Saturday, November 25, 2006

Robert Altman and my best Location Manager job ever.


One night in Chicago, while I was working as location manager on a stupid commercial, and trying my best not to lose my temper with the stupid producer from LA, I got a call from a Chicago production manager friend of mine, Karyn McCarthy, asking me if I would like to come in to the office thenext morning and meet Robert Altman, and start location scouting for his new film, The Company. Would I ever? I said yes immediately. Suddenly I could deal with the present situation much easier, knowing it would be over in a matter of hours, and the next morning I would be starting a new job working for one of my film heroes. I was really floating on clouds the rest of the night, and even though we shot well into the early morning hours, I was up and ready to go downtown early for my meeting.

I was very nervous to meet Bob, but there was no need. He was so nice and warm, welcoming and charming. Our meeting only lasted five minutes, and he was a bit vague about his desire for locations, but since I hadn't even read the script yet, it didn't matter. I had met Robert Altman, and I was going to be the location manager on the film.

Over the next three months I got to watch Bob more than I had much meaningful direct contact with him. He didn't deal with tasks like locations very hands on, other people did most of that for him. Since The Company was mostly shot in the rehearsal studio and sets built for the film all in one building downtown, there wasn't a lot of on location work. Probably because he was 78 at the time, he wasn't up for that. Look at Gosford Park, one location, or Prairie Home, mostly one set.

I remember one day I was in Karyn's office talking, and Bob came in. He had to ask Karyn about something and he sat down and relaxed for a moment. Then we just started talking, and Karyn told him that I was a film maker and had just directed a feature. He asked me a bit about it and I started to tell him when his producer came in and had to take Bob away to deal with something. When Bob left, Karyn and I just looked at each other in disbelief at our brief tete a tete with Bob Altman. It was a real "wow" moment for me.

I never had a chance to speak with him so directly again, except at the wrap party, when I thanked him for the party and the opportunity to work on the film. Our wrap gift on the show was a black and white scarf with the words THE COMPANY knitted across the length of it, designed by Bob.

When we were on location, Bob always went out of his way to say hello to people. I remember when we shot the big dance in the rain scene for three nights at the Petrillo Band Shell in Grant Park. We invited the city of Chicago to join us for the big crowd scenes, we made rain, we had special effects, and everyone got wet. But hundreds of people came down to see Robert Altman work. And Bob came out on stage and said hello to everyone, and thanked them for being there. He was like that everywhere we worked; at the Auditorium Theatre, at a private mansion, at the club Neo, I could always count on Bob to be kind to everyone we dealt with; from the cops directing traffic for us to the people that rented us a lunch room location. That is not always the case with star directors. And it makes my job so much easier when I tell a location that Altman is directing the film, doors open a lot quicker. Everyone wanted the chance to meet him.

I was very impressed to watch him work on his first film in high definition video. He sat at a bank of monitors and watched the four cameras simultaneously, and after each take make adjustments. He was a perfectionist, and would do take after take, looking for something intangible that he was waiting to happen. At 78 years old and after so many films, here he was embracing this new technology and playing with it, creating with it, like the master artist he was.

The only time I got mad at Bob, and of course I kept this to myself, was when he cancelled a shot called for 8 PM at an exterior location downtown. It was November and cold, and I guess he just didn't feel up to it. I had spent three weeks setting up that location dealing with buildings, businesses, agreements, street closures and other entities, and he just pulled the plug on it because it was cold. That's power I thought. Oh, well, that's what I do. Things change. Of course the film didn't suffer with out that scene, so I guess he knew what he was doing.

I no longer work as a location manager, but working with Robert Altman on The Company was the best L.M. job I ever had.

I will always remember Bob Altman as a kind and creative man who made great films, loved actors, and took the crazy world of show-biz in stride. He inspires me today to continue to seek my way and stay true to my vision, the way any artist must. Thanks Bob.

I took the photo above while we were on a location scout. He is seated with the DoP of the film, Andrew Dunn, and (R) his son and camera operator, Bobby. Photo credit: Noel Olken © 2002

Thursday, November 02, 2006

F.A.Q. # 1

Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions page of the It's Okay web log. If you don't find the answer you are looking for here, please try looking on the internet. There are so many questions that we won't be able to get to them all on this page, so look for more F.A.Q. pages in the future.


Question: Why don't you write very often?

