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Name: Daniel
Username: Sardanicus/rusty johnson
Hometown: Evanston, IL
Occupation: Grip
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What attracted you to the Entertainment Industry, and what was your first job or big break in the business?
Three years after I was born my family moved to South America. I was a child actor in Caracas, Venezuela. We did a stage play, a pilot, and a few commercials before I outgrew my cute phase. I didn't pursue any entertainment related jobs again 'til nearly a decade later, which is probably why I'm not robbing liquor stores today.
What is the biggest challenge you faced trying to break into the industry, and how did you overcome it?
Getting off my fat ass and actually asking for a job. Surprisingly, the first professional resume I submitted anywhere got a positive response. It was for a company producing an independent feature. I've been working ever since.
What advice can you give those trying to break into the "industry?"
Stay the hell out of my sight. Other than that, market real-world skills as film set occupations, i.e. bus driver becomes a truck driver, grill cook becomes caterer, and rodeo clown becomes a P.A.
Please describe your job for those who might not know what a Grip is.
I get paid the same salary as the 2nd 2nd AD, which is more than a P.A. but less than the 2nd AD. Basically, I shuttle between departments, mainly production and grip-electric, as needed. On a good day I've brought the starlets glasses of water. On bad days I've shoveled real snow so fake snow can be laid down. On this particular set I set off smoke machines in the Rabbi's house for the fire effect and nearly choked. Then I built scaffolding in the lake wearing an itchy wet suit and nearly drowned. Fun! No doubt some day I will box an angry kangaroo.
Can you share any tricks of the trade that help you work faster/cheaper/better?
You'd be surprised, contrary to Hollywood stereotypes, at how many people don't smoke or drink for the length of a shoot, but rather save it all for wrap. The reason is, as fun as the job can be, its utterly draining, time-sensitive, time-consuming, and exacting! So, no room for error. So avoid everything, preferably even meat.
Please illustrate the way the performance of your position can help or hurt a movie. Name a movie that you've seen (or worked on) that we could view and understand the difference between a good job and a bad job.
Well, as far as driving grip electric, that's a lot of the movie. No trucky, no movie! As for the rest, they could hire a few people to do my job, but it would cost a little more.
Are you a writer, and if so, how many screenplays have you written?
Although I write, I've never tried writing a screenplay, but I do own a pen and lots of blank index cards.
What's the best lesson you've learned in regards to working in Hollywood?
Don't. Come to Chicago. Plenty o' work, and the people here are made of sterner stuff, with the heat and the cold and the flying lab monkeys and what not.
What advice would you give to writers on how to craft a script that addresses practical production issues?
Know your budget and have a firm grasp of literacy traditions to ground your screenplay. Rely on basic principles of storytelling to hold your audience rather than spectacles or effects.
What advice would you give a director on how to make production easier?
Keep your crew happy! No crew, no movie! If you cut corners on off-screen production values, believe me, you WILL pay later.
List your top 5 favorite films
- Long Day's Journey Into Night
- The Killing
- Love is Colder Than Death
- The Great Dictator
- Dawn of the Dead
**Please feel free to add other comments here
Despite the somewhat adversarial circumstances that we chafe under, adversity can sometimes bring people closer together. This is a very odd community of carnie folk, and much as I'm apt to murder someone by the end of each film, I grow to love them despite myself. So you are certainly welcome to give this a tray, although that's most likely the Sam Adams talking, burp.
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