I got a call from out of the blue from Grant Wilfley Casting to work on NBC’s “Lipstick Jungle” starring Brooke Shields. 
Wow she came a long way. The last time I heard of her was when she was on the Oprah show
discussing her post-partem depression and how Tom Cruise is just a "Scientologist jerk" for jumping on Oprahs couches !
This show was in hiatus since last year from the writers’ strike. Here is the blurb on Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick_Jungle_(TV_series) In my opinion this is just another “Sex in the City”!
The scene that I was hired to do was for a formal for a "faux" fundraiser event for Autism.
Since this was to be a high society “who’s who “type of gala, we had to dress for the part. Upon being booked I was informed that I would need to bring a gown. I told casting that I had a dress, even though they only requested pastel color, no black and white gown which is the one I have.
So I went to the local Thrift store here in Queens. Since I gained some weight I was afraid that I would not find a dress that would fit me well. By sheer luck and chance I found a dress that was not only the right color, though it was the right size!!! I was SO happy; I rushed home and got myself ready for the long night ahead.
On the call in to get the information it says to get there “hair and make-up ready!” I was like” I don’t think so!!!!!!!” Are you kidding, they want you to get to set, which is located 4 blocks
from Crack-infested/ghetto East Harlem and wear a gown. Not only that, but the day was really humid and just to roam around the city in rush hour with a
formal dress on is unbelievable! 
I found out later that the SAG got a message to come in street clothes and change when they got to holding. It really IS upsetting how you get treated like garbage being non-union. What happened next really made me angry and proved how being in the union gives you rights. Non-union you have NO rights at all!
I barely got to set and was about 10 minutes late. The reason was b/c there was a stalled train at 59th Street Lexington
avenue lines. The only way to get to E.103rd stop is via the 6 train. A few other people came after me, making them about 20 minutes late. I got to the check in line and was safe.
The scene that I was hired to do was for a formal for a "faux" fundraiser event for Autism.
Since this was to be a high society “who’s who “type of gala, we had to dress for the part. Upon being booked I was informed that I would need to bring a gown. I told casting that I had a dress, even though they only requested pastel color, no black and white gown which is the one I have.
So I went to the local Thrift store here in Queens. Since I gained some weight I was afraid that I would not find a dress that would fit me well. By sheer luck and chance I found a dress that was not only the right color, though it was the right size!!! I was SO happy; I rushed home and got myself ready for the long night ahead.On the call in to get the information it says to get there “hair and make-up ready!” I was like” I don’t think so!!!!!!!” Are you kidding, they want you to get to set, which is located 4 blocks
from Crack-infested/ghetto East Harlem and wear a gown. Not only that, but the day was really humid and just to roam around the city in rush hour with a
formal dress on is unbelievable! 
I found out later that the SAG got a message to come in street clothes and change when they got to holding. It really IS upsetting how you get treated like garbage being non-union. What happened next really made me angry and proved how being in the union gives you rights. Non-union you have NO rights at all!
I barely got to set and was about 10 minutes late. The reason was b/c there was a stalled train at 59th Street Lexington
avenue lines. The only way to get to E.103rd stop is via the 6 train. A few other people came after me, making them about 20 minutes late. I got to the check in line and was safe.A few people, actually 20 people who also took the same route as I did, ended up with the same delay and ended up coming a few minutes later. They got to the check in line and were ALL dismissed! The P.A. said that they (Grant Wilfley) overbooked. What a crock of shit!!!!
So you can imagine how pissed off these people were. I knew about 4 of the people being sent home. If that happened to me I would raise bloody hell! For one thing, they were only 20 minutes late, not an hour! Of course all the people sent home were non-Sag. How convenient was that to make the SAG’s call in time for 5:30pm, an hour before it really gets crazy on the trains, and have non-SAG sign in, hair and makeup ready! I really can’t wait to become SAG
to stop being treated like this.
I had to get myself ready and put on the dress that I just bought hours ago. I actually got a lot of compliments about the dress which made me feel good. After getting dressed, we all had to go through this endless line for hair and makeup. It took long, though once you got into the chair; it made you feel special having your makeup and hair done by a professional.
