(Jesse posing at one of our locations, Ammo Attic, in Melbourne, Florida)
A blurb from our Production Manager (featured above) about working with the crew of “Sasquatch With Muscles”:
ORIGINAL POST HERE
“Capstones, the word literally meaning “crowing achievement,” are the most involved films we undertake in school. While that’s not a requirement, it’s typical to invest the most time, money, and energy into one’s last film school film. For many of us, it’s the last project we’ll direct, produce, or photograph for some time as we each go our separate ways, trying to find out where we want to apply our education. I plan to move to Los Angeles, California and pursue a career in film production.
My friend and classmate Marco Cordero just finished directing his Capstone yesterday entitled Sasquatch with Muscles. During the shoot, I helped his producer/deity Michelle Roca with organizing and planning the day-to-day activities on set. My role on the project was “Production Manager,” though Michelle’s role as a student film Producer encompasses more of the real duties of a Production Manager. Michelle and I decided early on that my role on Marco’s film would be more of an assistant to Michelle, trying to make her job easier by doing the small but numerous tasks that quickly accumulate on set. Often times I’d steal her phone and make sure that all her text messages, voice mails, and production-related emails were responded to so that she could concentrate on more important issues like makingridiculous comments call sheets.
Students help other students on set without any monetary compensation.
On a good set like Marco’s, there’s a person that’s in charge of Craft Services, i.e., food. Food is the student equivalent to a paycheck. The better the food, the happier and more productive the crew. Craft Services is a hard position to fill on a student film shoot because you have to find someone who’s willing to do it but also someone who is talented and intelligent enough to get the job done. Michelle did just that by selecting her friend Nils Taranger. In fact, he was in charge of my capstone’s Craft Services and did an equally wonderful job. I think it’s time for a promotion.
Another form of compensation on set is networking. Working on someone else’s set is the best way to make friends and recruit people to work on your projects when it comes time. This is undoubtedly the most important thing to do while in film school. I wish I could have done more of this over the past few years, but having a part-time job makes this difficult.
Everyone on Marco’s set seemed to work together in a professional and intelligent way. When problems arose, so did people to take care of them. It was an educational experience too, as I would ask Marco many questions in an effort to steal his brain.”
