Hello!!

I’ve been talking about Producer Script School for a minute.

And?

There’s more cuz I’ve been thinking long and hard about how I want to build my work weeks for my teams. Both CAST and CREW. Together = TEAM.

See?

Hollywood needs Unions. A ton of indie films too. Ours for MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING was no different. We were assured that the Hollywood model was the BEST model:

Long hours.

BUT BUT BUT

It felt off to me.

EXCEPT

The folks telling me this had a ton more experience than me. Yes. I trusted them.

This isn’t about “I am victim. Hear me roar.”

It’s more about thinking about how this scenario works.

See…

Some folks in Hollywood have an insane day rate with box office numbers to prove the receipts. Keeping costs down? Stack their days on set for everyone else to help.

Dudes???

Exhausted and burnt out people have been killed driving home from those conditions.

At eight hours and one minute? Everyone’s salary increases to 1.5 of their original rate.

At 12 hours? Double time.

Am I getting 1.5 better performances of everyone or twice as good? Aren’t I better off to just give everyone an eight hour day with a 16+ turnaround instead of the minimum of 12?

How about how long it takes to collect the capital for all those paydays? Yes. Producers are looked at unlimited ATMs. Yeah, uh. No.

Sure. I’ve eliminated maybe the hottest talent in front or behind the camera.

Totally cool.

Eight hour days means people with disabilities and older individuals no longer able to hack those long days get to participate.

Cuz that other hidden cost?

Pushing people past burn out also has a cost: Recovery time that takes more time than turn around time.

Consequences?

That asshole attitude of “fix everything in post-production?” Becomes a nightmare since they’re sifting footage where folks aren’t their personal best.

Let’s go back to the older individuals for a minute…

They have name recognition. Great for getting audiences cuz we know they can deliver. That’s why they have name recognition: Audiences know they will be entertained. Why wouldn’t I want to work with individuals like this? And why not set up my production to support them rather than stress them?

Let’s go back to individuals with disabilities for a minute…

No. Not everyone with a disability needs a modified schedule. Great. They can go work on the big sets. For the ones that can’t do that? Why not even consider a job share instead of just thinking straight eight hours??? As a member of the FWD-DOC, they talk a ton about real inclusion for folks with disabilities – visible and invisible.

I know this conversation starts with me since I’m a producer. I’ve also decided that this is how I’ll be working moving forward. Yes. This will be a topic of discussion in producer script school cuz it’s part of the bigger conversation.

As always: Have a glamorous day for fun!!

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