SALT - Angelina Jolie Feature Film 3-21-09

(from 3-21-09)

Made it to the second and final Saturday for the taping of "SALT", the Angelina Jolie feature film where she portrays a double agent.

Tom Cruise was originally picked to do the role, though it was given to Jolie, because Cruise was too "short" and a "Closet gay".

The good thing about it being our second time on this set for this scene, was that we knew what we needed to wear and where we would be situated. Also the holding area was going to be the Marriot again.

Our call-in time to check the voice messaging system with the details was for 8pm. Now you would think that the message would be shorter than last week, as the majority of us were going to be there. Save for the young Lady who got rolled away in the ambulance. Somehow I don't think she had been invited back.


Still the message should have been maximum of 5 minutes long, instead it was a grueling 15 minutes. Being the fact that the message was released before 9pm, meant wasting cell phone minutes. Almost as long as last weeks message, I managed to knit a sweater, run the marathon, flew to the moon and back, got a root canal, and roasted a turkey before the punchline, of WHAT TIME TO REPORT WAS!!!! WOW, that really wiped me out.


Onwards.. March my fellow background artists to the call of early call time MADNESS! Actually 6am was far better than 5:30 a.m. from last week. Still it was a mess and people were wrapped around the stairs, again from the night before, just to get checked in.


Eventually as the line petered down, we somewhat resumed the same general location of the seats which we were sitting in the previous Saturday. Just as we were getting acclimated and finishing up breakfast, the PA came into the blew her trumpets signifying it was time to gather everyone up and head to set! Trumpets blaring:"EVERYONE OUT OF THIS ROOM!!...NOW!!



Quickly we went back to our spots that we were in the previous Saturday. Mine of course was the bathroom lounge at the Waldorf Astoria. Truly gives the "Bathroom experience" new meaning. Just made you feel a little more "Special" than using regular bathrooms.

On to the scene:

We went outside to our original positions by the doors of the Waldorf to soon be directed and follow the swarm of people to the other side of the street, opposite of St. Bartholomew's church. They had all the background on that side to fill in as many bodies as they could to make it about 5 deep. From the sidewalks all the way back to the buildings on that block.

So we are So sandwiched in and there is no way out. I was kind of pissed because I wanted to get in the front row and thought I was in a bad position. Later as the scene progressed, my fellow background Friends and I soon found out that we were actually standing on "prime real estate" of the stars.The scene had has huddling as close as we could on this block. Though with over 700 background a New York block on Park Avenue becomes a small piece of land.

In fact we were SO sandwiched in at this point. It felt like being in Times Square subway platform with the capacity of reaching it's limit and if you were to "stuff" more people on that platform you would surely fall off the edge and into the tracks and be slaughtered by the third rail in seconds.


Well at least we were amongst friends here. Secretly, I was hoping that a cute guy would rub against me ;)

Thought that didn't happen. What did happen was that I got "Touched by an ANGEL-ina!" That's right. In the scene we are ALL standing there and pretending to be watching this funeral procession. Suddenly this Woman with Raven Black hair, scurries in front of us. I was like "How rude is that?"

Before I had a chance to really get angry, I saw that it was an ANGEL-ina that touched me. Yes that's right I got touched by her. My other friend got stepped on by her. Most of us got "Brushed" by her when she went past us.

I managed to get a picture of my friend Laurie demonstrating where she got "brushed" by Angelina on her coat sleeve. "Never to be washed again!" , she declared. Because being "touched by Angelina means we have been touched by Brad!" Oh my!

At that point the rest of the day, and the fact that it was chilly on Park Avenue and got we NO food, and it was a walk-away lunch did not matter. We were touched, stepped on, and brushed by a million dollars.. WOW , it felt good.

Feel even better if it(million dollars) were in my pocket...

Sigh :(

Back to One !

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On set of Ridgewood Bank Commercial

(from Sunday, January 18th 2009)

After a very slow week, I figured I would just chill at home and catch up on some of my administrative work on the weekend. I have tons of papers to sort through. It is true when they say that things come into your experience when you least expect it. This reigns true as I was not planning on anything and then all of a sudden I get a call from my friend, Steph, who I have not heard from since last year or seen on any background sets.

She was going down her list and gave me a call to see if I wanted to do this Bank commercial. At first I was hesitant because I really hate working on Sundays. It sounded on the message that they (production) really needed people, and since it was a paid gig, and being financially crippled right now,I sure won't /can't turn down money!


So she gave me the details really quickly as she was on set when she called me. She gave me the info and the call time which was for 7:30 am to be over by the film center on 9th ave. Now that is not a terrible call time, though since I have not got up before 9am for the past month, it was really hard to do so. Also I kept tossing and turning all night long as I was worried that I would miss the alarm.


I got up at 6am and tossed some business casual clothes and headed for the subway. Sunday subways are the worst subways. I waited over 25 minutes before some light appeared through the dark tunnel with the train approaching. Finally I got on the "E" for "Evil" train and surprisingly the regular homeless guy was not on board. Guess I missed his shift!

