What It Was Like Interning Under A Hollywood Actress?

I remember when the bulletin came into my email. A film production company called Megamind Media needed Production Assistants (PA), Assistant Cameras (AC), Gaffers, Grips, Assistant Directors (AD) etc. to work on a feature film called, The First Lady of BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story, directed by Vivica A. Fox and executive produced by Judge Mathis. (Oh my gosh). My heart starts racing because this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. But reluctantly, I didn’t apply right away. The production needed these crew members to work 5 days a week for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make that type of commitment because I already have a full-time job.

After about 30 minutes of debating about what to do, I decided to call Melissa at WIFV to ask for advice on whether she thought I should still apply if I could only be available on the weekends. Luckily, she advises me to send the producer an email and ask if they’ll accommodate my situation. So, that’s exactly what I did. I responded back to the producer who sent the bulletin explaining my availability and asked if I should still apply for one of their PA positions. She responds back and says “Yes. Please send me your resume”. (Whew).

Fast forward, it’s a month and half later. It’s my first day on the set. Instead of a production assistant, they gave me a position as a “casting intern”. I thought, “That’s perfectly fine with me”. I made sure to get there extra early, so I wasn’t lost during the actual production chaos. I pulled into the parking lot and there’s people everywhere. There were 6-7 huge trailers parked along the side of the road with huge Megamind logos, trucks were moving heavy car props into their proper corners, and crew members were setting up a lot of intricate equipment. I was in complete awe and a little confused for a minute.

Eventually, I got a grip on myself and started asking around for Audrea, the producer who sent out the bulletin. She then led me to a filmmaker named Curtis who immediately gave me a walkie-talkie. He decides to have me assist the lead actress for the film then changes his mind to have me assist with the background actors. So, he assigns me to a woman named Akiba, an actress, and one of the background casting directors. Then, the day officially begins.

Akiba informs me that as soon as the background actors come in, I need to make sure that all their paperwork is submitted, take them to get their covid test, and then into their trailers where they would wait until their scene is called. The first background actor soon arrives, all his prep work has been completed, and then we waited. Boy, was there a lot of waiting. About an hour later, Akiba gets a call letting us know that the background actor is needed at the scene in the next 20 minutes.

Akiba calls the transportation driver, and we’re off. About ten minutes later we arrive at the actual shooting location where over 20 crew members stood by waiting patiently for the scene to start. Security guards were constantly directing people to walk around the set, hair stylists were holding 4 different head manikins with different wig styles for the lead actress, and make-up artists were doing last-minute touch-ups on the actors in the scene.

And there she was, Vivica A. Fox in the flesh. I didn’t notice her at first because she was dressed in normal, everyday clothes. Her energy was sky-high. Then, my attention was interrupted. I hear Akiba talking about a slight problem – the wardrobe of the background actor didn’t quite fit his film character. We didn’t bring any extra clothes. So, one of the AD’s decides to give the actor her coat and hat and surprisingly it worked. It was time for the scene to start. The actor went in and completed his scene in just one take. Just like that, he was done for the day.

But Akiba informed me of a huge film lesson, “As soon as background actors arrive on set, immediately get them to wardrobe to check their clothing and then to hair and makeup because once the director is ready, there’s no turning back”.

We took that lesson with us for the rest of the 12-hour shoot day.

Other Posts You May Be Interested In:

• The Importance Of “Live” Auditions In Film
• Who Inspires Me The Most In Film? (Female Edition)
• Is A Gaffer Important On A Film Set?

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