One Toe Through the Door

Tomorrow will definitely go down as one of the milestones of my life to date. I'm about to direct my first TV commercial for a premium diaper brand. It's not a terribly big project, but it counts nonetheless. They are going to show it on TV, which means it is important (to some people). We are shooting on DigiBeta instead of film. They are two small testimonial spots involving Mom and Baby talking about the diaper and how their lives are infinitely enriched by it. Mom does all the talking... Baby has been uncooperative so far. That's the problem with working with kids 9-12 months old. They just don't care.

It has been a very quick almost 2 years since I joined production. Abandoning theatre and the arts to, essentialy, sell out and start again at the bottom of an altogether different industry was a big leap of faith. It wasn't hard to do though. The time to move on was right and I had reached an impasse of some kind, real or imagined.

When talking about my career, God has been provident and I have worked hard over the last two years. I have never had so much focus in my life and the dividends are starting to pay off. I'm starting to get addicted to the mental sharpness that comes with paying attention. It really is quite brilliant.

So tomorrow I will get a nice chair, my very own monitor, my stopwatch, and someone will keep the peppermint tea flowing while I furrow my brow and think. Even if I don't know what I'm doing or what my next step is, I'm going to keep the brow furrowed. Occasionally I will close my eyes and hold my clenched fist over my mouth. I will talk to myself. I will wildly gesticulate in the corner. I will make ridiculous small talk with my clients and have lunch on a specially segregated table with a table fan already set up and use metal cutlery instead of the usual plastic forks. I will not repeat "Cut" in a loud voice. I will merely whisper it under my breath, audible only to my 1st A.D. I will establish eye-contact communication with my Director of Photography. I will torment my Art Director about the color progression from wheat to taupe. I will scream with joy and relief and thank God and my bosses from the bottom of my heart for this amazing opportunity. Once you get a good first toe in, the next step is to kick the door down, but one step at a time.

Lastly, for the first time in all my life milestones, or at least the ones that you can suitably prepare for (big exams, virginity, leading role in a play etc), I find myself prepared. I've paid attention, worked hard, sucked up, and I GET this. I haven't GOT something this much before (besides chicken pox and love... I'm still recovering from both). Defending my ideas and my direction during pre-production meetings has been like defending a thesis (at least I'm imagining it to be) and after FIVE rounds of defending and minor changes to my work, we are about to go to war.

Shit, did I pack my calculator? Do you want to come in for some coffee and then stay for breakfast? Positions please. Two minutes. Ok guys, stand by here we go. Roll Tape. Turnover... anddddddddd ACTION.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.