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Monday and Tuesday, May 12 and 13, 2008
Visibly Featured
In the late afternoon Friday the 9th I received a call that I was booked for Monday, with a possible Tuesday recall, on the independent feature film
Barry Munday
.
I had looked up the film's IMDB entry, so I knew in advance it starred the very funny
Judy Greer
of
Miss Guided,
Patrick Wilson
of
Little Children
and
Hard Candy,
and veteran actor
Billy Dee Williams;
at the helm would be the film's writer and first time director
Chris D'Arienzo.
(Remember that I do not believe in providing storyline spoilers myself [such generally being readily available Elsewhere notwithstanding], only indications of where I can be seen.)
The location was up on Sherman Way, right by Van Nuys Airport
(and a couple of blocks shy of where I once did a temp assignment for a few weeks), I arrived around 7:15 for my 8am calltime.
[Slightly resembling
Marsha Thomason
from
White Collar
and
Lost],
Felicia
was the set PA who signed in the background and handed out the vouchers.
2nd AD
Tessa Stephenson
came to holding and explained the scenes involved would be a series of nine different days within the film, as well as the fact that we were all Definitely Recalled for Tuesday.
We also learned the feature comedy as yet did not have actual distribution, but the plan was to have it submitted for 2009's Sundance Film Festival.
Via the hotline recording with calltimes, I had been made aware to have some wardrobe changes, plus a Hawaiian shirt.
To my annoyance, I could not locate my "subdued" Hawaiian shirt, an unobtrusive blue with white.
My super-bright orange shirt, with neon green and yellow highlights: no problem finding that...
Stuck with the one shirt, I brought it along and thankfully wardrobe had no problem with the brightly coloured one.
Tessa returned and claimed
(along with two other ladies, the quiet Jennifer, and the affable Youlanda Davis),
my having been chosen to be, as Tessa said, "super featured" in the office scenes.
Soon we were brought in to the offices.
I was given a desk across from Patrick Wilson, so his desk and mine both faced the office interior, our chair-backs along the same wall, each desk having a single cubicle-like wall in front dividing from the opposing desk each facing each of our desks.
For the first bit, as I sit at my desk, the office boss Lonnie
(Billy Dee Williams),
brings to me a file folder; he points at a page inside, and stage-whispers to me to "call this guy." As he goes to leave, he notices Barry Munday
(Patrick Wilson),
doing a good job on the phone.
With Billy Dee Williams as the office boss, in my head I wondered if that classified him as "the administrator of this facility"...?
Initially Billy Dee Williams politely shook my hand in greetings
(though not officially by-name "introducting himself," as it were),
while Patrick Wilson made a point to shake my hand and introduce himself and ask my name.
I indicated he and I had "met," albeit momentarily, after a Q&A following a screening of his awesome film Little Children.
I didn't expect Patrick would remember me specifically, but he recalled the screening and concurred he'd met numerous people from the audience that night; impressively, he made it a point to get
(and remember)
my name.
Writer/director (and extremely friendly)
Chris D'Arienzo
ran a fun while effective set.
Reminding me of the
Clint Eastwood
school of directing, Chris pretty much efficiently stuck to about five or less takes.
We also did the Hawaiian shirt scene in which the office had a slight Hawaiian theme.
I was given a comical
Gilligan's Island'esque
cocoanut-shell bra of sorts, that went right over my shirt.
Chris even veto'd wardrobe's inquiry/suggestion if anyone else in the office should wear one as well, as the visual joke would have been watered down; it would have taken focus off of my wearing it.
Chris had begun "cutting out the middle man" and directed a few of us directly.
I had no issue with this as Chris's enthusiasm and passion for his project was contagious; I knew that a less honourable SAG backgrounder could argue for and insist on an upgrade to Day Player, not only being directed by the
[main]
director but also interacting with the principal actors.
I felt more loyalty to this project and to Chris than for me to be some petty jerk over such.
Now had Chris considered or treated me as though I were a Prop That Eats, I might have considered "suggesting" an upgrade or filing a claim with SAG, but Chris was super friendly and learned my name really quick, so I felt an upgrade should be offered from the production, not demanded from me.
There were other scenes and coverage that didn't need everyone in the office, so we hung out in holding.
We were brought back in for a more choreographed scene, with various people doing crosses while Patrick goes to his desk.
As he gets level to the front of his desk, an angle at which he's headed, I step up, hand him a folder, pat him on the back as I casually pass behind him to get to my own desk.
As we would reset for another take, Patrick would return to me the file; one time he didn't, but then immediately remembered, and spinning about in mid apology, he saw that I was already retrieving it from his desk.
"Ah, you're on it," he said pleasantly.
As at the time I was house and dog-sitting for my producer friend who was off in France for the Cannes Film Festival, I had no access to my computer, so the scenes we shot Monday and Tuesday, being at the same location, I've just melded into this two-day entry.
Monday was cool but a bitingly bitter wind throughout the day made it far more unpleasant in the outdoor holding, while Tuesday the temperature was far more toasty.
Almost first thing Tuesday morning Jennifer, Youlanda and I were asked our availability for the next day, Wednesday.
As we were both available, we were booked/recalled on the spot; I called and notified my calling service.
Towards the end of Tuesday, the caterers were packing up the chairs and tables to bring "to the new location."
Deducing we would be going elsewhere the next day, I asked Felicia if she knew where.
She showed me, then gave me, a copy of the following day's callsheet.
To my astonishment, the new location was in El Monte.
At that time, I wasn't even sure where El Monte was located.
Thankfully the callsheet already listed we three "Barry's co-workers" as having a 4:30pm call.
I knew this would give me time to go home in the morning to Mapquest and mta.net it.
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