What to Know...
From time to time people contact me wanting to help, wanting to get some experience shooting a film or the like. I love to welcome folks into the process, but it's useful to keep these things in mind.
- I tend to shoot with small crews. If you've read the "credo" page on this web site, you know that I don't need five PAs whose job is to fix coffee.
- The actual number of days shooting for many projects is pretty short. It could be just two days on a weekend. It might be four to seven days. And many projects are half a day here and half a day there. So the window of opportunity is not large, at least for helping with an actual shoot. If your schedule isn't flexible, it will be hard to work you in.
- Persistence is key. Do NOT worry about badgering me. Typically I just get too busy and may not get back to you very fast. Silence is not the same as a "no." Email is never an imposition, even calls are rarely a problem.
- If you are interested primarily in other parts of the process including writing, pre-production planning, editing, marketing, it's much easier (okay, less exciting too) to welcome folks into our process as interns, flies on the wall or collaborators.
- One simple rule if you do end up on anyone's set for the first time: don't wait to be told what to do. Say, ""What can I do?""
- A good way to start is to do coffee first.