Taking a Break and new frontiers

Since coming back from my last job in Louisiana where I got to work on set of a film produced by Ted Hope, one of my indie film heroes, he writes trulyfreefilm.blogspot.com and is a genuine visionary for people who love film, I've now decided to take a break and work on some of my own projects for a bit. I didn't get a chance to introduce myself or talk to Mr. Hope. I mean, after all I'm a PA, what on earth do I have to say other than "would you like anything to drink?" Having read Ted's blog for over a year and having not worked on a personal project since I've started this PA struggle, I think it's time to take a break from the grind. I can wash dishes, wait tables, work retail, whatever, just support myself long enough to get a couple of scripts off my chest.

No one wants to be a PA forever. Someone on this film told me that "You only are what you're doing at the present time." And so I thought, I'm standing outside in twenty degree weather with a windchill in the single digits, my feet are rotting off, and I'm blocking off a driveway a quarter of a mile from set so that random cars won't turn into the drive and ruin the shot with their headlights. But at least I'm working on a movie people are actually going to see.

It's a pretty easy job, and I like those "deep lock-ups" as they are called because they allow me to do one thing: day dream. I work on scripts in my head and create characters and incidents that I'd like to see. So then one day, there might be a film I'm making and I'll have PA's scattered to the four winds protecting the set from intruders and surely one of them will enjoy it just as much as I did.