The Glam Life
(exec. producer style...)
Atlanta, GA - A quick perusal of the fine pen and inkmanship of (I'm about to butcher a name here - and asking for forgiveness w/ malice aforethought...) Ms. Ariel, our property master will reveal no trace of your earnest (HAH!) blogger. Even the passing crackheads who were ruining the sound every other take are there. But where am I?
Probably out getting ice.
I always had this - ridiculously uninformed - notion that executive producing - (viz. 'writing checks and keeping out of the way of the people doing the actual work'...) would be, I don't know.... different? Space (and time and inclination) limitations preclude a varietal sampling of the indignities I have suffered as a result of this project.
But here's one: Being told to shut up (not in a mean way you understand) by a 26 year old is an odd sensation. I mean - it's the young lady's job and I have a mouth the size of the Kuiper Belt. There's a strange admixture of Zen and minimum wage drudgery which attaches itself to this experience.
Oh - did I mention the part about running errands? Anyone who knows me knows I'm not of the opinion that I am to important or talented to do grunt work. I do it all the time. My surprise is that MOST OF MOVIE MAKING IS GRUNT WORK.... what, you think all that shit the script writers in Studio City (or, depending on the writer, Brentwood) describe about 'movie making' is accurate?
You knew better.
And I should have.
But enough about me (can I get another HAH!, please?) - let me say something about the gang of Hollywood and New York showfolk I have fought this war with.
They are - God I hate this fucking word, but sometimes accuracy demands a dampening of personal preference - ... amazing.
These folks (well, a few of them, OK?) have tagged me with the 'amazing' spray paint. To this moment I have a tumorous feeling that they do this to all the naive 'executive producers' on their Freshman project. At this point, I don't really care if they think I'm amazing or not - I think they are. And they taught me a thing or sixty.
Grantham and Rose will wrap tomorrow and we will have a little party and all go home. In coming months, I will learn wether I am in a new line of business, or simply another victim of vanity publishing; either way, I'm OK. Well, in fact, I prefer not being such a victim, but if I turn out to be, I will keep my mouth shut. After all, I got myself into this. The 26 year old A.D. with the steely and effective authority (I did, in fact, shut up when told to do so) never asked me to dive off this cliff.
Geronimo Kiddies - - -
See you at the movies (or in the funny papers) - the Universe shall decide which course. In due course. Of course.
M. Lee
granthamandrose.com