deadline pressure. If you have too much time, you have too many options to explore. If you have to get someone to set and their wardrobe is still being altered, well, maybe that’s okay. You can get them up there and start rehearsing. 

3. Sometimes directors don’t want to admit it, but they don’t have all the answers, so they don’t want to start with a big scene. However, you find the answers through the blocking rehearsal and if there are issues, you have time to discuss and problem-solve.

4. That two-person scene you put to the end of the day. Well, if you don’t get to it, it’s a lot easier to pickup on another day. Or if you can die even smaller, even better. 

5. People can be wrapping that big scene while you are shooting the small one. When you wrap on a big scene, your crew is going to be there two hours after wrapping people and gear out. Not ideal, and difficult to turn around on sometimes. When you die on the smaller scene, your people get some reprieve. 

6. It can save on overtime and meal penalties, or at least make them predictable. Cast and Crew have to come in earlier and be pre-called many times, but it gives you an opportunity to save on overtime on the back end. If everyone wraps at the end it’s basically organized chaos (it will be either way, but this way it’s not happening late when everyone is exhausted.) This way you are really maximizing your cast and extras’ time because you know you’ve used them just for what you needed. If you run behind on a small scene earlier, all these folks are sitting around — and if you don’t complete the scene, you’re bringing them back the next day.

7. Directors are creative people. They will figure out how to economize on those smaller scenes when the heat is on. Tust me.

But you don’t always have to follow this guideline. 

Sometimes it makes sense to start with the small scene, and sometimes you just might have to do it because of time constrictions on a location or on an actor or it may make sense on a smaller film where you don’t have the staff to run the day this way.

You should also think of this structure for your overall schedule. 

You probably don’t want to start like Mission Impossible but don’t end on your biggest night stunt. 

I’ve had to do that on shows (and made the mistake of scheduling that way.) Everyone is exhausted, you’re probably over budget already so the producers (sometimes that’s me) are like nervous cats as they see the costs going through. 

You’ll be backed in a corner as you have to complete the scene and the work and anything else, then have a gnarly wrap out. 

When I used to be a 1st Assistant Director, this was the greatest gift I ever got from the people who trained me and whom I learned from. 

The reason, it lowers your stress level dramatically.

Sure, it can be tough to get a big scene up and running and there can be a lot of moving parts (some of them surly and combative) but once that scene is done, the rest of the day feels like a summer day on the beach at Malibu, crowded and busy, but also beautiful and not overly annoying.

And you’re giving your director more shots and more time to focus on the important work.

And I’m going to die small here. That’s a wrap. Good luck! Billy

Top 10 reasons to get into the film business

Hey, everybody else is writing Top 10 lists, here’s mine.

Top Ten Reasons to get into the film business.

1. There's no one right way to do it.

The film business is an ever-changing landscape, and there is no one right way to get into it. Whether you want to be a director, producer, or screenwriter, there are a multitude of ways to make your dream a reality.

You can choose your own adventure, and your success is dependent mostly on you and how hard you work and how creative and entrepreneurial you are.

The downside — if you like structure and security, this may not be the path for you — however, there are studio jobs and a lot of regular jobs supporting the film business and movie making.

2. You can tell stories that matter to you.

One of the most important things about the film business is that you can tell stories that matter to you, or that you want to work on, and maybe change the world. Whether you want to make a difference in the world or simply make an entertaining movie that gives people a laugh, filmmaking can be a powerful vehicle for doing just that.

Anybody can shoot a movie with their cell phone these days, post it on-line and promote it for very little money — and get discovered.

And you can support other filmmakers telling their tales as well.

3. It's a collaborative process.

You will have the opportunity to work with some of the most talented people in the world, Some are a little Type-A, that’s for sure, but you meet and work with some really amazing people. From directors and producers to actors and crew, everyone is important, and everyone interacts.

If you work on a Spielberg film, you will probably interact with him at some point.

Whether he’ll listen to your shot suggestions is another story, but who knows?

4. It's always changing.

The film business changes and turns over constantly and this means that there are always new opportunities for those who are willing to seize them.

Think about the transformation to film and digital and the birth of streaming. There are always people pushing the envelope and one of them could be you.

There is always something new to learn in this industry, especially now with the rise of computers, the internet and virtual production.

The downside is you have to stay alert and change as well or you may get left behind.

5. You can travel the world.

The film business is that gives you the opportunity to travel the world. Whether you're working on location or simply attending festivals and markets, there are many chances to see new places and meet new people.

This can be a downside if you have a family and have to stay away from your spouse and children and pets for extended periods of time, but if you’re young and single you can get months-long trips to other states and countries paid for on a project.

You’ll work crazy hours but also meet a lot of amazing local people and get to see and do cool stuff.

6. You can make a good living doing it.

It is possible to make a good living in the film business. If you're passionate about what you do and willing to work hard, you can achieve success. Union crews have benefits and are fairly well-paid (they might disagree.)

Of course, if you are a successful above-the-line person (Actor, Director, Producer) you can make a lot of money. Downside - Number 4 — It’s always changing.

You can drop off the radar quickly if you don’t have a hit or you get out of the loop.

