Let's start this off with some links about the economic impact of the movie industry on the West Michigan area, certainly the most important part of this story. It was very evident from the moment I stopped at a gas station right off the highway, and found a bunch of customers heading to the set, people who wouldn't have been there otherwise. That is spending that won't show up on any tax credit forms, and it happens more than anyone realizes. So, not only do you have direct spending from the production, there is indirect spending by people who are working or watching the production, and that creates and retains jobs as well... keep that in mind, as you read though this tale of one person who spent one night on a movie set, and multiply it by the thousands of people that this industry will touch in the course of a year.
Media buzz has been fierce on the films shooting in Grand Rapids this summer; seems we can't go a day without a story being featured, whether it be TV or newspaper or both. Friday morning was no exception, WOOD-TV running a story on the filming of "Touchback" out in Coopersville, a small farm town about 15 minutes outside of GR. Coopersville's main claim to fame before this was that they are the home of Del Shannon, other than that, there isn't a lot going on out there. Just another farming community, mired in the hard times that have touched us all. This past week though, the place has exploded with action. Hollywood, and all that entails, descended on the town and put them to work, spending "millions" when you add it all up...
The Family Fare grocery store in Coopersville, 1181 W. Randall St., was raided Tuesday by "Touchback" production members filming scenes at the area high school football stadium."They wiped us out of all the ice," store director Mike Farrell said.
In one day, the production team spent a couple thousand dollars on ice, fruit, vegetables and refreshments, Farrell said. The store even had to go to its Allendale affiliate to replenish its stock of mini-Gatorade bottles.
Producer Lisa Kearns said the production will spend millions in the area on everything from gasoline and hotel rooms to restaurants and entertainment.
Lots of folks are cashing in, businesses that otherwise wouldn't be seeing this level of volume. From "caterers to port-a-potty companies, crane operators to grocery store directors", the activity surrounding a major movie production is filling the local registers and keeping a lot of people occupied. And they are hiring too; 75% of workers on the film are local or in-state, according to the producer - and that includes the "talent". After all, they aren't flying LA in here to fill the stands for stadium shots...
So, I'm half listening to the TV last Friday morning as usual, reading the news on the internet, wondering what in the world I'm going to try to write about, when the call goes out for 500 extras for filming that evening. Thought, what the heck, let's give it a try. It's a story. And an experience. Registered online at JR Galatic, a Lansing based talent agency, and sat back and waited for a reply. Hours went by. Nothing. I thought maybe I was too late, maybe I screwed something up, when around three in the afternoon I received an e-mail with instructions and a map to the high school, and the adventure began...
Cattle call
7PM, Coopersville High School. Hundreds of extras line-up, waiting to sign in. It would be a while. The usual crowd rumors start. Not everyone will get paid, thunderstorms are on the way, were you here last night? etc and so on. For the most part, people were smiling and having a good time, excited to be part of this, anticipating the night to come.
A wardrobe wrangler came down the line, asking those in shorts if they had brought long pants (the football scenes are set in Ohio in October), asking people to lose the logos or anything that might carry a date. We had been asked to wear black and yellow and white, school colors of the "Coldwater Black Bears" (not a real school). The only yellow I own is a t-shirt that I wore over a long sleeve black shirt, and a yellow hat that has a very obscure and unofficial tiny Whitecaps logo on it. Had to get rid of both. Turned the t-shirt inside out, and had a black hat with me as well. That has a small "Saturn" logo stitched on the side by the buckle, I tried to hide it with my glasses. It passed.
The thing I most wanted to hide though was my camera. I kept it in a small black camera bag at first, sure that they wouldn't allow it. My plan was to keep it by my feet and sneak some shots in. Turns out it wasn't an issue at all, as you can see above. Matter of fact, they didn't say a word about cameras or phones. You would think that those would open the door for some huge anachronisms; crowd shots with people holding their cell phones to their ear... we will see how that comes out in the end. Having just watched "Remember the Titans" for the umpteenth time, my guess is a lot of the wide shots will be blurred backgrounds and it won't be an issue.
For the Rep. Agemas of the world, yes, they checked IDs and had us fill out the standard employment paperwork, as well as a second page that asked again for proof of Michigan residency for tax credit purposes. We were supposed to bring a copy of our drivers licenses, and if you didn't, they kept your license so they could make a copy. By the time I got up to the table, they had this huge pile of Michigan licenses - and I can't imagine the nightmare of signing up hundreds of new "employees" for one night. They handled it well though. To keep people from simply filling out the paperwork and then leaving, we couldn't turn it in until the end of the night after filming had finished. Clever.
Passing out signs
Out to the field after that. Crews wandered through the stands, handing out signs to hold, asking people to move into the empty areas so the grandstand would appear to be packed. Concessions was doing a booming business - according to one article the food was donated, and it was cheap. We were provided with one free meal that consisted of a hot dog, chips, cookies and bottled water, as well as free Gatorade throughout the night. And boy did that come in handy. Dressed for October on a night in the mid 70s with high humidity, I probably dropped five pounds in water weight alone. Free to shoot, I went into "photographer mode", constantly walking up and down and all around the place looking for shots, knowing the shooting sports action in the dark with the haze in the air was going to be a major challenge... my brain just goes to a different space. I was actually working two jobs at that point; that of an extra, and that of a photojournalist. I had my mission.
