James Kanka

Last week I made a tough decision. “Clean House” was going down to San Diego for two weeks and the choice was given to go down with them and get two weeks of paid work or stay here in LA and look for other work. Personally, I knew what I had to do, here is why I stayed in LA. I’ve found since working on “Clean House” that as it’s a reality show I make connections in reality TV but not in features. Since I have no desire to stay in reality and every desire to work on features I’m forced to change things up and work on productions where I can meet people with the right connections. The problem as eluded to earlier is that I go back to finding jobs and the pay is not as consistent or even to be expected in some cases.

This weekend, for instance I worked 26 hours for no pay on a SAG short entitled, “Neighbors are Friends,” directed by Ariam Mogos, about a paranoid house wife that turns out to be… well, right. It was, however, a wonderful experience! Work is hardly work when you enjoy what you do and work with people you enjoy. It’s a great dynamic on set, each person has their own task but everyone is working towards the same goal. It is so different from a 9 to 5 in that everyday is different and every production a separate adventure with new challenges to face and new people to meet. One actor said in conversation, “I’ve met the nicest people I’ve ever met on set and the meanest.” I’ve got to agree with the first part, even after only two days it was hard to say goodbye to people.

Another great thing about about this weekend’s shoot was the actors. I can’t believe how actors manage to bring out some of the emotions they do. There was one scene where the wife was mad at her husband and yelled at him then cried when he tried to comfort her… wow. I felt like I was listening into a real fight, and it felt really awkward. Although I knew it was an act my brain still had trouble distinguishing, I wouldn’t want to play poker against any of them. The main actress was Tammin Sursok who apparently was pretty big on a teen series in Australia before moving to LA and even had an music album there. She is now on “Young and the Restless,” and recently shot the movie, “Spectacular” and “Crossing Over,” which has a whole host of great actors. Her husband, in the short, was actor Peter O’Meara, who was Lt. Norman Dike in “Band of Brothers.” They were both gracious and friendly which is not always the case.

I was most impressed by the DP and his lighting. He had a great eye and I learned a lot about light placement. I also worked with a dolly for the first time and now know how to set one up. I came on as a PA but worked as a Grip the second day. Still not sure what part of production I want to focus on but I don’t think I want to do grip, although I seem to get along with them well and I have the physical strength required. I’m glad to have the physical strength but I want a job where it’s not required and I’m in charge of more. I could do camera but I’m not sold on it yet.