It's Cold Out There!

       As the holiday seasons starts to wane and the glow of warmth and good cheer diminish we must all deal with the fact that it’s winter and if you’re working outside it’s going to be cold.  A Steadicam Operator I know in New York always says “ There is no such thing as bad weather just poor clothing choices”  and he’s right.  Over my career I’ve gathered three closets  worth of apparel for location use.  These range from a full Arctic suit to BuzzOff swamp gear. I have Gortex rain gear for golf tournaments and winter sea work. Over a dozen boots for different environments, cleats for grass, mud and ice and technical socks to work with each.  Dozens of gloves and hats for cold, heat and insect protection as well as Hi-tech wicking layers for both heat and cold.  Having all these items does not protect me from the elements if they’re sitting in a closet. 

My “buck’s worth “of advice for this post is to double check the call sheet for the days work to see where you’re going to be working and prepare for the worst.  If the call sheet says night time exterior and it’s January why would you show up with converse sneakers and a light jacket?  If you can’t afford winter kit start hitting up thrift stores or borrow what you need.  You can’t do the job if your shaking and chattering from the cold.  If it’s a last minute gig and you don’t get a call sheet you need to demand to know the location and work load.  On lower end productions that don’t provide complete call sheets  contact them and ask what the working environment will be, keeping in mind  what you’ll need to wear.  You might want to share this with an office bound PM as they might be totally unaware of the problems of working in challenging environments.  Hopefully you’ll be helping your crew mates prepare enough for a smooth days work.

     “No one gives a F#!* about you except for you.”    Take charge of what you can control.  Don’t depend on the kindness of strangers  or the largesse of a stressed out production manager.  You want to spend your time performing your craft at the highest level not wishing you had worn your long johns.

Happy New Year and stay warm this winter!

Arlen Specter

United States Senator Arlen Specter died last Sunday.  I had gotten calls from friends who said it was coming but it was still a jolt to see the news flash on my phone.  I had worked with the Senator many times since 1992 and considered him invulnerable.  Many times during his life  he had been pushed to the edge of the cliff both in politics and in health yet he battled back with hard work and his indomitable will.  Nobody worked harder then Arlen, Nobody campaigned with such diligence, Nobody solved more issues for constituents, Nobody produced better work product.  Nobody had a better staff on the hill.  Nobody pushed their staff as hard or was equally loyal.  He was a machine who got things done for the state of Pennsylvania.  He believed what he believed and was fiercely independent but he understood how government worked and was able to cobble together solutions to get things done.  He was part of the coalition of moderates that moved this country through the 80’s and 90’s before we fell to the current stagnation of partisan politics .

     I enjoyed working with him. He came prepared, did what you asked and required very little maintenance unlike many of his peers.  

We had brief conversations over the years but mostly a nod of recognition, a quick joke and then down to business.  The best shoot I remember was a commercial we did  in 2004.  The Senator was playing squash.  We were using this setup as metaphor for political situations but the real fun was watching a 74 year old man take apart an opponent 40+ years younger and witnessing his childlike joy of just playing.

He was a true believer in medical research and was the driving force in the Senate to get increased funding for the National Institute of Health. Few people realize how important the NIH is in accelerating cures for disease and even fewer people understand the economic growth in the Pharmaceutical and Medical technologies markets that are a direct result of NIH research.  Arlen Specter got it.  He knew what was going on. He paid attention to all the details in life and lived it to the fullest.  He was a good man, wickedly funny, devoted to his family, loyal to his staff, dedicated to his office and a public servant committed to the people of Pennsylvania.  

A buck's worth

Cost + Aggravation = Outcome

It's my philosophy of life and business.
It's pretty simple and the equation is proportional.
High cost should lower your aggravation, low cost will raise it.  These two variables combined
equal an outcome.  If the expected outcome is high then the two variables must equal that value.
If cost is low and you don't won't to be bothered don't expect much of an outcome.

Cost can be time, money, favors, political capitol, basically anything of value.
Aggravation is hassle, attention diverted from other matters, calls to superiors, interruptions and that nagging feeling that everything might go sideways.


Stupidity is an unseen variable, a firm understanding of Calculus is needed to factor it into any equation.

Gone is our Summer of Discontent!

It's been a long hard summer filled with multiple cancellations,  jobs with horrible working conditions, low/slow pay and unrealistic expectations.  Having been a staff production manager earlier in my career I could always see both sides of the relationships between freelancers and PMs.  This summer I've observed  that the position of production manager has clearly taken a hit in terms of esteem and professionalism.  I've worked with great PMs who get what we do and know the challenges of their profession but lately I have to wonder.  Some examples over the past few months:

Who schedules a three hour car ride between locations and expects to be rolling camera the second we arrive?   No parking, no elevator for the gear and no rest rooms.

If you don't have money for a PA to do Crafty why are you taking one of our grips to do a coffee run
for your client and expect us to work faster?

When I call from the location and find out the job was cancelled late last night, why are you upset that I'm billing you for the day?

Do you really think we can do 18 pages with three major company moves in eight hours with real people as talent?

Yes, the crew needs to eat lunch!

I'm sorry the CEO cancelled the interview after we've been waiting for 4 hours but of course you have to pay us and you need to reschedule and don't assume that we're all available and we'll do it for free!

Let me get this straight, you want me to call your intern and tell them how I shoot that project so they can shoot it next time?


Some of these events are due to inexperience, some from being overwhelmed but I believe a lot of this has to do with how PM's have been marginalized over the years in the corporate, and agency world.  UPMs in the Feature/Episodic world are fantastic, most are members of the DGA and have to go through a number of productions to build up their days before they can get their UPM card.  They see their job as a profession, not a means to move up to the next gig.  A real UPM juggles crew, budget and schedule as deftly as a DP lights or an Actor delivers a line.  They understand the production/crew relationship and they treat everyone with respect.

It's a shame that the position does not enjoy the same esteem in the corporate and agency world.  Often it's a PA or Intern with little or no experience working off a sheet left behind from the person before them.  They're not committed to the position they see it as a means to an end, a rite of passage to move on from as quickly as possible.  There are exceptions but they've becoming an all to rare species and when they call I am very thankful to be working with them.