Jake & Will: CONTEST WARRIORS

Two filmmakers chasing the dream of producing their first feature film...
...and financing it solely through winning video contests.



Yesterday I went on my first job for a new company. This company sends you out on behalf of another company that needs video content for local businesses. I couldn't sleep the night before because I was excited and nervous about the job and wanted everything to go smoothly.

I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed and proceeded to make sure that my batteries were charged, I had all the proper paper work, and I knew where the location was. I had to be there at noon so I left some time to pick up tapes at the local pharmacy. However, I didn't print out directions to the place because all I had to do was stay on one street all the way to Beverly Hills. I got the tapes, drove over there, parked, got out of the car and proceeded to look for a place that wasn't there. There was 1140 and 1142, but no 1141! I panicked, called Will, and proceeded to yell into the phone that there was no 1141. He said, "why didn't you just take my gps?" That was a fair point, and he helped me out by giving me the phone number of the place I was supposed to be at fifteen minutes ago. I called and realized that I wasn't on San Vincente but an entirely different street.

I got out of the car on San Vincente only to see my friends Blake and John drive past laughing manically. A pretty big coincidence seeing as I never get over to this side of town. As they drove past I spotted the place across the street. I parked illegally, introduced myself to all the people inside and started to offload equipment. My friend Nic came in and dropped off the lights and started helping me set up. When I turned around the owner of the store tripped, fell on her face, her shoes went flying, her dress went over her head, and I sat there stunned before helping her up. She exclaimed, "Who left this here?" She pointed to what looked like a boom pole. I looked up at everyone staring at me, "I did." She brushed herself off and patted me on the shoulder.

Nic and I finished setting up and started to test the equipment. That's when we discovered the shotgun mic didn't work. We tried everything. Plugging and unplugging all the wires, changing the battery, blowing on it. Nothing worked. We left the shotgun set up and used the on board mic, which one should never do because it sounds like people are in a wind tunnel. I composed myself and began the interviews. Due to stage fright the manager of the store decided to buy wine for everyone so they could loosen up. By the end of the day everyone loved me, I was a little drunk, and the video came out looking very professional. A happy ending to an otherwise ridiculous affair.

2 comments:

Mitch(Dad II) said...

As the MasterCard ad says..."Priceless.."

KSI said...

Aw Jake, You're so cute :)

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