I got out at Times Square 42nd street and exited out to a very snowy Sunday morning, and vacant streets of Broadway. I felt like I was walking in my own musical as the big fluffy chunk of snow were falling and Times Square was sparse of people. Maybe only one or two people tinkled past, but for the most part it was not the usual chaotic mess it can be in that area. It was peaceful and euphoric. Definitely a rare moment indeed.


I arrived at the "pick up area" on 9th ave right on time. I went into the lobby of the building where my friend Steph was and to my delightful surprise, my very good friend Bill Rapp was there as well. I knew it would be a good day from that point on, and it was.


After about twenty minutes, some of us got into the first van that was to take us to the actual Ridgewood bank in Queens. Through the inclement weather our driver was very cautious and drove extra slow for safety purposes. We arrived to location in about half an hour. We got out of the van, went inside through security to get our badges for the day and then downstairs to a nice array of big fluffy croissants, muffins, danishes, and much needed coffee!

About an hour later, we were led back up stairs to get to set, which was the bank. Our job was to be customers at a bank. Bill Rapp and I were assigned to each other to portray a couple at the bank. We had our deposit slips ready and went from the line to the teller a thousand times over and over. We made SO many deposits and got the same lollipop in return that was given to us by the teller as a thank-you for our patronage.

As we were standing in our second positions waiting for the director to call "Background Action", we stood by our teller friend who turned out to be a really sweet girl. We started talking and I found out that she lives in Astoria too. Not only that she also lives on 49th Street! I live on 49th street! Talk about coincidence. This bit of information really came in handy later on when it was time to leave.

The commercial itself moved relatively slow as many of these productions do. You would think that because they are using the bank itself that it would be easy to shoot this commercial. Not so much. They designed the commercial around a full sized bed that was placed in the middle of the bank.

On the bed they had this black man laying in the bed and pretending to be sleeping. Talk about the best role! All he had to do was lay in that bed while the other bank activity was going on. In the scene his wife gets up form the bed , puts on her housecoat and slippers and interacts with one of the bank managers, while her "husband" is still sleeping and totally oblivious to what is going on because he actually fell asleep for real!

During break, Bill and I thought the concept was great about wanting to take a nap while waiting in line to get banking done. So Bill and I tried out the bed for ourselves and came to the conclusion that the bed was indeed comfy.

The rest of the day was dragging by after that. We had lunch which were platters of sandwiches and cold pasta salad from a local restaurant in the area. Our eating are was in the basement of the bank where the real employees eat during their shift. There was a TV down there and all the guys were swarming around the TV watching their precious football. After Lunch we went back up to set and they were doing close-up shots of the bed and the actors.

Finally as the evening was setting in, they moved on to the next commercial which involved a motorcycle in the middle of the bank. This Woman who looked liked she rode bikes on a regular basis, rolled the Harley to the middle of the bank where they were to shoot the scene. I think she owned the bike b/c after she brought the bike in, the commercial evolved around 2 guys on the bike in the bank.

Bill Rapp and I did a quick walk through and that was about it. Since they used us so much in the first scene, they really didn't need us. That was a relief because it was getting late. The young teller that I was talking to earlier already told the director that she had to leave, so I followed suit and we caught a car service back to Astoria.

Got home around 9pm. I was lucky to meet up with Heather to take the car service home together. The other option would have been going all the way to the "L" train through Manhattan and all the way around back to Queens which would have taken over 2 hours.

This wasn't a terrible expereince, though I must admit that it sure was not worth only getting paid 75 dollars for a commercial like this should have been at least $150.00. Oh well the way things have been as of late, you have to take ANY money that comes in, no matter how bad the wage is.

Cupid Coney Island Times Square Winter Scene

(originally from July 31, 2008)
I have not got too much work from Extra Mile this past month. In fact I haven’t heard from them since the beginning of July and then, finally I get a call from them. I was excited to hear from them and was expected to be booked on something good.

So I get ready with my pen and paper to take down my check in number and information. First I get my check in number and then I get told that I am being booked for the show Cupid, again.

Though this time it was going to be filmed at Coney Island for a New Year’s winter scene! They told us to bring winter hats, scarves, parkas, thermal etc in the 90 degrees ( 40 degrees Celsius)heat! I love it. It was SO crazy.

People came with suitcases full of big HUGE wool winter coats, scarves and hats! This one person brought winter hats and 4 heavy coats they lugged all the way from Jersey! My good Russian friend Natasha looked the best in her coat!

All I brought was a small bag with a leather jacket, the wool hat, and a small scarf. I can understand the outer layer has to look like a winter coat, though this does not mean you have to wear a thermal sweater underneath. I had to help some people out and tell them they didn't have to wear a long sleeve shirt underneath! These Newbies really need to be taught what you can get away with.

The reason they were doing the Time SQ scene there in the Key span parking lot of Coney Island was b/c they were shooting another scene simultaneously over by the Wonder wheel.

So they split half of us into groups for the scenes. I of course get the Times Square scene where they gave us New Years Eve balloons, noise makers, funky 2009 eye glasses, and other accessories to make the scene feel real.

There were also these two crazy gals who really got into character and wanted more accessories. I think they got escorted off set and joined the Coney Island Circus of Freaks!

