Day Four Hundred and Seventy One of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Ran to Course Downtown

Ordinarily, I wake up early on Sundays to run to my free weekly yoga class at Lululemon. However, I would have to miss today’s class because I had to run downtown to my Fire Arms Safety course. It would be a slightly shorter run.

It was cool and overcast but not raining. Just a few days ago, I was wearing summer running gear and this morning, I was contemplating wearing gloves for the first time for this run. What a difference a few days make.

All Day Fire Arms Safety Course

I arrived at the ActSafe office in plenty of time before the class. ActSafe if an organization that provides courses for those in the film industry to do their jobs safely. For example, some courses might include fire arm safety, transporting propane, safety hazards on set or first aid. Once I cooled down from my run, I started to realize that it was quite cold in the room. I was a little sweaty and was starting to feel quite cold. I suspect that the building was still running their air conditioning.

I had signed up for the ActSafe course a few months ago but it had been cancelled at the last-minute due to low enrollment. I diarized the next scheduled class and waited a few days before it to inquire as to its availability. This time the course would go ahead. I signed up.

The course, Fire Arms Safety Course, Level One, was being taught by an Armourer who has been in the film industry for over twenty years. There are only six of them in the BC Film Industry. This course covers the use of fire arms in the film industry and the safety issues.

When I first started doing extra work almost twenty years ago, the regulations of using firearms on set was more lax than it is today. At that time, I might be cast as a police officer and given a plastic replica gun for my holster for example. Some extras might take it out of the holster and play with it or pose with photos of it.

Strict Regulations of Gun Use in the Film Industry

In recent years, the BC film industry has tightened up the regulations of gun use considerably. Whereas before, pretty much anybody (like an extra) could be provided with a fake gun, now they usually only hire those who have this fire arms safety course or who have a gun licence or military experience. That is the reason why I decided to take this course, to add it to my acting resume.

The students of this class were mostly crew who worked in the props department or special effects. There was only one other person besides myself, who were actors and he worked in theater, not film. The teacher geared the class more to the film crew.

It was a full day course from 10 to 5. We had so much information to cover that we really didn’t have breaks all day. We even worked through lunch hour, eating at our desks while he continued with the course.

The armourer brought plenty of guns of different sizes and ammunition for us to see and even handle so we could understand about them. It was interesting to see all of the replica or fake guns. I was surprised to hear that they could cost almost as much as a real one! I was also surprised to hear that our laws state that it doesn’t matter if a gun is a real one or not, the criminal will be charged as if it is a real one.

We learned that almost 85% of film productions will at some point have a gun used on set. That’s a lot higher than I thought it would be! Armourers are hired whenever there are gun scenes. They are licensed and have considerable experience dealing with such scenes. But it is the Prop master of the film who has the ultimate authority.

It was fascinating to hear about how a director or actor might have much input into how they want a gun scene to appear. It’s the armourer who has to help achieve that with complete safety in mind. If a close up of the gun being loaded is desired for example, one can tell if the bullets used are real or blanks. Sometimes, it would not be possible and the director would have to change his vision.

The armourer provided us with several industry situations. He had worked with Liam Neeson on a scene where he would be shooting a gun. If real ammo was used, there would be considerable recoil. But if real ammo were used, it would be too dangerous. So the actor was able to ‘fake’ the appropriate recoil to the satisfaction of the director.

One time, he had to work with an actress who was hired to be a police detective but absolutely refused to touch a gun, whether fake or not. I thought that was pretty odd that she would even take a role like that because there’s a pretty good chance that as a police officer, she would have to be shown using a gun. They had to work around it using stunt doubles and different camera angles to make it work.

He also discussed the tragedy of the death of actor Brandon Lee in The Crow which had been filmed twenty years ago now. Apparently, the prop gun that had been used the day before had unintentionally not been checked to make sure it had the proper ammo in it before it was used in a scene. After that, the safety and regulations were considerably tightened. What we learned from that was even blank ammo can cause extreme injury and even death. It was quite a sobering example.

