PM turned AD (???!!!)

As of one month ago I was still a college student at Seattle University and basically sure I wanted to be a Project Manager (PM) for an ad firm. In one month time I have graduated from said college and promptly began considering a life of assistant director work (AD). I blame Red Moon and Jimmy Marble and Co.

The shoot for Red Moon was fantastic. Fantastic in the sense that we hardly slept for 7 days, Ben and the other actors/sailors completely perfected their Russian accents, I only showered twice, I got my own clipboard for AD work, we had the most awesome lego-man-like costumes made by Mr. Martin Morse, our sets looked like a gosh-darn submarine thanks to one Ms. Adi, faux beards were aplenty (hat tip at Ms. Murphy), we had a real crew, we had a REAL intern, we all fell madly in love with movie making and each other and lastly, we had a minor fire on set. Don't worry, no flammable beards/costumes/actors were harmed -- only minor damage on the set that won't even be visible when we begin shooting again. Yup. I said again. We will be back in Los Angeles at the end of this month to finish shooting some last bits of Red Moon. Really, we owe the fire a thank you card. We all will be reunited in all of our Red Moon productivity-meets-creativity love and glory.

Which brings me to my next thought -- I need more productivity and creativity in my life. I am living in Portland now, post-college pre-career, feeling awfully in-between and all I can bring myself to think about is how much I loved making movies. I mean, we're talking loved it. Assistant directing was a job I didn't even have a full concept of prior to the Red Moon shoot and now I can't get the idea of "Reardonk, AD" out of my mind. AD work filled a niche in my creative meets organized self that I have never found before. I made spreadsheets, I posted schedules, I ran back to wardrobe and picked up a needle to help on costumes, I discussed camera angles, I picked up power tools, I swept the floor, I calmed people down, I got people excited ... it was everything I love all rolled up into one glorious, clipboard-wielding job. I'm really in love.

I don't know for sure yet if I need to take a complete shift from my PM plans for a world of AD'ing, but I do know that in the one month I have been done with school I have had countless discussions with folks and many daydreaming bouts that have led me to one solid concept. I can say with almost completely certainty (which is 80% more than should be expected at my current life state) that I want to work in an environment where I can help manage creative projects that I really believe in and surround myself with productive people that push me to make more and do more.


I'll let you know how this all pans out. I'm really curious myself.


More on Red Moon to come, I promise. If you haven't already, check out some of my cell-phone camera stills from shooting on my Flickr. There should be more photos put up soon on the Sirocco Research Labs' Flickr.