Today was a great day. A beautiful sunny day in L.A. and me getting to do what I love most, work on a feature film. That would have been enough to make it a good day, but working at the AMAZING Air Hollywood studios with such incredible people made it great. It was a last minute opportunity to work for a friend of a friend (both LMU alums) and I jumped at the chance. I’m so glad I did!
The shoot was at Air Hollywood’s sprawling complex in the North Valley. Here’s the link, because you’ve got to check this place out: www.airhollywood.com.
Looking around the place was like being a kid in a candy store, only better. All kinds of hit movies like Flight, Bridesmaids, and Kill Bill have used these facilities, as well as television shows like The Newsroom, Lost, Californication, and Modern Family. And, of course, the movie Airplane!.
The guys at Air Hollywood were terrific. They were friendly, helpful, and I really hope I get to work with them again soon. They even insisted on sharing their lunch with us. This place has everything and, for my fellow student filmmakers out there, they offer student discounts.
This afternoon we were shooting a scene for the upcoming feature, Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant, a comedy directed by Sam Friedlander and produced by LMU alum Ted Kroeber. The film features an all-star cast including Stanley Tucci, Rebecca Romijn, Marcia Gay Harden, Jason Alexander, Henry Winkler, and Mark Feuerstein (in the title role).
Our shoot today was a special effects scene and, as it turns out, the final shooting day of the production. We needed closeups of the landing gear. The shot required a (large) piece of (airplane-less) landing gear to be rolled across the frame with a giant green screen set up behind it. In order to roll the wheels, we used a forklift to hold the assembly upright and grip equipment to stabilize it so that it didn’t wobble around too much. Even though it was only one shot, it took hours and was much more complicated than I imagined.
Now that shooting is complete, Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant goes into post-production. The film comes to a big screen near you sometime in 2014.