It was actually fun as we did the countdown and when we got down to one, the ticker tape went off and all this confetti exploded in front of us covering everything up with all the rainbow of colors. I swear after doing the countdown over a hundred times, it was actually starting to get chilly and I felt I needed to put my shawl on!

It was not a bad night at all and the food was outstanding! They had these "Frenched" pork chops that were SO tender and juicy. It was mouth watering. It was So good that I jumped right in a sliced a big slab of it myself! This production was definitely not cheap and had one of the best spreads for food that I have had since Gossip Girls.

The first group that went to the Wonder wheel wrapped at 1am. The Times Square group were there until 3am. Still not bad considering we started at 7pm!

I honestly thought that at least a few people would be "passing out" wearing the winter coats. Only one person to my knowledge had to be taken off set to see the on-set medic. I tell you though for a SAG waiver I would have wore the heaviest parka and walk into a blazing fire! No one got the waivers on this set. Shame :(

The only thing that was horrible was the F train ride home which took one hour and 45 minutes at 4am! At least I can’t say it was a boring ride time went by fast watching the rats on the platform and witnessing a homeless man penetrating himself. Ewwwww.. It was SO gross. At least it was safe. This is why NYC has the "See something , Say something" campaign in effect! Though I don't think it works!

I got home and had to immediately take off my sweaty clothes and jump into the shower. Plus the dirty germs of the late night subway cars. If anything, at least on sets like these where you have to wear winter coats in July, you loose some weight!.

Amazing.
CA ;)

On the set of "Hancock"

(filmed on May 10, 2008)
Last night I was on another Will Smith movie titled "Hancock". This movies trailer is apparently out already and will be released in July, 08. So last night’s movie was basically a re-shoot for the very last scene of the movie.

What a HUGE production it turned out to be!!! Our Holding area was at this highschool over on 46th street btw 6th and 7th which is around the corner of Times Square!

When I got to the decent call time of 6:30 pm, already over 200 people were situated in the auditorium of the building. I went and checked in. I got to the check in line at a quarter to 7pm and there was still a huge line of non-union people checking in.

In knowing how these lines work and that people would still be in the line-up, I took my time getting there. I must make a note that this production was great to work on, though this was the absolute record slow check in and out line of all time!!!!

I may as well have shown up at 8pm, b/c they were still checking people in at that time. I at least got there in time enough for the food, which was good. They had a "Crew only" truck where they were serving hamburger and hot-dogs on an outside BBQ grill fresh!

So you know how Nazi they can be and are very territorial about their meat. I just walked by and headed to the "background only" tent where I expected to get rice and beans or the usual delicacy of skittles!

To my surprise, these Mexican caterers were grilling away burgers, sweating and flipping away burgers to your liking. A good portion of processed flesh on a fresh bun with a wide array of fresh condiments to choose from! The tomatoes were fresh as were the onions and I think the Pickles must have been kosher because the local Rabbi stopped by to bless them just to make them extra special!

Inside the holding area was way too warm to hang out, so I stayed outside by the catering by the stoops, sat down with My Polish friend Basha until we were called to go on set.

The set was right in the heart of Times Square on a Saturday night, so you can imagine what a nightmare it was just to get to the "island" in the middle by the ABC building. What even made it more challenging were the throngs of people lined up over 10 deep on both sides waiting for Will Smith to arrive.

There were so many people that you thought you were at a major event like the Macy's Day parade or at the countdown for a New Years bash. There were So many cops on set to try and keep the people back.

Still that didn't control the overly ambitious fans from sneaking behind the barricades to snap a picture of Will or to get his autograph. As soon as Will Smith's car pulled on the side by the island, he got out and these people went absolutely nuts!

One overly eager group of tourists from Arkansas actually had the nerve to pull up to the side off the island, park their car, get out and attempt to get Will Smiths autograph. These people almost made it up to Will, though the security held them back in time.

I was at the best possible spot on the island and very close to Will Smith. I was on set with my friend Julia's' Mother and her 3 year old son. Julia came by with her Mother who was already booked on this to try and get her son on it. Julia tried to get on it as well, though according to the law, if a child is booked they need someone "off" set to be able to take the child home after the time allotted for a child to work in NY state.

So I basically became "Surrogate Mom" and had to hold her Son up for every scene. Now he is a big kid (45lbs) and it got very tiring and exhausting having to lift up the kid every time they called "background action".

The bonus of having a child with me was that I got right up close in the scene with Will Smith. Since the scene called for other kids running up to him and forming a circle to get his autograph as he is depicted as a superhero in this film where he was wearing this rubber "Michael Jackson" skin tight outfit.

So I ran up to the circle while holding Julia's son and shoved my way through so the kid could "high-five" and make contact with Will Smith. I didn't have to do that much as the kid was aggressively pushing his way in the crowd to get to Will. It worked though because the kid got on camera, which means so did I!

I have to admit it was a really cool feeling being on that island with Will Smith while all these spectators were watching and wishing they could be in our spot! It was a crazy night, though well worth it and for once a good experience on a Will Smith movie, unlike "Legend" where we froze our asses off last year!