It is late afternoon in Seattle, we are shooting at Hidmo Restaurant off of Jackson and 20th in Seattle. The set is hectic with the Director discussing with the DP the next shot, a nervous energy ensues, people with various titles run around the set, the first AD yells "quite on the set, roll sound and action". The real drama begins, for the crew of $5 Cover, it is just another day at the office. To plan for a feature film, it takes month of preparation, rewrites, casting, locations, hiring the above and below line crew, it all takes time. By the time I am hired, the start date is usually days away; the producer, the UPM and other crew members have been working on pre-production for weeks.
We work on a five day week starting on Saturday and going through Wednesday, with Thursday and Fridays off, long days are the rule, but no one complains, we love our jobs. This is what makes working on films so special, we all have one common bound to make a great film.
What attracted me to this project was a chance to work in Seattle, and a chance to work on a feature film. The projects I work on are commercials, music videos and photo shoots, which I enjoy. Feature films are a rarity because most features use trailers and my speciality are high end motor homes. This is my first time in Seattle, what I like most about it are the people, everyone who I met so far are very nice. Working on $5 Cover is one of those projects that working on is such a joy, not only because of the crew and talent, the film itself is so interesting. The film is about local bands performing, and the story behind the group, it is more like a docudrama with music and comedy brilliantly blended in like hot mocha on a cold Seattle fall morning.
