Possibly Sinister

I've been loaned to another show (Charlie Wilson's War) for the next 3 days to help out with the regular payroll while the payroll acct fixes some sort of SAG nightmare (something to do with getting back from Morocco and having the Exhibit G's be a huge disaster).* It's on the Paramount lot with an acct I've never met so it should be a good way to network. I'm still going to have to do my regular EA work, but we're so slow it should be fine. Just have to make sure I don't forget to take my timecards with me!

The reason any of this is possibly sinister is because it seems the exec here is trying to break up T's staff. He's got me going over the hill and he called and offered the 1st that show in Greenville, doing the tax incentive paperwork. It's almost as if he's trying to make sure T doesn't have a crew if she gets a job. Plus he started talking to her about reshoots and she absolutely does not want to hang around for reshoots. So I guess we'll see...

*SAG = Screen Actors Guild
*Exhibit G = the report indicating the call and wrap times for the actors, used to generate paychecks for anybody who isn't making over $65,000.00

My Friend Frank

I went to Six Flags on Friday with Frank, a friend I met back in Atlanta. He moved out to LA too and we're both chugging along in the industry. Frank is the only person I know who likes roller coasters as much as I do, so every year or so we get together and ride. This year, I found out Frank is an EMMY WINNER!!! I can't believe I didn't know he'd won an Emmy! That is so cool. He was going to send me a pic, but remembered they're all under copyright. So if he manages to take a pic of his statue, I'll post it.

As for Six Flags, we stood in line for 2 hours to ride Tatsu - which is the newest one at the park. I didn't care for it, mostly because you're hanging face down with your bum in the air and since the natural inclination is to look where you're going, you spend the entire time with your neck craned back and it just plain hurts. Plus it seemed a bit pokey. Thankfully the rest of the lines weren't that bad. We rode everything we could except for our favorite X which was closed. Damn shame. But it was fun and I had a good time.

Job Hunt

T has a good feeling about her interview on Wednesday. It sounds like an easy show - which is usually the kiss of death. Hopefully she'll hear something this week. The only possible problem is the locale... right now it's either going to be all in LA or all in Arizona (maybe Scottsdale). Depends on how low the studio wants the budget to go.

Happy Thanksgiving

I don't remember the last time I had a full 4 days off at Thanksgiving. I don't mean like 2 years ago, when I took off to go home for my parent's 50th anniversary... I mean just plain not having to work for 4 days straight. It's very nice but I think I'm going to end up paying for it. Work is going to be tough this week!

I would say that at least we're in wrap, but it's been like wrap since August. It may be busier now than it was, since we have to get everything put in order to hand over to the studio. We have 3 weeks, so it should be fine.

I did get homesick this weekend. I grew up in such a large family and it's not normal to spend a holiday with just one other person. I don't know if I'll ever get used to it. I guess people who come from dysfunctional families look forward to creating new holiday traditions but I just want to go back to the ones from my childhood.

At least we're going home for Christmas. That'll be nice. It's the first time in a long time that I'll have the week between Christmas and New Year's off, too. Driving cross-country with the Sofie - this should be fun. Maybe it'll be better than the drives to and from Santa Fe since she'll have both her folks in the car.

I suppose I should mention my Thanksgiving dinner. I made a turkey roast - which tasted good but looked really odd (imagine the white and dark meak of a turkey kind of mashed into a roast shape). I also made mashed potatoes from scratch and left the skins on. Tasty and no lumps! For dessert, I made a pumpkin cheesecake that didn't work out. I tried to substitute some ingredients on a WW recipe and the excessive use of Splenda gave it a nasty chemical aftertaste. We ended up throwing it out and making pumpkin pudding. Of course, that was the 2nd attempt with the pudding - the 1st try also had too much Splenda.

Bits and Pieces

I got up and went to work early today, trying to get my paychecks out before the holiday. The short week always makes it tougher but I got the added "bonus" of getting a new paymaster. My regular woman moved to Utah and my show got transferred to someone else. Have to say the work wasn't as good as before, but there's nothing major. I'm just glad I decided to come in and get it checked early.