At the end of the day, I felt that I had learned a lot. I was glad that I had taken this course and would recommend it to any actor or crew member. Unlike other countries, Canada is quite strict with gun use. The average person does not have any experience with fire arms. Few people take the two-day course that allows them to acquire a gun and possess them. There are very strict regulations about how they are bought, transported and stored at home. After taking the course, I have a lot more respect for the safety of guns, especially in the film industry.

Ran Home

It was after 5:30 PM by the time I started my run back home. I was feeling quite energetic and wondered if I should do a long run after all! I decided to just stick to my run home only because it would get dark before I’d be able to do any long distance.

Since my running accident last year, I am a lot more cautious about putting myself into situations where I might have an accident. Although I might have run in the dark in the past, I try to avoid it now since I might not see any hazards and might trip and fall.

The area around UBC is especially bad for unpredictable running surfaces or terrain. There are plenty of areas that have overgrown roots that provide uneven pathways. I would be hesitant to run that area even wearing a bright headlamp.

Worked on Retail Blog

I worked on my retail blog for a while tonight. In the last few weeks, I’ve been doing the bare minimum to maintain it. Tonight, I decided to try to get ahead and do more postings. After the long course today, it was good to get my mind off of things and work on it.

After a couple of hours, I was done. I had accumulated a few posts so I’d be able to concentrate on other things this week. I was satisfied as I shut off the computer. Today was a pretty full day and I was glad to get to sleep.

Day Four Hundred and Nineteen of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Sleep Problems Persist

I don’t know why, but I could not seem to fall asleep last night. I may have been keyed up from my union meeting last night, I don’t know. I tossed and turned until almost 4 AM last night. It didn’t help that my room was warm either. It wasn’t quite warm enough for me to want to turn on my noisy air conditioner though.

Lost Third Fantastic Four Filming to Louisiana

The BC Film industry found out that they have lost the third Fantastic Four movie filming to Louisiana largely due to tax incentives. Our present government’s tax incentives are simply not competitive enough with Louisiana’s, so the production up and left. Louisiana has been really aggressive with the marketing of their state as a film location.

The first two Fantastic Four movies were filmed here in Vancouver. I worked on both of them. I worked over two weeks of continuity for the first one. They had built a bridge for one scene and I was booked as an extra with my car to be parked on that bridge. For the second one, I worked two weeks, quit due to substandard work conditions and then returned to work another week when things improved. In both cases, having the job definitely helped to support me then.

So that’s why I was so sad to hear about losing this movie to another filming location. As I mentioned, Louisiana has become competitive attracting film productions to their state offering an investor tax credit and a labor credit. I was in New Orleans when they were filming The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. At that time, few productions filmed there. Since then I have heard of other productions filming there.

That news does not bode well for the BC film industry. Despite a strong Save BC Film campaign, we have not been able to get any changes to the tax credits that we offer film productions. The Canadian dollar continues to stay fairly strong whereas in the past, its weakness gave us a financial edge to US locations.

I was really optimistic of the immediate film prospects but now it’s been a week since I worked. When I talked with my friends at the union meeting last night, they were experiencing the same thing, sporadic work at best. My plan to do extra work these summer months and then to look seriously for ‘real’ work in the fall has not turned out to be so well thought out as I had hoped.

Job Search Twitter

When I was downtown, I saw some signs pointing to a job fair twitter page. I don’t really do much on twitter myself, but I have been noticing how much more companies are using it as a job candidate search tool. I saw girls who were holding signs that had the twitter info on them.

I’m still not really into twitter. I get the gist of it but am still not convinced of its effectiveness as a job searching tool. I do occasionally read the tweets of some job search gurus but I don’t see the originality in what they tweet that I couldn’t find elsewhere.

