"Move that Bus!"

Seriously, you're blocking me in.

I’m sure everyone remembers Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the ABC reality show from the early aughts, right? Airing from 2004-2012 this TV hit featured host Ty Pennington and his crew helping families in need with radical home makeovers.

In 2005 I had the opportunity to work as a set P.A. on one episode of the show. Before you ask, “Did the host and his team actually do any work?” let me say that I was only hired for three days. As a result, I wasn’t there to witness the remodeling process from start to finish, but I was there at the end of the week when the family returned from their vacation and saw the house for the first time. But I will say that there were obviously a lot more people involved than just the host and his core team. It was an incredibly hectic scene with contractors, sub-contractors, sub-sub-contractors, construction crews, and production crews running everywhere and doing a lot all at once. The pace was intense and the days super long.

Now, I found life on film and TV sets to follow a similar cyclical pattern as it pertained to my energy, mental state, and level of focus. Here’s how the days usually went:

1. Way-too-early-before-dawn call time = a sleepwalking level of energy and the mental state of, “Why am I doing this to myself?”

2. Breakfast burrito and caffeine from the food truck = grogginess and the mental state of, “Ugh. Not quite ready to get started.”

3. First set up of the day = normal energy level and the mental state of, “Meh. Let’s see how it all plays out.”

4. Shooting begins = slightly higher level of energy and the mental state of, “Oh yeah, this is kind of thrilling.”

5. Moving to the next set up = adrenaline pumping and the mental state of, “Okay, yes, let’s go! We can do this! We’re going to make our day!”

But then, as the day wore on, my mood and energy levels would move into the territory of “When are we going to wrap?” sinking further into the realm of “I’m never going home. But then once I heard we were moving into the final set up of the day, I would invariably get another shot of adrenaline to help push me over the finish line.

My experience on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was no different, except during one of my final days on set.

I was booked for three, 12-hour days. The work was tiring, but as always, I enjoyed being on set. And of course, as I drew closer to that 12th hour, I could feel my energy surge a bit, anticipating that moment when I would be wrapped and could go home.

The 12th hour came… and went… no Producer came over to wrap me out, so I kept working.

The 13th hour… nothing.

14th hour… nothing.

15th hour… nothing.

Now, at this point I’ve definitely lost all the energy I once had, but I wouldn’t quite describe myself as being “fatigued.” It would probably be accurate to think of it more like all brain function had ceased except for the primary motor cortex that controls basic bodily movements. So, I’m still upright and I’m still moving, but I’m certainly not processing what people are saying and in no way am I forming any short or long-term memories. It took me a while, but I finally came to the realization that I got lost in the production crew shuffle and someone, somewhere forgot about me.

I stumbled out of the house into the darkness, bleary-eyed, and slightly incoherent. I approached a Producer who, upon seeing me, reacted as if I was Tom Hanks’ character from Cast Away, suddenly back after four years on an island when everyone had given him up for dead.

“You’re still here?!”

After the 2-3 second latency in comprehension due to my inability to process vocabulary at this particular moment, I nodded.

I was able to communicate, in the most rudimentary of ways, that no one wrapped me out, so I just kept working. The Producer quickly hustled me off set and sent me on my way, explaining that I wasn’t supposed to work more than 12 hours due to overtime penalties. I was relieved that my day was finally over and the news about overtime was a nice plus.

Somehow, I made it to my car and was able to drive myself home.

The next day, when I was well-rested and clear-headed, I reflected on the situation. See, I have a compulsion to replay events again and again in my own mind, examining every little thing I said and did, evaluating in excruciating detail if I should have acted differently. In this situation, the biggest thing I learned is that you should always speak up and advocate for yourself.

In my early 20s, fresh out of college with little experience on set, I didn’t want to people to think of me as lazy, unwilling to put in the long/hard hours that production demands. I didn’t want to appear as though I was ungrateful for the job. After all, as a freelancer, you always have to be thinking about the next job, and I didn’t want to do anything that could sully my reputation. But in this circumstance I would have been doing the producers a favor if I had spoken up earlier. They would have appreciated it; not resented it, because it would have saved them just a little bit of money.

So, always be willing to stand up for yourself; not in a hostile, egotistical and unprofessional manner, but in a way that makes it clear to potential clients and others…

• what you are/are not willing to do

• what your rate is

• what you believe in/stand for

• what you believe is the best course of action

Do this in a diplomatic way that is respectful toward all and people won’t judge you as lazy, ungrateful, or uncooperative. Rather, I believe they will appreciate the clarity of expectations so there are no unwanted surprises later.

EPILOGUE

In case you’ve been wondering, here’s the episode I worked on: