[Reported on June 11, 1997 by Catherine Valeriote]

This entry heralds a new chapter in the keeping of this journal. We are now accepting articles and submissions from other writers. The making of our film is creeping along at a snail's pace. In the interim, we thought it might be enjoyable to give the floor to someone who actually has something to SAY.

 

Our first outside article is from Catherine Valeriote. Previously she has written for the L.A. Times, L.A. Reader and Cosmopolitan. She is also an experienced TV news reporter.I hope you find her take on the Role of the First Assistant Director as informative and enjoyable as I did. Please let her know what you think of her work via e-mail. -- Jerry

"BRING IN THE CONGA LINE"
(or THE ROLE OF THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR)

Despite the slightly misleading title, the Assistant Director is not generally a creative genius who is working his way up to being a Director. Instead, the AD is a management type with the practical skills to help get the Director's aesthetic vision onto film. 2nd AD Bob Kozicki, for example, used to be a corporate middle manager with McDonald's hamburgers. His experience making company videos led him to apply for the Assistant Directors Training Program. "I like film, and wanted to make a career of it. I felt my skills lay in organizing and coordinating things, as opposed to the creative side of it." Kozicki sees the assistant director job as a career track leading to unit production manager and ultimately, he hopes, producer.

Kozicki says a good first AD has to be able to make a plan and communicate it to others. As far as concrete duties go, that means breaking down a script by scene into its basic elements (location, actors, time of day, props, effects) and using that breakdown to make a shooting schedule. The First makes sure everything necessary for each scene is there at the right time- effects, props, extras, etc., and essentially runs the set during shooting. (He's the one who yells "Rolling! Background!" and echoes the Director's "Cut!) When the First forgets to communicate, it can mean Trouble with a capital T.

Once, on the set of NBC's "Sisters," Kozicki recalls, his 1st AD radioed him to set the background actors for a big celebration scene. Kozicki organized several dozen extras in what he thought was a pretty festive party, and was congratulating himself on how good it looked. Then the First radioed him again , "OK, now bring in the Conga line. "What? Kozicki panicked. Conga line? What Conga line? Nobody told him about any Conga line! Luckily, the First realized he'd neglected to mention the dancers, and Kozicki had enough extras to improvise a Conga. Whew!

The 2nd AD makes up a daily call sheet, so the crew and actors will be there in time to prepare for their scenes. The 2nd AD is often responsible for ordering and directing background actors, and for coordinating transportation and catering services. Writing a production report at the end of the day means the 2nd is just about the last person to leave, usually at the end of a 15 or 16 hour day.

Actors' egos can be a real thorn in the side of the AD. Some stars are just too BIG to return calls and confirm their start times. Others refuse to be the first on set because they cahn't, cahn't, cahn't be bothered to wait for lesser performers. On one show, Kozicki says, "Trying to get them all in one place at a time for a family scene was like trying to wrangle geese. One would get there and see nobody else was there, and leave. We'd have to keep shooing them back. It was impossible."

Working on a low-budget film has extra challenges, he says. "In many ways you're dealing with people that may not have done the particular job they're doing before- there's the experience factor." On his current project, the independent feature "The Stonecutter," the director has directed only student films before, the producer has produced only music videos and commercials, and the unit production manager is a first-timer as well.

"Also, " he says ,"The typical job responsibilities are a lot more flexible and amorphous than on a regular show. Some of the job titles may not correspond to what you're used to." The Stonecutter"s key costumer actually asked the producers if they would go out and shop for the actors' clothes. "And you're dealing with kind of a volunteer group, so they may not always be available to you. It makes scheduling harder."

Kozicki himself is using this low-budget film to get his first extended experience a 1st AD. Practicing with the computer scheduling program "Movie Magic" has already made it worthwhile. And he's learned a bit about the care and feeding of a 1st -time director. "The Director of Photography and I are still trying to persuade him that nighttime interiors don't have to be shot at night...."

Kozicki is impressed with the quality and experience of some of the crew members who are willing to work "payment deferred." (They get paid only when/if the movie is sold.) But he's also seeing what an uphill battle it is to get a small-budget picture out there. "After looking at the resumes of the people coming into the office, you've never heard of most of these independent features. Which leads me to believe a lot of these things just go down a rathole and never get distributed." (Don't be depressed. Think "Pulp Fiction," "Swingers," "Sling Blade.")

Finally, Kozicki says, the most important thing he's learned about low-budget production is that the plan should be in place before anyone is brought onto the crew. "Because, " he says, "planning is free. It doesn't cost any money to have a plan."