And the most successful and busy month of my young career comes to an end. I just went through a 3 week period traveling New England jumping show to show. For an individual based in Portland, ME working freelance, that's a triumph. This area is no where near as hungry for film & TV opportunities as NY/LA, so you really have to market yourself to get these jobs. But the worst part is, I was getting so many calls that I actually had to say no to a few of them. Some pilot for Bravo and a reschedule for A&E's "Hoarders" were tossed to friends of mine due to this hectic and varying schedule.
But let's quickly run through my small voyage. Things started picking up at the end of June right here in Portland when I joined a crew I previously worked with for an upcoming Food Network special. Then July hit and I jumped on with the Travel Channel's "Food Paradise" series as they explored some of the best restaurants in New England. I jumped between Southern Maine, Boston, Cape Cod, and Rhode Island as I worked with a small crew and got to try some of the most amazing food I've ever had.
I wrapped with that awesome crew just to merge with another professional crew working on Leftfield Pictures' "Bid & Destroy" around southern New Hampshire. If you're one of the 3 1/2 individuals who read my blog regularly, you might remember this as that National Geographic Channel shoot from the creators of Pawn Stars that was going to take up 2+ months of my life. I ended up saying no to it but luckily they needed some extra help so I was able to get in there and gain the experience.
Of course, there was minimal downtime. I shot right back up to Portland, ME to work camera on the first episode of Casa Club TV & Canal Ella's "La Chispa de Chef Carmen Gonzalez". It was a reality television show that followed Top Chef participant Carmen Gonzalez as she ran her new restaurant in Portland, ME and explored her life. It was a primarily Spanish speaking set so it was definitely an interesting experience. But once the local crew became use to the style of the crew imported from Miami, FL, it became an extremely beneficial learning experience.
Every time I'm forced to adapt to a new production crew, I leave with a better mindset. There's so many different styles of crews, which makes it a lot of fun to work with individuals from all over the globe and to adjust your own methods to fit theirs.
And now I'm here. Back at my day job and finishing up this blog. Yet still I'm always looking for that next opportunity. Especially anything with travel. But for now I'm going to fit some music back into my life. I have the Mumford & Sons' "Gentlemen of the Road" festival coming up, which has the potential to be the highlight of my already stacked summer. And since I'm still fresh from a 311 & Slightly Stoopid concert I went to this past Sunday, I'm going to leave you with this...
TODAY'S TASTY TRACK
Slightly Stoopid
"2am"
4 in the mornin, police knockin' at my door, what for?
Bet I know the reasons he comin' back and
And then they comin through, I tell them "He just kicked down my door"
Even though I'm on the floor with a gun to my head
Showing posts with label film production. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film production. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
No Sleep Till Success
Holy cannoli have I been a busy beaver. By the way, that opening statement was me trying to swear less. Mission somewhat accomplished at the cost of my own dignity.
Anyways, life's been jam-packed. I moved into an apartment a little closer to downtown Portland so that I can guarantee myself a more interesting summer. Then the day we were suppose to move in, we show up and the tenant currently occupying our rooms was just beginning to bring empty boxes up to start packing; leaving us in limbo with what to do. Of course, I did what any person expected from me... I went out for wings and beer to calm myself down.
It did the trick.
We put our sheets back on our former beds and gave the tenant another day. Then the next day, we return around 12pm to find out that the guy has barely even started packing. At this point I have no idea what to do. I don't want to call the cops but at the same time I have the sudden urge to chuck an older man out from a 3 story high window. Once again, I refrain. The guy says he'll be out by 4:00pm so we once again leave for calming beers.
4 o' clock comes, and the man is no where to be found. The only things missing from the apartment are a few boxes and the dining room table. The place is still filthy and covered with his stuff. At this point I have to sit.
I sit some more...
He finally comes back acting all apologetic with excuses up the wazoo because he doesn't want to get the popo involved. Neither do we so he's got us there. We come to the conclusion that we're just going to have to sit and watch him and his crew of flunkies empty out this apartment. So we did. 5 hours later, we finally have our apartment. It looks disgusting and needs a complete makeover, but dammit we have it.
