I haven’t done a bit of advice in a while.  Here’s a gooder.

When it comes to indie film (especially zero budget video), it’s over-the-top important to always take care of your locations. It’s important, not just to your production, but your community as well. It sounds obvious, I know, but once you get filming you sometimes start to forget things or certain immediacies knock your priorities out of whack.

But here’s the deal.

Whether you attained these locations through family or friends or money or begging or whatever, you doubtlessly got them for a song and a fraction of what you should be paying. Don’t start thinking you’re entitled to the location. You treat every inch of it as if it was your own (or better), clean up after every shoot, and maintain steady communication. Just like the talent involved, you have to make the owners of these locations happy that they became involved with your project. If you can do that, they’re more inclined to help you (or another filmmaker) out in the future. Some folks say that the worst thing you can do in an indie shoot is “burn a location” or somehow tick off the owner in a way that turns them off any future productions (although actually burning a location down would have the same effect). This limits your potential down the line and seriously hampers the creative community.

I’ve approached locations in the past where they’ve declined my requests because they’d had unnecessary trouble in the past, and it sucks. No matter what your intentions are, you’re automatically seen as a nuisance and a troublemaker because someone before you dropped the ball.

Now, here’s my sad confession… I’ve burnt a location.

While using an old church for Magellan, I bust my ass to keep it tidy and clean. I would sometimes take trips out of town to double check on things. I might have been a little nuts about it, but to heck with that. You should be nuts. I was running myself a little hard, and during a shoot one night, I got hit by the flu. Pretty bad too. I can remember fighting it, all sweaty and messed up that whole night. Once we were done cleaning up, stumbling out last in the dark, I took a fall and dropped my car and church keys which I promptly locked inside. We popped the hinges of the front door and retrieved them, but I went from bad to worse on the ride home. That flu knocked me out for four days. I was a delirious mess. However, my relief at coming out of the other end of it was short-lived, as I got a call from the none too pleased church owner. Mice had gotten into the garbage bags (because there was food in them) and made a pretty big mess.  Then, once you see one thing that makes you mad, naturally you see some more. He was miffed and had every right to be. As soon as I hung up the phone, I rushed out there, cleaned the place, caught a bunch of mice, and mopped. I cleaned it far more than it had been in a decade, and did everything else I could to apologize, but the damage had already been done. The owner let me finish up my shoot over the next two weeks, but there’s little doubt in my mind what his opinion of me must be.

I screwed up. I don’t care how sick I was. I should have been out there (or found someone else to) the next morning (like I was every other shoot) to gather the garbage and double check things. It was a horrible mistake that still bugs the hell out of me over a year later.

Take it from me. Don’t burn locations.

Imagine my surprise Sunday night, to be surfing through the guide and find the premiere of an animated show made up of two of my lost loves - Arrested Development and Pushing Daisies.  When those shows were cancelled, I pretty much lost faith in humanity (silly to do over TV, I know, but they were AWFULLY good). 

Now, Arrested’s creator Mitchell Hurwitz’s come up with (which is to say he’s made an animated version of an Australian TV show from a couple of years ago with) an equally poorly named comedy about a group of jaded and broken school teachers.  Sit Down, Shut Up (really not a good name) is a way to re-unite the Awesome McAwesome Teen Wolf 2 (Jason Bateman), Devon Banks (Will Arnett), and Arthur Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler) with my much-loved Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth).  The critics flat out hated it, but what the hell.  They loved Arrested Development and it didn’t save it from the axe.

So, I’m left feeling pessimistically hopeful.  I love those guys and would watch them do most anything, but the critic’s hate it.  It seemed to have some potential, but it’s being handled by FOX (I read about it seconds before it aired for cryin’ out loud).  It’s got the fast paced wit that I love, but it’s filled with some obviously crude and low brow stuff too (which might help it survive in today’s world of cow-tippers and UFC fans). I’m only really watching Lost and 30 Rock right now, but that bounces back and forth as to whether it’s a good or bad thing. I guess deep down, I want it to be good and I want it to be something that lasts, but I can’t even pretend to understand what elements come together to make that happen.