Barry Sanders came out early and addressed the crowd, which of course brought huge cheers and pumped everyone up. It was also the start of "Summerfest" in Coopersville, and as soon as it was dark, we were treated to fireworks. So I'm sitting there, eating a free meal, watching fireworks explode behind an American flag, having just taken some pictures of my most favorite football player ever. Yeah, you could say I was having a good time. As all of this was going on, they were setting up the field to shoot, players warming up, and equipment put in place...
Helmet Cam
The "Touchback" plot summary from IMDb: "At the brink of financial disaster, a former football star turned farmer and family man attempts suicide to save his family. However, when he wakes up he finds himself back in the past, reliving the events that led up to his career-ending, life-altering injury. He is forced to choose between his simple life and the path to fame and fortune."
So, it's your typical "road not taken" story, which we all can relate to. The very cute Brian Presley plays our football hero Murphy, Kurt Russell is the team's coach. Marc Blucas, who played "Riley" on Buffy TVS, is Murphy's best friend. They all appeared to be having a good time, joking with the crew and the players. After some prompting from the crowd, Russell smiled and came over to shake some hands and chat for a bit. And yes, I'm aware of his politics, but that certainly didn't matter this evening...
Rehearsal
The majority of this night was spent shooting football action. They walk through the choreographed plays, every block and tackle at half-speed, then three-quarters, then full. In the picture above, the dude in the cowboy hat is indicating where the camera will be. As this is going on, the crowd is filled in on what is happening in the scene over a microphone, and asked to react accordingly. It's funny how you get into the emotion of the moment, cheering a scripted play as if it were real. Your rooting for the team, your rooting for the kid, who is getting the crap beat out of him apparently, the angst of the come-from-behind win...
The players had the action down very well. They would repeat a scene over and over, always hitting the same mark. About the only thing they couldn't control was the ball itself; filming a fumble that would bounce out-of-bounds, or an errant throw that didn't hit the receiver, or a missed point after attempt, and so on. Do it again. Actors had stunt players for the full-speed, full-hit scenes - but for the most part they did the work too, and made convincing football players.
The night wore on...
Watching the playback
Roughly half the extras were volunteers; high school kids, people from the community. They started drifting out after midnight or so, and the reduced size of the crowd had us moving to fill the empty areas, depending on the angle of the shot. The guys running the action were very entertaining, keeping us enthused and awake by telling jokes and singing songs, praising our work ("you guys are great!") - the crew and the locals working the stadium couldn't be nicer. It was getting harder though as time went on; the heat was very draining, and after all it was the middle of the night. Some folks were sleeping in the stands, some were sleeping in the grassy areas, the cheerleaders laid right down on the track. I can see how this would get boring after hours of hanging around; my camera saved me from that fate. Others were reading books, or playing on their phones - so, let that be a lesson if you ever decide to be an extra. Bring something to do with you if you can, the down times can get long, especially on an all-nighter like this.
Towards the end of the night I wandered over to the other side of the field and watched the playback for a bit, and there was Barry on the bench. Don't know if he had been there all night or not, but they wouldn't shoot his scenes until after five in the morning. While I was over there, they changed the crowd from "home" to "away", and when I looked up again, everyone was in red and waving "Raiders" signs. Oops. Since I was still in yellow, I stayed out of those shots, and watched from a distance. And I was ready to go at that point too, dawn was just over the horizon - and I was wiped out. Couldn't turn in the paperwork until they released us though, and when we finally did, they filled in some hours in the overtime slot, so this will end up being more than the original $75 that was promised.
Per hour, it's not a lot of money, of course - but the experience? Priceless. For everyone involved. We've got a real good thing going here, a whole new industry is being born. Some other state would be happy to take this business from us, and we would be very foolish to turn it away. Sure, a lot are "temp" jobs - but so is working at Amway or Steelcase nowadays. That argument doesn't fly. Not at all. And, with studios coming in and home-grown talent being developed, more and more these jobs will be permanent as the industry grows roots.
I'm in the talent database now, and if circumstances are right, I'd do it again. I'm part of those roots. It's an opportunity that exists for me on a small scale, and for others, on a much larger scale. It is creating new careers. It's the perfect vehicle to keep the young and creative here in our state, and to draw others to Michigan as well. Let's hope the powers that be, or that come to be, don't screw this up.
They are closing some streets in downtown Grand Rapids this week to shoot "30 Minutes or Less". Maybe I'll go get some shots of that too... and spend some money in a local downtown business while I'm there. That won't show up on any tax credit form at the end of filming, but it shouldn't be discounted - because it certainly adds up to more jobs being created in the long run.