Calling all Crew Members

The roller-coaster of life can whizz you off at dizzying speed, you blink and time has swept past you. Not that I have been unproductive, I am still chipping away trying to get the content in. This still seems to be the biggest challenge, getting the crew to write about what it is they do. I guess, not everyone is a writer, I certainly am not but I enjoy the process when I finally find the time. Currently most of my time is being gobbled up by Black Sails, the tv series being shot predominantly at the Cape Town Film Studios. I needed to get the bank account healthy, so as to throw myself gracefully into book production once again. Last year’s book work gave me quite a beating, lesson learnt, beating not to be repeated…got it!

The good thing about working on such a massive set, with so many crew contracted to it…I have access to them! Here they cannot hide, some see me and put their heads down hoping I won’t approach and ask where their write up is. I don’t want to be some sort of stalker, but I need their contribution in order to make the chapters creditable. Based on the information coming directly from those who have been working in the business for years with incredible experience and knowledge makes for a solid chapter. Directly from the horse’s mouth , so to speak. I am going to try a new approach and will carry around my Dictaphone, so for those who feel challenged by writing it down, maybe a little interview…one on one, might be the answer. Will let you know how that goes!

Every day on the set, I am reminded what a beautiful tight family we are. How connected, supportive and loving to one another. Sure I’m not saying we don’t have our head butt sessions. Like any family there are disagreements but at the end of the day, unlike a family, we have to put our differences aside and get on with the job at hand, to the best of our ability! South African crew unlike in other countries, so I’ve been told, are also happy to help each other…kind of inter-departmental crossing over. We don’t belong to unions, so I guess we don’t have those defined lines drawn out and as a family we get, if one member is struggling, it is in the bigger picture’s best interest to get in and assist, helping us all to move along. Some days it’s more the people I work with that make my day, than the actual project itself, if the project, movie, commercial, or series is something special, well that’s just a bonus!

Putting this book together, is one of the most challenging things I have taken on, and I so want to create something “my family”, the crew will be proud of, now if I can just get them to write something already! It’s not all bad, the write ups I have received, have sometimes surprised and even blown me away with the insight and writing style. I think it’s a fantastic exercise to be able to put on paper how you see your position on a movie set. It allows you to give value to your input, give focus to your skill, and recognise your contribution adds to the quality of the end result…it is inspiring to know there is no other industry like “ours”! That this machine “the film industry” is unlike any other with the military procession in which it operates. Some days, I look around at the unique, talented, hardworking individuals I am rubbing shoulders with and have been off and on, for the last 20 odd years and I feel blessed. I guess that’s the reason the book is so important, it is an opportunity to give back to the remarkable individuals that I have had the pleasure of getting to know.

I am excited to get back into the book, full time in the next two weeks, and hopefully take it to the next level and get it that much closer to an end product.

The journey continues….