Awe, man! And now I need to replenish the tissue supplies, too, and make certain neither of the boys comes down with it. Those are my major concerns for the moment, but enough about icky things.
I spent the day yesterday in the company of friends and good people (strange people, really), but the friends were the best part.
The early part of the day began with sunshine and hungry kitties, and plans to head to our tiny little downtown weekend Farmer's Market and score some excellent local produce! I was disappointed to find the FM not up and running as usual on this particular bright Saturday morning, but that an arts and crafts show was set up instead in the park across from the location of the FM normal haunts.
Bummer!
I guess this town can only handle one thing at a time...and without any sort of notice about the loss on the website, I found out the hard way.
Now, I know it's not the end of the universe, and I can buy a tomato and corn on the cob from a supermarket. But the taste buds want what the taste buds want, doggone it! and I wanted to give them their desires.
So, Jean and I wandered around the artsy fartsy stuff, and took note of some great things (few and far between) and laughed at the rest. Mostly, we had fun watching the dog walkers and their pooches - so many different breeds!
From there, we went to Main Street to hit up the bakery for a few tasty treats to make up for not getting yummy produce. Back home, I made smoothies and then got on the road.
Armed with a couple copies of my resume and working credits, I drove to Detroit for the balance of the day. I met up with Maria at Sindbad's (yes, the correct spelling - go figure) to watch/take part in the selection process of pitches to Rollin' On - Transforming Motown to Movietown. We thought we were to take part in the selection process - give comments, thumbs up/thumbs down to pitches - which is the normal process in this type of venue. Instead, Rollin' On used our 'participation' to simply drum up business for the restaurant and bar while they used the space provided to glorify the pitch session. For some silly-ass reason, they even employed make-up folks to apply their trade to the pitch people, and had at least 5 cameras rolling video during the process. Not to mention the 3 - 4 people wandering around taking photos of people and the action. (The lighting attempt was crap, and it was obvious there, too, nobody understands basic 3-pt lighting, let alone the idea of creating a natural compliment to natural lighting.) I watched in horror as the 'camera people' botched shots and left the equipment simply run unattended. And when it became necessary to adjust shots due to height variations or single presenters (RO called them "contestants") becoming duos or groups during a pitch, it became glaringly obvious these camera men didn't have a clue as to how to smoothly adjust a camera!
I WANT A JOB! I'll take their job - they don't know how to do it!
It was poorly run and no real regimen was followed, either. Pitches are normally limited to 3 - 5 (maybe six) minutes - sometimes no more than 2 or three minutes...but some of these folks went on forever! There were six panelists representing the 'studio' doing the lookie lou for a new show or [however many], and they were clearly bored much of the time (and disinterested - so much so that much of the time there was not much follow-up Q&A to many of the presenters we saw).
Also, these 'contestants' were obviously not told how to prep, or what to bring with them to give to the panelists - like a copy of your synopsis, your treatment, your crewing breakdown, etc. Without standards to follow, these people end up thinking there is nothing to showing up for a session like this in the future, and when it might be for a professional network (or studio), they will arrive with empty arms and no clue as to what to expect.
What a disappointment.
A woman from one of the associated [faux] production teams, agencies, whatever, walked up to Maria and hugged her, mistaking her for somebody else. So, Maria turned Deborah's attention to me and said "This is my friend, Beth, who has worked on several...Beth, you tell her," and left the door wide open for me to make my own pitch.
God bless you, Maria!
Luckily, I had my poop in one sock, and deftly handed her a copy of my papers and mentioned a few of my experiences while she listened. She said she would hand it to Jody (something-or-other) and would mention me to her, hoping it would lead to future work. We shall see. With everything going on there yesterday, I wonder how far my resume and credit sheet made it, in the grand scheme. In all of the confusion, I wouldn't be surprised if those pages became scrap paper!
But, wouldn't it be cool if I came back from Florida to an offer of some somewhat regular work?!
Yes, I say, yes it would!
After listening to 17+ pitches, Maria and I decided to head out. That's when we found out there was no real reason for us to be there - no comments or participation from us was required - that we were simply seat fillers to make their day out seem worthy of attention.
This was why we signed releases? Come on!!! We saw only one really good idea, and one more with promise...but that's two out of more than 17!
And yes, I know those are pretty good odds, but what a waste of our time!
Still, I got to spend some time with Maria, and we ended up leaving Sindbad's and she took me on a lovely, EYE OPENING tour of Grosse Pointe Woods, City, Manor, Lanes, Park, Arbor, Landing, Trailer Park, Farms.
Wow! I had never been down river before that I can remember - at least, not there, and it was beautiful! Not only that, but Maria's house was beautiful as well! It is in a Detroit neighborhood "just the other side of" one of those Grosse Pointe-burbs, but what a lovely neighborhood! Her refrigerator is bigger than my living room, and if I could, I would be her neighbor.
She showed me her quilting/crafting area - and she has space! What a set-up. She has cable and the washer in arms reach for getting right to business, and plans, plans, plans - but no time. Why does that sound familiar? ;^)
With school consuming much of her time, she is doing what she can to organize, but would rather be having fun making things instead. Trust me, kid, I know that song and dance. She was bitten by the quilting bug a short while ago, and has been building a stash like there's no tomorrow. Add that to her beading and jewelry making, and all the other creative sewing she manages, and there's a recipe for a no-time-to-spare meltdown.
Anyhow, all this to say I had a great day, and I am looking forward to heading downriver after I return from FL to spend some time gabbing and sewing (or whatever) with Maria for a bit before the next big adventure. She is having fun.
Thank you, Maria, for the fun day in Detroit! It was great seeing you - and I am a lucky person to have a friend like you.
Needless to say, I will also be taking the boys down to that area to see the loveliness which is greater Detroit during the holidays. Maria says they really deck the place out, and that I would like to see.
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