So you can imagine how pissed off these people were. I knew about 4 of the people being sent home. If that happened to me I would raise bloody hell! For one thing, they were only 20 minutes late, not an hour! Of course all the people sent home were non-Sag. How convenient was that to make the SAG’s call in time for 5:30pm, an hour before it really gets crazy on the trains, and have non-SAG sign in, hair and makeup ready! I really can’t wait to become SAG
to stop being treated like this.I had to get myself ready and put on the dress that I just bought hours ago. I actually got a lot of compliments about the dress which made me feel good. After getting dressed, we all had to go through this endless line for hair and makeup. It took long, though once you got into the chair; it made you feel special having your makeup and hair done by a professional.
My makeup person was outstanding and the hair person was magnificent! My hair person was this gay black man from Nashville and he didn’t just style my hair, he sculpted it. In fact he was a sculptor and he managed to make my drab hair look like a million bucks!
Finally got to set and they had this gorgeous set for this high society fundraiser scene. Everyone was divinely dressed and everything was perfect. There were beautiful arrangements of flowers and shrubbery in an outdoor park setting.
They even had an elaborate water fountain in the middle to tie in as the centerpiece of this elegant party. To add to the atmosphere there were Clowns, Musicians and stilt walkers. It truly was an event and this is what a party out in the Hamptons must be like.
The night ended up being really long and after wearing those dresses and shoes for hours standing up, your feet really start to hurt. It was so bad that when we finally got a break, we took our shoes off and ran out of central park through the dirty streets, around the corner back to holding in bare feet! You get to a point you really don’t care anymore.
It gets really difficult to stay in character just to stand around for hours doing nothing. When they did finally come around to tape you, they did the same scene over and over again. “Cut, back to one!” Re-set! I got to the point as did a few other ladies where we didn’t want to volunteer to be in the scene and sat down on the bench. One elderly Woman was not as lucky as she was standing by a little cocktail table and ended up fainting, not once but twice!
The only thing that saved her from falling and hitting her head on the concrete was this man who was her partner in the scene and managed to catch her in time. Within seconds, the on-set medic came up to her to assist. Shortly after the Police were on set and the EMS came
and took her away on a stretcher.
All while this is going on, the director is oblivious to this and continues shooting a scene.
We found out later that the Woman was okay and was just tired and dehydrated. One they gave her some food and water she revived. After the Sag rep came on set, things changed
rapidly and they began giving out water out by the case to everyone to avoid another person fainting or getting sick.
It’s amazing how they wait until something happens before they will take the initiative to prevent something like this happening in the first place. It’s amazing how hungry they are to get the shot done that they will
“Starve” everyone just to get it to perfection!
This show may make it, as it premieres this fall. However, in my experience over kill always ends up in disaster. They want perfection and the most elaborate sets and scenes and will end killing someone one day.
Amazing!
CA ;)
Finally got to set and they had this gorgeous set for this high society fundraiser scene. Everyone was divinely dressed and everything was perfect. There were beautiful arrangements of flowers and shrubbery in an outdoor park setting.
They even had an elaborate water fountain in the middle to tie in as the centerpiece of this elegant party. To add to the atmosphere there were Clowns, Musicians and stilt walkers. It truly was an event and this is what a party out in the Hamptons must be like.
The night ended up being really long and after wearing those dresses and shoes for hours standing up, your feet really start to hurt. It was so bad that when we finally got a break, we took our shoes off and ran out of central park through the dirty streets, around the corner back to holding in bare feet! You get to a point you really don’t care anymore.
It gets really difficult to stay in character just to stand around for hours doing nothing. When they did finally come around to tape you, they did the same scene over and over again. “Cut, back to one!” Re-set! I got to the point as did a few other ladies where we didn’t want to volunteer to be in the scene and sat down on the bench. One elderly Woman was not as lucky as she was standing by a little cocktail table and ended up fainting, not once but twice!
The only thing that saved her from falling and hitting her head on the concrete was this man who was her partner in the scene and managed to catch her in time. Within seconds, the on-set medic came up to her to assist. Shortly after the Police were on set and the EMS came
and took her away on a stretcher.
All while this is going on, the director is oblivious to this and continues shooting a scene.We found out later that the Woman was okay and was just tired and dehydrated. One they gave her some food and water she revived. After the Sag rep came on set, things changed
rapidly and they began giving out water out by the case to everyone to avoid another person fainting or getting sick.It’s amazing how they wait until something happens before they will take the initiative to prevent something like this happening in the first place. It’s amazing how hungry they are to get the shot done that they will
“Starve” everyone just to get it to perfection!This show may make it, as it premieres this fall. However, in my experience over kill always ends up in disaster. They want perfection and the most elaborate sets and scenes and will end killing someone one day.
Amazing!
CA ;)
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