I also read the tweets of the company that I think I’d like to work for some day. To tell you the truth, I find some of the tweets frivolous and silly. It has made me re-think my impression of the firm and whether or not I would be a good fit. Still, I will keep monitoring them.

Home Insurance Seminar

I went to my insurance company for a seminar on home insurance. I saw an ad for this seminar in the paper and thought that it would be beneficial for me for two reasons, one, it would help me in making sure that I had the best coverage on my own home insurance and two, to see if it was an industry that I could see myself pursuing as a career. I signed up immediately.

I was surprised that there were as many people as there were. And this crowd wasn’t shy to ask questions and make comments. I was impressed with the presenter who was really informed and was able to field the questions deftly. I have to admit that although I’ve been getting home insurance with them for over fifteen years, I have put little actual thought into what I was buying.

Now that it’s been so many years since I initially purchased a policy, I figured it would seem a little embarrassing to start to asking questions. So when this seminar came up, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to see if my questions would be covered. I couldn’t be the only one with the same questions, could I?

Luckily, most of my questions were answered in this seminar. Living in Vancouver, many of us did have questions about earthquake coverage. I’ve had it as a separate policy for years, probably as a result from living overseas in earthquake-prone countries.

Insurance and financial services are pretty similar. I’ve often wondered how easy it would be to make the transition from financial services to insurance. Although I found the seminar interesting, I’m not sure if I could deal with it on a full-time work basis. One of my friends is taking the insurance sales exam. Could I really sell insurance? I don’t think so. I think underwriting would be more interesting though I hear that it’s much more of a time commitment to get licensed.

Once the seminar was over, I was glad that I had come. I had made some notes that I can go over with my insurance broker when I have to renew my policy in a couple of months. Instead of blindly nodding and signing, I will be able to ask questions and try to get the best policy that I can.

Day Three Hundred and Eighty Two of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Good Night’s Sleep Again

I somehow managed to fall asleep early last night, shortly after I returned home from the movie. I guess I was pretty exhausted because I slept right through the night and got up at a reasonable time this morning. It was good to have gotten a reasonable amount of sleep.

Worried About the Exam Again

I was still disappointed about the exam that I had written for my Elder Planning Counselor course yesterday but tried to forget about it. I still haven’t cleaned my study area with all of the texts and notes scattered about. I contemplated going through all of the material and seeing if I could figure out if I got more questions correct or at least enough to have passed the 70% mark. In the end I decided that I didn’t want to torture myself.

I had hoped that I’d be able to update my resume with the addition of this new designation but now, if I don’t pass, I won’t be able to do so until I re-write the exam. I had high expectations of getting on with my job search with a renewed confidence and sense of accomplishment after completing the course, but now I’m not sure. People had joked about taking this course for the sake of adding three more letters to the back of their name. For me, it was not like that. I was in it for the addition of skills or subject content to my resume.

Ran Downtown to Massage Appointment

Yesterday, I had been lucky and got one of the free massage appointments to the spa that is across the street from my extras agent’s office. They are a massage school and they offer reduced prices for services from students who are supervised by their teachers. My agency is given a limited amount of free appointments when they need patients on a last minute basis. I rationalized the expense because all I have to do is pay a tip.

Therapeutic Massage

I had been to this school once before. It’s usually very difficult to get one of the free spots otherwise I’d have come sooner. I had explained my whole situation with my running injury quite thoroughly in the first appointment. I had tried to get the same student that I had had the first time, but she was not there. Apparently, if the students are requested, they get some extra credit or something.

The student I had this time was also thorough and painstakingly careful about getting information from me via a physical examination and interview about my injured area. It turned out that we were around the same age and even lived in the same neighborhood. I was curious that she had decided to pursue a totally different career at our age, especially one that is so physical.