7. It's exciting and fun.

Making films is an exciting and fun process, and it's also incredibly rewarding. Seeing your work on the big screen is an experience that few people get to enjoy, and it's something that you'll never forget.

The camaraderie developed on a film set can build life-long friendships and relationships.

8. You can be your own boss.

If you're tired of working for someone else and want more control over your career, then working in the film business may be a good option for you.

There are plenty of opportunities for those who want to be their own boss and call their own shots. From freelance work to owning your own production company, there are plenty of ways to be successful on your own terms.

9. You can wear whatever you want.

More or less. There is no dress code (except to dress comfortably and look good.) So, you don’t have to wear a suit and tie — though some directors like Eric Stoltz and Sam Raimi do that.

You can’t wear offensive tee-shirts and you should show some class, but you can express your individuality.

10. You can change the world

Great movies can change the conversation and the culture. You can be part of that. Not every film is going to be that impactful, but you can have more of a voice creating or crewing on a film or television show that has something to say.

Conclusion

If you want to be your own boss, travel the world and make a difference, then get into the film business. It’s not an easy road, but it can be one of the most rewarding careers out there. And who knows – maybe your indie film will take off and you too will become a household name.

But even if that doesn’t happen, you can still sleep well at night knowing that you took control of your life, followed your dreams and made them come true. Ready to make movies? Start by calling your local film office or packing up your bags and moving to Los Angeles, New York or Atlanta.

The opportunities in these cities are endless for those with talent and ambition.

So what are you waiting for?

What this blog is about.

I am starting to blog. Sort of a journal I guess.

I'm supposed to be journalling right? I think that's what all the lists say is part of a successful life.

Not sure how often I'm going to do this or ultimately where it will go.

I'm going to stick mainly to film and television production and what I've learned (or not) along the way of coming to Hollywood in 1997 from St. Louis, Missouri (by way of Redwood City & Sunnyvale, California -- but that's another story.)

There will be some stories, some advice. Some lists... I think. Or, I may get a show and disappear for six months.

I'm going to keep this as anonymous as possible. We'll see how that works.

Anyway, here goes:

Hollywood is a small town. A really small town. Everybody knows everybody. You don't realize that at first but you should -- it's actually a great metaphor for life.

Good and bad. Good because small town Hollywood means that if you're friendly and nice to people, they're likely to be friendly and nice to you in return.

Bad because if you screw it up, it can be a long time before you ever get it back together again. Or, you become famous and make a lot of money from your train wreck. Circle of life.

So, when you roll in to Hollywood from someplace else (like I did), you have to sort of find your place in the order. You have to figure it out. And that takes time. It takes you a year just to figure Los Angeles out.

It has to be clear in your head that it's all about the work.

Again good and bad. If you're not working, you're not on people's radar.

And good or bad, you want to be on people's radar.

I think it’s better to be on there for positive events but sometimes you can’t help it.

But I think the free-lance lifestyle of being a Hollywood crew member gives you benefits. One, the job is going to end so it if sucks you can probably make it. Twenty, thirty more years of this shit, I think not.

Two, the project is going to end and then you’re going to need to find work if you don’t have any. So leave on a good note, and you just might get on to the next one.

Filmmaking — the last honorable profession.

Hollywood. The land of opportunity.

A place where anyone with a dream and a camera can make it big. I'm talking, of course, about the honorable profession of filmmaking.

Look, I'm not going to pretend that making movies is easy. It's a lot of hard work. But it's also a lot of fun.

And when you're finished, you've created something that people can enjoy for years, even generations. Think about the movies that you reference with your friends.

Plus, you get to be in the Hollywood Film Industry and be in the company of other great filmmakers. And you don’t even have to be in Hollywood any more to do it.

So if you're looking for a career that is both challenging and rewarding, then filmmaking is the way to go. It’s an industry for the entrepreneurial though. You need to hustle. I find that challenging and I enjoy it. If hustling is not for you, that’s okay. There are a lot of support industries as well as studios and the streaming companies where there are more normal 9 to 5 roles. Not so much glamour, but you get to sleep 8 hours a night.

Hollywood. The land of movie magic.

A place where dreams come true and actors get paid an insane amount of money to play pretend. For years, people have flocked to Hollywood in hopes of making it big in the film industry. But what is it about filmmaking that makes it such an honorable career?

For starters, filmmakers are storytellers.

We have the unique ability to transport viewers to another time and place, and to make them feel a wide range of emotions. We can make you laugh, cry, and even think deeply about life and the human condition. Or change your political views (well, some of you.)

In a world that is often filled with darkness and negativity, filmmakers give us a much-needed escape from reality.

Hollywood. The Land of hard work.

But Hollywood isn't all glitz and glamour.

Making a film is hard work.

It takes months (sometimes even years) of planning, writing, shooting, and editing before a film is finally ready for release.

Filmmakers often have to work long hours and make sacrifices in our personal lives in order to get our projects off the ground, even if we get them off the ground at all.

And even then, there's no guarantee that their film will be a success. But despite all the challenges, filmmakers continue to pour our heart and soul into our work because we believe in the power of film.

We know that our stories have the potential to change lives- to entertain, enlighten, and inspire people from all walks of life.

And that is why filmmaking is an honorable career. And that is why I am here.