Wizard's Courtain

In November 2005, a year before Boston became the next "it" shooting location, Providence, Rhode Island was the hottest place to shoot feature films and television series. Granted, a lot of series using Providence as their main location were actually shot in Los Angeles on sound stages, using Providence only for those exterior shots that could not be recreated in the studio. TV shows like Providence, Showtime’s Brotherhood, and Waterfront were just a few of the shoots that locals were seeing around town, but, November brought heavy hitting actors like Wesley Snipes and Sybil Sheppard into the New England area for an independent film directed by Mario Van Peebles.

In the fall of 2005, I was a first semester sophomore at Fitchburg State. I asked a few professors on campus what they would suggest I do to try and get some work experience, and they suggested a website that had a classified section for all things in the New England area. One night, during a research session, I stumbled upon a listing for office interns for the production office for the movie Hard Luck, which is now out on DVD. I applied for the position and was asked to come in the following Wednesday night for an interview. A week later, around 5 pm, I drove down to Providence as soon as I was out of class and two hours later I walked into the film office. I was completely taken off guard because I was not prepared for what I saw. Everything having anything to do with this movie was contained on two floors in a rented office building in down town Providence. Every department imaginable: casting, accounting, executive producers, location scouts, set design teams, wardrobe and make-up teams, as well as the production management teams consisting of those individuals who acted as liaisons between movie set(s) and business offices. I was so unfamiliar and so not ready for the world that I had just entered. I felt like I had stepped through my television into a world that was now black and white. Luckily, due to my film classes, I at least had some (though very little) knowledge and understanding of how productions are to work and what each team is responsible for, but seeing it right before my very eyes was like stepping into an alternate universe. This was a real culture shock!
I was so overwhelmed by everything that was taking place I offered to work the night just to test my own performance in this kind of environment, but also, I hoped to get familiar with the confusion and super warp speed of production work. By 2am my tasks for the evening were completed and I was asked to return. I was so excited that I quickly agreed to work a 5 day week-- but mainly to cover the weekend shoots Friday into Sunday evening.

Two nights later I returned for my first weekend. I was assigned the position of office assistant to the production manager and her assisting team. I was in charge of filing all of the daily paper work, photo copying redrafted scripts and prepping these scripts for distribution to those who needed them. I was also in charge of prepping the sides (specific scenes pulled from the script that were on the schedule to shoot the following day) and creating the next day shoot packets for distribution. It was a lot of general busy work, but it allowed me the opportunity to see the type of preparation that goes into the planning and prepping of daily shoots on a professional set.
One night, while prepping the sides, the assisting manager asked me if I would deliver the packets I had prepared to those needing them for the next day. Delivery was to be to the individuals’ specific rooms at a hotel that was on my route home. I agreed that there would be no problem and I’d be happy to do it. She handed me the distribution list of names and the address for those on the list. I did not think much about the list at first, but as I began going through the names and copying them onto their respective packets, I came across a name that caused me to immediately freeze. (I felt like Toby Maguire in Pleasantville when he was standing on the street and a tree suddenly burst into colorful flames.) The first sign of what "real" life looks like in this black and white world was the sudden realization that I was no longer in Kansas. I had finally crossed the yellow brick road into the World of Oz. The people on my list of deliveries are not people from my world, but from the world that only Hollywood can create. They are the people we only dream about meeting, and I would be walking right up to their doors and delivering packages of shooting information directly into their hands! (How intimidating is THAT?) That night was the moment I knew my life would never be the same. I was Dorothy in Oz, granted, not following the same yellow brick road that all of the stars follow, but the more heavily traveled path that the production teams walk everyday, leaving black scuff marks in their wake from the equipment they have to drag behind them along the way, hoping to have an audience with the wizard who will recognize their hard work and their talents and hopefully allow them to work behind the curtain with him.

I was such a nervous wreck as I walked down the 11th floor hallway to room 734. The man behind the door is someone I have always admired for his talents as an actor, but I never thought that this early in my schooling, let alone my career, that I would be able to meet him, even though I was only a runner and not much higher on the industry’s food chain than the person who runs for coffee all day long . . . I knocked on the door of his room and waited-- When the door opened, I was greeted by a frustrated agent, but I could hear the voice of Wesley Snipes just behind the door. At the time, I did not understand why the agent looked so angry and I did not want to listen to the loud ranting that was taking place, so I nodded to the man, handed him the packet, and left as quickly as I could.

I know that this is not the most glamorous story, but truth be told, most of my encounters with stars have been anything but glamorous. They are the glam, but not the way the press and media hype them up. In my few encounters, the one thing I have learned is that the stars appreciate more than anything to be treated like an everyday person. Just like the wizard, the stars are just regular people working behind a curtain. Of course, their curtains are more like shower curtains and we are able to see their every more, but if you ever see a star on the street, I guarantee they will be friendlier if you acknowledge them as you would anyone you know.
We are all walking along a yellow brick road in search of the Emerald City. Some of us lack a heart, some a brain and some courage. But once we arrive, we discover we are all regular people, even those who have been chosen to work behind the wizard’s curtain. Pull it back, and you will see our fears, weaknesses and desires. Right now my path is leading me to the emerald city of Hollywood. I know I am lucky enough to be given the opportunity to act as a production assistant for “VMA Weekend” and will be working on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles, and witness the magical work of the wizard that I now know as MTV. So follow your heart, bring your brain and collect your courage as you start off down your yellow brick road as you create your own realization to your dreams.