CRASH & BERNSTEIN #2

I love working on this show because I've always been fond of puppetry.  I'm just amazed at how lifelike they can make inanimate objects.  Also, I secretly hope I will see my hero Dan Milano who did Warren the Ape.

I was booked as a radio reporter and given a microphone.  We were reporters that were witnessing a super feat by some super hero.  The super hero was hilarious because he could act like such a douchebag, cocky bastard.  Then they made Crash want to fight him and make it look like he was going to kill the guy.  It was hilarious.

What stressed me out was that I was late and could not find parking since there was no parking on the lot.  I was just walking onto the lot when Central called and asked where I was.  It wasn't Jeff who booked me but it sounded like Claire.  Who knows who it was but she did not sound happy.

I ended up being suspended by Central for one month after this.  I could not argue since I have been late this past month several times.

(written 12/16/13)

IRONSIDE #2

I was worried that these guys would never call me again because I was super late to the first time I worked on the show, but I got the call to work as a narc.

Relative to the other narcs, I felt like I didn't really look like one, but hey, I love working as a different character.  The interesting thing is that all of this casting really works based on how you look so I guess I look more like a cop than a criminal.  The irony is that the ones that looked like criminals were all talking about God and Christianity.  Well, at least one of them was and he was the one I had to push up against the wall to search.

It was a flashback scene and it was fun pretending to bust into a room to arrest people.  We got fake guns and moved into the room like we were busting people.  But I don't think I got much camera time since the room was very small and there weren't really any wide shots.

I was booked with my car and noticed that they had scratched it.  It's so old that they don't seem to give a shit when they do that but what am I supposed to do?  Anyway, I only noticed it the next day in the daylight.  But we were held pretty late into the night and I was a little worried I'd be dead tired since I was booked for the next day.

(written 12/16/13)

ENLISTED

I'm always concerned about night calls and how long they go, but as they say and as I will continue to say, work is work.

The scene was quite simple.  We were at a party that these soldiers were throwing for their sergeant or lieutenant or something, and we were party go-ers.  So they would play a song for a few seconds, then we would dance around and party like we could hear the music.  In fact, there was nothing but dialogue so that the sound guys could record it properly.

The first take was hilarious because one of the principals ends up pouring a drink into a girls mouth.  Well, he poured it, but actually poured it into her nostrils so she nearly coughed it all out.  We all laughed quietly until we could actually laugh out loud.  We did this over and over and after awhile, we were all very tired since it ran really late into the night or well into the early morning.

(written 12/16/13)

RIDE

I was pretty late getting to Venice.  No one was waiting at the parking lot at the beach. I heard a PA call-in to say that I was there.  Then a van came to pick me up and drop me off at base camp.

Someone told me I shouldn't be late and yell at me a little, but I never got a call from Central so I guess I might have been cool.  Anyway, I got dressed and then we were all driven to a restaurant in Venice Beach.

It was pretty neat working on this film because the actors were pretty chill about their photos being taken since we were right on the boardwalk.  I was placed with a Brazilian chick who seemed skinny, but you could tell she probably looked good in a bikini.

We were served lunch at the restaurant they were shooting at so I got the fish.  It was ok, even though it was free.  Plus, it seemed like it took forever before I got my food.

After a few scenes there and a few pedestrian work while cars drove up, that was it and it was a wrap.

(written 12/8/13)

PARENTHOOD #10

I'm amazed I've worked this show ten times.  I guess it's either you work for a short period a bunch of times or you work on the show because it's been on for a long time.

I was booked with my car and I don't remember much except that I was a pedestrian booked with a car.

(written 11/26/13)

CRIMINAL MINDS #4

I was sent to LA Center Studios to work as a dock worker although it was more like a UPS brown guy.  There were just a few of us and when we looked at the call sheet, it looked like we were only going to shoot a couple scenes.

So after holding for a little bit of time, we were sent to the parking structure and shot a scene where we just walked around the docking bay as if we were working for UPS.  And that was pretty much it.

(written 11/26/13)

IRONSIDE

Holy crap, not only was I running a little late to set, but my car totally died on the overpass from the 10W to 110N.  Thankfully, it was designed well and had an emergency parking area on the side.  My car had been having issues and Rich was telling me he thought it was an electrical/ignition issue.  Well, I don't know what it was but it would not start-up again.