The studio is shutting down at 2pm and the UPM wants everyone to leave as soon as they can, even shutting the production office at 2 as well. I don't think we'll be going until closer to 3pm, but I have to stay until I get the checks out. T has an interview at 3 and I don't know if she's coming back to the office or not. I hope she does because I want to hear all about it.

Coming in early did give me a chance to call the bank in TN about the stocks the husband inherited from his mom. We're going to get everything taken care of when we go home at Christmas and it turns out it'll be easier than we thought. Plus the bank is buying shares back so we'll probably sell and come home with a nice chuck of change.

One last story - we have our condo on the market and we put in the listing we had to have an hour's notice to see the place. I get a call last night (6:30pm) from Tony at Prudential who's standing outside our building and just realized he was supposed to call first. He asked if he could go in and I had to say no, would he like to reschedule? Well, he starts telling me his client is going out of town and was hoping to make on offer on something tonight, etc. Wow. I suppose the thought of his client wanting to make an offer TONIGHT is supposed to make me change my mind. What a loser. Am I really supposed to fall for that? Does anyone fall for that? Some of these agents are morons.

Killing Time

So I'm here at work killing time waiting for my payroll edits to come over and I start clicking on the links on the hotmail site. Mostly gossip and lite news but it's something until the husband hooks me up with some more blogs to read.

Anyway, at least one link every day has something to do with dating or relationships and because I'm female, I click on those to see if my life is normal. But I get so pissed when the link goes to the Match.com sign-up page! Hello! Not interested in looking for someone, just want to read about someone else's trials and tribulations, thank you very much. So annoying.

My bootcamp instructor has been gone since last Wednesday for a wedding and Thanksgiving so I've been doing the workout on FITV these past few mornings. Only problem with that is Sofie. She feels the need to lay at my feet so I'm forced to step around her constantly and today while I was doing push-ups and crunches she felt the need to come over clean my face and nose. After pushing her away repeatedly, I gave up and just let her do her thing. She thought it was fun trying to keep up with me. Have to say the paw in my eye wasn't great, but she has a way of using her paw to pull the object of her attention closer that can be uncomfortable.

Thanks But No

I've called both shows and told them no. I really hate turning down work, but I can't go out of town now and I don't want to drive to Playa every day.

I'm not worried, though. I've already gotten a call from someone I've never worked with before (the timing probably won't work out) and my current boss T has an interview tomorrow with the DW who isn't a porn producer.

Should be good.

Felix

Just got back from set where they have the Coffee Bean truck dispensing caffinated goodness. Gotta love the "treat trucks".

Anyway, while we were there they wrapped Felix the lion. We waited until they drove him out in his big red cage in the back of a pick-up truck. He was gorgeous. The trainer gave him some water and I have to say, watching that 550 lb lion drink water from a baby bottle was too funny.

But I didn't think his testicles were that small...

It's A Wrap!

This is it, the last day of shooting. We have the lions (who weren't in the mood the last time they were here) and the alpacas. We also have spfx alpaca spit. Must have been fun mixing that stuff up.

Only 4 weeks of wrap to go - time to get this thing cleaned up and passed on to the post accountants. I'm hoping it's as clean as it should be, but I'm sure there are going to be some nasty surprises coming out of the woodwork once I start really digging into it.

Job Interview

I'm back from my interview with Iron Man. The accoutant seems really nice, the rate is $100 more per week, there would be 2 payroll people - basically there are a lot of really good things going for this show.

The fact it took me 45 minutes to go 27 miles is not one of them (and that was during off-peak hours). The commute is not at all fun and is the only thing stopping me from saying yes.

Have to think about this one...

Greenville

I've called the acct for the show in Greenville twice now and left messages and have heard nothing back. I think that one's done.

I still have the interview for Iron Man on Friday. It's got 2 really big strikes against it (location and payroll company) but I'm always up for an interview with a new acct. Never know what'll happen in the future.

There is some good news on the current boss front. She got an email from a friend at the studio about a new show that we would roll right on to. I have no idea what it is, but it's all in LA and the timing may work out. We'll see.

