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.