It almost didn’t happen. I had an attack of gout, the national ad campaign was in full uploads with a tight deadline, I needed sleep, and yet – we came together and decided to just go ahead and shoot. After 6 years, we shot several new UNCLE PETE’S PLAYTIME clips. George Caleodis embodied the character, I dusted off the pinwheel hat, and Joe setup and shot the entire thing. I was limping, using a cane to get into the studio, but we did it.
When I indulge the instinct to shoot instead of letting procrastination, things tend to turn out decent. These greenscreen shoots are no brainers. It’s not rocket science to get these done with the technical standards and the control we have in post production in this era. Even so, we had some generous help with setting up the lighting, so this was a really good look.
Even after a 13 hour work day, in pain, exhausted, sleep deprived, and in a mood – overcoming to get more material shot woke me up, gave an adrenaline shot to the soul, as I continue my productive streak.
Working with George always elevates whatever I’m doing. In this case, I stepped down more on the writing and just let him jam. It’s like working with a great jazz player because the improv comes from the ether and takes whatever we’re doing to unexpected places.
When I set out to make 2014 a big year, I didn’t think I would be as prolific as I have become this far. That makes me so happy. No one can take this away from me. Everytime drama starts to crop up, I just ignore it and dive back into the work, then I can’t believe I even considered these unimportant people with sad lives.
Now I have to get back to the paid work. There is no time off for me. Work, work, work. Pay the bills, actually have something left over, and keep on keepin’ on.
“You will come to a place where the only thing you feel are loaded guns in your face
and you’ll have to deal with pressure”
– Billy Joel
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