I really don’t want a career in the movies

It takes a certain type of person to want to do movie work. Watching hundreds of people hurry up and wait, while the actors repeat their scenes seven or ten times to get it right, is about as interesting as watching ice melt. Nevertheless, it IS fascinating to see the inner workings of a huge machine called a movie company. Every last detail down to “Who is recycling all our beverage containers?” must be thought out in advance and assigned to somebody. The down side is that there are too many bosses, and it is hard to know to whom to report. Especially in a remote location where cell phones aren’t working, the left hand barely knows that its right hand is even connected. Somehow, though, it all gets done. Eventually.

I must report that I am duly impressed with the catering company that does all the food for 290 people daily. The breakfast and lunch buffets looked remarkably similar to what is served at the country club in my home town… and this is three meals a day, every day, for the entire crew. Snacks on the set are the finest fresh fruits and veggies, berries, sliced cheeses, beef jerky, granola bars, a basket of chocolate bars, and some salty crunchy type things. Massive coolers filled with iced beverages (sodas, juices, sparkling waters, lemonade, tea, etc) are always at the ready. They feed their people well.

Scooping horse poop is about as rigorous as I thought it would be. I carried out all the poop that the six pack horses pooped in the canyon by my campsite today. These horses carried in all the camera equipment, about 3/4 mile, and a security guard will sleep there each night to keep an eye on it all. Tomorrow there will be about 8 or 10 horses in there, for many more hours, so I’ll have significantly more poop to carry. There is something very therapeutic about this job. It’s humbling. I have no pretenses about being someone special when I carry the poop rake around with me. I like this.

And I got a free T-shirt today that identifies me as part of the Utah Film Commission’s FILM CREW. Sweet.