Then 2 days later and barely enough time to clean/unpack I'm running around Portland, ME for an episode of MSN's "re:discover". I had a great time and learned a lot more about the area but the 12 hour work days and considerable amount of stress can really get to a man. Luckily I had the day of Cinco de Mayo to collect myself a bit and get back to conquer the last 2 days of shooting.
But what really brings me down is the fact that I should be starting another lengthy production job right now. I had to make an extremely hard decision on a 2 month shoot down in Manchester, NH. I was in contact with Leftfield Pictures who will be in the area working on a show for the National Geographic Channel and we were close to a deal for me to help them out but I had to decline. It might have been the hardest thing to do just because I was so interested in the content and what the company has done in the past. It was just really bad timing for me professionally but the individuals I talked to over there were great and I hope to work with them down the road. Best of luck.
So now I'm here. Back at the desk with some interesting stuff coming up but still in search of something beyond that.
Something greater.
But on an optimistic note, I'm looking forward to another summer in Portland, ME with my friends and the awesome scenery that I've grown to love. If last summer was the best I've had my entire life, then this one is definitely looking to surpass that by a huge margin. I'll get into the details of that in a later post. But for now...
TODAY'S TASTY TRACK
Beastie Boys
"No Sleep Till Brooklyn"
R.I.P
MCA
Anyways, life's been jam-packed. I moved into an apartment a little closer to downtown Portland so that I can guarantee myself a more interesting summer. Then the day we were suppose to move in, we show up and the tenant currently occupying our rooms was just beginning to bring empty boxes up to start packing; leaving us in limbo with what to do. Of course, I did what any person expected from me... I went out for wings and beer to calm myself down.
It did the trick.
We put our sheets back on our former beds and gave the tenant another day. Then the next day, we return around 12pm to find out that the guy has barely even started packing. At this point I have no idea what to do. I don't want to call the cops but at the same time I have the sudden urge to chuck an older man out from a 3 story high window. Once again, I refrain. The guy says he'll be out by 4:00pm so we once again leave for calming beers.
4 o' clock comes, and the man is no where to be found. The only things missing from the apartment are a few boxes and the dining room table. The place is still filthy and covered with his stuff. At this point I have to sit.
I sit some more...
He finally comes back acting all apologetic with excuses up the wazoo because he doesn't want to get the popo involved. Neither do we so he's got us there. We come to the conclusion that we're just going to have to sit and watch him and his crew of flunkies empty out this apartment. So we did. 5 hours later, we finally have our apartment. It looks disgusting and needs a complete makeover, but dammit we have it.
Then 2 days later and barely enough time to clean/unpack I'm running around Portland, ME for an episode of MSN's "re:discover". I had a great time and learned a lot more about the area but the 12 hour work days and considerable amount of stress can really get to a man. Luckily I had the day of Cinco de Mayo to collect myself a bit and get back to conquer the last 2 days of shooting.
But what really brings me down is the fact that I should be starting another lengthy production job right now. I had to make an extremely hard decision on a 2 month shoot down in Manchester, NH. I was in contact with Leftfield Pictures who will be in the area working on a show for the National Geographic Channel and we were close to a deal for me to help them out but I had to decline. It might have been the hardest thing to do just because I was so interested in the content and what the company has done in the past. It was just really bad timing for me professionally but the individuals I talked to over there were great and I hope to work with them down the road. Best of luck.
So now I'm here. Back at the desk with some interesting stuff coming up but still in search of something beyond that.
Something greater.
But on an optimistic note, I'm looking forward to another summer in Portland, ME with my friends and the awesome scenery that I've grown to love. If last summer was the best I've had my entire life, then this one is definitely looking to surpass that by a huge margin. I'll get into the details of that in a later post. But for now...
TODAY'S TASTY TRACK
Beastie Boys
"No Sleep Till Brooklyn"
R.I.P
MCA
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