Answer: Writing a "blog" is very hard work. Sometimes after even creating a short entry I can't get out of bed for weeks.

Q: What is your favorite color?

A: I would have to say it's in the blue family, but the specific favorite shade of blue changes frequently. The color of Kris's eyes are amazing, so that's a big favorite. (for a photo of Kris go to kriscahill.com and check out those eyes!)

Q: What is the name of the Hopi ritual clown you wear on the left breast of your black denim jacket?

A: That is Koshari, or the Hano clown. Another name for Koshari is Koyala, which seems to refer to their babbling speech and antic movements, but may also refer to their headgear, koya'lashen.

Q: Why did you choose him?

A: I like him because he is also known as the glutton, and will often eat an entire watermelon by himself. Like me.

Q: When did you move to Los Angeles?

A: The year was 1878. The gold rush was on. I packed the family into the wagon and we headed out west from Ohio to strike it rich.

Q: What about this life time?

A: Oh. I moved here in March of ought six. I spent 7 long months living away from my blue eyed wife, which if you have a wife, I highly recommend you not live away from her for that long. It's very difficult.

Q: What happened, were you finally reunited?

A: Yes. In September of ought six we sold the homestead back in Illinois, and packed up the Penske (that's what they call wagons these days) and headed west. It was one of the most difficult moves in the history of moves. For one, the old penske was too small to accommodate all of our worldly possessions. As the last piece of furniture was placed on the back of ole penske and tied down, we still had a front yard full of boxes and furniture that we had no room for.

Q: What did you do?

A: We started a bon fire and burned everything.

Q: What happened next?

A: Well, it was late by the time we left the homestead, so we drove the penske as far as we could, and found a place to rest for the night. It was an inn of some kind that had a holiday theme to it. The next morning when we woke, the wife had taken ill with a pox of some kind. We sought out a doctor in Missouri who treated her, but the pain persisted for quite some time.
We had planned a wonderful journey/adventure/vacation, but it was not as much fun for the wife as we had hoped, as her face was on fire most of the trip. By the time we hit the big hole in the ground in Arizona, she was feeling much better, the swelling had gone down, and she could see again. Still, she refused to walk too close to the edge of the canyon. I'm not sure why.

Q: Who are you going to vote for on November 7th?

A: Anyone who is against the war, for the environment, and all the propositions that will tax the rich and the oil companies.

Q: Do you have any musical gigs coming up soon?

A: No.

Q: What about acting gigs?

A: I'm always auditioning for work, as all actors do. I was recently became a company member of the Atwater Playhouse
(www.atwaterplayhouse.com) a theatre and school that practices and teaches the Stanislavski Method. I am also
an understudy in their new play, Invisible Bars, that runs until Dec 16, 2006.

Q: Have you ever served any time in jail?

A: I was arrested twice, no convictions.

Q: How do you feel about the new planet that was just discovered?

A: I hope to get to know it better in the future, maybe at a cocktail party or some social event. I'm sure there are many more planets we will discover in the future.

Q: Were you ever a professional baseball player?

A: Yes, I played for the Washington Senators.

Q: What's it like living downtown in Los Angeles?

A: It's great. We are so close to everything. The air is dirty and it can be noisy at times, but that is most of LA. There are ten million souls here, it's an interesting place.

Q: Do you miss your friends and family back in Illinois?

A: Of course.

Q: Do you think the lunar landing in 1969 was a fake?

A: No. Green screen technology was not sophisticated enough then to fake such an event. I remember watching it live on television. It was very exciting. I hear the ratings were to the moon.

Q: If you were on a desert island, what three records and movies would you want with you?

A: How would I play them?

Q: A solar powered DVD/CD/MP3 player with built in monitor and speakers.

A: Okay. For music, I would choose Brian Eno's Another Green World, Frank Zappa's Hot Rats, and Bach's Preludes. Movies are bit harder, but I would have to say the original Willie Wonka with Gene Wilder, Woody Allen's What's Up Tiger Lilly, (so I could make up my own dialog when I got bored, and maybe some porn.

Q: Porn?

A: Yeah, I'm on a desert island alone with nothing but an MP3 player. What would you do, study fucking Latin?

Q: You seem upset now?

A: I'm not upset. I just don't want to be on the desert island anymore. End of questions, I need a nap.
If you have anymore questions, you can email me through my page on the world wide web, noelolken.com.
I have to go take a nap.