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Fancy The People You Meet
On a movie/tv set
Working on a movie/tv set takes me back to 50 years ago when I traveled Europe for the summer. You meet somebody — become good friends quickly — and then drift off to very possibly never see each other again. And that would be the end of the friendship. On a movie set, you could be deep in conversation when the PA calls “You’re wrapped.” And bango! That person is gone forever.
Of course, people can exchange numbers and often do. But I haven’t yet (except once). And I didn’t contact that person (she was very interested but too old for me — if you can believe that).
Exactly who does this shit work for just above minimum wage is a most curious affair. You have your wannabe actors (not me). You have kids who like movies and tv and feel as if they’re close to stardom when they do this crap. You have a few of the near-homeless who somehow heard about the gig. And you have your bored retirees desperately fending off boredom (bingo — that’s me).
Because of the low pay, I find myself taking everybody’s stories with a grain of salt unless they say something like “What am I doing here? I’m a fucking loser with nothing else to do and no other job. Duh!” Then I believe them.
On my last gig, the stories were especially questionable. One guy said he has a wife, a Harley (he was a…
