MY `72 FORD VAN
When I started as an extra I used my van as a changing room.
I got more work by bringing lots of wardrobe and doing quick changes.
My van also appeared in an episode of `Wiseguys'.
Thespianism is a disease. An addictive narcotic. (Lee A. Wood)
This section of my web site tells about my endeavours in the world of cinematography, my acting and writing in Hollywood North.
In the late `90s, when I first came to Vancouver, I fell into the movie world. As a lark I started as an extra. Averaging five days a week I (barely) made a living at it for nearly a year. Poor pay, poor food, long hours (many at night), cold, damp (often wet). But I was a trooper, I slugged it out. Actually enjoying most of it. I met a lot of people and gained a lot of valuable experience. One cold rainy night a director told us, "you aren't extras, you are actors without lines". Not only heart lifting but very valuable advice.
I moved up to bit parts, auditions, live stage, singing. (I opened a play by singing a song. I started off stage in the dark and descended stairs into the set as the lights came up. Thrilling the audience with my melodious cacophony.) I took a course in traffic direction so I could get my flagman's ticket and get work as a PA. (Production Assistant) I have worked behind the camera on several sets, doing virtually everything except operate the camera.
I wrote a pilot movie for a sitcom. We spent a day auditioning hopefuls as we cast for the shoot. I met many people from all over the country, only a couple from Vancouver. Most of them had come to Vancouver with the express purpose of becoming an actor. Most of them had no experience or training but were convinced they could handle the part.
One thing I have learned through all my endeavours, if you really want to be an actor, take lessons. Your first reaction will be "I can't afford them". That is your second mistake, you can't not afford them. (Your first mistake is wanting to be an actor.) Lessons may not teach you to be an actor but they will hone your talent until it is saleable. Something else that is very important, the lessons will also tell you how to sell your talents. The credits for acting classes and actor's workshops will not only look good on your resume they will let the casting director know that you are dedicated, willing to put in the hours and take the direction that will be necessary for the long rigorous days required to film a movie.
If you live in a small town where you don't have acting classes volunteer for community plays. In Vancouver there are many playhouses, University film schools, and many other places where you can volunteer as an actor and gain experience. There may not be as many places in a small town but there are bound to be some, make use of them. Whether on stage or in front of the camera, all acting experience is beneficial.
One thing that I learned through all my experience is that I don't have the drive and the dedication to stand in the rain for long hours (plus the fact that I have trouble remembering my lines). I would much rather sit in front of my computer composing. Writing is my forte. My experiences as an actor have helped me to write from the directors viewpoint.
If anyone is interested in buying any of my scripts feel free to contact me at any time.
I think your projects are well-written, Sarah Cooper - Literary Agent - The Saint Agency
Peter Deluise, Dustin Nguyen, Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson (21 Jump St.). Dana Elcar (McGyver). Gillian Anderson, Badja Djola, J. T. Walsh, Ken Foree (X Files). Jerry Lewis, Jonathan Banks (Wiseguy). Loretta Swit, Patty Duke (A Killer Among Friends). Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Demi Moore, Hoyt Axton, Ray McAnally, Henry Overland, Jay Brazeau, Gary (Gazzah) Little, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, Clive Warren (We're No Angels). Adrian Paul (Highlander). David Carradine (Bird on a Wire). Ritchie Palm, Sydney (Molly) Gustafsen (An Evening of Murder). Rebecca DeMornay (Outer Limits).
Peter Faulk (Columbo). Geoff Goldblum (Cats & Dogs). RDA [(Richard Dean Andersen) (Stargate)]. Tom Beringer (Peacemakers). Dule Hill, John Kapelos (Whisper). Stuart Margolin, Nicolas Campbell, Charles Martin Smith, Stephen E. Miller (DaVinci's City Hall).
Currently, I am a transportation specialist in the film industry.
RELATED WEB SITES
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HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO GET A GRIP ON A GAFFER??
Does `Movie Terminology' leave you baffled?
HOLYWOOD NORTH The Pictionary. A pictorial glossary of movie slang and terminology.
SCRIPTS I HAVE WRITTEN
Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn are replaced by stunt doubles
for this scene in `A Bird On A Wire'. being filmed on
Water Street in Gastown, only a block from where I lived.
Yes, they are going the wrong direction on a one way street. I didn't meet either
Mel or Goldie but I was in the opening scene of the movie and had
lunch with David Carradine.ACTORS & ACTRESSES;
I HAVE MET, WHILE WORKING AS AN EXTRA, OR ACTOR.ACTORS & ACTRESSES;
I HAVE MET, WHILE WORKING AS A DRIVER.
The truck, called a honey Wagon', contains bathrooms and an
office for the Assistant Director. The trailer contains dressing
rooms for the actors. This unit was outside the old studios for
`21 Jump Street', in which I was an extra.
In 2000, twelve years later, I drove the same truck.
Link to More Pictures of Movie Vehicles
This is on a farm North of Maple Ridge.
We left the pavement and followed a winding, narrow, rough, muddy, hilly road. The driver stopped. At the side of the road was a two year old male deer who eyed us but continued to eat some leaves from a branch beside him.
We carried on to the farm where we were each assigned a truck to drive. The trucks had been there because the Country singer, Reba McIntyre, had been making a movie.
Some trucks went out the way we had come in but the rest of us went out the other side of the farm. Down a short hill and around a corner and down into water.
We couldn't see the sides, or the top, of the road. We turned a corner and then went straight for about a mile.
My front bumper was pushing a wave in front of me.
We came up, out of the water, turned, over the railway tracks, and then back into the water for about another half mile.
There were two cars in the water. A farmer with a tractor pulled one out but the other wanted to continue up to the set. Youngsters who wanted to see Reba McIntyre. They had the hatchback open and two youngsters were sitting in the back looking through the water and guiding the driver.
I told them there car would never get through the water on the other side of the tracks and besides Reba wasn't there. They drove to the tracks, turned around and came back.
Eventually back onto dry pavement, we took the trucks to a railway museum North of Squamish.
John Tucker Must Die,
Intelligence ( A pilot for a spin off series from DaVinci's) My first show call. I was requested as Honey Wagon Driver.
Whisper - Near the end of May I did four days driving shuttle. I umped into my Friend Gazza (Gary Little), whom I hadn't seen for awhile. He was doing security on our equipment at night. Gazza and I used to be Continuity Extras on the movie `We’re No Angels’.
I also bumped into John Kapelos, an actor from L. A. who used to live in Vancouver and did extra work with me.
As well I got to meet Dule Hill, one of the regulars on the series `West Wing’.
Wrong Element,
CINEMATIC RIGGING
Services Ltd.
The Crew Net.
The film crew job connection.
in Canada
VIDEO VILLAGE
Film production equipment
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