I was impressed with her abilities right away. She could tell from just a glance which was my injured arm and shoulder. She said that I was uneven and that I should make an effort to constantly correct my posture like while during brushing my teeth in the morning when I could see the difference in the mirror. I was totally not aware of that. She also suggested putting heat to the shoulder in the evening so that I could get blood flowing to the scar tissue area.

It had been an invaluable appointment. She had reminded me of all the points that my physiotherapist have given in the past. After that, she gave me a really good regular massage. One good thing which was an improvement from that last time was that my neck was not as tight. I have been making an effort to improve my posture, especially while on the computer and that has helped.

I thanked her and left as good a tip that I would have given to my regular masseuse at the spa I usually go to. I hope that I’ll be lucky enough to get another free appointment at least once a month. I have to compete for those against the others from my extras agency though. I think that it would really help in my shoulder recovery.

Picked Up Cheques from Agent

I had emailed my agent to ask how much the commission would be for the two cheques that I expected. To my delight, she said that I had three cheques waiting for me! I somehow forgot that I had one more cheque to come from a movie I had worked on weeks ago.

When I got to my Extras Agency office, the four staff members in the office were not too busy. They had sent an email to us conceding that it wasn’t very busy right now but to warn us that the BC film industry would be picking up very quickly next month. I had really hoped that that would become reality. They said that twenty-five productions were set to begin next month.

Ran Back Home

I ran back home in a happy mood. I had my three cheques to deposit. And my body felt great from my massage. And I had been able to get log in at least eight miles today for my running tally this week so far. Aside from the anxiety and stress I felt from thinking about my exam, today was a pretty good day!

Day Three Hundred and Sixty Two of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Woke to a Grey, Gloomy and Rainy Day

I had planned on running to UBC to volunteer this morning but I got a late email from my friend last night. I had sent him a sympathy card regarding the passing of his Grandmother last week. In the email he had asked me to attend the funeral service this morning and to help take photos.

Attended Funeral

It had been many years since I attended a funeral. I attended the funeral of my Grandmother’s cousin on Vancouver Island several years ago. I had only met her a few years before she passed away but we became fairly close.

Today’s funeral was not too far from me. I had to dig out my black suit that I usually wear for funerals and job interviews. It’s just as well that I did bring it out because I discovered that it had become too big for me. I did wear it but had to put a safety-pin in the back of the skirt. Better to know this now before I have a job interview.

The service was a beautiful and touching tribute to a woman who was obviously well-loved by her family and friends. I was able to take photos discreetly with my friend’s camera with a large zoom lens. There was a video and others taking photos as well. The camera was so heavy that it was difficult for me to balance with my weak arm and shoulder. It became rather apparent that I still need to continue my home physiotherapy exercises.

Even though I didn’t know his Grandmother, I was so touched with all of the outpouring of grief I had witnessed today. It made me remember of my Mom’s and Grandmother’s funerals so many years ago. Tears rolled down my face as I drove home.

Financial Stress Continues

I still haven’t received my pay cheque for working at the BC Election two weeks ago. I had been hoping for that extra day’s pay for the cancelled TV shoot and now would only get one day’s pay. I still have to wait for the TV commercial cheque that I did weeks ago, but I know that those ones take a long time to arrive.

I only have little over two weeks before my employment insurance claim ends. I never anticipated exhausting my claim. I really assumed that I would find a full-time job within a few weeks, at most a few months.

Talked With the Extras Casting Director

I returned the call from the Extras Casting Director. I told her that I was aware of the Force Majeure rule with productions and I hadn’t thought that I would get paid and if I had, it would just be a bonus. She hadn’t encountered this situation for quite a few years so she had to research what the current rules were.

I told her how much I enjoyed working on that production (they did the make-up shoot a few days later). She asked me where I had been, either inside the café set or the exterior and said that she would keep me in mind for any future shoots. Since I had worked inside this time, she could hire me for any shoots where they needed exterior people. I thought that this was nice of her to say, that she would consider me again.