I had to call Central and let them know I would be late, probably about half an hour at least.  I was just a minute from the parking lot where I was supposed to go, but now, with a dead car, who knows how long it would take.  I figured I'd have the tow company tow the car to the lot and just leave it there until I could figure out what to do.  I was also kind of hoping that it would start when I got back to it.

I ended up being about an hour late.  I was booked as a stand-in too, so I was a little stressed about being so late.  When I showed up to set, they told me I was actually right on time.  I kind of hung out with the other stand-ins who were like a foot taller than me.  The guy I was standing in for was the terrorist on the episode and he was at least a few inches taller than me.

Anyway, we didn't really work much the entire day.  We kind of sat around (or really stood around) waiting to be called, but the crew was fast and furious and didn't really have any room or time to use us.  So, when we broke for lunch, they had another location to go to and we were wrapped.

When I got to my car, it would not start, so I had to call the tow company again to have it towed to a local shop I found on Yelp.  They told me they could not fix the car until tomorrow, so I had BJ and Eleanor pick me up and take me home.  Then stupid BJ tells moms that my car is dead so of course she starts to worry about how I need to buy a new car.  I got mad at him later and told him that the next time he goes around telling moms about things, he should stop and think about explaining what is really wrong instead of creating a story that will make people think something that's not totally true.

(written 9/28/13)

THE BRIDGE #2

I never watched this show ever since I worked on the pilot.  I have too many shows to watch these days.

We checked in at a parking lot somewhere out in LA.  Most of us had our cars booked as well, so we had a caravan to the bar where we would be shooting.  The problem was that we got all split up and when we arrived at the location, no one was there.  It turned out that we were supposed to park at a lot near the location, then take a shuttle up the hill to another location where they were shooting the bus stop scene.

I was booked with a bunch of Mexicans, but the person I sat next to, Hoda (who actually had an American name that I can't remember), was Egyptian who looked Hispanic.  She was gorgeous but when we got to talking and she warmed up and showed me some pictures of her with make-up, it kind of reminded me of Snookie.  I don't know why Egyptian chicks do this, but I guess that's just their style.

We weren't chosen for the bus stop scene, so we got back on the shuttle that took us to base camp for lunch.  We got our grub on and then we went to the bar to shoot the scene.  All of this took place in Boyle Heights which is heavily Hispanic, probably Mexican.  It was a working class environment and I love that this job takes us to so many parts of LA that I'd probably never visit.

We shot until the late evening, kind of happy that we were getting overtime.  It was kind of fun to run into people that I'd worked with before and some of the non-union folks were cool too.  I let a guy name Phillip borrow my Sprint charger and I'd forgotten to get it back.  Oh well, that's my good dead for the non-union.

I also spent some time talking to a guy named Ray who did not believe in global warming.  It always surprises me to run into people who are faced with so much evidence, they just don't believe it because of one reason or another.  In his case, he feels that the studies done are bad science, pushed by people with agendas.

(written 8/12/13)

HEART OF DIXIE

I don't watch this show but Kylie was pretty excited to hear that I was working on it.  It was an outdoor scene where I was booked with my car as a townsperson.  I always worry that they would think my car is too racer style, but they didn't seem to have any issues that I have a carbon fiber hood.  In fact, they seemed to like that my car is a dark green and had me park it for several scenes.

The town takes place in the same square as the Ghost Whisperer.  Our holding was the fire station and it was nice to have ac blown inside to keep us cool.  In fact it was colder than normal and I had to put a jacket on to get comfortable since my chair was right next to the tube.

I met a guy who had been in the business for awhile, but he had that down on his luck, kind of wished he had more money personality that fits right in with me.  I don't know if I feel I'm the same way or if I just like making friends with people who are kind of dorky.

All I did most of the day was walk around town crossing in front of the camera.  It was getting tiring after awhile because we were standing most of the time without a lot of breaks.  So each time I got a chance, I would sit down to rest my dogs.

We got a little bit of overtime which is always nice.  After wrapping, I cruised over to Rubin and Ranjith's to hang out a little and also pick-up my tie and one-hitter.

(written 8/12/13)