There can be something very heartbreaking
about working in production. Whether it's on a stage or on a film set, there's
a feeling that's something like graduation when it's over. When you're going
through it, it may feel grueling and tiresome and you question half the time
why you do it, then when it ends and you have to go about finding the next job.
This week, I spent my time working on a talent show going through their
audition phase and it was the first time I've worked on something in the realm
of reality television. Fortunately, it was one of the best experiences that
I've had in the industry in years. The purpose of my position, this time, was
to cater the every whim and need, big or small, the judges of the show might
have. I along with my fellow team members, consisting of four other girls
working under our production coordinator, we ran around like chickens with our
heads cut off for five days, either preparing for the days ahead or waiting in
the wings for the unexpected. The whole process of the show was something very
entertaining in itself, some of those auditions were very memorable, not only
because they were outstanding, but some of them were just so darn awful, you
couldn't forget them if you tried. However, it wasn't just the process, but my
team. The four girls I worked with had never done anything professionally
before and I found myself slightly entertained by their lack of experience. It
brought me back to the days when I was just starting out and I just couldn't
let them go through the travesties I did without a fight for their dignity or
the cost of their job.
On the first two days of our misadventures we stocked up on supplies for our
particular judges and thought we had everything that our frenzied little
noggins could think of that they might want throughout the week. Half the time
we were sent out last minute, scrambling for the few things we never imagined
they would need, and high-tailed it back before filming started on the days
that followed. I couldn't believe the amount of free stuff people were willing
to give us just because we were working on this show. Every business in the
area was aware of the production and because of this their business was booming.
I couldn't believe my lucky stars when I found that the Starbucks around the
corner was giving everyone on the crew anything they wanted at any time and
refused to take any of our money. I must have saved myself a good sixty bucks
this week not having to pay for my usual grande, cinnamon dolce lattes, no
whip. Must be nice to be a celebrity. Even with millions of dollars, you never
have to spend any of it because everyone wants to give you free stuff all the
time. I got a little taste of that and it sure was sweet.
Back at base camp, the girls were so nervous between shows that they were
beginning to lose all sense of logic. Pepsi was sponsoring the show so the
judges had these famed designer cups that cost somewhere around a thousand
dollars each and they were made of nothing more than the type of stuff you
would get at a theme park filled with your favorite fountain soda. At one point
between filming, our coordinator asked one of them to save a certain judge's
drink and refill it with something else that they wanted. The coordinator
handed her the famed cup and told her to put the drink in a styrofoam cup that
he pointed to, and then walked away. She proceeded to take the Pepsi cup and
literally place the whole thing into the styrofoam cup instead of just pouring
the contents into it and refilling it with something new. I just watched her in
amazement as she did it, struggling with the awkwardness of the assignment. When
I couldn't take it any longer, fearing that I would insult her with a burst of
laughter, I helped with her predicament before our coordinator returned with
the Pepsi cup nestled snuggly in a styrofoam cup with the same drink still sitting
inside.
I can't say that I didn't walk away unscathed by my own silly mistakes.
However, mine spent two of us picking up the contents of a five-foot tabletop
full of supplies that fell to the floor after I unsuccessfully reached for an
item that was just out of reach. The table slid out of its anchor in the
attempt and came crashing to the ground. I sent everything we painstakingly
organized scattering across a row of seats in the stadium just as we were done
taking inventory and our coordinator, of course, had just announced over our
headsets that he was heading over shortly. Fortunately, we managed to get
things back in order just in the nick of time.
By the last day of filming, which consisted of two show slots with a break in
between, we began to sense that last day of school feeling. We were excited for
our success, but sad that it would all be over soon and we would have to go our
separate ways and slide back into the real world. At that point we had just
gotten into the grove of the way things ran and were beginning to know the
routine and little habits of the judges so we were prepared for their every
need. Things were running much smoother by the last show so we had more down
time to goof around and have ourselves some hearty laughs behind the black
curtains of the stage. When the final show was over it was amazing to see the
clockwork behind the striking of the stage. What took twenty-four hours to
construct, rig lighting and set up audio, took but five hours to tear down,
pack up and reload into thirteen trucks. I would pay for tickets just to watch
that whole performance again. Incredible.
It's in experiences like that where I feel so privileged and grateful to have
fallen on this path of mine. For many of us, it's the thing that drives us to
continue pursuing our dreams. Even with all of the disappointments you go
through and the days you worry about where your next paycheck will come from,
none of that seems to matter when you're making those memories that are so
unbelievable they seem almost like an out of body experience. Those are the
moments that stay with you forever. Those are the things in your lifetime that
you remember, not three hundred days of the year you let dawdle past you
without one thing to put a staple on your day. Working on this show and meeting
the people that I have, has renewed my passion for life and everything it has
to offer. I'm so excited to make the most of everything, big and small and
leave no wonder unturned.
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