I was reading Entertainment Weekly and saw a one page ad on the back cover for this TV show. That made me hopeful. If this show does well, it may continue being shot here in Vancouver which will lead to more extra work and production work for the BC Film Community.

Day Two Hundred and Thirty Five of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Home Physiotherapy Exercises

Although I had a fairly intensive physiotherapy session yesterday, I did manage to sleep well and did not experience much arm or shoulder pain. Nor did I have problems with coughing in the middle of the night! Is this what it means to have a good night’s sleep? It’s been so long, I barely remember.

I started to do my main home physiotherapy exercises. I felt as though I’ve reached some kind of breakthrough. It felt as if my range of motion has really improved! I felt quite flexible, not to the point of 100%, being normal, but at least better!

I think that the next thing that I’ll have to concentrate on is getting my strength back. I think that I am excited because I can finally see the prospect of returning to yoga in the future! It’s been over four and a half months since I did a class and I really miss it.

MPPIA Town Hall Industry Forum

There was a Save BC Film Rally tonight at the North Shore Studios that I decided to attend. My agent had sent an email urging us to go and lend our support. There was also an email from our union urging us to attend. I sent out an email to some friends who work in the industry and only two of them took me up on going.

This rally was organized by the MPPIA, which is the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of BC. They consider themselves the voice and vision of BC’s motion picture industry. To be honest, though I’ve been working part-time as an extra/actor in this industry for over 18 years, I’ve never heard of them.

From their website:

‘MPPIA members work together to inform, educate, develop and market new initiatives that ensure BC’s motion picture industry flourishes as part of British Columbia’s vibrant, environmentally conscious, knowledge-based economy.’

We got there around 30 minutes early and it was quickly filling up. They said that there were as many as 4000 people in two large stage areas. I did see a lot of familiar faces. We sat in the area where our union, UBCP, the actor’s union had their banner. They gave out postcards and bumper stickers that say, ‘Keep Calm and #SAVEBCFILM’.

Why a Town Rally on this Subject?

The BC film industry used to be one of the most popular film venues after LA and NY. BC offered a lot of advantages to the producers such as year round shooting weather, diverse filming locations, excellent film crews, a strong infrastructure and the same time zone as LA.

In recent times, however, productions have been diverted to other places. The Canadian dollar used to offer a favorable exchange rate as an advantage but lately, the dollars have been almost par. A few years ago, our provincial government began to offer tax advantages.

Other states started to woo the productions over with a lot of incentives. It was when other provinces, notably Ontario and Quebec began to aggressively pursue these productions with more favorable tax incentives that we started to feel the pinch. Even with the post holiday slow time to account for reduced numbers of productions, more film workers have found themselves unemployed than ever before.

They had a number of speakers, including Jackson Davies, Canadian actor icon (Beachcombers to name one of his shows), who is also our union’s Vice President, was the emcee. After all the speakers spoke, they had a Q and A session that became quite passionate. I had heard a lot of this at our last union meeting. One thing about actors especially, they can deliver a powerful message speaking out.

All of the blame for this state of affairs is being heaped on the government in power. Personally, I think that it is deeper than that. The opposition politician is poised, waiting in the wings to take over after the election in a few months, but he is not promising anything concrete either.

Unfortunately, the general public has a view that we want subsidies which will go to rich Hollywood producers. They don’t understand that it’s the thousands of workers who will suffer. Will they have to move to Ontario or Quebec to get work? Will they have to switch careers?

I’m not sure what will happen to this industry. I predicted the beginning of the end when the foreign exchange differential narrowed but they still managed to survive for a few years. Although it affects me in a small part (as a part-time job rather than a viable full-time career), it does concern me that a strong industry that gives work to so many people, has a number of students in film industry schools, has minimal effect on the environment or our resources as opposed to competing industries, may die out. We will stay tuned.

