Well, it is really that time of year! ALREADY?!?! Yep, 2012 has come to a close. I try to always reflect on the year that has passed, so here goes:
I started the year finishing Season 2 of ‘Breakout Kings’ (A&E) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was only a production assistant on the show, but I learned so much about production and what it takes to produce a weekly hour long program. Of course, I attended the Sundance Film Festival. This was my 13th year working Midnights at the Egyptian Theatre. However, this year I flew from New Orleans and returned immediately to rejoin everyone on the set of ‘BOK’. I know… Non-stop!
After returning to St. Louis on Valentine’s Day, I thought
my year would be dead since I had no options and no offers for long term gigs
until Mid-July. However, looking back at
that period of time, I accomplished quite a lot. I Produced and Assistant Directed the short film ‘Solitaire’ with Eric
Cloughley; I assisted Pascal Beauboeuf and Beautiful Beef Productions with the
short film ‘Running’ as well as steadicam work on a couple music videos and
even assistant directed for him on a corporate promo video for a new company; I
ran camera for Vault Media for two dance competitions in Minneapolis, Minnesota;
I assistant directed for Heroic Age Studios on a Corporate Video for the
Illinois Secretary of State in Springfield, Illinois; and was a Production
Assistant on a couple TV programs, including ‘Sunday Best’ for BET in St. Louis
and ‘The X Factor’ for Fox in Kansas City.
In this same time period I took a huge step towards the production
of my own two short films. I launched a
Kickstarter crowds-funding campaign to help promote and raise funds for my two
film shoot. Unfortunately, the
fundraising campaign was unsuccessful and Kickstarter being all or nothing, I
was not able to raise any of the funding I needed. But the knowledge I gained about the process
and my own two films was priceless, as was the amount of promotion I received. So I will not truly be starting at square one
when I try again.
After Mid-July, I began a rather rough run on FOUR, yep that’s
right FOUR, feature films back to back, serving as First Assistant Director on
all of them. First, I worked on the
feature film ‘She Loves Me Not’ in Alton, Illinois for directors Brian Jun and
Jack Sanderson. 36 hours after we
wrapped I was in Elizabeth, Illinois jumping on the feature film ‘High on the
Hog’ with director Tony Wash. After that
film I returned to St. Louis to mourn the loss of a close friend and AMAZING production
manager, Matt Romano. In my mourning, I
passed on a project in Chicago. But a
week later was offer the feature film ‘Johnson’ and by the end of that week I
was in the office working. After Johnson
wrapped, I headed back to St. Louis.
Right at Thanksgiving I worked on Missouri Shoot for the feature film ‘Apparitional’
for director Andrew P. Jones which shot in Jefferson City, Missouri at the shut
down, and haunted, Missouri State Penitentiary.
Now as 2012 is coming to a close I have been busy finalizing
and submitting all my paperwork for the next step in my career. I am becoming a member of the Director’s
Guild of America. Yep, I’m joining the
union as a First Assistant Director in the Third Area (which is everywhere
outside of NYC and LA). It’s a huge step
and I need to see how things fall into place, but I am truly excited and
looking forward to the new heights I am reaching.
For a while there I thought 2012 would be a slow and almost
dead year. However, it has turned out to
be FAR from that. Yes, there are still
huge steps I need to take both personally and professionally, but 2013 look
like the perfect time for them to be taken.
Another year is in the books, now it’s time to see what this brave New
Year has in store. See you on the other
side.
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