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Well, since there is no stampede of replies, I’ll add mine…
Last Friday, January 21st, I was an Extra in a new TV series being produced by Apple TV. The description is in the link below.
I was one of 6 passengers on a bus. The scene was shot just north of Palm Springs. Were in location for 10 hours, but only spent about an hour in the bus for 4 or 5 takes. All the filming was done externally, so we may not be much more than silhouettes, if that. I also made my car available, so maybe if I don’t make it into the production, maybe my car will!
I’ve been a motorsports fan since childhood and, if at all possible, I will get a garage or paddock pass to go see the cars and the teams making adjustments and doing maintenance. It is analogous to being backstage at a stage performance. Being on set had the same sense a LOTS of things go on behind the cameras. It could be described as controlled chaos!
So, the question is: Would You Do It Again? Most Definitely! I registered with the Greater Palm Springs Film Alliance a few years back. I’ve made some submissions to casting calls before, but this is the first one where I was selected. The only down side is a bit of Hurry Up And Wait, but hopefully I will be a bit better prepared next time.
OK, finally getting around to some photos…
Initially we were parked just beyond the semi at the far side of the image. We were filmed driving from that point through the intersection 3 or 4 times. For other scenes that were going to be shot, the bus was positioned to be a wind break in order to prevent the wind from whistling over the audio. However, we were told to stay in our seats in case they needed to reshoot the bus drive-by. In preparation for the next scenes, workers are putting the finishing touches on the rails where the camera and camera operator ride. Our driver was a young woman who did drive buses in LA, but now I believe she does movie and TV work exclusively. The bus was provided by one of my car club (Great Autos) members. He has had a business for many years supplying period correct buses for movie and TV shoots and doing restorations and modifications. He would have been our driver, but he was working on a shoot in LA. He has bought buses from all over the country in order to get ones from a particular time period. He even has one from my hometown of Toledo, Ohio. On the club’s Facebook page, someone asked him how do you get started in such a business. I said: “First you start with a lot of land!?!?”.
This was taken after we were told to leave the bus and walk down the hill to a building that was rented and set up to be a methadone clinic. In real life the building is part of a training facility for service dogs. Towards the right side of the image in the dark red coat is the star, Patricia Arquette, who plays Peggy the former drug addict turned private investigator.
Other famous actors in the series include Matt Dillon, Rupert Friend, Brad Garrett and Bernadette Peters
YES, I did!
I have always liked doing different things. Repetition has its place, but I have always found variety stimulating. During the 43 years of my career as a mechanical engineer, I worked for only 2 companies and in corporate engineering groups. They were both international companies and spanned 8 or 9 distinct product families and manufacturing technologies. We could be assigned to projects in any facility anywhere in the companies. To me, that was part of the fun.
So, yes, doing this for the first time and seeing what happens on the other side of the camera was fascinating.
Well, DeeAnn, that’s a tall order when you did a lot of unique stuff. The one that stands out most was last October. I was invited to play guitar and sing at a LGBTQ music weekend in Oklahoma City. I had the privilege of playing 2 one hour sets of blues and blues rock, once Friday and Once Saturday. I had the time of my life. It was my first live performance in over 20 years, and my first ever show as Carly. To top it off, I met a man who is producing a documentary on Trans entertainers…not the drag queen types, but more representative on our community. I submitted a couple of original songs for the soundtrack. I should hear a yea or nay sometime toward the end of March.
As might be imagined, the whole thing is beyond my wildest dreams.
Peace and love
Carly
Great! I’m glad that you enjoyed the experience and particularly in your more recent persona. That makes a big difference.
After my experience last month, the thought came to me that perhaps too often we keep things to ourselves. We miss out on the accolades and also the idea of raising that datapoint. Hopefully someone will see what we wrote and begin to think about doing something that has meaning for them.
As always, one of the best things that we can do is to be out in the world and doing what we want/need to do. That speaks volumes to all.
Also, it illustrates that power of putting ourselves Out There. I can look back at certain points in my life and realize that had I chosen the shadows instead of the sunshine, I would not be here doing what I am doing now and living in the place where I live. We just can’t hide anymore…
I came out because I was physically and mentally exhausted I took the chance I would survive no matter what life threw at me. I survived the ongoing hatred, inequalities, bigotry, loss of family and friends, all of it. My conscience is clear and the exhaustion has gone away forever.
I must live a pretty boring life a# not much comes to mind really. I do have this ongoing thing I have been doing for probably twenty years now. I will be walking down the sidewalk and see a homeless person begging for money. I go buy a meal and bring it back to them and chat with them about how they got to this point in their life, and offer them encouragement and hope. I never know when I will do this as it’s just a random thing I do. It just makes me feel like I’m doing some good for having been blessed to be in the position I’m in. I spent last December in Punta Cana. While waiting for friends to check their groceries, a little old Spanish lady was checking her groceries in front of our friend’s and was taking forever. I noticed the cashier was taking out groceries and lowering the bill for the lady. Well, by the time she got the bill low enough, the old girl only had about three things left that she could afford. I politely stepped in and asked the cashier in Spanish to put all the groceries the old lady had, through the til and I would pay for them. The cashier obliged and thanked me as did the little old lady. Somehow doing something nice for someone else just make me feel all fuzzy inside, makes my day. I would like to think if I was ever in that position, someone would do something nice for me, just because they could.
Hmmm, a unique experience of mine would probably not be unique to everyone else. Still it is hard to pick one thing out that was genuinely unique and enjoyable.
I think one moment I enjoyed most was during a night out to a local gay bar for its drag night. I had several women approach me, buy me drinks and finally ended up being drawn into a group of bi and lesbian women. We spent the rest of the evening in conversation and dancing. It was a wonderful night.
On another more recent ocassion, but pre covid, I had dinner and drinks at a lakeside restaurant/lounge. I had been keeping pretty much to myself. Then a young woman sitting near me, part of a bachelorette party, engaged me in conversation and invited me to join their group. Again, we talked and danced all night. It was much later in the evening that I thanked her for being so open and inviting me to join the, as a transwoman. At that point she insisted that she just took me for a mature and attractive woman. The revelation didn’t phase her one bit and the celebration went on till closing time 🙂
Years ago in Costa Rica, I climbed a small cone volcano at night, Vulcan Arenal which when dormant continuously erupts glowing rock from the summit. My partner at the time and I found our way through the thick jungle at night, and we’re told to climb until we reached a fence that says “peligro” (dangerous). We somehow missed it and sat mesmerized by the astounding light show up above. At one point a boulder the size of a small car landed 50 feet in front of us, split open and hissed hot steam. We then tried to run as gas as we could down the mountain.
Hi girls,
I was recently invited to go for lunch with two ladies I work with. I work in a government office building as the site supervisor for security and many of the staff know I’m a trans woman. These two gals are both Asian, one is Philippine and the other Vietnamese, and they love me to death. We went to lunch in the Legislature dining room, which is pretty swanky and a bit high class, reservations are necessary. We had a wonderful time, were there for almost two hours doing nothing but girl talk and enjoying each other’s company. What made my day so enjoyable was when they told me, “Lauren, we don’t even think of you as being trans, you’re just “one of us”, one of the girls!”
I felt so wonderful, appreciated, accepted and honored, definitely one of my more memorable days.
Hugs,
Ms. Lauren M
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