They'll Never Work In This Town Again.

Look, I am not a slave driver. I do not subscribe to the frat boy theory that "because I was hazed as a freshman, these freshman deserve to be abused as well" BUT I think when you enter a profession there are certain gimmees...

- If you do construction, chances are you will lift heavy stuff
- If you are dentist, chances are you will, at one point in your career, deal with teeth
- If you go into the entertainment industry, the hours are long

None of the above should be a surprise.

Now, in the entertainment industry there are "above the line" jobs and "below the line" jobs. Below the line are the craftsmen - the grips, the stagehands, the drivers, lighting etc. These are all heavily unionized meaning overtime, meal breaks, 7th day penalties etc.

The above the line folks are the producers, directors, writers etc. Their schedules are more in the gray area. Why? Because they are in charge, they have the production riding on them, and they are compensated for it.

On my shoots I am working alongside cameramen, sound guys etc. They get over time, they get set meal breaks, they get turnaround penalties etc. I do not. Is it fair? Yes. Why? Because I make three times more than them. They have reached the ceiling of their profession. For me, the sky is limit. I can be a little pee on producer on an industrial commercial or I can be Joel Silver. It's wide open.

Why am I talking about all this? Well, the above TMZ article totally kills me. Two PA's bitching they worked more than 8 hours? Who the fuck do they think they are? They are in the wrong field. They are PA's. Entry level. This is the job description. They can go two ways - work their way up to a below the line job and get their meal penalties etc, or work their way up to an above the line position and try to rule the world. Either way they have to pay their dues.

Hearing them complain is like Private Benjamin asking, "Is green the only color these come in?" What the fuck did they think they were signing up for?

Get out now while you're young because after filing a complaint like that, they will never work in this town again.

Who Else Will Have Us?

In this post-911, Iraq War nation much is said about how lucky we are to live in this country. I agree of course. For all its flaws, America is still a country and an idea I believe in.

I have been asked many times, "If you couldn't live in the US, where would you live?" I have given a lot of thought to this, and with all the traveling I have done in recent years I have gotten a good taste of life elsewhere. This "taste" has made me realize, "Where else would you live?" is not the question. The real question is, "Who else would have us?"

I have been through Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and many places in between and have learned one important lesson. People all over the world hate Americans.

I have been hassled at customs while people from all nations have walked through unbothered. I have been charged more for stuff, denied directions, all for being a big dumb American and allegedly supporting George W. Bush (because after all, as an American, I single handedly put him in power).

So the next time you say to yourself and others, "There is no other country I would rather live in," keep in mind that not only do you live in arguably the best nation on the planet, it is also most probably the only one that will have you.

Canada, ay.

I have been in Whistler, BC for 5 days now and I have:

- taken a 19 passenger snowcat to the top of a mountain in the dark
- taken a helicopter above the clouds to a mountain top so a snowboarder could jump out and board down
- driven snow mobiles at 73 km/hr
- put Gene Simmons in a dog sled

Tomorrow we are going out to a glacier so a pro-snow mobiler can attempt a world record jump.

Not bad.

Fredo is so sensitive

I am blatantly lifting this from Marc's blog, but it had to be done.