Got the gig - an internship......but still, it's work

Yes, internships are typically unpaid. So if you like the idea of working for the chance to shine (in the hopes that those people you are shining in front of will ever recommend you to another production in town, or that you will ever work with them again) - go for it! If you like working your fanny off for the "love of the craft" and an unbridled "passion for film" (first, go suck on a lemon and tone it down a bit), then go for it.

When you are a kid, living at home, that's all good and well, and you have to take those lumps as a green, young commodity. But, when you are an adult with a mortgage and bills, and your pride is gone and hope is very, very dim (but you sort of remember how it smells), then internships are a cheap bastard's way of using you, and you are allowed to get upset when you work several films in a row as an unpaid PA. Invest some money and time, and then you can carry a chip for a while. Another gripe - off topic - is when 'a-holes' (looking for crew) also require you to have your tools, and that they should be allowed to use them during production without paying a package rate. I mean, if they are going to get the labor for free, at least compensate for the equipment.

Back to the regular program.

Now, in some instances, working an internship can be beneficial, and I would say that this feature (opera) I interviewed for yesterday is one of those mutually beneficial arrangements.

Also, this set of "above the lines" is picking up the tab for fuel (there and back, and anything in between), and feeding the life out of the crew - interns and paid posi's ("positions") - while they are on the clock. What's more, the producer and the director I met with were wondering WHY did I not go for one of the paid gigs when they were posted online?

"Quite frankly," I told them, "it looked like a joke ad the way that it was written. Just another doofus looking for work out of production people who want to work...for nothing, and if I am going to work for beer and credit and a chance for a copy of the finished product, I will choose what project I will do that on." They appreciated it, the honesty, and thought the original ad was poorly done also. Ah well. News on it all when I have more to report.

Other news:

In about 20 minutes, I am putting down another coat of the poly on the kitchen floor for the day - that will make layer three overall! With the weather cooperating fully, and the time factor in my favor, a fourth and final coat would be the best way to go - and will be completely doable tonight, too. By tomorrow, the barriers can come down and we can walk on it once more (cats included, the little fur monsters). In 72 hours following the coat drying, the new finish can take light to moderate use, but it will be 7 days until anything large can be brought in over the top of it - at least that's what the can says. The person who layed the floor said he could finish the heavy work (frig moved back in, stove installed, etc) a day or two afterwards...so who do you believe? I would be tremendously upset if the can label was correct and the hammering dude was wrong, and my beautiful floor suffered some hideous disfiguration because of it.

Time to go to work - on the kitchen floor, that is.

Oh, and before I forget, somebody asked what color I am painting the wall between the staircase and the back door. A: I have it narrowed down to deep purple, or a purple-tinged deep grey. One long elegant wall for display...whaddaya think? Yes, the funky green is disappearing with the new color.