Take Two

Shooting a documentary in NYC

You always hear stories about how boring it can be on a movie set. How most of your time is spent waiting. Waiting for the crew to get the cameras set up, adjust the lighting, get everyone in position, establish what’s going to happen when the camera starts rolling. When I boarded a plane for New York last Thursday on the invitation of a couple of documentary filmmakers who are making a film about fortune cookies, I was expecting a fairly simple procedure. Sitting in a room with a camera and answering some questions. But it turns out these guys are serious. And I quickly learned that I never want to be an actor. Because a day and a half of going through that waiting, preparing, shlepping the equipment to the next location, going through the routine again. A lot of it is boring. A day and a half was just about right. But aside from the waiting, this trip was an absolute blast.

I realized how serious these guys are taking this project when my Uber dropped me off at the address they had given me in Brooklyn, and after meeting Ed de Carvalho, the director, I said “So you live here?” and he said “Oh no, we just rented this for the shoot.” They had scoped out potential places that people rent out for movie shoots, and chosen this house because it looked like a place where a writer might live. The place was charming, filled with interesting art and funky furniture. And they had also rented massive amounts of equipment, including two cameras.

The crew, which consisted of three guys, were all Australian. Ed and Tom Sacre met when they were on the same rowing team in college, and have been friends ever since. While Ed went into the advertising business, which eventually brought him to New York, Tom has been working as a news reporter in Sidney for years. He comes from a long line of journalists, including his father, Howard Sacre, who was one of the producers of the Australian version of 60 Minutes. Ed now works as a freelancer making ads, but both of these guys have a passion for documentaries, and have made several in their ‘free time.’ For this shoot, Tom took two weeks’ vacation to come to New York to shoot.

Ed De Carvalho, Moi, Tom Sacre

I haven’t spent a lot of time around Australians, but if these guys are any indication of what the country is like, I want to go visit. They were fun, hilarious, and they say reckon just as much as you might expect. I didn’t hear Mate as much as I expected though.

The third crew member, a younger fellow named Matt, was the choreographer, and when the three of them started talking about adjusting the camera for angles, light, and proximity, I felt like I had stepped into a foreign country. I didn’t understand a word they were saying, but it was amazing to watch Matt discuss what he wanted, then dip into one of the many cases that surrounded us and pull out just the piece of equipment he needed.

Because I arrived in the afternoon, we spent the rest of the day Thursday shooting filler shots, of me pretending to write, or contemplating as I stared out the window. They spent a lot of time finding just the right light and framing each shot. And after we wrapped, it took nearly a half hour just to break everything down since they had to take most of the equipment home for the night. And as a conscientious Montana boy, I really wanted to help them each time they were loading and unloading. They would have none of it. I heard “Stay right there, mate! Just relax,” more times than I can count.

Then we had a lovely Vietnamese meal in Greenwich Village, which was exciting and invigorating. The thing I have always loved most about New York is the energy of the city. It runs through you like a jolt of pure joy, and since it was warm enough to sit outside, we got a good dose of people watching. Then I caught an Uber to my hotel, and this was kind of hilarious. The Uber dropped me off in front of this building, and I spent about five minutes walking in one direction and then the other looking for my hotel. I was starting to panic, so I went into another hotel a couple of doors down and asked where this place was, and they said “It’s the pink one two doors down.” So down at the bottom of the window there, below the huge MADISON PSYCHIC sign, is the hotel sign. The next morning, when I was waiting for my Uber back to Brooklyn, a young woman got out of a cab with her suitcase and started wandering back and forth, piece of paper in hand, so I said “You’re looking for the hotel, aren’t you?” “YES!!" she said.

Day two was the interview, and I won’t bore you with more details, because it was mostly more of the same. But despite their total professionalism, we laughed a lot, and also talked about our lives. I grew to really like these guys. We went to a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, where we shot a few more scenes, then did some shots out on the street, and then in a park. We wrapped it up by five, and after sharing sincere good wishes and goodbyes, I went to meet a former student of mine, Emilya Naymark, who has published two novels since she took several of my online workshops. Emilya grew up in New York, but now lives about an hour north since her NYC cop husband retired from the force. I was so happy to meet her in person and find out she’s just as delightful in person as she was in my workshops. And when we stopped outside to take a selfie, three young women stopped and asked if we wanted them to take a photo. One of them suggested getting the Chrysler building in the background, and then they asked where we were from. When I told them I was from Montana, they said they have relatives in Bozeman, and that they love visiting there. I love these small moments. Another reason I love New York.

And after a wonderfully relaxed morning wandering around Manhattan, I boarded a plane and found myself seated next to this couple, Jody and Bob. Jody informed me that she and Bob had just returned from Nova Scotia, where they had gone on a cruise to celebrate their first anniversary. They were both eighty-five years old, and they had met on eHarmony. Better yet, it was the first marriage for Jody. My only regret is that I didn’t take another photo, because this one doesn’t do her justice. They were a lovely couple. Which was a perfect way to wrap up a lovely two days.