trippy trip

so i suppose i haven't clued you all into what this "cool project" of mine is exactly. i've signed my life away to a confidentiality agreement, so i can't say much. BUT, i can say that the oh-so-secret project is a documentary about m. night shyamalan. i have a small role in designing a portion of it and honestly can't say much more than that at the moment.

yesterday was the big business trip. i got another paid train ride down to Philly to meet with mr. producer of "the documentary" and the big wigs on night's new film called the village. mr. producer is being ultra cool about the whole thing, bringing me in as this "top designer" so i feel all legit with the fancy people and shit (i'm usually totally intimidated in those situations). so it's great! anyway, i got picked up from the station and got wisked away to the oh-so-secret closed set of the village. it was literally in the middle of nowhere in pennsylvania. couldn't even tell you where we were...just some creepy-looking ultra rural woodsy area with a smattering of trees, a couple horses and a big stone house. the security was intense! when driving up to the main entrance, there were about 5 guards asking who we were, then a checklist, then a call on the walkie to the production trailer and finally the OK. insane! made our way to trailer village, which consisted of literally about 50 trailers: the production office, the make-up and wardrobe trailers, the camera, lighting, gaffing, and transpo trucks, wardrobe, huge bathroom trailers, not to mention the stars' fancy motorhomes (i mean just check the cast line-up here--DANG!).

i was taken in to meet night's righthand man and the PR people for the "documentary." we had a great hour long meeting, with ideas flying around. so nice to be amongst people with good, smart ideas! didn't feel hollywoodish at all. i hate to say it, but i think the difference between LA and NY is that people in the production world actually have intellect, not just hot air in their brains. that's been my experience so far. it was refreshing to be in a group of people sharing clever thoughts. i also realized that i LOVE the research process of a project...and these PR people had really done their research and i was on the same page with them. something to think about (always great to discover what you actually like and are good at!).

so the most bizarre part about this whole job is the small world aspect that came up. i knew my old roommate, josh was working on a film in pennsylvania, but i had no idea what it was. i mean, how many big budget films can be shooting in penn. anyway? turns out, he is on the village. how random is that? so night's righthand man loved this and asked if i wanted to see josh. of course i did. so he called him down from set to come into the office. he opens the door and there i am! it was great! we caught up for a bit and he had to run back to set. while i was chatting to josh, i missed my opportunity to meet night himself. oh well. hopefully i'll be back to the set before they wrap. i know, i know, i keep saying i wanted to get away from hollywood bullshit, but this was a really positive experience (besides all the "hush-hush"-ness of it). i guess it's just about knowing the right people and feeling legit about the job you are doing. ah, aging...gotta love it.