Mind-Boggling

The 1st asst acct on this show came into work late this morning - not a big deal as we've all been coming in late. But she said she'd been stuck at home because a fire truck had blocked her driveway. Apparently there's an old woman next door who routinely calls the paramedics and the paramedics have to call out an engine. Ok, fine.

Here's the kicker - when she tried to drive out, she discovered the engine blocking the drive and decided the best course of action was to "toot toot" her horn to see if she could get someone's attention so they could pull up and let her out. Ummm... is it just me or does honking at a fire truck seem like a really bad idea? A paramedic yelled at her that they had an emergency going on and she replied that it was ok and that she'd wait. So why honk? Why not just go back inside and watch some HGTV or something? As it turned out, she's convinced they took longer than necessary to leave just to make her wait. Duh.

I told her I couldn't believe she honked and she got really snippy with me. She felt I was slapping her hand. I tried to tell her my point was that honking was only going to piss them off. If she'd walked over there and asked nicely, they may have helped her out. But she took it as an insult. I told her they took it as an insult and that's why she waited.

So who do you think is "right?" Would you honk?

Monday

Erdedo wrote:

I'm watching the Extreme Makeover episode that you wrote about. I'm sure that it was strange to see for you and your family to watch.

So, if you aren't going to Portland what are you going to do?

I responded:

I haven't talked to the rest of the family, but it was hard for me to watch. Even though the inside of the house looked so different it wasn't hard for me to remember what it used to look like. And the outside looked practically the same. But it was an old house and they needed the new one.

As for work, I'm waiting to hear back about the Greenville show. I called on Thursday with a couple of questions, but nothing yet. It's got me a bit worried. But something will come up if that one doesn't pan out.

Speaking of which, I just heard Iron Man is looking for a payroll acct. That would be cool but it's in Playa del Rey which is an automatic hour commute each way. Ugh.

Goodbye Portland

Well, I did it. I sent the email and turned down the show in Portland. As much as I'd love to go there, I just didn't think this show was for me. Too much drama with the payroll company and I just don't need that.

Now we just have to decide if Greenville wins or if we wait for the next offer.

My Vague Political Thought

I'm glad the Democrats have gotten control in Congress. Now if they can only make something happen... My advice? Don't bother pointing fingers at the Republicans (remember the waste of time and money re: a horny intern?). Just hunker down and get this country fixed.

I know most civilizations have a Golden Age, then decline into mere shadows of their former selves. I don't want to think about the fact I may be living through the decline portion of America.

Mo's Response

I wrote to Mo this morning to find out her reaction to my job offer:

"I got a job offer with CK for the new George Clooney movie. I'm interested in it, but you had dibs so I thought I'd better see what was up with your show."

Hi Film-Chick
my, Oh damn....I know she's a good accountant and a very nice person so I say go for it!!! I have nothing solid at this point and am still budgeting various projects. Looks like we could be going to Louisiana in January, but I don't know for sure. I hate to lose you, but you don't want to turn down a solid offer to just wait...I totally understand. I love George so please, please tell him hello for me. We're very old friends...Good Luck Film-Chick...and we'll try again!!!
xoxo
Mo

So it looks like I'm off the hook with her.

And I did write back to tell her any excuse to talk to George would be greatly appreciated!

Now I just have to deal with T.

Book List #23

Not sure if this can really be counted as #23, but I'm planning on finishing it so I'll leave it.

I started Labyrinth by Kate Mosse and was enjoying it, but I'd gotten it from the library and my time ran out on it. I read about this one in Time magazine and it's been a winner. It started out as a parallel worlds sort of thing, but I never really made it back to the present day chapters so I'm not sure. I'll have to get online and put a hold on it so I can finish it.

Book List #22

1634: The Ram Rebellion by Eric Flint is a collection of short stories about some of the peripheral characters in his 1632 series. This one I liked. The main books are enjoyable and these stories fill in some gaps you never even noticed.

Book List #21

I read Duchess of Nothing: A Novel by Heather McGowan. I think it was a Daily Candy recommendation but I didn't care for it. The main character was whiny and annoying and I wanted her to get on some meds and stop screwing up the little boy's life. I kept hoping it would get better but no love for me.

