Michael Moore

When I worked on the Michael Moore documentary,
"Capitalism: A Love Story," I had to sneak a couple of photos. I couldn't believe I was getting this opportunity to work on one of his films. It was a whirlwind shoot but the film crew intuitively knew how to make it all go smoothly. I was involved in the pre-production by scouting locations and working on permits. During the production, I assisted in the logistics of filming that occurred on and around Capitol Hill. I used my DC connections to help line up support with the locations. The best part? Seeing my name on the big screen in the movie credits. It looked good.

Tribeca Film Festival

In the spring of 2008, I moved to the Big Apple to work for the "Tribeca Film Festival." As an Operations Manager, I managed coordinators and volunteers in carrying out the pre-to-post production needs for all of the departments’ screenings and signage needs. In that year, the festival screened 700 films in venues all over Manhattan to an estimated 155,000 attendees. On the festival’s opening night, I had the opportunity to produce a screening for Canadian Director Guy Maddin’s "My Winnipeg" which was shown in conjunction with Isabella Rossellini's "Green Porno."

I also worked on other festival activities from coordinating the festival’s permits through the various city agencies to managing some of the sponsors' needs at the screening and after-party venues. The highlight of the festival was when I was pegged to work the press junket for Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal. It was amazing to be in the same room with this legendary actor (he was in The Godfather!). He wasn't as thrilled to be there answering the same questions all day long over and over again under bright lights. At one point, I offered to get his drink, a coffee and a tea. When I nervously placed it next to him, I envisioned him engaging me in conversation and eventually inviting me over for a dinner party. But, as I headed back to my seat instead I heard him say, in a dead-on DeNiro impression squinting into the lights, "Where's my spoon? They forgot my spoon."

McCain Documentary

I met Joe McCain, the brother of Senator John McCain, while working at a production company in Alexandria, VA. The company had produced a timeline website for Senator John McCain’s campaign. Joe, who was actively campaigning for his brother, called himself "The Discount John McCain" due to their striking resemblance.

While working at the production company, I enrolled in a documentary class at "Docs In Progress" and decided to do a documentary about Joe. I called it “Joe, The Brother.” We conducted our first interview a few weeks before the election. At that time it was unknown if Joe's brother would become the Leader of the Free World.

After I finished editing the documentary, Joe invited me to the Naval Academy in Annapolis for his nephew’s graduation. It was the fourth generation of a John Sydney McCain to graduate from the Academy. Recently elected President Barack Obama would be giving the commencement speech.

After the graduation, we headed to a local Inn for a luncheon with the McCain family. I made my way to Roberta McCain, the 97-year-old monarch of the family. I had met Roberta during my filming of Joe’s documentary and was in awe of her. She had appeared on the Jay Leno show the night before.

Senator McCain entered the room and walked directly to me with his hand outstretched, “John McCain.” I introduced myself and congratulated on him on his son’s graduation. Joe later introduced me again to John while we were all fixing our plates of food from the buffet of crab cakes, asparagus, and soufflé. Joe said that I worked for the production company that created his campaign website. John retorted, “That’s why we lost the election.” Laughter broke around the room. I smiled and said, “I’ll take the blame for it.” Senator McCain smiled and winked at me.

Firsts

In the winter of 2007, I worked on my first musical docu-tragi- comedy, “Courting Condi.” Also, the first in its genre. It’s a feature film that follows an aspiring musician Devin Ratray (Buzz from the movie "Home Alone") as he tries to woo someone who doesn’t even know he exists and probably never will, the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It was an interesting story and concept that the Director Sebastian Doggart worked passionately to carry out. It is the first film to win awards in both "Best Documentary" and "Best Narrative Feature" categories.

It was a great opportunity for me to work on this feature film. I was initially hired as the unit production manager which was a new title for me. I was responsible for scouting locations and lining up the filming permits around the nation’s capital. During the filming, I was promoted to associate producer and also took on some of the roles, like assistant director and make-up artist. It was a small crew and by the end of working two weeks of twelve-to-fourteen hour days together, we were like family.

We were the first crew to film a musical in front of the White House. The scene portrayed Devin trying to garner the attention of Dr. Rice, before walking a few blocks over to the State Department where she technically works. Through social media outreach, our production team coordinated a hundred extras to meet in front of the White House to then participate in a choreographed dance with Devin. Since I’d obtained all of the necessary permits, the White House security guards were easy to work with and actually seemed to enjoy being a part of the film.

We also filmed at the steps in Georgetown nicknamed after William Blatty's film, "The Exorcist." It’s an eerie feeling to be on those steps, at night, with smoke pouring out of a machine. We’d rented a smoke machine with the plan to pump the smoke out of PC tubing. The production assistant, who was in charge of buying the supplies, arrived with ten feet instead of the hundred feet of tubing that had been requested (similiar to the Stonehenge scene in "Spinal Tap"). The director wanted her to go back to Home Depot to get the extra tubing but it was rush hour and we were losing time so I encouraged him to consider an alternative. I think it was the first time a director had taken my advice. Fortunately, the smoke drifted down the steep steps in the right direction and he was able to get his shot.

There were a lot more firsts for me that I experienced on this production, both comical and educational. Most importantly, I learned how crucial an accurate "call sheet" can be for a day’s shoot, even if it means staying up til 4 AM to finish it; instead of informing the director of something he can’t do, figure out a way he can do it; if you put hard work into the details, things will pay off.