So it has been a very long and intense week so far. My apologies for not updating this every day as I had hoped. These past few days I only get enough time to get home eat and pass out. It’s been very intense but also very rewarding and educational. So with that said here is a quick run down of the fun stuff that happened to me in New York.
Monday: Ok nothing really that special. Spent the day driving down from Maine because of a few delays here and there we didn’t actually arrive in New York until 4:30pm a good seven hours after we had left. Luckily it was just a travel day so at least we also didn’t have to shoot something on top of the long drive. I met up with my cousin who was being very kind and letting me crash with him for the time I was in New York. Yeaaaaa for some reason the production company (not mine the Canadian one) didn’t have enough money for me to have a hotel room in NYC? Yea I didin’t get it but whatever, it was nice to see my cousin whom I havent seen in forever. Also it was my birthday on Monday so I had a birthday beer in congratulations and then got rested for the busy week ahead.
Tuesday: Got up nice and early was able to figure out now to use the MTA with out getting totally lost and met up with the crew for our first interview. Went to The Poets House for our first interview. I have never been in this part of NYC before and it didn’t seem like the same place. It was quiet the ocean was right there and there were a lot of people walking happy puppy dogs. I helped set up for the interview then went with one of the producers to help scout for possible locations for future interviews for the week. We then had to go to another location for later in the week. However there were two downsides to this. One all these locations are basically right next to Ground Zero, so everything is under construction and it is a nightmare to drive through. Secondly because everything is under construction there really is not any where to park. I couldn’t leave the car where it was parked because it was too far away so I had to think of how I could keep the car close to the crew. Originally they said it would only take 20 mins to scout out all the locations. I pulled up to The Millenium Hilton Hotel and threw my hazard lights up hoping it would be not so long and no one would get pissed at me. While idling one of the doormen came up and asked me what we were doing. I explained to him about the shoot and what we were doing and he thought that was pretty cool. We started talking and when I explained I was from Boston he told me that he used to live in the South End. So were having a pleasant conversation when I find out that it might take over an hour for the crew to finish scouting. When I told this to doorman he was like “No prob you can keep you car here.” I asked him if he was sure and he responded “gotta look out for my fellow Bostonians”. It was amazing thanks to him I didn’t have to keep driving around or park the car which would have cost another 20 bucks. Despite myself and the doorman getting screamed at by multiple cabbies I was able to keep my car there with no Hassel. Doorman #1 even introduced me to his friend and we got to chat too and he was helping us fend off angry cabbies as well. They were really amazing guys and only wish I could have given them a bigger tip as thanks.
Wednesday: That day was particularly long. We did not start until 10 am but we didn’t really end till 10:30 pm that night so it was good over 12hr day for us. We had two interviews that day one was ironically in The Millenium again. Thanks to my doorman friends I was able to make friends with a 3rd one who helped me stash our equipment in a side room in-between our interviews. The 2nd interview was at the World Trade Center Museum. If you never been its a really nicely done place that not only provides information on what happened 9/11 but also serves as a fitting monument to all those who passed. Our 2nd interview took place in the museum itself. All I could really do during the interview was look at this giant wall that had photos of people who had passed away. It was very beautiful and also very very sad as well. It’s a nice way to never forget those we have lost but seeing all those photos really puts a visual enormity to it all. Instead of seeing a list of names you see a list of faces you get to see sort of briefly who they were and what they were like. It’s very very moving. Finally after a particularly long interview we were all set for the day and called it a night.
Thursday: Yesterday was the big shoot day of the entire week. We were covering 4 different people with dogs, 3 different locations and two camera crew! We met up at this dogpark and then got the day started off. As the crews went off to interview and get footage of our four people I had to lay back and keep an eye on all of our equipment. We now had double the equipment and a lot more personal belongings. Luckily we had a hand cart for the day and the second crew brought there own PA. We got to hang out and make sure nothing bad happened to the equipment. We also got to be on dog watching duty if one of there owners needed a rest or anything. The first location seemed to go well so we moved onto the 2nd one of the day, the Fireman’s Memorial Wall.
Sort of like on Tuesday it was a little crazy to get there but replace a car with a cart full of equipment. However we reached there with out incident and was soon there, that’s when my next big role came in. Because there were so many people there and large group of people + dogs = a large group of people suddenly on camera. I had to run around and get every person who appeared on camera or spoke to our subjects to sign an appearance release. Now I have done this before but there was such a huge mass of people I was running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off. However I did meet a ton of lovely people and families from all over the world. I met two great families from Ireland and we briefly bonded over how I have family originating from Sligo. I met a huge family from Sweden very nice but did not speak that much english so that was a little challenging. I met another couple from Australia that is just doing a world wide vacation tour. By the time I was done and we moved on I think I had close to 20 different releases.
Finally we hit our final location a chapel right near the site. There all 4 of our people who had been either involved or effected by 9/11 with there dogs got to look around at the memorials placed up in the chapel. While there we were running low on batteries, however luckily we were right next to The Millennium Hotel! I ran in and met Doorman Friend #3 and explained my situation and how I needed to charge our batteries. He was able to let me hook up our battery charger in the luggage closet for me, I gotta tell ya these guys are beyond awesome. It was a very touching thing to see. By the time we were done, we had got a great amount of footage but we were all tired including our wonderful helper dogs.
After the shoot despite being tired I did get a chance to meet up with a good friend of mine in the city and grab dinner and some drinks. I think it was needed for the entire week I have just been in work mode the entire time and then just sleeping. It was the first time I could relax and just be me. With our biggest shoot out of the way I was able to crash and then get ready for the next day where we would say good bye to New York.
Which brings us to today. Today was just getting B-Roll of the area and some iconic shots of New York. We have now made our way to our next location in New Jersey. Tonight will be the first night in 4 days that I might be able to get more then five hours of sleep, yea in other news when I come home I am going to sleep LIKE THE DEAD. Huge thanks to my cousin who let me crash on his couch for the week even if it was a leather couch and he had no AC I’m still very thankful. Also I have learned always be kind and courteous to your doormen at hotels. There harding working great guys and if you make friends with them they will get your back. Seriously to the men at the Hotel you are like my new best friends forever. THANKS!
So only two days left in this Sudden adventure before I make my way back home. Also sorry for saying this would be a quick post, clearly that was a grievous lie.
