Stuff That I Have Noticed #59 – New York Movie Crews

From May 1973 – prepping for Carol King Central Park Concert in June where I was pressed into service as Production Manager not having a clue as to what the job entailed – until the early 2000s I worked in movie-making* as a freelance Producer, Production Manager and/or First Assistant Director (AD or “First”) in New York. I’ve never worked in these capacities on the west coast so I don’t know that what I have to say here applies there but I suspect that it does.

Except for the folks on staff at the various production companies we are virtually all freelance. What this means is that we live by our reputations and therefore are motivated to always do our best. This makes leading a team (crew) made up of such people a genuine pleasure.

After 1979 when I was admitted to the Directors’ Guild I worked primarily as a 1st AD (occasionally combined with Producer). The AD is directly responsible to the director and runs the set. He or she also creates the production schedule, and is in charge of executing it, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, keeping track cast and crew and maintaining (a semblance of) order on the set.

Author Ben Bryant with Director Howard Guard

The essence of the function of the First Assistant Director is organizing, scheduling, anticipating potential snags and being prepared for them. In a very general way a big, logistically complex, exterior location shoot is similar to a battle. One plans as best one can and then the uncontrollable/unforseeable takes over and you adjust, adjust and adjust. ADing is crisis management and that’s one of the things that makes it such an interesting and challenging job.

Many people, including some producers (and, alas, even a few ADs), think of the job as a crew boss or – to use an archaic term – a “ramrod”. This is incorrect. After the planning and scheduling, when the shoot is under weigh, the job is primarily that of Communicator in Chief. The function is analogous to that of a chef. There will be a variety of ingredients that require different preparation periods, by different crew departments all of which need to be ready at the same time to go into the oven – get a shot. The timing and management of these tasks and communication with the various departments is a major (both exacting and enjoyable) part of the AD’s job.

Back to the premise in paragraph two, freelance life: Almost everyone on the crew, including the AD, is hired for a specific shoot. A few companies have cameramen (or women) as well as Executive Producers and Production Coordinators on staff but that’s about it.

A movie crew is made up of several “departments” from the obvious, Camera, through the esoteric, Grip. I won’t list them all here but the expression “it takes a village” definitely applies to our craft and, again almost all of us are freelance.

This brings me to the point of this essay.

These are highly motivated people and most of us truly do love the work. Oh there are always complaints about one thing or another (long hours being a prime gripe) but on the whole we are all where we want to be and enjoy the many challenges of the profession. Whether on a major feature movie or a thirty second commercial the basic jobs are the same and everyone takes pride in their work. Here’s a prime example.

My friend Jack Churchill, a world-class cinematographer, was with me on a commercial for a toilet bowl cleaner. There was a shot of the stuff being applied and this piece of bathroom equipment is very difficult to light properly. Jack and his lighting crew were at it for forty-five minutes or more and we were lagging behind schedule. I went over to him and said, “Jack, do you realize that you’ve been working on this commode shot for nearly an hour?” He looked at me and excitedly replied, “Yes! And it’s gonna be the most beautiful commode ever photographed!”

That’s all you need to know about the commitment to excellence of we who make movies.

* My friend Pat Crawford, an Emmy winning editor, said: “Eastman Kodak makes films. We make movies.”