Being Flexible

There are certain adages in this business which help you negotiate the craziness and keep your brain cells intact.

The first is, "you never actually watch the shows you work on, you just collect a paycheck."

How true.

You can tell a newbie backgrounder by the frisson they exhibit when walking on set, "Oh my God! I can't believe I'm working with so-and-so," etc.

They are actually excited about doing crosses behing a big A-lister.

Give me a break.

I've worked long enough now in this industry not to be impressed by that stuff. In the real world, you can tell a backgrounder vet by the following:

1. They want to to know if the crew is good.
2. They want to to know if this gig will get them loads of overtime.
3. They want to know if crafty is noteworthy.

I'm having a wacky week, so pardon the crazy post. First, I go to my season-regular gig on Monday. Wardrobe asks for two complete clothing changes (that's two pay bumps), which also means overtime. After a morning of face-on hero shots with the 1st team, we had lunch, then got the word - "you're all wrapped." Crikey! Where did the OT go?!

No matter, spent valuable time today on a stand-in gig on a yet-to-be-released show with A-listers: Four hours of work for eight hours of pay with mileage and saw a bunch of fellow stand-ins and production friends. It was a nice reunion.

Then, I get the call: You're booked on the season-regular gig for tomorrow with another wardrobe change! Go figure. I'll let you know how it turned out.