When it rains, it pours!

The drought is clearly over.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I got a big contract and I'm excited like a teenager watching "Splash" without parents around.

um...y'know... the Tom Hanks movie where he does it with a Mermaid?

Cough Cough...

Anyway, since then I was offered a full time position working at a college in the area. This is the type of job that I would jump all over...if I didn't just get a video contract. I can't beleive these two major opportunities landed in my lap at the same time. What do I do? I'm going to take the weekend to decide but one thing is for sure: I'm not giving up Rail City Media. I've put in too much time to let that dream fall away. The question is can I do both.

I don't really want to get too much into the details of my decision but I will keep everyone posted as to what I decide to do. In the meantime I'm focusing a lot of my energy on my film career.

This weekend I'm 1st Assistant Camera for two music videos. I like doing this position because I get to see all the action up front and really learn a lot about the camera . Jobs like this don't give me a lot of money right now (of course union scale would be a different story) These are basically low budget projects but the experience is really important. When I say low budget I mean we are still working with lights and sets and a crew great camera not a little handicam and a flash light. The fact that I get to actually touch the camera makes my presence on these shoots very important.

The idea is to judge what will help your career and what won't. Taking jobs like this that might not pay anything will help me later on when I am doing something for money. People want a good product in the end so these small shoots are the time to learn and experiment a little and then the paid gigs are the ones where you put all your experience into. I have not been on a shoot where I did not learn anything. I ALWAYS learn something that can be used later on. However I do try to pick the ones with the biggest learning curve.
Here's me, on the set of "Useless things" cleaning a lens filter.

I was 1st AC on a short called "Useless Things" a number of months ago and I just saw a behind the scenes documentary about the film today. There is a strong focus on the camera we were using and because my job was to take care of the camera I am in the doc a lot. I thought it was kinda cool. I think it will be posted online soon so I will try to post it on here ASAP. An important aspect of doing jobs like these is to allways be professional and work your hardest. Run, don't walk, look and listen, bring your A-game every time, bust your ass and do it with a smile. Even though I have DP'd on a fiew shoots, I have a long way to go before I would call myself an expert so when I show up to a 1st AC job I do that job better than anyone instead of trying to be DP and be semi-OK. You never know what each job will bring.

Oh yeah...and my Gal is on the other side of the country in Banf where there is snow and I am here in Montreal where I am sweating. HI SARAH!!!