I hate when I get a bad book, because I'm compelled to finish most everything I start. I only know of 1 book I didn't finish (can't remember the title right now).

Job Hunt #2

The accountant I worked for in Santa Fe on Used Guys has written to offer me a show called Untraceable. It's Diane Lane and it's shooting in Portland, OR.

Now I would dearly love to go to Portland on someone else's dime and I'd like to work with S again, but the payroll company the show is using is supposed to be horrendous. Random checks spitting out of the printer, no techs on call, late payroll, etc. I took the opportunity to send a mass email to some payroll accts and others I know to ask if they had an opinion and so far it's all been negative. No horror stories, just comments like "never again."

I just don't think it's going to be worth it. My job is hard enough without having to struggle with the payroll company. I mean, the one I had in SF had some problems and it was frustrating to get it all sorted out, and we hadn't even started shooting yet.

It's Looking Better...

I just looked the movie up on IMDB and George Clooney is the director! Oh man, how cool would that be? Not that I ever really get to meet the director, but still...

Job Hunt

What the opposite of a job hunt? What is it called when the job comes looking for you?

I got a call this morning from an accountant I met while I was in Santa Fe. I don't remember what show she was on, but I met her at the gym I joined. Anyway, she's doing a football movie (Leatherheads) for Universal and wanted to know if I was interested. She wanted me to start right away after EA (mid-December) but I told her I already had Christmas plans. She's willing to have me start Jan 2. The funny thing is the show's in Greenville, SC and we're going to East TN for the holidays. It's not right next door, but it's damn close.

Anyway, the rate is good and the housing and per diem add up fast, but I had to tell her she was the 4th person who had asked me to let them know before I took a show. Mo is first, then T (my current boss), then S from Used Guys, then the gym acct. Mo's show doesn't look promising, T doesn't have anything but rumors, and S is apparently working with a payroll company that is a nightmare. The gym acct is the only one with an actual offer.

So husband, what do you think about Greenville, SC for 6 months?

Mr. Quincy

Mr. Quincy is not amused.

Destructo!

Here's Destructo in her secret identity as Sofie (look at that "who me?" expression).

Destructo posing next to her latest victim - a roll of painters tape. Poor tape never had a chance. You can also see one of her previous victims - a stuffed hedgehog that's been completely gutted.

Stuff

The trailer for EA is up on Moviefone now. It looks pretty good but I'm waiting to see more of the visual effects shots. Should be cool.

Yesterday as we drove down to set for lunch, we passed Ben Stiller sitting in a konked-out golf cart. I didn't recognize him, but the 1st said it was him and I asked if we should go back and give him a bump with our cart. Decided not to.

I know that fall has arrived in SoCal. This morning, Sofie wouldn't come to me to get her harness on. I knew she wanted to go for a walk, but she just sat on the living room rug and stared at me, cocking her head from one side to the other. Finally, I bought a clue and got her shirt from her box and she came right to me, let me put the shirt on her, then trotted to the door and looked at me over her shoulder as if to say "we can go now." Strange little dog, but so friggin' cute!

Boring

My boss had a meeting this morning and since I usually go to set first thing to get breakfast I just drove down with her. She thought it would only last about 20 minutes (which I knew was optimistic) but since I didn't have anything to do at the office I didn't care.

The UPM decided it would be a good idea for me to go watch the motion control (moco) camera in action while I was waiting and I figured "why not?" So off I went to the stage and sat myself in one of the producer's chairs right in video village. I had a good view of the monitors, the moco camera, and the set. Not that there was much to the set, as they were planning to shoot birds sitting on a wire.

It was just about as boring as it sounds. I enjoyed talking to the crew and watching the camera move around, but the subject matter was a friggin' power line. There weren't even any birds yet.

I did hear a good story about the moco system, though. Apparently, while shooting Garp, the scene was set for the moco camera to zoom in on a baby in a stroller (I haven't seen the movie, only read the book). The guy got it all programmed and they put a doll in the stroller for the test run. Well, that camera went through it's paces and ended up slamming into the doll and stroller. The mom, standing there with her infant, just turned around and walked out and did not come back. I guess they got another baby, but man I think I would have peed my pants watching that happen.