Day Two Hundred and Twenty Seven of Unemployment-Fifty and Unemployed

Another Night, More Coughing

I had yet another difficult night last night because of my coughing and my sore arm and shoulder. I woke up at least 5 times but I was able to fall back to sleep. I had to wake up early because I have a physiotherapy appointment.

It’s been a week since my last physio appointment because I was too sick last Wednesday to go and had to cancel. Although I am still coughing, I can’t afford to miss this appointment. Although I have continued to do as much home physiotherapy exercises since then, it’s no substitute for an appointment at the rehab services with a physiotherapist by far!

Walked to my Physiotherapy Appointment

I considered running but it was so slippery from the frost on the sidewalks that I could barely walk without thinking I might fall. We have a bit of a cold snap here and there is even frost on the car windows! Since my running accident, I am a lot more cautious about any situations that might cause a fall. I feel like some old lady sometimes as I cautiously step out onto the sidewalk.

I would have liked to run but besides the slippery thing, my throat was too sore as well. The cold air makes it even more difficult to breathe without triggering a coughing fit. I did end up coughing a few times before I arrived at the hospital.

I was greeted by a commissionaire asking everybody to wash their hands with sanitizer before proceeding into the hospital. They have even locked some of the other entrances to the hospital. This is added response to the norovirus outbreak of last week. I presume that it’s still active since they’ve stepped up this security even more than last week.

Evaluation for my Orthopedic Trauma Appointment

I reminded my physiotherapist that I have an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon tomorrow so that she can provide me with a progress report for him to see. She measured my range of motion at different angles with plastic tools kids use in geometry class. She tried to encourage me by telling me how much progress I’ve made even in the last month.

I mentioned to her about how I’ve been experiencing more pain since the last appointment. I told her that the referred pain was travelling down as far as my wrist now! She assured me that it was perfectly normal. I was just a little alarmed because I’ve always had my referred pain go to my elbow but not my wrist.

She worked on my arm and shoulder and it was quite tender to her touch. She said that she noticed some improvement. I can only imagine how much training and experience that physiotherapists have to have in order to be able to just glance at a muscle and be able to tell the extent of the damage. I look at both shoulders and I can’t really see much difference, except when it was right after the shoulder dislocation, when it was pretty obvious.

I worked hard during this appointment, in part to make up for missing last Wednesday. I could already feel weariness setting in though. At the end of my appointment, I was relieved that I didn’t cough much at all! Maybe I’m getting better!

Review with Service Evaluator Job Supervisor

I had a 2 PM appointment to have a review via phone with my service evaluator job supervisor today. I had done my mystery shop yesterday and since it’s been a few months since I worked, she wanted to go over things with me. Unfortunately, I started to cough again throughout the call.

As we went over the entire shop, she reminded me of little things that I had forgotten. I have a couple of articles that I have to read before I take a test again. I will have one more coaching phone call with my supervisor this week. I think that my first job will be this Friday. I should be ready by then.

Had to Cancel my Availability for Extra Work TV Gig

I was coughing so much today that I knew that I had to cancel my availability for tomorrow’s TV gig. Other than my coughing, I am okay. Like the symphony though, it would be disastrous for me to have an unexpected coughing spell. And once my character is established in a position in a shot, they can’t just let me leave easily for continuity reasons.

I went ahead and made myself unavailable on my online calendar. I really regretted doing that because I really wanted to work. I emailed and called my agent, too, to make sure that he was aware of what I was doing.

There’s been a lot of media coverage of the state of the BC Film Industry lately. There have been petitions and news stories about how our industry is in decline because the BC government is not providing enough incentives to attract producers to come to BC. On the other hand, Ontario and Quebec, our main competitors have put out the big welcome mat in the way of tax incentives and credits, so productions are leaving our province in droves.

I’m not sure if there is anything that can be done to stop this decline. Anecdotally, from friends, I know that a lot of people are not working. It appears that I won’t be able to depend on this part-time job for some income either and that makes me sad.